Blogger's Note: Opinions Online is a regular Saturday feature. If you'd like to express your opinion on any topic, click on the Opinions Online button on my left sidebar. I prefer local topics, especially concerning topics I miss, as opposed to talking points. You can also call 385-325-2564. In addition to these submissions, I sometimes highlight comments from throughout the week and re-publish them here. Please keep your comments brief, if possible. Anonymous personal attacks will be deleted, especially when aimed at other readers. I refuse to publish anything I consider possibly defamatory.
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I imagine you've witnessed more local elected officials in action than anybody else. If you could pick 5 active ones to represent your town, who would they be?
Blogger's Reply: I'll ask readers to answer fun with that first, and will have my own answers on Tuesday.
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Might want to look into the recently reported story about LVCC "merging" with Spring Garden Children's Center on Easton's South Side. Might have been more of a takeover engineered by the United Way forcing out the former Executive Director who started there as an aide at age 16, eventually got a degree from Moravian, and stayed for 45+ years. Not all peaches and cream as the United Way sold the story to a local reporter.
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I miss Randy Kraft and his reporting for WFMZ. Nobody writes detailed stories like he did.
Since his retirement, the WFMZ online news has gone back to its fires and car crash news.
Blogger's reply: Randy is my favorite meeting reporter. I love his stories. He tried very hard to get it right and tell the whole story. He was also fearless. He was never afraid to ask tough questions, but I thought his writing was very balanced. These day, it's supposed to be a few lines, but Randy always fought to be able to tell the entire story. WFMZ was better because of him, but they have very good reporters. Newspaper reporters used to look down their noses at TV, but that is no longer so. I believe he'll be back. A lot of these guys have different styles. Joe McDonald is the exact reverse. His stories are never more than a few paragraphs, but everything is there. There are some really great journalists out there. Unfortunately, most of them no longer work at the papers, or are severely limited as corporate masters continue to screw everything up.
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Easton football. 0-2 already?
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52 comments:
Bernie
On Tuesday you highlighted Lehigh County Executive Muller's budget and one person wrote it is a shame that he does not allow a county veteran's id card at a very minimum cost. Some replied:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
6:37 -
There is no longer a need for a county-issued veteran ID card. The state now has a veteran designation that goes on your drivers license or photo ID.
8:17 AM
Reply to 8:17 AM:
You may not realize that Montgomery County's Veteran's ID card is an outstanding example of honoring the county's veterans. Montgomery County in partnership with more than 500 businesses and enormous amounts of foot leather prepared a veterans partnership booklet that highlights the names and addresses of these 500 local businesses that welcome and offer discounts to veterans displaying the county ID card. At this time the state does not offer such a booklet and for sure neither does Lehigh County!
The booklet is an excellent idea, and I will forward to both counties. But I agree that it is a waste of resources to prepare a veteran ID card when that designation is on your license.
Easton football 0-2? You mean Nazareth, right? Easton is 1-1.
I was just checking that, too. Easton Edwin its first game. I would have picked Liberty to win, by the way, although that's easy to say now.
Did anyone attend the Kaine event at the Hanover Township Community Center on Wednesday. Three points I'd like to make. 1. Tim Kaine was articulate and presented facts. 2. Trump supporters continued to emulate their guy. One women wore a T-shirt that read, "Clinton sucks, Monica swallows". 3. Hanover staff did a great job getting people in and out.
I am dissapointed that Allen was shut out last night. I thought they could at least have scored against Freedom. Well maybe next week :(
A question, if anyone has a job, not self employed, are you allowed to make political statements or protests while on the job? I would like to know how many think this would be possible? If you play professional sports, who is your employer? You can now expect to see violence in the stands of nfl games, as supporters, and those who do not get into verbal confrontations, then who knows what. Everyone has a right to march and protest on their own time, but when on the job, I think not. I for one will never take my children to such venues again, to protect them from confrontations that are inevitable.There is now political pressure on the sports leagues to participate in politics, Who has the power to sue them for anti-trust violations etc.? Think about it.
@11:34 There is a direct relationship between your first amendment rights and the amount of money you earn for your employer.
Once you understand that, then all of your questions have been answered.
Let's see. It was greedy bimbos. Then a vast right wing conspiracy. Then a conked head. Incompetent staff. Memory problems. Colin Powell told her to do it. Everybody was doing it. Nothing to see here. It's labor day. I wonder how many more excuses we'll hear in the next two months ?
Just deleted a comment about Hillary accidentally.
10:47, Freedom is the team to beat this year in football. Allen should not let that loss get to them. Allen will be the team to beat in basketball. Dieruff had a nice win, too.
The loss was, well, expected. However being shut out does sting... Being able to score, no matter how minimally means yes we were there, yes we can get the ball down the field, and yes we have a future :)
8:28, I was working so was unable to attend. But Hanover Tp is certainly among the best run townships in the LV, and I am happy to hear you were able to get in and out. Someone commented elsewhere that it was a wonderful event. To me, the most important attributes in an elected official are accountability and transparency. Though she does speak to members of the press here and there, Hillary has not had a news conference in over 270 days. That is a slap across the face of the public. I am troubled by the Clinton foundation and frankly, any politician who sets up a foundation. I hold her responsible for the death of an American Ambassador. I am shocked that she used her frickin' AOL account for communication as SOS. There is little doubt in my mind that every email she sent and received was read by Vladimir Putin. Her explanations appear to be untruthful. She is a terrible candidate. Hard to believe that a nation of 330 million would have these two at the top. Something is very wrong.
Bernie,
Love the description of the t-shirt by 8:28am, thats the democratical dysfunction tool implimentation on a lower level publicly at a local meeting!?
REpublican redd no party afilliation
Today Trump was in a black church in Detroit, the other day he was in Mexico talking to the Mexican President, then it was to the Vets in Cincinnati, the other day he was talking to a Hispanic group. Yes, we understand he's a candidate, yes we understand he's electioneering.. But look, he was there in Louisiana handing out help to the people, he was invited to Mexico so he went..
She hides out in the Hamptons behind her donors.. then gives a little talk to the vets and leaves without even talking to the press.. but she's on Jimmy Kimmel cracking jokes.... Then going to the Hollywood Hills hitting the movie star ATM machine for money.
Of course, every day also it's drip drip drip with another lie or scandal.. Now it's the FBI dumping on her on Friday afternoon... Or its Huma and her friends in the Muslim brotherhood, hell, it's her entire family..
There are 94 million people out of work.. that's almost a third of the fkn country ... and Obama says it's 5% unemployment.. who is he trying to kid? You want more of this? Bend over because that's what you'll get from Hillary... along with more taxes to pay for more stuff she wants to spend money on... All the free stuff costs money you know....
Gimmie a break.. What do you have to lose supporting Trump?
Trump is a narcissistic authoritarian who will dismantle the constitution, divide us further and plunge us into war. That's what I have to lose. I will support neither candidate.
3.57
amazing how the right tries to spin.
trump had all the questions and answers scripted for him at his black church.
it seems that tough guy trump was a pussy in Mexico.
trump only talked big and bad when he was back in the US.
trump ran a photo-op in Louisiana-58 seconds of being there and he ran off.
Hillary is just sitting back and watching trump step on his crank.
Huma and the Muslim brotherhood is tinfoil time.
as to 94 million out of work.
try
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/feb/10/ted-cruz/ted-cruz-says-92-million-americans-arent-working/
" What do you have to lose supporting Trump?"
rational thinking,dignity are two things among many.
It's amazing how all of Hillary's minions can do is spin shit about Trump. But have nothing positive to say about her.
Well, I suppose that's because that's all she does. She never talks about herself, or what she will do for the nation. It's shit all the time about Trump with her. Hell, he's on her commercials all the time. I suppose she's afraid to be caught in another lie if she actually says something about herself.
I suppose that's why she doesn't like to be asked questions also
What you are doing along with virtually every Trump supporter, is spinning shit about Hillary. Both sides are using that tactic. Trump calls her crooked Hillary and accused her of starting ISIS. Both sides are trashing the other side's candidate, just as you have done. In reality, they are both terrible candidates. I am not going to pretend Hillary is wonderful, and those trying to paint Trump that way are selling complete bullshit. Try making that sale somewhere else.
Who is campaigning to the people, and who is campaigning to the money donors ?
I get abut five emails a day from each candidate, begging for money. Both sides are shaking people down.
Bernie, OBAMA is posturing himself now to become the next Pres. of the UNITED NATIONS this will DANGEROUS . Take this to the bank.
You really can't get rich in politics unless you're a crook
- President Harry S. Truman
Being Secretary-General of the United Nations is like campaigning to be an eunuch. I doubt whether Putin or the Communist Chinese would support him anyway
Maybe if they barred advertising of prescription drugs, the cost would go down ?
Re Trump, while I too once had reservations about him, since the primary I have come to discount much of the hyperbolic concerns about Trump raised from both ends of the political spectrum, such as mentioned in a comment above for the reason I close with.
I've also come to realize that his, for lack of a better term, "conservative populism", including skepticism of too free of trade; belief in the need to not-only secure our borders, but to also tighten immigration in general; and having more of an "America first" foreign policy, are all reasons why I voted for Pat Buchanan back in the 90s. Add to that, what may likely be the balance of the Supreme Court for the next generation. I also liked his VP choice. Anymore, I view much of his rhetorical bluster not as some etched-in-stone stance on his part, but basically his negotiating style. If you start to close to where you want to end up, you have no wiggle room to negotiate from. That's been his whole life. His outward rhetorical and personal style is certainly not Reagan-esque, but the reality are the two choices before us.
Bernie O'Hare for President. Let's really make America great again!
Ha Ha.
10.15
"Anymore, I view much of his rhetorical bluster not as some etched-in-stone stance on his part, but basically his negotiating style."
so he negotiates what his principles are?
that makes him more dangerous.
Bernie, don't try to spin for Hillary that she used an AOL account, she used her own privately owned, illegal server, and destroyed it afterwards. Why would you try to cover for her?
7.57
well you must of really been upset when the Bush administration lost 5 million e-mails.
outraged when romney removed all of the e-mail when he was a governor.
and did you question JEB when he ran his own server and e-mail with JEB deciding which e-mails he would release?
most republicans just shrugged and did not care at all
If Trump could covert another 10% of the black vote he will give Hillary fits & that is his strategy to make the inner city religious blacks see the light that Democrats have not been the party of the African American community going back to Lincoln.
I think this was from a song in 1960's, but I cant remember which group, "I cant remember, I don't recall, I don't know anything about any of this."
925. "Ahh...I can't remember" Isn't that what Trump said with wrist twisted when he mocked a reporter?
I can't recall
I don't remember
I have no recollection of that
@9:43 I don't recall him ever saying anything like that. Perhaps you've hit your head and have a blood clot in your brain? Coumadin would help.
Unemployment is not 33 percent... Unless you count retired and in school as unemployed
10.24
try
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAqfI3IN_OA
"The report, Trump said, was "written by a nice reporter. Now the poor guy — you gotta see this guy. 'Uh, I don't know what I said. Uh, I don't remember!' He's going like, 'I don't remember. Uh, maybe that's what I said.'"
""The sad part about it is, it didn't in the slightest bit jar or surprise me that Donald Trump would do something this low-rent, given his track record," Kovaleski told The Post.
The New York Times, where Kovaleski is currently a reporter, also had a response to the incident: "We think it's outrageous that he would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters," a Times spokeswoman told Politico and confirmed to Business Insider.
That rights, the reporter forgot what he wrote in 2001, because it would have vindicated Trump.
7:55 "so he negotiates what his principles are?
that makes him more dangerous."
If that's your high standard, you might as well sit this election out with the two candidates on the ballot.
However, my point was I don't pretend, or expect, that he is ideologically pure, any more than I think the Clintons are. Many in business, or really in any field, who are "doers" tend to be willing to "negotiate a deal", "get the best I can", or however you want to word it. In fact (I subscribe to seven magazines across the political spectrum) I vaguely recall a few years ago reading a critique of President Obama in The Nation (liberal) that he was "too pragmatic", essentially having a tendency to try to meet GOP where they were (or where he "thought" they were). Having no inclination to help Obama, they'd just pull further right. See, you often can't "meet somewhere in the middle" if you already start there. You give up your negotiating leverage by throwing it away before you even walk in the room, and will be taken advantage of, or leave frustrated.
Whether you are a self-professing conservative or liberal, in a pluralistic society rigidness to "principles", as you called them, results in either stagnation and/or demonizing anyone who deviates in the slightest. That's far different than having foundational values, then getting what you can. You can just as easily take Reagan's words below, and change "conservative" to "liberal":
"Die-hard conservatives thought that if I couldn't get everything I asked for I should jump off the cliff with the flag flying--go down in flames. No if I can get 70 or 80 percent of what it is I'm trying to get... I'll take that and then continue to try to get the rest in the future."
It just seems very strange that after Bill Clinton meets with the A.G., Loretta Lynch, all of sudden there is no investigation of Hillary or the Clinton Foundation. It is a signal to leave her alone. This is the absolute corruption of power.
"Bernie, don't try to spin for Hillary that she used an AOL account, she used her own privately owned, illegal server, and destroyed it afterwards. Why would you try to cover for her?" i am in no way covering for her, as my comments make clear.
Anonymous @ 2:03
What Hillary Clinton boils down to is basically the Progressive leftist of Barack Obama plus plain gangsterism.
The Clintons are like the Corleone Family. Their goal is to enrich themselves by peddling their influence at the highest level of our government. That means at the Oval Office. Just look at what Hillary was doing while Secretary of State. She was using her influence as our chief diplomat to take money for favors, using the Clinton Foundation as the money laundering vehicle. If you wanted to see Hillary, make a contribution to the Clinton Foundation and Huma Aberdein would set up your appointment. And these appointments were not to get cookie recopies. They were for favors of the United States Government which Hillary could obtain for these foreign leaders or governments.
And it doesn't stop there. She wants to get rid of her enemies, and she does it by wanting to suppress conservative press. Just look at her recent comments about Fox News and conservative websites on the internet. Also, the mainstream media are in the Democrats pocket and either ignores or covers for them. They control most of the press, social media, and Hollywood. You can put a lot of misinformation, propaganda, and lies if you control these three.
Also Bernie, you have stated that you won't vote for either Hillary or Trump. You should really reconsider your choice.
We all know that Donald Trump shoots himself in the mouth, sometimes saying insensitive things and going off message. But then look at Hillary and you see both her and her husband that are basically crooks. Trump isn't a crook and he's not about to use the office of the Presidency as an ATM to enrich himself by peddling influence at a MASSIVE scale as Hillary and Bill will do the Oval Office. My God, Renting out the Lincoln Bedroom when Bill was in office was not even a drop in the bucket compared to the bribes Hillary will take if she has control of the Presidency. And her political agenda will stuff the Supreme Court with Progressive justices that will affect the nation for decades to come.
Conservatives and Republicans like the Bush's or Romney or George Wills should not be talking against Donald Trump, but trying to stop Hillary. If you do not vote or vote for a third party, you are basically voting for Hillary. People need to get out of the Twilight Zone.
It's not "Never Trump" which is the problem It's "Never Hillary".
Look, I have no interest in your hatred. I have to have a reason to vote for someone. All either campaign does is vent against the other side, as you are doing. It's really sad. I will vote for neither of these ethical oil slicks.
We all look for positive reasons to support a candidate. What issues in the national campaign are you wanting to see addressed so you can support one of them Bernie ?
Before I even get into issues, I have to be comfortable with the person. Both candidates fail. Both lie. Neither is transparent or accountable.
12.47
"rigidness to "principles"
the problem is that trump consistently claimed Mexico would pay for his wall project.
trump also claimed to want to deport all illegals.
that is a core principle of his campaign.
trump goes to Mexico and speaks about drug smuggling as his cause for building a wall.
somehow he fails to mention anything about Mexico paying for it.
after he gets back onto US soil he then claims again Mexico will pay for a wall.
trump's kid claims that trump was starting negotiations.
trump's kid was channeling the donald's inward pee wee herman "i meant to do that"
the reality is that trump wimped out.
if trump's "foundational " value was to have Mexico pay for a wall then he should be willing to say so.
wherever he is.
it is not demonizing to call trump on his lack of intestinal fortitude.
2.03
It just seems very strange that after donald trump makes a campaign contribution to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, all of sudden there is no investigation of trump university. It was a signal to leave him alone. This is the absolute corruption of power.
Trump will ultimately get Money from Mexico for wall thru tariffs or taxes on dollars sent back to Mexico from illegals. No need to have discussed payment with Nieto at this time. Trump's 10 point plan on immigration is right on the mark with perhaps the most important being using E verify to punish employers hiring illegals. If the jobs go away, the illegals will self deport!!!
So when tariffs result in more expensive products here, does that mean he screwed up? I get the concern you don't want to elect a Democrat since they will take all your guns and create communism just like Clinton, and Obama did. Oh, they didn't? Never mind!
11.42
e-verify has no real teeth.
knowingly hiring someone with a bogus SSN gets you a 375 dollar fine.
and where in trump's plan does he call for cracking down on employers?
and where does the donald call for penalties for those long term employers who hired illegals?
what are those penalties?
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