Att'y Bill Platt Takes The Banner For Kim Velez

Last week, I told you about Allentown City Council candidate Kim Velez, the victim of strongarm tactics by the Allentown Democratic machine. You see, they already had enough Latinos. She would just draw votes from Julio Guridy and Cynthia Mota. To make matters worse, she opposes Mayor Edwin Pawlowski's water privatization scheme. Attorney Tim Brennan was dispatched to bully her out of the race, and after Sunday calls to Velez and her family, he succeeded. He event sent her a pre-printed withdrawal form, which she filed the next day.

Velez was to learn later that week hat she had been conned, the victim of a lawyer who, even putting the best spin on things, had acted inappropriately.

Is this the end of the line?

No. And that's thanks to an attorney who is acting not just appropriately, but in the highest traditions of the Lehigh County Bar. Bill Platt and his partner, Jeffrey Fleischaker, are representing Velez pro bono publico.

Velez, who is both attractive and well-spoken, is a potential Democratic Superstar. Platt, a former GOP Chair in Lehigh, is representing her anyway.

Why? Because our democratic system should be above party affiliations. Whether Velez is ultimately right or wrong, her cause needs to be heard. Platt, to the credit of his profession, will make sure that happens.

I'm proud to know him.

But his father still scares the shit out of me.

Lehigh's McCain-Palin Rally - The View From Inside

Sure, Lehigh County GOP chair Bill Platt went too far when he stressed, inside Stabler Arena, that our next Prez could be Barack Hussein Obama. The McCain camp itself condemned this "inappropriate rhetoric." But hey, it was a pep rally, not some nuanced policy discussion. Let's face it, the McCain-Palin bus drove right into the frickin' arena, and I think Palin was driving.

Cindy McCain, and not Sarah Palin, played pitbull. "The day that Senator Obama decided to cast a vote to not fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body."

Blogger's Note: Photo and report from inside provided by Ellen Solarek.