Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Fire Commission

I want to thank Mayor Gallo for appointing me to the Kingston Fire Commission.  The fact that the Mayor appointed me despite the fact that I actually ran against him in the past election speaks to his character.

I took notice of Frank Dart saying that my appointment was a "slap in the face" and profess myself disappointed and confused.  I was unaware that Mr. Dart possessed such a low opinion of me.  I guess part of his reaction must be sour grapes because he was not reappointed.

I must also point out that Mr. Dart's contention that he was not reappointed because he supported Hayes Clement in the Democrat primary seems flat since I was appointed in his stead and I actually ran against Mayor Gallo.  Certainly, if Shayne Gallo was being politically vindictive, he would not have appointed me.  My so-called political offense was much greater than Mr. Dart's.  He supported an opponent whereas I was an opponent.

Nevertheless, I thank the Mayor for the faith he has shown me and for his kind words in the paper.  I will try to honor his choice by doing the best job I can.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Stop Politicizing the Death of Children

Like millions of Americans, I was horrified at the slaughter of innocent children at the elementary school in Connecticut.  The idea of 5 and 6 year old babies being killed before they could even get a real taste of life is beyond shocking.  Still to be determined are the terrible effects psychologically on the children who survived but saw their teacher, principal, and classmates murdered before their eyes.

The families of the dead still mourn their loved ones and the pain remains fresh and raw, but this does not stop immoral political hacks from descending on Connecticut determined to use this tragedy for political gain.  These disgusting opportunists appear from both the right and the left.

From the right, a group of people intend to protest or picket the funerals of the children claiming this slaughter is the judgment of God.  Leave the grieving families alone.  Certainly, God does not offer his judgment in the form of the death of innocent children.

From the left, we have the gun control zealots who insist that stricter gun laws would have prevented this heinous abomination.  One Congressman, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) actually had the gaul to say that President Obama should "exploit" the Connecticut tragedy in order to get the edge on the gun control debate.  Joining Nadler in such thoughts are Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo who have both started using this tragedy to support their gun control agenda.

One should not exploit the death of children.  Moreover, if a person is so evil that he plans the killing of as many 6 year old children as he can, do you really think such evil would hesitate for even one second because of a gun law?  Please also further keep in mind that Connecticut has some of the strongest anti-gun laws in the country.  This crime was not the result of the lack of gun laws.  It was the result of an evil and deranged mind.

Here is my suggestion to the politicians and the political zealots from both sides of the aisle.  Get out of Connecticut and leave these people alone.  Let them grieve and bury their loved ones.  They do not need to be exploited or chastised.  They need to be left alone to heal and to try to gather their shattered lives back together.  The last thing they need is some attention seeking politician or zealot appearing in their town seeking personal or political grandeur over the deaths of their beloved children.


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Gallo vs. Sottile

The Daily Freeman ran 2 stories today about Gallo and Sottile bickering over an obvious conflict of interest caused by former Mayor Sottile taking a job with a developer who had business before the city.

Sottile responded (as he usually does) by personally attacking Gallo claiming that his criticism was because the Mayor refused to appoint him Special City Judge.  Sottile even denied something that those of us on the political inside have known about for some time, i.e. that he threatened to fire Gallo from his city attorney position if the ran a primary against Judge Larry Ball.

My prediction is that we will continue to see more of the so-called Sottile iceberg over the next year.  Expect the personal attacks from Sottile to get nastier as the allegations mount.  For years, I questioned the Sottile administration about its lack of ethics.  Finally, someone else has come forward to prove the point.  Go, Shayne, go !!