Update (Smitty):
Todd: hey, dude, nothing bites like having to sit next to someone who has kicked you to the curb. I don’t know if there will ever be another opportunity as good as this, so this shout is out to you, man:
Republican congressional candidate Ann Marie Buerkle today rebutted attack ads from Democrat incumbent Rep. Dan Maffei that accused Buerkle of being delinquent on property taxes.
“I’ve spent the past several weeks suffering from the negative ads of my opponent,” Buerkle said at a press conference in front of a small shopping center she owns in the Syracuse suburbe of Camillus. “[Maffei] has made these allegations that I am delinquent in my taxes, instead of stating the truth, which is that we have a payment plan for the tenants who are in this plaza.”
Buerkle has explained that she has a “triple-net lease agreement with her tenants whereby they are responsible for the property taxes.” When her tenants fell behind on their taxes in January 2010, she “was faced with the choice of evicting them or covering their taxes. She contacted the County and worked out a formal signed and notarized payment plan with them. Monthly installment payments are made to the County.” . . .
“Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now, and facts and science and argument do not seem to be winning the day all the time, is because we’re hard-wired not to always think clearly when we’re scared. And the country is scared.”
— President Barack Obama
DeWITT, N.Y. — So Obama’s agenda is no long “Hope and Change.” Now it’s “Facts and Science,” and if you disagree, it’s because you’re “hard-wired” for irrationality. Insulting condescension from leaders may be why so many people are mad as hell. My latest American Spectator column:
“I work 75 hours a week at this place,” said the owner-operator of a convenience store on State Route 41 in Cortland County. “All I ever get are bills coming in, where they’re raising the taxes on this and raising the taxes on that.”
The silver-haired small business owner’s diatribe had begun when I put a copy of the Syracuse Post-Standard on the counter and he asked, “Reading about all our political prostitutes?”
Obviously I was from out of town and he had apparently spotted me as a reporter, so I asked him what his feelings were about the upcoming election. “I’m not voting for any incumbents — all the challengers, that’s who I’m voting for,” he said. . . .
Pete and I are about to get back on the road. There’s a Buerkle press conference near Syracuse to cover, and then we’re on our way to Pennsylvania, land of the bitter clingers. Hit the tip jar!
I give it eight out of ten on IMDB. The movie essentially juxtaposes the Gipper and BHO personally, while building a mostly linear historical framework of Progressivism in which to drop the ideological conflict.
Conservatives will have a blast enjoying Reagan, McCotter, Gingrich and the rest serving up a healthy dose of common sense.
Independents will benefit from having a conservative layout of the current crisis, in stark opposition to the output of the Propaganda media.
Liberals may, if they’ve remaining consciousness, benefit from having the abject failure of the Progressive Utopia presented in this manner.
There is always going to be room for attacking a 90 minute flick for oversimplifying matters. Also, the three ‘politizoid’ segments were entertaining, and will hold the general audience, but the Forgotten Man installment got too lost in being entertaining to drive the point home well. Or I was just getting tired by then. The boxing finale was fun, but didn’t add much to the documentary as such, but may help broaden the appeal of the film.
These segments do a fine job of lampooning former presidents, Arnold the Governator, and Sarah Palin. The pokes at personal foibles, as well as the criticism of W for the increases in federal spending, keep the film from being too grossly partisan, though Griggs is unapologetically pro-capitalist.
The chief criticism I have of the project is that my personally detested zombie, the Federal Reserve, didn’t receive the stream of shotgun shells necessary to reduce it to former zombie status. In other words, cutting taxes is like cutting the tops off of dandelions; the reform we require is about killing the roots, and this film doesn’t broach that. Really, my criticism is meant as an excuse to give Griggs a budget for a sequel.
As soon as I can verify that the film will still be showing next Friday at this venue, my intention is to set up an Adopt a Candidate viewing. The troops would be well encouraged, and bringing in a healthy wad of people to watch this will help get more work like this in the pipeline.
DeWITT, N.Y. — I’m blogging tonight from the home of The Lonely Conservative and her lucky husband, Dave. We just left a meet-and-greet with Ann Marie Buerkle in the village of Clyde.
While I had planned to be on the road to Pennsylvania already, but Buerkle’s having a Monday morning press conference near Syracuse, and I figured I needed to stay for that. I’ve got a deadline tonight for The American Spectator and there was no time to check into a hotel, so Mr. and Mrs. Lonely Conservative declared that Pete Da Tech Guy and I should enjoy their hospitality.
There are three key congressional races in this part of New York, and all of these candidates need your help:
I’ve got photos and video and notes and stuff, but deadline is looming, so I’ll try to update after midnight. The title quote is courtesy of Bob Belvedere at the Camp of the Saints.
Karma’s gonna come down heavy here Nov. 2. Do all you can.
The shape of the 22nd District is an assault on common sense. Matt Hudson, campaign manager for Hinchey’s Republican opponent George Phillips, with the map of the 22nd District, which stretches nearly 200 miles, from Ithaca on the west to Poughkeepsie on the east. Hudson is pointing to Broome County, which is Phillips’s stronghold of support.
The sign in front of Phillips HQ in Endicott. The slogan — “Had Enough?” — pretty much sums up the attitude of 22nd District residents fed up with 18-year incumbent Hinchey.
UPDATE II: “Man on the street” interview in NY-25:
