Waxman Files

A Realistic Look at our World - by Jerry Waxman

The Sequester Could End Today

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By Jerry Waxman

“You never let a good crisis go to waste.”……..Rahm Emmanuel

 

I have to admit a grudging respect for Rahm Emmanuel’s thought processes, even though I think he’s wrong most of the time. When he’s right he’s dead on and that quote from him says it all when it comes to the Sequester. The one time the President should have been taking his advice where he could act immediately he hasn’t done so. For months now the FBI has been warning of budget cuts that could seriously hamper its effectiveness as well as the effectiveness of local law enforcement. All it would take is for the Justice Department to declare “That’s it! It’s over! We’ve gone over budget on Boston and we can’t go any further. As of 4:15 PM April 19, all investigations are hereby closed until further notice.” The President could then declare a national emergency and force congress to repeal sequestration “or else!” While they are at it they should also pass a few background check laws before they go home.

This is not an original idea. In 1969 George Lucas had the opportunity to make an obscure movie titled THX-1138, starring Robert Duvall based on Lucas’s original story. Set in the future, the story deals with a totalitarian society where drug abuse was NOT taking drugs. By the movie’s end THX 1138 escapes to the real outside world not because he is smarter, faster or more expert in any way, but because the system computers declared that they have gone over budget and that all pursuit must stop. That’s budgetthink alright and unfortunately it’s sequesterthink as well. As my paean to George Orwell I think I’ve created two new words.

Think of it. A known terrorist is now on the loose in the Boston area and he’s known to be armed and dangerous. Where will he strike next? As I switch news channels to see who is coming up with the latest disinformation I think to myself, “Imagine the possibilities.” The problem is that our Attorney General can’t even prosecute a banker properly and our President has yet to exhibit real executive leadership, so this scenario will have to remain a figment of my imagination.

On the other hand, if he sequestered the congress during a national emergency they might also pass his budget including Social Security chained CPI and Medicare cuts, just for spite. Be afraid either of his actions or his inactions. Either way we’re screwed

“Imagination is more valuable than knowledge”…….Albert Einstein

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THE ENEMY BENEATH

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By Jerry Waxman

Periscope

 

Ship’s Captain: “Bring her around hard aport 220 with a hard rudder amidships”

Bosun:              “What’s that, Captain?”

Ship’s Captain: “MAKE A LEFT! MAKE A LEFT!

 

U-Boat Captain “Hmmm…He brought her around hard aport 220 with a hard rudder amidships.”

1st mate:            “ Vas, Herr Hauptmann?”

U-Boat Captain: “HE MADE A LEFT! HE MADE A LEFT!”

With apologies to Charlie Manna’s War at Sea from his best-selling comedy album Manna Overboard.

 

The late Charlie Manna’s War at Sea routine was a send up of the classic WWII movie, The Enemy Below in which an American Destroyer captain and a German U-Boat captain play a cat and mouse game with each other, anticipating each other’s every move and countering each other’s offensives. It was a taut, tense drama with a not fully satisfying ending. Manna’s routine was very funny, but nothing is funny about the newest threat to our country which is traveling well below our radar, and we only know about it because of a few well isolated pings on our Sonar. We everyday Americans are at sea cruising while the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), running as silently as possible, has us in its periscope sights and the eleven or twelve member wolf pack is ready to draw blood.

To fully understand what’s happening we have to go back about twenty years ago to the early 1990’s when the Bush 41 administration had finalized NAFTA talks and was trying to “fast track” the agreement into action. NAFTA was a free trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada which was supposed to promote more and better trade between the three countries as well as open up more jobs. Most of us don’t read these things because they are voluminous beyond our attention spans and filled with words beyond our comprehension, but rest assured that giant corporations have more to do with the formation of these agreements than governments do and these corporations will do anything they can to create and protect their perceived future profits under these FTA agreements. We the people don’t really matter to them. Bush 41 wasn’t able to fast track the agreement before time ran out and Bill Clinton came into office. Clinton, the ultimate corporate Democrat had to renegotiate the agreement to assure some worker protections, which ultimately led to its passage. Clinton signed the document on Jan. 1, 1994. Clinton was quoted as saying. “NAFTA means jobs. American jobs, and good-paying American jobs. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t support this agreement.”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time”

So did Prohibition, at the time. The trouble is that when you research these things from other that a human nature perspective Murphy’s Law kicks in full force and something bad is bound to happen. In the almost twenty years since the enactment of NAFTA American jobs have yet to make any kind of impact, Mexico’s farm communities have been devastated and Canada isn’t so happy with it either. The only people it has benefitted are the actual corporations who are doing the trading. In fact, it’s even worse than that. Buried somewhere in these agreements are regulations that supersede actual laws of the countries involved. In other words if something a corporate entity does is considered to be illegal by a country or a state it can be overruled by the terms of the agreement. The agreement allows for NAFTA to pick its own arbiters, usually corporate lawyers to determine the outcome, even over and above a Supreme Court ruling. One case in point is The Canadian Parliament banning the use of MMT, a gasoline additive in 1997. Ethyl Corp., based in Virginia, notified the government of Canada of its intent to sue under NAFTA’s Investment chapter. Ridiculous, right? Nope! The Corporate lawyer NAFTA panel rejected Canada’s argument and a year later Canada was compelled to reverse its decision on MMT and to add insult to injury Canada also had to pay out $13 million in fines and corporate profit losses. In 2012 Canada was again in the gunsights of the Eli Lilly Company because of Canada’s restrictions on granting medical patents to Lilly. Lilly filed for $100million in  the NAFTA investor court. So far, over $365,000,000 has been paid out on submitted claims and there are 19 other actions under review worth 14 billion dollars. The worst part of this is that this has nothing to do with trade issues; this has to do with environmental and public health issues.

I remember discussing NAFTA with my son’s friend, Morgan who was an AFL-CIO organizer in South Florida back in the mid Nineties. At the time I was not against NAFTA because I believed that Clinton was sincere about how NAFTA would work. Morgan took the opposite view and said that it’s the worst thing that could happen to American labor. I pointed out the worker protection clauses that Clinton had inserted, and Morgan just said “that’s just never going to happen. It’s a ruse.” As it turns out Morgan was right. NAFTA is an unmitigated disaster unless you are the corporations doing the business, and there’s nothing that our government can or will do about it.

“If at first you don’t succeed”

So, what do you do when you see NAFTA is not working out? That’s easy. You expand it to include Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic making it more dangerous that before, after all, why shouldn’t some of our Latin American and Caribbean friends feel our pain as well. This was the work of the neocons in 2005 in the Bush 43 administration. There was a lot of contention in congress over CAFTA and it was only ratified by one vote in the House of Representatives. Again workers lost protection and American jobs were sent overseas. Environmental and health concerns were overlooked and the corporations made a fortune. Combining that with the Bush Tax Cuts we were screwed again.

“Try, try again.”

Not satisfied with enriching their corporate friends and damaging the average taxpayer more than ever, the Bush 43 people entered into talks to create a Pacific Basin partnership originally encompassing nine countries, including The United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The US entered the negotiations in March of 2008 which places it during the Bush 43 administration. Since that time other countries have expressed interest including Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, The Philippines, Japan, Colombia, Laos and Costa Rica. The US is aggressively pushing South Korea to join. Since the original meeting back in 2004 there have been 16 rounds of talks, the last one taking place in Singapore back in March 4-16th of this year. A seventeenth round is scheduled from May 15-24 in Lima, Peru.

Having experienced the difficulties in both NAFTA and CAFTA the US participation in these talks has gone covert. No one talks about it. There is almost a 100% blackout of information in the corporately controlled news media, and what information is available has been gotten through leaks and whistleblowers, and you know what happens with whistleblowers. There is no transparency in these negotiations and from what we can ascertain only 2 chapters of the agreement actually have something to do with trade itself. Much of it has to do with intellectual property, and a lot of it has to do with circumventing labor, environmental and public health issues. What we do know is that the Obama Administration has embraced the TPP and is doing what it can to fast track it. On April 15, Secretary of State John Kerry was in Japan and gave a speech at Tokyo Tech waxing eloquently about the advantages of the TPP. Activist Cherie Faircloth, a contributor to WONO actually called the White House and got through to Robert Spitzer, Senior Trade Policy Advisor with the USDA. In her conversation with Spitzer, he admitted that there were too few corporate agricultural advisors in Florida and he was looking for more. Her article appeared on Feb. 26, 2013.

Back in Early March a group of activists attended an anti TPP rally in the Ybor city section of Tampa. You can find the links to the videos Here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. The message is pretty clear. We’re in Submarine Alley and all those torpedoes are set to fire on us. Since we know about it we can do something about it. Even though many politicians will deny that they have knowledge of it there are some who are aware of it including Senator Bill Nelson of Florida. Action needs to be taken in the congress to not allow the fast track and to ultimately defeat the US participation in the TPP. You can get more involved by researching the TPP and going to Public Citizen. Org. Maybe we can avoid the torpedoes. Just watch out for the minefields.

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There’s a Lot to Celebrate

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By Jerry Waxman

Random thoughts while driving to the Celebration of 2012 at the GLBT Center……

It has been a long struggle. The world has not treated the gay community kindly for practically forever. Up until the Stonewall riots in 1969 the gay community sort of lived with it in quiet desperation. After Stonewall, things were not the same. That first taste of fighting back almost forty five years ago awakened the fighting spirit and gave rise to vigorous gay activism which is now stronger than ever. One of the reasons was the cultural revolution of the sixties in music, fashion, and the arts, a far cry from the conformist 1950’s. The most famous gay activist, Harvey Milk, born into a middle class Jewish family in 1930 lived (outwardly) a normal life for almost 35 years, graduating college with a degree in mathematics and even serving as an officer in the US Navy during the Korean War.

The GLBT community was at first mocked and ignored, which is how society usually treats people who are different, labeling them “misfits”. In literature and the arts it was rare that gays were regarded as anything but “odd”, or “eccentric”. The punishment for breaking these rules was brutal, witness the sad plight of literary giant Oscar Wilde.

Wilde was the very successful author of The Picture of Dorian Gray, a strikingly dark novel which had some homosexual allusions, and at one point had three hit plays running at the same time in London. He was widely known for his intellect, sharp wit, and biting remarks. He was a married man and the father of two children. He was also “that way” (that’s what they called it back then). In Victorian England there was an active community of people who were “that way” only nobody talked about it. Wilde was enamored of Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas, the son of the Marquess of Queensberry, a real macho man. Bosie reciprocated and the affair began. The Marquess, being the macho man he was, publicly denounced Wilde and constantly harangued him. Wilde sued for libel rather than quietly ignoring the situation. Evidence discovered during the trial compelled Wilde to drop the charges, but not before the damage was done. Wilde was arrested and convicted (after three trials) of “gross indecency” with other men. He spent two years in prison which ruined his health and died at the age of 46 in 1900.

In American culture for the first half of the Twentieth Century there was hardly any mention of gays. There were many American artists and writers living abroad, notably Gertrude Stein, who found acceptance in Paris and other European capitals. Gay artists who lived here kept it hidden. Composers and lyricists like Cole Porter, Aaron Copland, Lorenz Hart and Leonard Bernstein.  Actors, writers and artists of all disciplines stayed in the closet. In 1934 Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour, set at an all girl boarding school broke new ground. A rumor started by a student, uncorroborated, about the two owners having an illicit affair causes the school to close. The play captivated audiences and caused the end of a law in New York that made it illegal to mention homosexuality on stage. In the movies, pre code there were a few portrayals but nothing overwhelming, however t he picture of Marlene Dietrich in top hat and tuxedo was a powerful image of the decadence happening in Berlin. Greta Garbo’s portrayal of Queen Christina was a rare departure from the conventional perceptions in film. Lesbians were usually portrayed as old maid aunts, busybodies or sadistic matrons like Judith Anderson’s Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca or Cornelia Otis Skinner’s Miss Holloway in The Uninvited, or Hope Emerson in Caged.

Men fared a little better. Actors like Edward Everett Horton, Donald Meek, Franklin Pangborn and Eric Blore worked constantly in films, usually as comic sidekicks or as officious department store managers who looked down on their customers and staff. They were never essential to the plot, and when they were their characters usually looked and acted like Peter Lorre’s portrayal of Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon. One of the only openly gay Actors who could carry a film by himself whose characters appealed to mainstream audiences was Clifton Webb. He horrified us in Laura. He made us cry in The Razor’s Edge and he made us laugh as Mr. Belvedere all while playing himself, an effete snob. In the play Tea and Sympathy, later made into a movie,

The central character at a boy’s prep school is perceived and taunted by the others as gay, which he is not. The story is about being different and how people’s ignorance perceives that difference.

After the 1950’s things gradually began to change. In 1962 Advise and Consent featured a Senator who had a gay past. The transition was gradual, but gay themes and characters in the movies and television have come full circle and today hardly raise any eyebrows. Our culture has advanced equality on all fronts, save some die-hard churches and certain conservative politicians. Even the Boy Scouts are taking a second look at admitting gays. They had better, because their ranks might be thinning out too much.

Wow! There’s no place to park!

OK, that broke my train of thought and here I am at the center. My first impression from outside was that there were an awful lot of people inside, and yes, there were, at least two hundred. It was a real celebration. Many local politicians were there and gave speeches. After all, this celebration was for them. These were the people that the GLBT community backed and they were celebrating those victories. Speakers were Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph, Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh, State Senator Darren Soto, State Representative Victor Torres, County Commissioner Tiffany Moore Russell among several others. Joe Saunders, one of the two openly gay representatives in the Florida House was unable to attend due to a last minute emergency. The highlight of the evening was the premiere of the video Get Tested which features prominent politicians and sports stars urging people to get tested for HIV infection. Testing is free and confidential and worth doing. The idea originated with The Center’s Director, Randy Stephens, who asked Rita Ashton, wife of State Attorney Jeff Ashton to help out. She did the entire project from start to finish, securing cameras, and crew and post production through her network of professionals who all volunteered their time. Although there doesn’t appear to be a link on the Center’s Website, the video is on the Center’s facebook page, GLBT Community Center of Central Florida.

Rita and Jeff Ashton

Rita and Jeff Ashton

This was one of those occasions where few people left early. There was plenty of time to meet and mingle with the politicos as well as old friends. The cash bar was active and the food was plentiful and tasty. The politicians were completely accessible and didn’t show signs of that defensive wall that they can put up. I spoke for several minutes with Rita and Jeff Ashton, mainly about her video however, I couldn’t resist congratulating him on his decision to investigate the texting scandal. He looked at me and said “come on, that was a no-brainer!” His utter candidness made me decide to not ask him the follow up question.

The evening’s events, speeches and tone showed the immense gains that have been made in recent years. I have two thoughts about it: to paraphrase a Virginia Slim slogan, “We’ve come a long way, baby,” and in the words of Oscar Brown, Jr. “But we’ve still got so terribly far to go.”  It is my hope that someday we’ll only identify people by their names. And so the journey continues.

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When Did Our Souls Become a Commodity?

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By Jerry Waxman

 

 dsc002372

 

Throughout recorded history and throughout all of literature human beings have been subjected to temptation in myriad forms. Starting in Genesis temptation takes the form of a serpent who seduces eve to taste the forbidden fruit. Throughout the Old Testament temptation then takes the form of a woman; witness Delilah, Jezebel and others who drove men to commit acts that they otherwise would not do. The men paid for these transgressions in various ways, but pay for them they did. Throw in the manifest form of the Devil and now we have a drama that plays out every day in some peoples’ lives.  Forgetting the bible, history is full of heroes, who with feet of clay, yielded to temptation and paid dearly for it. Julius Caesar and Marc Antony were both seduced by the same woman, Cleopatra, which in turn brought down the demise of the Republic, and then the complete collapse of Egypt. Even today sports figures like Lance Armstrong and a bunch of baseball players yielded to temptation to make them faster, stronger, etc. at the cost of their integrity and the sporting world’s ire. As a result Armstrong has been stripped of his titles and these major leaguers may never get the chance to be in the Hall of Fame. Democratic politicians who yielded to temptation include Bill Clinton, John Edwards and Eliot Spitzer, men who should have known better. If one looks at the devil as the purveyor of immoral things, one should also know that those things have a cost. They are not free, and while you may not die because of them the devil still extracts a very dear price.

In literature the most famous example of this is Faust. Two years ago I wrote an article about Congressman Dan Webster and yielded to the temptation to title it The Devil and Dan Webster doing a word play on Stephen Vincent Benet’s short story, who stole the story from Washington Irving’s The Devil and Tom Walker. Wow! Talk about temptation! Talk about chutzpah! My temptation was that this was probably the only time in my life that I could use that title. Modern authors don’t condemn their Fausts to damnation, but they do make them suffer their consequences. Back in 1954 Douglass Wallop wrote The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, which was adapted into the Broadway musical Damn Yankees. The story line is simple- average Joe sells his soul to the devil to help the hapless Washington Senators beat the Yankees and go on to the World Series. The difference was that this average Joe, being a business type, demanded an escape clause just in case things go wrong. To insure that Joe doesn’t break the contract, the devil, Mr. Applegate, sends his chief seductress, Lola to tempt Joe and keep him in line. Joe eventually does escape his fate but not before going through a lot of turmoil. Wallopchose a bad year. Cleveland won the pennant in 1954 and lost in 4 straight to the Giants.

What’s happening right now in the Florida Democratic Party is nothing less than the classic struggle for its soul. State party elections are scheduled for Jan. 26 at which time there are two completely opposite candidates for chair. Usually things like this are pretty cut and dried with party leaders choosing among themselves who will occupy these offices, but not this year. Alan Clendenin, a Tampa area activist is fed up with FDP inertia which for fourteen years has not produced a Democratic governor and few statewide office holders since Jeb Bush was elected. That notwithstanding, the party has lost legislative seats in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost one million registered voters. Clendenin asserts that party insiders are comfortable with their positions and don’t care about winning elections. Clendenin has an impressive work history and his resume’ covers a lot of territory. His career as an air traffic controller and union organizer took him to the heights of his profession. Politically he has held positions in county and state party offices and he has served as a member of the Democratic National Committee.

His opponent, Allison Tant, is a relative newcomer to party politics and is looked at by party insiders as a messiah because of her connections and fund raising ability. Her supporters claim that she is a tireless worker for good causes, including children and education. She did raise a lot of money for the Obama Campaign, and she’s a whiz at organizing house parties to support her causes and raise money. The problem with Tant is that she carries a lot of baggage. She was a registered lobbyist for companies and organizations that work against Democratic principles as pointed out in this article in The Political Hurricane.  At the same time her husband, Barry Richard, a principal in the large law firm Greenberg Traurig was working for George W. Bush to win the Florida recount in 2000. Strange thing is that they both claim to be Democrats. Furthermore, it seems that the entire power structure of FDP is working for her election, which is at least unethical if not illegal. There’s no concern there that anyone will lose their job if she’s elected because it seems that the entire FDP is managing her campaign.

Tant was little known outside of Tallahassee until Clendenin announced that he was going to campaign for Chair. At that time the only other contender was South Floridian Annette Taddeo, who was a favorite of Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Taddeo withdrew in favor of Tant back in December and Schultz then threw her weight behind Tant. Tant wasn’t even qualified to be FDP chair until the Leon County Democrats cleared the way for her during the same time frame. The question is not why; the question is whose money is behind it? Why are DWS and Bill Nelson so avidly in Tant’s corner unless there’s loads of money to help their ambitions? There are some answers that the Political Hurricane has speculated on, yet the dots are not easy to connect so we won’t dwell on it here. Tant’s and her husband’s records are full of red flags. There’s a word for these kinds of people that we wouldn’t say in polite company, but then they are not selling their bodies-only what makes their bodies work. Clendenin’s record, on the other hand, is spotless.

Studebaker

Several months ago I published an article comparing the FDP to a Post World War II Studebaker. Very attractive, yet doesn’t know where it is going. This was after the October 2011 convention in Disney World which was (to me) ineptly handled and other than Friday night’s speeches by DWS and Joe Biden it was a complete waste of time. The more I know about how the current FDP operates the more I know why that is.

This is a classic right vs. wrong battle. I won’t say good vs. evil because I don’t believe that Tant either is or represents evil. I don’t know her, yet I’m sure I would like her personally, however, that is not enough to convince me that she’s the right person. The lines have been drawn and many good people have lined up on both sides of support. Clendenin’s support comes from people. Tant’s support comes from people who either seduce or are seduced by money and power. Clendenin does not seduce; he convinces people through words and appropriate action. Tant had the opportunity on Jan 4 to meet more than 50 grass roots activists at former Orange County DEC chairman Doug Head’s First Friday event. She was invited as well as Clendenin. She messaged Head that she’ll try and make it but may not be able to break away. Clendenin came and spoke eloquently, as well as making real sense. We’ll never know what Tant had to say. She happened to be at John Morgan’s (you know who he is-For The People) house addressing wealthy supporters. Morgan doesn’t live that far away, about forty five minutes at most. She just chose to be with the money and screw the little guy. They have no votes anyway. She has also angered members of the Hispanic and Black Caucuses in her “Let them eat cake” attitude when she is speaking in public.

What is astounding is the amount of Democratic Women’s groups that are supporting her. Are they unaware of her conflicts or don’t they care? It’s amazing that her gender blinds them to things that they would not countenance in a man. Given what they know about her record if Allison Tant were named Albert would that change their support? They’re going to have to do some soul searching to answer that question. Alan Clendenin is who he appears to be and this latest video says it all.

Central Florida Democrats who are not going to D.C. for the Inauguration are invited to watch it at Doug Head’s house. At that time they are going to plan a mass turnout of Clendenin supporters to be at the FDP elections on January 26. Tee shirt designs and poster designs will be available. The only way to fight the seduction of money and power is to confront it and challenge it. It happened on Nov. 6, 2012 and it can happen on Jan 26. Show up and fight for Alan Clendenin, otherwise Mr. Applegate will claim a bunch more souls.

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Smart Shopping

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By Jerry Waxman

 

What compels people to stand in line for hours on end to be able to buy something strictly because they can save a little money? What compels them to endure the abuse of not only the store managers but the insensitive and aggressive crowds that push and shove and occasionally assail them over a place in line or an item in short supply without their regard to health and safety? Are these the same people that complain about our lousy economy yet buy foreign made products from uncaring retailers that keep American workers from either having jobs or having constantly low paying jobs?

 

I haven’t paid a whole lot of attention to the Black Friday sales and no one in my family would ever shop at a retail chain on the day after Thanksgiving anyway. There are numerous Wal-Mart protests and strikes going on and I’ve read many of those reports. Lots of union involvement in them and that’s a good thing. What strikes me as odd is that the employees of other big box retailers aren’t walking out in sympathy and solidarity for their retail brothers and sisters. Voting and thinking with your wallet is a smart way to be. Let all of these marketing companies (and that is really what they are) know that you’re not going to be manipulated by them any longer.

 

What changed things for me was Bernie Marcus. Marcus is co-founder and former CEO of The Home Depot, a very successful Home improvement store chain. Back in 2008 Marcus castigated other retailers for not contributing to right wing causes and for not advocating for Republican candidates. Since that time he has been a relentless critic of the Obama administration, much of it unwarranted, and he has been extremely vocal in his opinions. When I was active in the scenic art business I used to buy $30,000.00 to $60,000.00 per year from Home Depot alone. Over a 15 year period that adds up to a tidy sum. Once Marcus opened his mouth I cut them off and have not bought a single item from them since. I found their competitor, Lowes, to be a better store to deal with. Lowes has a better overall quality of product, employees who actually treat you with respect and they display knowledge of product far superior to those at Home Depot, so I would have switched anyway. I’m also using locally owned Ace Hardware and other similar stores that support my local economy.

 

I wrote Home Depot that I would no longer buy from them because of Marcus’s outrageous statements. They did reply to me that Marcus no longer has anything to do with the management or direction of the company and his opinions are strictly his own. Not good enough I told them. Marcus is still a major stockholder and therefore gets a major share of the company profits. I also told them that as long as he lives I will not be a customer of theirs. He’s now 83 and I hope he lives to be at least 110.

 

Home Depot is by no means the only merchant that I refuse to do business with. I refuse to make Alice Walton or her ungrateful siblings any richer. I’ll probably never buy another Microsoft product either but only if I can help it. Both Bill Gates and Alice Walton are advocates of charter schools and the voucher system so they’ll never get another penny of mine. Last election season my wife and I contributed lots of money to the Obama campaign and what we got was Arne Duncan and terrible education policies (among others). Result: Obama got no money of ours this time, nor did we campaign for him. Had the margin in Florida been wider I would have voted for Jill Stein in protest. Once I found out that Bain Capital had been responsible for the startup of Staples that was the end for them. I’m reticent about buying anything from Whole Foods. I‘ve stopped buying any product made by the Koch Bros. owned Georgia Pacific. I never have been in Chick-Fil-A and I never will be. Papa John’s is one of the worst pizzas I’ve ever had so why on earth would I want to buy from them at all? Firms like Applebees, Denny’s, and others are mostly franchise operations, and you need to investigate the local franchisees to see whether or not they deserve your business.

 

The term Black Friday was coined in Philadelphia back in the early sixties as the day that the retail establishments started operating in the black. It was a marketing gimmick then and it is today as well. Since when do supposedly well run businesses operate in the red for ten and a half months? Are they into the banks to front their purchases and payrolls for that kind of money? Why would any board of directors assume that much debt without a guarantee that the final six weeks of the year would be so profitable? In Philadelphia in 1960 there was a huge snowstorm that tied up the city for the better part of two weeks just at peak shopping time. The department stores claimed that they were losing a million dollars a day, yet they all showed profits in their year-end reports. Check out the quarterly reports of these mammoth retail giants. Black Friday may add to their profits but they are still making a pretty penny. It is time for us consumers to become a lot smarter in our shopping strategies. Let’s really think about what we need as opposed to what we want, and let’s think about who to buy from. Any time you can give a locally owned store your business you are helping your local economy as well as your neighbors who own those stores. That’s a good thing.

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Clint, I Can’t Believe That Was You!

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By Jerry Waxman

 

 

Clint Eastwood defies description. Most people remember him as either the two fisted action hero of the 1960’s spaghetti westerns or as “Dirty Harry” Callahan. It’s easy to understand why; his characters embodied what frustrated people wanted to do when they sensed injustice. He was the next generation of hero as delineated by John Wayne. To be sure there are big differences between the two icons in both style and intent. Nobody would ever accuse Wayne of being the strong silent type that Eastwood would come to typify, and Wayne’s characters most of the time played by the rules. When they didn’t they were roundly punished for their indiscretions. Wayne’s characters paid the price for those indiscretions in films like Reap the Wild Wind, The Fighting Seabees, Wake of the Red Witch, The Sea Chase and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Of all of Eastwood’s films I can’t recall his dying in more than two, whether his character deserved it or not. The only other major Hollywood star who died less, if at all was Cary Grant, but I digress.

 

There was much more to Clint Eastwood than being a mere actor. The part of him that I admired was his artistry as a director, and his passion for the arts, especially music. So, I found it intriguing that he even chose to speak, unscripted to an invisible representation of the president at the RNC. A man who appreciates and plays (rather well) the music of Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and others of that era should know better than to unintentionally and subliminally embody  the main themes of Ralph Ellison’s landmark novel, Invisible Man, but he did, and not very well. That little bit sent an undeniably coded message to the 93% white voters in the Republican Party exactly why they should be voting for voter suppression policies, and why they should be denying any kind of social safety net help for anyone except themselves. What also intrigues me is that civil rights people have not picked up on this. Other than a fleeting reference on Melissa Harris Perry’s show on Saturday nothing else has been said about it. I’ve searched the major blogs and news services and I can’t find any mention of it.

 

I don’t believe that Eastwood is a bigot. I know his politics are conservative and that’s OK. I do question his judgment. It’s one thing to praise your nominee, but on live TV there’s no time for another take. He certainly didn’t do Mitt Romney any good and all he did was to reinforce the Republicans as a non-inclusive party. From what I hear, Romney and Co. wanted Clint the icon to speak. We’ll, they got what they deserved. Ralph Ellison is spinning in his grave.

 

 

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Tampa- A Waste of Progressive Time

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 By Jerry Waxman

 

Aug. 27, 6:49 AM. Random thoughts while in the hospital waiting room as my wife is undergoing the final phase of reconstruction.

 

Yesterday several people I know went to Tampa to take part in a planned protest of the GOP, its candidates and its policy positions. It might have made 10 seconds on the TV news and a couple of small columns in the papers. So, what? The GOP doesn’t care. No amount of protest will have any impact on them and they are not going to change as long as they have access to big money.

 

What will make a difference is if the same people who spent significant time and money to get to Tampa actually went into their own local neighborhoods and started registering people to vote in positive reaction to voter suppression laws, and then getting the vote out for progressive candidates. Actions like that will have a much bigger and lasting impact on the GOP than any mere protest.

 

7:30 AM. She’s just been wheeled into the OR. There’s plenty of time for me to grab something to eat in the cafeteria, and then try and be busy doing something or other.

 

The last eighteen months have been like a nightmare. In January of 2011 her primary care physician of seventeen years informed her that he would not accept her as a patient anymore over one disputed bill which she had paid. Her Gynecologist, a year earlier told her he would accept cash but not Medicare. What I should have done is publish both SOB’s names all over the internet and I might yet do that. In early February she was rushed to the hospital and treated for five days for pneumonia and other complications. As a result of this we got another primary care physician who does accept Medicare and has a much better bedside manner. In March she was diagnosed with cancer in both breasts and her surgeon tried a lumpectomy that was mostly successful yet there was enough doubt in all of our minds as to what would happen later. She decided to schedule another surgery for a double mastectomy. It was the right choice and she has been cancer free for over a year. In April she started reconstruction and so far so good. Everything has gone off like clockwork. Today’s surgery is the final step. Hey! Did I mention that we’re on Medicare (with a good supplemental plan)? You know, Medicare, the health care plan for seniors that we’ve been paying into since its inception. Guess what? It didn’t cost us an arm and a leg; no, we didn’t have to mortgage the farm to pay any of the resulting bills (yawn). I (yawn) really ought to……zzz…snkxx..zzzzzz…..

 

9.15 AM. I felt the doctor robustly tapping me on the shoulder awakening me from my nap. He assured me that everything went well and that she’s going to be OK. I would be able to see her in about a half an hour.

 

(Big yawn) Oh, yes….where was I?  Well, considering that we were paying $1400.00 per month prior to going on Medicare it certainly doesn’t make sense to go with a private insurer. We’re also both on Social Security, which is also under the gun from the GOP. This Republican caused ( and maintained) economy we’re in has reduced our business to 30% of what it was, so we’re grateful for the help; of course we both have been paying in since the late 1950s, so it’s not exactly an entitlement.

 

Five hospitalizations and four surgeries in eighteen months is nothing to sneeze (sic) at. Without the safety net in place I shudder to think what would have happened to us. Worse yet, what’s going to happen to our children and grandchildren in the future? That alone is reason for me to never trust a Republican. Even thinking about vouchers or privatization nauseates me. We’re supposed to provide a better life for our kids, something the current system is not allowing for.

 

No, the RNC Convention, platform and candidates are not anything I want to watch. The thought of Grand Nagus Mitt and Grand Inquisitor Ryan taking center stage is too much to bear. Protest if you want but it’ll get you nowhere. Go out and do something about it.

Register non voters, or canvass for campaigns. If you act you’re part of the solution: If you don’t act you’re part of the problem.

 

10:15 AM. “Mr. Waxman, you may see your wife now” said the nurse. She was in good spirits and ready to go home. She was discharged at 11:15 and we were home by noon.

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We All Lost This Election-Even Our Winners

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We All Lost This Election-Even Our Winners

By Jerry Waxman

First of all, let me congratulate all of the candidates from both parties who took part in the recent elections. You are all special people. I only wish that more people had voted for both you and your opponents, about four times more people. Why? Because a twenty per cent vote is in no way indicative of any geographical district and only reflects the money spent on targeted voters. This has been a troubling trend for many years.

Back in 1980 Paul Weyrich, a Republican operative who was instrumental in founding both The Heritage Foundation and The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) told a crowd of 15000 conservative preachers:

“Now many of our Christians have what I call the “goo goo” syndrome. Good Government. They want everybody to vote. I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”

As bad as voter suppression is, especially with what is happening in Florida and other states with Republican governors and legislatures, that is no excuse for the pathetic turnout in the Aug. 14th primary. The Democrats outnumber the Republicans in the county by huge margins, yet they lag far behind in activities, fund raising and precinct captains. The Republicans have far more precinct positions filled that the Democrats and have well over 200 members on their rolls; the Democrats barely reach 100 in membership.

To his credit OCDEC Chairman Scott Randolph has tried to rectify this imbalance and as a result membership is up for the time being. The shame of it is that due to redistricting he is not running for re-election for the house where he was an effective minority legislator and constant thorn in the side of Dean Cannon. Unfortunately, this is an election year and what the Democrats have is a young, inexperienced Precincts chair that has spent more time working on one campaign or another than tending to business. It is critical to fill those positions as quickly as possible. Precinct Committee people should be the first line of action in getting people involved and filling those vacancies will get more people involved. There’s room for at least 200 precinct members more and if Democrats want to win locally those positions are important. A bigger turnout might have changed some if not all of those races; after all if people don’t vote they have no right to complain about their representation.

Now that the general election is on the horizon local Democrats need to be keenly aware that they will have no coattails from the Obama people. It didn’t happen in 2008 and it won’t happen this year either. The local races still have a bigger impact on our daily lives than the big national ones. Local races put people in office who can affect our everyday lives a lot more than Paul Ryan can. Locally elected politicians determine what our schools get and how they run, how much we pay in local taxes, how our local health care system functions, and if you don’t think that is important then you’re brain dead. Local apathy kept two good progressives out of the runoff in County Commission District 3. Local apathy allowed the incumbent commissioner in District 5 to continue his disgraceful non-voting record. Local apathy from Democrats in HD 49 allowed for a lopsided race that should at least have been tighter. Local apathy (and expenditures of over $100,000.00 each), in two Ninth Circuit races, allowed for incumbent judges to continue their intolerant and insensitive ways. This shouldn’t have been. With two high stakes county races and two high profile congressional races in the mix Republicans managed to turn out more voters than Democrats but not by real significant numbers unless you consider that Democrats hold a countywide advantage of 80,000 votes. That’s an absolutely shameful performance.

The Ashton Lamar race probably would not have changed much nor would the Demmings Green race, but big numbers are always more impressive and show voter trends more than small ones. The only trend that small numbers show is that people just don’t care, and for that we all lose.

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The Dishonest Campaign of Joe Saunders

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By Jerry Waxman

 

*Author’s Note-I am an independent advisor to the Shayan Elahi Campaign. I have no responsibility for managing it, my opinions are strictly my own and I am not being compensated. I would normally only offer my endorsement, however, the circumstances here are extraordinary and I feel compelled to let the sun shine through this miasma.

The Real Deal vs. the Interloper

Early on in late 2011few people in OCDEC knew who Joe Saunders was. He worked for Equality Florida in the Progressive Center. His job was to promote, raise money and advocate for narrowly defined equality issues in Florida. He regularly went to Tallahassee and met with other groups to influence legislators, as well as he met with city and county officials for the same purpose. It’s called lobbying even though he’s not a registered lobbyist. Frankly, the work he was doing was and is admirable. All of a sudden he started showing up at Democratic Party meetings and in quick succession he was appointed Chairman of the Fund Raising Committee by Party Chair Scott Randolph. All of a sudden a host of new members were coming into the party, many of whom were also working at the Progressive Center and those members were also being appointed to committee chairmanships, although  untried and untested. Randolph thought he had inherited a cash cow in Saunders that would help propel him to Florida Party Chair to replace Rod Smith. The best way to effect that was to promote Joe and others for legislative seats in Tallahassee so he could be looked at as a kingmaker. District 49 was an open seat in East Orlando, and in a redistricting year Joe didn’t actually have to live in the district to run. Since Joe was capable of raising significant money Randolph and others in party leadership got behind him. Joe was raising money and primed to be the sole Democratic candidate in House District 49.

Unfortunately for Joe and Scott, Shayan Elahi put a crimp in their plans. Elahi is a 24 year resident of the district who works as a criminal defense and civil rights attorney and at the time was the Affirmative Action Chair of OCDEC. Elahi is famous for representing Orlando Food not Bombs and many of the Occupy Orlando activists. He also works closely with the ACLU, the Florida Civil Rights Commission and other legal organizations. He did participate heavily in the Trayvon Martin discussions having been a guest on many network and cable news shows. At that point Joe’s backers including party leadership started a negative whispering campaign against Elahi implying that he and his staff are too radical, undisciplined and too unprofessional to be considered seriously. Seriously?……… Seriously!  The same party people who were in love with him two years ago and backed him 100% in his run for Circuit Court judge are now running away from him because he’s radical? What bunk! Successful attorneys have to be both disciplined and professional. That he represents supposedly fringe groups is what civil rights are all about. No. They’re against Elahi because he’s thinning out their cash cow. They also said that Shayan couldn’t raise money. They were proven wrong on that too, so they had to change tactics; they had to build a carefully crafted image of Joe. The only way to do that was to misrepresent who he is and what he does. Why not? Everyone does it. Well, no, actually they don’t. There are people like Shayan who are the real deal, and then there are interlopers like Joe who aren’t.

To hear Joe’s campaign tell the story Joe’s family has lived and worked in the district for a long, long time. As a student he constantly fought for and advocated for his issues and he has been doing that ever since. The problem with that is that Joe is from Broward County and other than the years he spent at UCF he never again lived there. He was a registered voter in Broward until recently and never connected with people there. Up until the other day he was living in the Williamsburg area with his partner, but now is sharing space with his brother near the UCF campus. He only yesterday changed his address at the SOE office and voted. So, let’s peel away the well-crafted veneer of the Joe Saunders candidacy and really examine who he is.

All of his campaign literature shows him fighting for families. One piece, well-staged even implied that he was a family man with a wife and child in a crowd of adoring relatives even if you include Jack and Margo Dixon, Democratic strategists, in the family. Sources say that the photo shoot took place outside district 49. Very misleading. His work for Equality Florida should be all consuming, yet he claims that he also works tirelessly at the Osceola Center for the Arts advocating for education, as a volunteer. The fact is that he’s only there because that’s where his (former) roommate works. His claims that he helped keep Planned Parenthood alive are way overstated. He didn’t even join their Board until a full month after he announced.  He has been taking credit for causes that he has worked on only in the periphery much the same way a football player piles on to a runner after the tackle. No one is accusing him of not doing good work, however padding the resume’ is risky business.

His relentless seeking of endorsements is also of concern. He sought the endorsement of the UCF College Professors neglecting to tell them that he had a democratic opponent. Once they found out they also endorsed Shayan. When Joe sought the endorsement of the AFL-CIO unions the Central Florida Labor Council balked and also influenced the statewide unions to withhold endorsements. Desperate for endorsements Joe went after other statewide unions including the FEA who did endorse without ever vetting his opponent. Joe now claims he has Florida’s Teachers, which again is dishonest because the local unions including the Orange County CTA and the Osceola County CTA (where he claims to work) have not endorsed him. He got Buddy Dyer’s endorsement which means little or nothing in District 49 but after Shayan embarrassed the city in the Food not Bombs case there’s no way Dyer would endorse Elahi.

When the Elahi campaign took Joe to task over his claims he cried foul and got Scott Randolph involved. Randolph and much of party leadership had been acting unethically by openly supporting Joe. There were no lies and there were no misrepresentations in Shayan’s literature; there were simply comparisons and contrasts. If Joe’s ego is that fragile he’s in the wrong business.

The Saunders campaign hit back with its most recent mailer, which is from one of Joe’s legally questionable PACs with completely misleading claims. They completely took Elahi’s FCAT remarks out of context and claimed that Elahi wanted more testing. The statements are completely untrue. Add to that the claim again that he has the support of Florida’s Teachers; it is pure fantasy. Joe or his handlers and funders should have more integrity than that, yet they are the first to cry unfair when they are caught. Is Joe’s campaign being run by the Republican Party? The Central Florida AFL-CIO upon hearing this news sent out an e-mail blast at 5:00 PM today to all member affiliates urging them to e-mail blast all of their members as to the Saunders campaign’s disrespect of their decisions and misuse of endorsements.

The final outrage came on Aug. 10 when the Political Hurricane, under the title “Is Joe Saunders vs. Shayan Elahi Really Scott Randolph vs. Doug Head?”  It is a pure and simple hit piece on Doug Head, former chair of OCDEC because of his backing of Shayan Elahi. Dave Trotter the head guy at PH is a recalcitrant Saunders supporter regardless of the facts presented to him. Doug Head is capable of fighting and winning his own battles and he laughed off the article. Doug neither wants to control nor chair the party again. He just wants Randolph to do his job properly and stop advocating for Joe in the primary along with others in party leadership.” What Scott and the others are doing is against the bylaws of the party and highly unethical” said Head. “He needs to concentrate on building the party, not tearing it apart.”

What this boils down to is winning at any cost regardless of who the candidate is. Joe Saunders the pretender whose funders and handlers have mislead everyone or the real deal, Shayan Elahi who actively fought in court and participated in the labor rallies, the civil rights rallies the March Against the War on Women Rally, The Awake the State rally, the Redistricting battles as well as the Domestic Partner Registry, and a host of others. It’s all real and all on video. Where was Joe during all of this? Missing! If the real Joe Saunders had been running in this race honestly it might have been a more interesting and less contentious race. Let’s send the real deal to Tallahassee. Vote for Shayan Elahi.

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Handicapping the Hors…er…Candidates in Orange County, Florida Part 2 County Races

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By Jerry Waxman

*Author’s Note

I am an independent advisor to several political campaigns. My opinions are strictly my own and do not reflect in any way the feelings or opinions of the candidates I advise. My endorsements are strictly based on who is, again in my opinion the best person for the job.

 

“De Camptown Ladies sing dis song, Doo-Dah! Doo-Dah! De Camptown Racetrack five miles long, Oh! Doo-Dah Day!”

The primary season certainly does feel like a long distance race with the finish line almost in sight. Everyone concerned is practically out of breath and sleepless as we come into the clubhouse turn before the home stretch. Today’s picks are going to center on the county races, all of which are very interesting. Again, I’ve gotten to know most of the participants if not all of them and aside from their political or professional personas they are a pretty likeable group of people. Maybe it’s because many of them bring their families to these events. So, get your race cards out and let’s begin.

Ninth District State Attorney

This is another of those multi county races that also includes Osceola County. I find Lawson Lamar to be one of the most erudite people I’ve ever met. We also have a lot in common; we’re approximately the same age and we both served in the US Army at the same time during the early years of the Vietnam era. He saw action there but I never left the US. I also find him to be a stimulating conversationalist. On the other hand Jeff Ashton is also a pretty pleasant fellow and I like talking to him as well, so what is all the contention about? It’s pretty simple. It’s called policy. Lamar has settled into a niche that is basically stagnant. It is pretty evident that the Casey Anthony trial was lost well before it was ever presented in court because of office policies and procedures. Until that policy is corrected the same thing could happen again. Jeff Ashton by a head. Lamar should retire and start a stud farm for future SAs and Sheriffs.

Supervisor of Elections

Bill Cowles has been Supervisor of Elections since 1996 and by all accounts he has done a very good job. His challenger, Dan Fanelli is looking for an opening to get into politics. Two years ago he was in the crowded field trying to get at Alan Grayson but lost out to Dan Webster. Now he has his sights on the SOE’s office because there’s rampant voter fraud going on right here in Orange County. His whole speech was about rampant fraud at the most recent Orange County Watch meeting, although when pressed for evidence he couldn’t produce any. Bill Cowles in the stretch with Fanelli wearing false colors.

Tax Collector

This is a loser every which way you look at it. There was a brief ray of sunshine when Rod Eddins was in the race, but you can’t run against an institution that’s been in place since 1964. Jim Duffy is giving it a valiant try and he knows that it’s strictly an uphill battle. Earl K. Wood needs to live until he’s 99 in order to assure an orderly transfer of power at the next election. If Earl dies before the 2014 elections Rick Scott gets to pick Rich Crotty which then politicizes the office, so, light a candle and say prayers for Earl every day. Earl K. Wood in a mudder’s finish. Jim Duffy also ran.

Property Appraiser

There is a genuine certified property appraiser in the race. No, it is not the current office holder, Bill Donegan. It’s Rick Singh, who in addition to being able to appraise property correctly pointed out that Donegan is needlessly spending a hundred thousand dollars of taxpayer money per month on wasted rental office space. A third candidate, Pete Clarke got into trouble by claiming two homestead exemptions, which Donegan turned a blind eye to for too long a time. Rick Singh by two furlongs. Pick up the other two for the glue factory.

Sheriff

Jerry Demmings has been Sheriff for four years. John Tegg has been running for Sheriff for a lot longer. Mike Green is a former NYC police detective whose best assets are the pictures of him in uniform, which he will gladly show you at the drop of a hat. Green is in this race solely to siphon off votes from Demmings. Jerry Demmings in half a length. Tegg and Green are an entry and can be picked up for a $100.00 claim.

County Commission District 3

This is an extremely crowded field. This was the district that should have been the one Latino district in the county, although the Latino population is approximately 30% overall in the county. Well, Mayor Jacobs and Co. would have none of it, yet the district is still well populated with Latinos. Also, through a bit of skullduggery on the part of the Mayor and Governor Rick Scott the then district babysitter who was appointed to replace the convicted Mildred Fernandez, Lu Damiani was removed and replaced by an outsider, John Martinez, son of former US Senator Mel Martinez. Damiani, the Mayor’s anointed one is now the frontrunner against Scott Plakon’s heavily backed stooge, Eric Lasso. Throw into this a young progressive, Michael Aviles and a moderate Lydia Pisano and it makes a pretty good hodgepodge. The only two that aren’t wholly owned by dark money forces are Avilez and Pisano. Aviles by a nose. Pisano has many more winnable races to run. Put the others out to pasture.

County Commission District 5

 

This is a very interesting race. Incumbent Ted Edwards has missed an awful lot of votes because of conflicts of interest. He’s a successful businessman and good for him. I admire success. Gina Duncan is a long time Wells Fargo banker who has a heart and a soul. Gina wants to give back and do right for the district. Edwards can’t give back because every time he recuses himself one of his business interests benefits. Everyone on the commission, including Gina, will have a conflict once in a while, that’s only natural. As much as I dislike all the too big to fail banks my respect and admiration for Gina the person knows no bounds. Gina Duncan on a fast track. Edwards DNF.

Orange County School Board

The Orange County School Board with its two billion dollar annual budget is the most feckless, impotent and corrupt organization in the county. Half of the budget is a slush fund for the construction industry. Board chair Bill Sublette has two votes just in case there is a tie so the status quo is maintained. No other elected official in the entire country has that kind of power. The last thing this school board does is advocate for the kids and those who teach them. The only solution is to throw every incumbent out and start fresh. I don’t care who you vote for as long as it is not an incumbent. Flip a coin. Race cancelled.

“Gwine to run all night! Gwine to run all day! I’ll bet my money on de bob-tail nag, somebody bet on de bay!”

 

Whew! I’m glad it’s almost over.

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