It's the Bishop!!!

NEPA religious news: The Bishop has been POUNDING NEPA since he got here!!!



Guy in funny hat and robe speaks out against College Misericordia speaker. He times it right when his Casey/communion controversy begins to die out. What will he say to get back in the news when this controversy begins to die out???



Bishop, Misericordia clash over speaker who supports gay rights

(Below: an excerpt from my Feb. 7th "guy in funny hat and robe" series. I'm thinking of adding "bling bling" to my series, and call it: "guy in funny hat and robe and bling bling - whaddya tink???)

NEPA: Guy in funny hat and robe now attacking Senator Casey.

Hatchetman Bishop Martino, sent to NEPA to decimate the Catholic Diocese of Scranton. Like a businessman "hatchetman" sent in to shut down a plant or company. He ignores the Iraq "War of Lies" and the 1 million killed, 4.5 Million Displaced, 1-2 Million Widows, 5 Million Orphans, and the Israeli attack on Gaza that killed 1,314 (412 children and 110 women) and injured 5,450 (1855 children and 795 women) ...but he's worried about contraception. You know who's following Bishop Martino's advice about contraception? This woman who just had octuplets and now has 14 children - and she's a single mom. I don't see the Catholic church offering people health care to cover all their children, do you? They're not picking up the tab for what they promote!

To distract from shutting down churches in NEPA, half of them, setting up church clusters, busting the Catholic teachers union, shut down catholic schools, dedicating centers to mobsters, giving millions in pedofile hush money, and telling parishoners to VOTE REPUBLICAN, Bishop Martino issues statement chastizing Senator Casey for supporting foreign family planning that supports abortion and contraception!



(Below: an excerpt from my Feb. 3 post...as you can see, our Bishop is a real "wild and crazy guy", and loves to keep saying and doing "wild and crazy" stuff!!!)

Half of NEPA Catholic churches shutting down, sayeth the floaty guy in the sky...Big Dan's exclusive transcript of Bishop Martino's sermon: "Oh, Lordy! Great old bearded guy floating around in the sky who needeth money! Ye wanteth thee
churches in NEPA shut down.
Half of them. Oh holy clusters of fucketh. Those who are against thee floaty bearded guy shutting down of churches, are against thee. Not against me. Even though I'm the one doing this. Thou hath striketh his mighty sword against thy evil Catholic teachers union, too! And hath previously shut down thy lousy catholic schools so kids must travel dangerously further. Hallelujiah!!! Those who are againt these things, are againt THEE, not ME! Even though I'm the one doing it. You hath worked your miracles through me via thy mobsters, and millions in pedofile hush money, but I am only the lowly messenger of thine word. It's not me, it's thee! Beardy floaty guy in the sky told me to tell you to VOTE REPUBLICAN! Let us partaketh of thine Dominus Nabisco wafers, oh 'guy in the sky'! I thinketh we still have some of those wafers. And let us still have enough money for our funny hats and robes, wherever it may be that selleth them. Why aren't you stopping all of this, oh great one? Is it because you are only credited with doing good things? And 'someone else' is always doing the bad things? Why aren't you stopping them, then? You work in mysterious ways, it is not for us to ask logical questions like that! What's that you're saying? I'm doing a 'heckuva job' here in NEPA? Where have I heard that before? Peace be with y'all, and y'all come back now, ya hear??? And don't forget to bring MONEY!!!!!! A-A-A-A-A-AAAAAAAHHHHHH-MEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The Pope and the Fonz say: "AAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!! Heckuva job, hatchetman*** Bishop Martino!!!"



***hatchetman - 1. A person assigned or hired to carry out a disagreeable task or unscrupulous order. For example, When it came to firing an employee, Arthur was his boss's hatchet man. This expression originally referred to a hired assassin but in the mid-1900s was transferred to less nefarious enterprises.

Why isn't Bishop Martino saying anything about the corrupt judges' "kids for profit" scheme, btw??? He's worried about the speaker at Misericordia!!!

NEPA : Poor JUDGEment

Prison for profit - with juveniles!

DISHONORED: The two judges who led the Luzerne County Court for the last seven years took $2.67 million in payoffs for helping a private juvenile detention center reap millions from county contracts, with one of the judges going so far as to sentence children to detention over the objections of juvenile probation officers to benefit the center, federal prosecutors alleged Monday.

Feds: Judges used system to enrich selves. Allegations are that Ciavarella, Conahan took $2.6M in kickbacks in exchange for judicial rulings regarding juvenile detention centers.



WNEP's "Corruption in Luzerne County" page.


...but what's going on in Florida, too?


What's the deal with Judge Toole and attorney Powell and the Jupiter Yacht Club in Florida? Why was a case about a Florida Yacht Club heard in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania? Strange!!!

Powell’s yacht tied to condo linked to judges: Luzerne County Judge Michael Toole in 2004 ruled in favor of attorney Robert Powell in a dispute regarding the docking of his yacht at a marina at the Florida condominium connected to judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan.

What's going on with Mericle Construction? And Florida again?

MERICLE MAN: Mericle Construction Inc., which built the juvenile centers, transferred more than $1 million to a Florida company controlled by the judges

Why does Florida keep popping up in everything?

Judge Conahan, wife connected to former drug dealer...in Florida

...and Judge Conahan directed government money to a bank in which he was a director! Where billionaire casino owner and reputed mobster Louis A. DeNaples was chairman of the board until his recent indictment on perjury charges!

Former Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Conahan directed millions of government dollars to a bank of which he is a director by ordering the county’s magisterial district judges to deposit their fines there, county and state officials say.

Attorney Robert Powell and attorney Greg Zappala. Powell and Zappala partnered on both the juvenile detention center and the Hazleton cargo airport ventures.


It looks like the same cast of characters was in on the Hazleton cargo airport, too! Commissioners Skrepenak and Vonderheid pushed both the juvenile detention center and the cargo airport projects. Maybe the cargo airport project was scrapped because Judges Ciavarella and Conahan couldn't figure out a way to direct prison labor there!

Butler Township attorney Robert J. Powell is selling his interest in a Pittston Township juvenile detention center and the company developing a proposed $1.6 billion regional cargo airport in the Hazleton area. Gregory Zappala, 47, who partnered with Powell on both ventures, is buying Powell’s interest, “ensuring there will be no change in the operations of the companies

Update in this morning's paper:

Attorney Robert J. Powell, whose holding company allegedly paid kickbacks to Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., won nearly $16 million for his clients in Ciavarella’s courtroom from June 2005 through February 2008, county court records show.

Attorney Robert Powell got defensive during the February 2003 ribbon-cutting ceremony for his newly opened Pittston Township juvenile detention center, saying he bit his tongue while the project was “politicized beyond belief.”

Big Dan has questions:Shown from the left: Rob Mericle of Mericle Commercial Real Estate; DEP Secretary McGinty, Leo Kucewicz, executive assistant to Sen. Ray Musto (D-14); Rosemary Dessoye, executive vice-president of the Greater Pittston Chamber of Commerce; and Lew Sebia, chief operating officer for Mericle Commercial Real Estate.

Read the following excerpts from the excellent local newspaper coverage:

The information filed today alleges the judges received payments from two persons, identified as Participant # 1 and Participant # 2. They are not named, but the information says Participant # 1 was a Luzerne County attorney who was an owner of the Pennsylvania Child Care juvenile detention center that is at the core of the government’s case. Butler Township attorney Robert J. Powell was until June one of two co-owners of Pennsylvania Child Care. The other owner, Gregory Zappala, who is now sole owner of the firm, is a Pittsburgh-area investment banker. Most of the $2.6 million in payments to Ciavarella and Conahan went to Pinnacle Group of Jupiter LLC, a company controlled by the judges that owned an exclusive Florida condominium. The payments were disguised as rental fees for the condo and a related dock.

The information says Participant #2 was the contractor that built Pennsylvania Child Care’s local facility and another in Butler County. The contractor for both projects was Mericle Construction Inc., headed by local developer Robert Mericle.

A spokesman for Mericle Construction, attorney Lew Sebia (Mericle Construction Chief Operating Officer) released the following statement at 5 p.m.:

"Neither Rob Mericle nor Mericle Construction has been charged with any offense. (bd: They always say this. When they're actually charged, they never issue a statement: "OK, now they just got charged"; this is standard) Mr. Mericle has cooperated with all authorities with respect to this investigation and will continue to do so in the future without exception. At no time did Rob Mericle or Mericle Construction ever make any payment to influence a decision to secure a contract to build any PA Child Care facility. (bd: Notice: Sebia did NOT say Mericle Construction never made any payments to the judges Florida company Pinnacle Group of Jupiter LLC" - pretty slick, huh???) Mr. Mericle’s participation to construct these facilities was sought out because of his demonstrated expertise in construction and development. (bd: No one is questioning Mericle Construction's "expertise", we're questioning the kickbacks!!!)"

Big Dan's Big Question: "What was the role of Lew Sebia, the lead counsel and COO of Mericle Construction / Real Estate Co.? Was he the legal operative of "Participant #2" (Mericle)??? Are we all expected to believe that Lew Sebia, the legal counsel for Mericle and COO of Mericle Construction, was unaware that Mericle was a participant in paying $2.6 million in kickbacks to Pinnacle Group of Jupiter LLC in Florida (controlled by Judges Ciavarella and Conahan) and Beverage Marketing (controlled by Judge Conahan)???"

NEPA: #3 and counting, in the Luzerne County Courthouse corruption continuing probe by the FEDS. Rumor has it, many more are expected to go down!

Sharkey faces the JAWS of JUSTICE!

Luzerne County Court Administrator William T. Sharkey Sr., the highest-paid non-judicial employee in the county court system, has agreed to plead guilty to pocketing more than $70,000 seized in illegal gambling cases over 10 years, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Sharkey is the third high-ranking court official snared in a wide-ranging, ongoing federal probe of the county court system.

FEDS CALL SHARKEY ON SCHEME

ATTENTION WOMEN VOTERS: NEPA's "Feminist Fraudster" WILK's Steve Corbett

NEPA's self-proclaimed "feminist" and self-proclaimed "women's rights activist" WILK's Steve Corbett is in reality doing the most harm of anyone in the area against women. He came into the area with a show as a uniter, making people of all points of view feel comfortable. For example, on the illegal immigration issue, he was for the immigrants, but attracted a lot of people against the illegal immigration issue and didn't alienate them when the spoke.

Then, the Democratic primary came to town in Pa. and so did the Corbett "Whoring For Hillary" show. He turned from uniter to divider. He was pro-Hillary, but alienated Obama backers. This continued for weeks and months and that is all he talked about, forsaking local issues which were his forte. He never had a kind word to say about Obama, he still doesn't even though the primary is over.

He's talked about Obama smoking, Obama not hiring union workers, Obama being sexist, Obama calling a woman "sweetie" (or something like that), giving Floyd Brown (Willie Horton ad) a forum to bash Obama...all his subjects are negative towards Obama. But now that Hillary has dropped out and Obama is the Democratic candidate, his continual Obama bashing is now helping McCain instead of Hillary. And John McCain has an anti-women's rights voting track record (see my excerpt below). Today, he's talking about how Obama is offending Muslims by his staff supposedly asking 2 Muslim women who were sitting near him during a speech to remove their Muslim garb. Corbett supplies his own "remedy" to this: ask them to attend his next speech in full Muslim attire. Corbett's not stupid, he knows the mere mention of "Obama" and "Muslim" is intended to hurt Obama. Much like Bush kept mentioning "Sadaam" and "9/11" together continually. Then when is was exposed that there was no connection between Sadaam and 9/11, Bush said, "I never said Sadaam did 9/11." It's called "association" by continually bringing up two things in the same breath. Corbett can't go one single day on his show without a topic that is intended to hurt Obama. And he's giving John McCain's horrendous record a free pass by ignoring it. Corbett's constant drumbeat against Obama also a drumbeat against womens rights.

The section below starting with "Women Give John McCain a ZERO" was cut from a previous post of mine on John McCain's women's rights record. This is the man WILK's "Feminist Fraudster" Steve Corbett is helping get elected by his continual Obama bashing and his ignoring John McCain's horrid record against women. If John McCain is elected president, he will continue the Bush administrations' assault on womens' rights and then the Corbett will probably say that John McCain is continuing the Bush administrations' assault womens' rights and setting them back to era before they were allowed to vote.

Attention women: you'll know who to blame: people like "Feminist Fraudster" Steve Corbett!


Women Give John McCain a ZERO!

John McCain's record on reproductive rights couldn't be more appalling. There, we said it! We said it because the corporate media won't confront McCain on the real issues in this election. They won't tell you, for instance, that McCain has consistently received a big fat zero from NARAL on its pro-choice scorecard. Nor will they tell you that McCain has flip-flopped on Roe v. Wade and now supports overturning this all-too-crucial case.

Because the corporate media has failed to do its job, we have to work extra hard to do ours. And so we've created McCain's Clinic, a sneak peek at what a women's health clinic could look like if McCain were elected, and now it's up to YOU to send it to all the women you know.

John McCain's anti-choice record (pdf); he voted anti-choice 123 of 128 votes!

Planned Parenthood Action Fund Launches Radio Ad. Criticizing Sen. McCain’s Commitment to Overturn Roe v. Wade

Sen. John McCain served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1986 and in the U.S. Senate from 1987 to present. During his four years in the House, then-Rep. McCain cast 11 votes on abortion and other reproductive-rights issues. Ten of these votes were anti-choice. In the Senate, through 2006, Sen. McCain cast 117 votes on abortion and other reproductive-rights issues, 113 of which were anti-choice.

ES&S Electronic Voting Machines...We Have Them In Luzerne County!

Look at this! ES&S is the same electronic voting machine company that makes the e-vote machines we have here in Luzerne County! Why do the people in charge keep telling us how wonderful they work? How can we trust our election results? This is a bi-partisan issue that affects Republican voters AND Democratic voters...ALL voters! What does Lenny Piazza have to say about this? The same company makes ours! They're not making ours good, and other ones bad!

● Outcomes Changed in Multiple Arkansas Elections After Wide-spread ES&S Touch-screen Voting Machine Failures. Disparities of Thousands of Votes, Faulty Flash Cards, At Least One Race Overturned After Tabulation Failures Discovered...

● Massive (And Wholly Predictable) ES&S Touch-screen Failures in Arkansas and West Virginia. Who Could Have Forseen It?!...Apparently not Senators Feinstein and Bennett Who Have Announced New Federal Legislation Which Will Allow the Use of These Very Machines for Years...

● Second Arkansas Election Overturned in a Week Due to ES&S Voting Machine Failure...

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

Where is all the hate coming from?

John Hagee, the controversial evangelical leader and endorser of Sen. John McCain, argued in a late 1990s sermon that the Nazis had operated on God's behalf to chase the Jews from Europe and shepherd them to Palestine. According to the Reverend, Adolph Hitler was a "hunter," sent by God, who was tasked with expediting God's will of having the Jews re-establish a state of Israel.

● McCain Backer Hagee Said Hitler Was Fulfilling God's Will (AUDIO)

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Rightwing hate radio on NEPA's WILK and syndicated across the country, helping to ruin America:

Summary: On the day it was announced that Sen. Ted Kennedy had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, nationally syndicated radio host Michael Savage opened his show by interspersing audio of Kennedy singing "Ay Jalisco No Te Rajes" with clips of news reporters discussing Kennedy's diagnosis and audio from Kindergarten Cop in which Arnold Schwarzenegger's character says, "It's not a tumor." Later, Savage played the Dead Kennedys song "California Über Alles" after stating: "The poor guy's been suffering for years, you know? Unfairly he's been accused of alcoholism, but we see now that it was something much more deep-seated. And so, to cut this out in some respect for Ted Kennedy, here's a tune coming at you from the Dead Kennedys. Go ahead and play it, please."

● Michael Savage plays Dead Kennedys song "in some respect for" Sen. Kennedy

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More hate radio from WILK:

As Media Matters for America noted, on the May 14 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show, Limbaugh asserted, "If Barack Obama were Caucasian, they would have taken this guy out on the basis of pure ignorance long ago."

From the May 21 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: You know, the feminazis forgot one thing. Well, one of the objectives of the feminazis over the last 20, 25 years has been to dominate the public education system so as to remove the competitive nature of boys. You know, there's a crisis of young man-boy education in the schools. And they did this on purpose, to eliminate male competition in the work force. This is part of feminazi grand plan.

● Limbaugh on Dem primary: If "feminazis" had remembered to oppose "affirmative action for black guys ... they wouldn't face the situation they face today"

Corbett's "Operation Turn Down" Opens Him Up For GOP Manipulation

How many times have I blogged about this, hundreds of times? Where have you heard this before:

"I'm an African-American women, and I agree with everything you say, Rush."

"I'm a black guy, but I agree with everything you say, Sean."

You've heard these FAKE/shill/manipulating callers on the Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity Shows! Their calling card is that they announce, "I'm a black guy, and...." etc... No one speaks like that! When did you ever speak to a black person, and they led off their conversation like that? Never!

Well, it looks like Steve Corbett was played like a fiddle by a shill GOP caller, who began their call with, "Steve, I'm an African-American woman, and I wouldn't vote for Obama. I'm voting for McCain, he's a patriot..." etc...etc...etc... The only difference between the Limbaugh & Hannity shows, and Corbett's show, is their callers are "in on it" with Rush & Sean and their target is to manipulate the audience like an infomercial! In Corbett's case, HE was the one manipulated, not the audience! (Side note: As George W. Bush winds down his presidency, Republicans are now on the verge of going six years without an African-American governor, senator or House member.)

Keep in mind, this was a black woman for John McCain! Not Hillary! I'd love to meet a black woman who's for John McCain!

Also? Let's recap your first 2 callers after 6pm: A woman called and said that Obama will "beat down the whites", and the next caller said they wouldn't vote for Obama because of his "Muslim background". What a classy group of callers your "Operation Turn Down" is attracting!

Your show had descended to being a show about Obama-bashing and your callers have descended into the ones I've described above. And you better watch out for GOP manipulation, if you care.

Hate begets hate. When you're filled with hate, you also open yourself up to manipulation.

Also, "Operation Turn Down" is supposedly attracting a nationwide and worldwide audience (says Corbett and WILK). Then you should probably drop topics like the corruption in the Luzerne County courthouse and all other local subjects. What does someone in California or India care about that?

On the reverse side, if you DO go back to having local topics, I wonder what that guy in New Dehli thinks about Judge Ciavarella? For that matter, what does he care about Obama and Hillary?

Operation Bring Back Sean Hannity

I never dreamed I'd be saying this, but WILK: could you please bring back Sean Hannity to replace Steve Corbett? Sean Hannity had a show on our local radio station WILK from 3pm-7pm, which I couldn't stand. I almost couldn't stand him as much as Rush Limbaugh! WILK replaced Hannity's syndicated show with a local talk radio show, the Steve Corbett Show. Corbett used to be a writer for the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader a long time ago, then he went to California for several years. Why he came back, I don't know. My guess is, he fell flat on his face in California. I think that's a pretty good guess.

Corbett's radio show has been on for about a year (going by memory, it's just a guesstimate). I liked Corbett's show. I listened to it just about every day. I hated the Sean Hannity Show, so I thought Corbett was a breath of fresh air. He seemed to never rub anyone the wrong way and let everyone speak from all points of view. He had on many varied topics and subject. He would get a lot of callers who disagreed with him, but would talk to them masterfully in a way not to alienate them. And at least he wasn't another rightwing Hannity, Limbaugh, or O'Reilly. I liked his show so much, I went to see him broadcast live from a bar in Wilkes-Barre called Oyster. Besides the guests he had on, there was no one there except me and my wife. IE, my wife and I were the only "fans" there. (former fans now)

When the Democratic primary came to Pennsylvania, Corbett's show turned into some kind of bizarre "Whoring for Hillary Show" or the "I Hate Obama Show" (take your pick). And that's all it's been ever since. He's obsessed with talking about Obama smoking, Obama calling someone "sweetie", Obama supposedly hired non-union help in NEPA (what ever happened to that one, Steve?), Hugh Rodham "happened" to call Corbett's show a couple of times (Hugh Rodham listens to WILK...RIGHT!), Obama this, Obama that...his show is simply became a show about bashing Obama. He even started smearing anyone who backed Obama, such as Scranton Senator Bob Casey. He started some smear campaign that Casey disrespected a local soldier who was killed in Iraq. What ever happened to that, Steve? Throw enough shit against the wall, and see what sticks?

The way his show used to be so good and then suddenly turned this way the exact moment the Democratic primary came to Pennsylvania, as abrupt as driving off a cliff, makes one question what exactly is going on here, if there's more here than meets the eye, if there's something going on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

He supposedly started something called "Operation Turn Down". Possibly modelled after Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" (?). He and some others on the internet (all FIVE of them), claim this is a "massive movement", a "grassroots movement". Actually, what's happening, is Hillary backers are "taking their ball and going home" because Hillary will not be the nominee. Now they're pulling the "nuclear option" (or should I say "noo-KEY-lore option" like Bush) and saying they will not vote for Obama. Sore losers! If we don't win, nobody wins! IF...it's even happening! Corbett and his "callers" say it's happening...

Corbett keeps claiming he will not have the heirarchy of the Democratic Party shove Obama down "our" throats. Funny, I thought Obama won the nomination because voters voted for him! Obama won the vote, Corbett is shoving Hillary down our throats! Obama won the most states, the most votes, and the most delegates! Democratically, by the peoples' votes! Corbett and his supposed "followers" think that even though Obama won the peoples' vote, maybe we should install Hillary anyway! Damn what the people voted! Hillary's more "electable" (even though she couldn't even beat Obama)! That's how we should pick the nominee, based on a few loudmouth losers that shout, "Hillary's more electable!", not by voting! I guess Corbett doesn't like the democratic process, and now he's going to take his ball and go home, like a little kid. And try and get some other idiots along the way to follow him.

He's good at getting an idiotic mob mentality going, using "we", "us" "us Pennsylvanians" (how about 'us Californians', Steve? you left "us" for years!). If Corbett doesn't get his way about something, it's "we Pennsylvanians aren't going to take this from Obama, are we?" "Obama's camp can't talk to us like this, are we going to take this?". Who's "we", Steve?

Based on me and my wife witnessing that we were the only fans at Oyster that day, and based on the fact that there are maybe 5 mentions of this so-called "Operation Turn Down" on the internet (cut/pasted), I think this will be like Corbett's "Operation California", and it will fall flat on its face. Actually, it will never get high enough off the ground to fall from anywhere.

It looks like Hillary's devisiveness has rubbed off on some of her backers, and the "threat" is: "...damn the actual vote, 'install Hillary as the nominee or we won't vote for Obama!" Or at least some loudmouths are saying that. In reality this isn't even happening.

Today, Corbett had people (supposedly) from other states calling into his show saying, "I'm joining 'Operation Turn Down'! You're right Steve! I agree with you!" Right! There is as much of a chance of someone in the state of Wyoming listening to the Corbett Show, as there is ME or YOU listening to a local station in the state of Wyoming...that's ZERO percent chance! Yet, someone from the state of Wyoming called in and agreed with "Operation Turn Down". And people from supposedly from other states were calling and agreeing with him. Funny? No one from another state called in and disagreed with "Operation Turn Down"...what are the odds of that? The same odds of a person legitimatelly calling in and agreeing...which is ZERO percent! Another funny thing? I never heard anyone from another state call in before! They must've all "happened" to have tuned in today! Just like when Hugh Rodham "happened" to call in!

That's a HUGE stretch to believe something like that! I suppose if these people were calling from around the country, this wasn't some orchestrated Ron Poppeil infomercial-type setup, like the old snake-oil salesmen where someone comes out of the crowd that's a supposed "bystander" and says how great the product is.

I know that I always listen to local talk radio shows in other states all the time for absolutely no reason! In fact, one of my favorites, I listen to local talk radio shows in the Dakotas to see what's happening there on the local level (sarcastic). BULLSHIT!!!

If you expect me to believe that people from around the country are listening to local-yokel WILK Steve Corbett's show and calling into it...and it's legit (not like some infomercial), I have a bridge to sell you-the 8th Street Bridge in Wyoming. Wyoming, Pa., right next to me...not the state of Wyoming.

Corbett was a diplomat up until now. For example, he's outspoken for the illegal immigrants, yet he welcomed many callers against the illegal immigrants and spoke with them politely, not giving up his ground, but not coming across as spewing hatred and devisiveness towards them. This changed with the Obama issue. Now he comes across with the hatred and devisiveness of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

Corbett came back into town as a radical progressive with the ability to not alienate callers of opposing points of view, but now he's just an Obama-basher who sings off-key polkas about Keilbasi's like some sort of country hick show, often recently stating, "It's my show, I can say whatever I want!", to "apologize" for his recent behavior. That's true, but hatred develops more hatred, and diplomacy develops more diplomats.

Looks like bullshit...smells like bullshit...IT MUST BE BULLSHIT!

Take your ball and go home, Steve, we don't need you!

ps: YOUR SHOW STINKS ON ICE!!!

I never thought I'd be saying this in a million years, but WILK...Please bring back Sean Hannity!

Black Woman Not Given Provisional Ballot At Ward 16, Wilkes-Barre City

According to elections official Walter Griffith (right), who was working the polls at Ward 16 in Wilkes-Barre City, he witnessed a black woman come in to vote. She was told she wasn't registered to vote and wasn't in the books. This woman then said that she definitely filed the registration paperwork that was needed.

Walter Griffith then called voter services for permission to give this woman a provisional ballot, and voter services told Walter not to give her a provisional ballot. Walter said that he witnessed this happening in the ward adjacent to him, too.

He said the procedure is to get permission from Luzerne County Bureau of Elections to give provisional ballots to people who need them so they can vote, and then the courts can decide later if they are in fact eligible. But, permission for this woman was denied for a provisional ballot by Luzerne County Bureau of Elections.

Is This The REAL Corbett We're Now Seeing?

Most presidential primaries are over by the time it gets to Pennsylvania. For the first time anyone can remember, the Pa. primary has some significance, albeit not very much. Barack Obama has the Democratic nomination all but wrapped up mathematically.

But ever since it was apparent that the race wouldn't be officially over by the time it hit Pa., WILK's Steve Corbett show has turned into some kind of "bizarre" anti-Obama campaign. Late last week, Corbett was on the "Obama smokes" kick and I predicted here in Big Dan's Big News April 6 (between the picture of Richard Connor and the Obama girl) that this week Steve's topic would be, "Obama Hates Farmers", because I caught an article in the local papers about his "good chum" Hugh Rodham, Hillary's brother, speaking to farmers.

But even I couldn't have predicted that this week his show would be, "Obama is against the troops"...by association with Senator Casey. Local Dallas, Pa. soldier Lt. Michael J. Cleary lost his life in Iraq on Dec. 20,2005. Today, Corbett was saying something to the effect that Senator Casey "blew off" giving the Cleary family Michael's medals in order to campaign with or for Obama. Corbett hates the fact that Casey endorsed Obama. He was on that rampage about 2 weeks ago.

WILK's news briefs always seem to echo what Steve's smearing about, too, like last week's anti-Obama non-story about Obama not hiring union help to setup his appearances in NEPA. Whatever happened to that story, Steve? Oh, that one didn't work for you, so this week it's using the Cleary family!

One caller called in and said, "The Cleary family is away, and I don't think they know you're invading their privacy like this." Steve kept putting that person on hold, out of character for the pre-anti-Obama Corbett.

Although Corbett said this wasn't anything "anti-Obama", that is was between Senator Casey and the Cleary family, he later contradicted himself and said, "You can't separate this from Obama, because Casey endorsed Obama."

Unless there's more to it than appears, I can't believe the Cleary family would appreciate Corbett dragging their son's name all over the airwaves today for his anti-Obama campaign. And I just can't believe Senator Casey would do something like that, without communication with the Cleary family. Of course, Steve would like everyone to believe that he was defending the Cleary family, but I'll believe that if I hear it directly from the Cleary family...not Steve Corbett.

If I were in either the Obama or the Casey camp, my advice would be to continue ignoring Steve Corbett...you're smart, I think you know that. My wife and I used to love Steve Corbett's show, until it turned into a 4-hour anti-Obama campaign. Now we hardly listen to it anymore. Last week I turned it on for exactly 1 minute, and he was talking about Obama smoking. This is a big Democratic area, and he's turning off those of us who don't want to witness his anti-Obama and anti-Casey propaganda. We don't want to see Democrats against Democrats, our goal is to get a Democratic president in 2008. Steve used to be able to get his points across without alienating listeners. It's one thing to be pulling for either Hillary or Obama, but it's another thing to act like you're part of their campaign. Get used to the idea of the new Steve Corbett putting you on hold or cutting you off, if you have a difference of opinion.

● The "Straw Man Argument", used by propagandists. "A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position...."(read on, click here)

By the way, Michael's mom is a member of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), and bravo to you Mama Cleary! I really admire you for that!

● Biggest union guy in the country backs Obama...

The Nation Magazine: Hillary Clinton Campaign Strategists Closely Tied to Union Busters, GOP Operatives, Conservative Media

● Update: Barack Obama has taken the lead over Hillary Clinton 45-43 in
Pennsylvania, according to the newest survey from Public Policy Polling! (hat tip 99)

Big Dan: This is from LAST YEAR, this is old news that needs to be brought up again! Due to WILK's Steve Corbett's blatant anti-Obama campaign! Setup like an infomercial, a union member "happens" to call into Steve's show, and then Hillary Clinton's brother Hugh Rodham "happens" to call into the show! Does Steve Corbett think we're stupid??? One might think this had all the hallmarks of a professional set-up...

The Nation: Clinton Campaign Strategists Closely Tied to Union Busters, GOP Operatives, Conservative Media

A new expose in The Nation magazine finds that while Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is publicly trying to win support of unions in her presidential campaign, behind the scenes she is being advised by a team of strategists closely affiliated with unionbusters, GOP operatives and conservative media. We speak with the reporter who broke the story.

In campaign news, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton reached out to members of the Culinary Workers Union on Wednesday during a stop in Las Vegas.

The union represents casino and hotel workers. Senator Clinton said it should be easier for unions to organize and that private equity firms should honor union contracts after buyouts.

While Clinton is publicly trying to win the support of such unions, behind the scenes she is being advised by a team of strategists closely affiliated with unionbusters, GOP operatives, conservative media and other Democratic Party antagonists.

This according to a new expose in The Nation magazine titled "Hillary Inc." written by Ari Berman. Much of Berman’s article focuses on Senator Clinton’s top strategist, Mark Penn, who heads the public relations firm Burson-Marstellar.

Among other things, the company helps firms fight unionization efforts. Up until March, the labor section of Burson-Marstellar’s website read: “Companies cannot be caught unprepared by Organized Labor’s coordinated campaigns.”

Mark Penn’s list of previous and current clients reads like a who’s who of Corporate America: Texaco, Eli Lilly, Microsoft, Proctor and Gamble, Monsanto.

Ari Berman, contributing writer for The Nation magazine and a Puffin Foundation writing fellow at The Nation Institute.

Watch this video: Hillary, Inc.



The Expose by The Nation Magazine, Clinton Campaign Strategists Closely Tied to Union Busters, GOP Operatives, Conservative Media, Mark Penn: Union Buster! (click here)

● Obama wins all possible scenarios (click here/hat tip to GWN)

● The Nation: The PR firm run by Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's top strategist, has a new client: Blackwater.

● Client of the day: Blackwater. The firm of which Mark Penn remains president, Burson-Marsteller, has raised eyebrows for straying a bit from core Democratic Party issues, with its involvement in an anti-union campaign and for representing a leading, troubled subprime lender. But ... Blackwater?!

I guess Democracy NOW!, The Nation Magazine, and Politico.com are not credible websites, according to Steve???

● Even as Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was blasting Sen. Barack Obama for his ties to the Exelon Corporation, the firm of Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars from the very same nuclear energy giant. This past week, Burson Marsteller, Penn's powerhouse consulting agency, was paid more than $230,000 by Exelon to help renew a nuclear energy license in New Jersey, the Huffington Post has learned. The payment was for work that took place over several months, and Burson is still employed by the company.

Tim Grier Drops His Appeal Of The DCED's Decision

Hello everyone,

As of this morning, I have contacted Attorney Cowger and asked that he file the appropriate paperwork to withdraw my appeal of the DCED's decision.

May reasoning is as follows:

First and foremost, the efforts by Commissioner Skrepenak, Mr. Moses and others to discredit or defame me with their disparaging remarks is more than I and my family should have to endure. While they have clearly shown a penchant for abusing the system we entrusted them to protect, I have only attempted to hold them accountable, something they obviously are unused to and unwilling to accept. Their comments about me and my actions have only served to confuse the community and damage my reputation - an interesting tactic considering the recent notorious behavior of Commissioner Skrepenak and his associates at the courthouse.

Second, other than my attorney, I have absolutely no faith in the Pennsylvania courts or its officers. Pennsylvania courts, from Luzerne County to Harrisburg, have a history of making political decisions on behalf of those in power rather than just decisions on behalf of those whose grievances are legitimate.

Additionally, this effort to right some egregious wrongs has taken away from my time to study and also be with my family. While I can't get back the time that I have spent on this effort to stop the wanton and wasteful spending, I can certainly budget my time better in the future to ensure future success.

I have always said that I try to act not just in my own best interests, but also with the best interests of the community in mind as well. That is exactly how I approached this matter from the beginning, and it is how I approach it today. It is important though that I maintain a proper balance. Continuing this fight while so many in the community, through their silence, have made it clear they do not support it would not, in my opinion, be the right thing to do. Thousands have spoken up in support of my actions, but hundreds of thousands have said and done nothing. I interpret the silence of the majority to mean that they were fine with the current state of affairs. I have no doubt that by withdrawing this appeal Luzerne County will quickly return to such a state, and that a new PR consultant will let us all know what a fabulous state it is.

Tim Grier

Tim Grier Applies For New Luzerne County PR "job"

Here is Tim Grier's letter applying for the brand new Luzerne County PR "job" that was in the papers yesterday, addressed to the new Luzerne County Manager/Chief Clerk Doug Pape, who replaced Sam Guesto of debit card debacle fame, who just applied for and got a $78,159.80 job after leaving the job Pape has...

I understand this is a newly created position, which tells me that the powers that be, think that Luzerne County needs "PR". They are thinking of a lot of new things lately in Luzerne County, like the protest ordinance! Maybe Luzerne County needs "PR" because of all the stupid things they're thinking of in Luzerne County!

Will this job pay $78,159.80, like Sam Guesto's (picture below on right) new job? Will Judge Ciavarella appoint someone to this position?

In my opinion, Tim Grier is perfect for this job, he is a walking, talking PR person who is always in the news, and what better way for Luzerne County officials to "keep an eye" on Tim, than to hire him! It's a match made in heaven! They won't have to look for Tim, because he'll be staring over their shoulder! All Day long!

I think there ought to be questions, if Tim Grier is not granted an interview. And if he is granted an interview, I think there ought to be questions raised if he isn't hired for this position!

Here's the letter:

Mr. Douglas A. Pape
Luzerne County Manager/Chief Clerk
Luzerne County Courthouse
200 North River Street
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711

Mr. Pape:

I am writing in response to your recently published RFQ in which you advertise for “an experienced public relations consultant to provide PR counseling and services to the Board of Commissioners and to assist the county in developing and implementing a comprehensive public relations operation.”

You have listed the following as required qualifications:

I. Demonstrated experience in message development and PR strategy
II. Media experience, preferably in Northeastern Pennsylvania
III. Established contacts and relationships with members of the Northeastern Pennsylvania press corps
IV. Experience representing government agencies and/or elected officials or political candidates

In regards to the first qualification:

I have a fair amount of experience in what I consider a unique approach to PR strategy: being honest and forthright with the public and the media regarding issues affecting the community. My strategy when I ran for mayor of Wilkes-Barre this past year was this: Call it like I saw it. Tell the voters and the media the truth about what is/was going on in Wilkes-Barre City government. This was no easy task; the City of Wilkes-Barre has its own public relations campaign designed to paint a rosier picture than what truly is/was taking place in the city. Nonetheless, I managed to get my message out to thousands of voters effectively; I spent approximately twenty-five cents on campaign materials for every vote I received, my opponent’s campaign spent approximately fifty dollars per vote. It is true, my opponent proved to be the victor, but my approach was clearly far more cost effective and over 1000 people came out to the polls in support of me and my ideas. Additionally, I managed to restore a fair amount of confidence in the process by letting the public know that there are individuals in the community willing to step up and do the right thing by being honest with them.

Concerning my most recent actions against misspending in Luzerne County, I again employed my technique of being honest about the goings-on within the county government and have had a tremendous amount of PR success. The general consensus among Luzerne County residents (as noted by polls conducted by The Times Leader and WYOU-TV, as well as numerous letters to the editor in support of my actions and opinions) is that the county is in the wrong with its deceptive behavior, atrocious misspending and poor personnel hiring decisions, and I am in the right for holding the county accountable. By being honest and forthright about county misspending and hiring practices (my message development, if you will) I have convinced, or better yet - enabled the general public to see the county for what it truly is. Personally, I consider this to be a great personal success; one that can benefit the community as a whole.

Regarding your second and third qualifications:

I have a fair amount of media experience here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I have appeared on live and recorded television broadcasts. I have been interviewed numerous times for print, radio and television; in person, over the telephone, and in the studio. I have established contacts at all major media outlets in Luzerne County. Individuals in print, radio and television know how to reach me day and night, and they also know that they can count on me to return their calls at all hours. Additionally, they know when I speak to them that I will not dump on them some prepared, canned speech, but rather they know that I will shoot straight and be honest about what I see transpiring in our government. I believe that this is exactly what Luzerne County needs to restore its tarnished image – honesty and accountability.

Regarding your forth qualification:

While I do not have experience representing elected officials, I have worked tirelessly on campaigns for a number of individuals, including myself, here in Luzerne County. My plan every time: be honest with the electorate. By bringing that positive attitude to Luzerne County, I think restoring credibility to the courthouse may in fact be a possibility.

You seek assistance in message strategy – rather than wait for you to hire me, I will give you my trade secret - BE HONEST AND FORTHRIGHT WITH THE CITIZENS OF LUZERNE COUNTY. In all honesty, I believe that is exactly what the county needs to get back on track. (See how that honesty thing works?) If you feel that coaching and counseling is necessary for the Board of Commissioners and other administrative personnel regarding this “message strategy”, I am happy to offer this service to you, and quite honestly (there’s that word again!!!), I think that my established position with the residents of Luzerne County and the local media regarding government accountability is something that no one else locally can offer Luzerne County. I suppose you could say that I am offering both you and the residents of Luzerne County a unique opportunity.

You seek to develop “policies, procedures, and protocols that will facilitate effective communication…” I don’t mean to be redundant, but allow me to give this one to you for free, again: tell the members of the Board of Commissioners and the members of the administration and the courts to stop trying to deceive the public. The public knows that not everything is as rosy as the county might like us to believe; the trick is to be honest about it and tell us what the plan is to repair the deficiencies so we can move forward as a community. The county’s current method – deceive the public so that certain candidates will be re-elected, certain people will be hired, and certain individuals will receive contracts – is an outdated method that continues to plague our county government. I must warn you, hiring a professional wordsmith to paint an even rosier picture of that which is actually in need of repair is not only not the answer; it flies in the face of everything the new Board of Commissioners has promised the citizens of Luzerne County.

Please be advised that I have eight weeks left in the current semester at Penn State before I graduate. I know you seek someone “24/7”; I hope you are not in any rush. If you are, and my current enrollment conflicts with your needs, I again suggest – JUST LET THE COMMISSONERS AND THE COURTS AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL KNOW THAT IT IS TIME TO START BEING HONEST AND STOP WITH THE DECEPTION, THE LIES AND THE LIES BY OMISSION. By taking this approach, you may, in fact, eliminate the need for this position altogether, thereby saving the residents of Luzerne County tens of thousands of dollars every year. Maybe I am talking myself out of a job, but if you are not interested in honesty, perhaps I can at least convince you not to fill this position with some slick, propaganda-spewing individual whose sole purpose will be to further confuse and deceive the citizens of Luzerne County. In the meantime, if you wish to proceed with your plan, I would be happy to work with the Board of Commissioners and administrative personnel on a part-time basis until graduation. When I am available to come on board full-time, I am willing to accept this position at the average salary of Luzerne County’s hard-working residents. The U.S. Census Bureau calculated the mean per-capita income for Luzerne County was $21,346 in 2006. I would be happy to work with the county on getting out the truth to the residents on that salary. Should you require references or any additional information from me, please do not hesitate to contact me at tjg5050@psu.edu or 570-970-0238. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely Yours,

/original signed/

Timothy J. Grier

● Times Leader: Grier’s PR job application takes jab. Watchdog puts his own spin on what he believes the role of consultant should be.

The False Story of Republicans Switching Party Registration To Nominate A More "Beatable" Democrat

Another false story in the media, started by the Republican Noise Machine in the media (like Rush Limbaugh), is that Republican voters are switching their registration to Democrat so they can vote for Obama, who will then be more "beatable" by John "Bush Full Lager" McCain. This false story is also being pimped by the local Times Leader owner Richard Conner, in his "editorials".

If you remember correctly, the original false story was the opposite, that Republicans were switching registration to vote for Hillary, because SHE'S more "beatable" than Obama...

Take a look at these numbers in Luzerne County NEPA in this story by the Citizen's Voice:

● 845 NEW (not "switched") Democratic registered voters since Feb. 5 Super Tuesday
● 318 NEW (not "switched") Republican registered voters since Feb. 5 Super Tuesday

Rush Limbaugh, Richard Conner, etc...that says NEW, not SWITCHED!

AND:

"Most voter registration forms recently distributed by the county bureau of elections have gone to Obama campaigners, many of whom are college students".

ALSO:

How many people are switching from Republican to Democrat...BECAUSE THE REPUBLICANS JUST PLAIN OLE' STINK??? The Republicans ran America into the ground when they controlled the whole federal government from 2000->2006, and now they are stopping legislation such as SCHIP health care for children, voting against banning torture, voting for telecom immunity for spying on us, and a host of OTHER unAmerican things! The economy is crashing due to REPUBLICAN POLICY!!!

● John McCain is getting a free pass from the media on this!!! "McCain Torture Endorsement Lost Amid Media Sex Scandal Frenzy. The media missed a damning story that has actual implications for American democracy".

Joe Kennedy's "Evil" Heating Oil Help Program

(Above: Joe Kennedy; One of the "good guys" in a not-so-good world.........)

I was asking a friend of mine, who is low income and disabled, how he is coping with skyrocketting heating oil prices. I told him, that less than a month ago I paid $2.99 for my heating oil, and today I called a local company for another 100 gallons, and they wanted $3.62/gallon. Yes, you heard that right! In less that a month, it went from $2.99 to $3.62! So, I paid $299 for 100 gallons less than a month ago, and now they want $362!!!

My friend said that the CEO, which runs the LIHEAP program for helping low income and/or disabled people with their heating bills, ran out of money. But there is a new program that has reached Pennsylvania, Citizen's Energy. I looked up Citizen's Energy on the internet, and it's run out of Massachusetts by Joe Kennedy (son of Robert F. Kennedy, godson of John F. Kennedy, and nephew of Ted Kennedy), in conjunction with CITGO, that "evil dictator" Hugo Chavez's oil company! Take a look at Joe Kennedy's Citizen's Energy site (click here) and see how "evil" the Kennedy's are!

Then I thought, BOY! THAT really isn't being reported on! Is it? My friend gets a voucher for 150 gallons of heating oil from Citizen's Energy, but the normal CEO/LIHEAP gives cash (not "gallons" vouchers). I asked my friend when he received this help, if it was within the last month when my heating oil went up from $2.99/gallon to $3.62/gallon, and he said that in fact, it was within this last month.

Now I have this question: Is anyone looking into the fact that heating oil in Pa. has risen astronomically, exactly when Citizen's Energy started giving out 150 gallon heating oil vouchers? That is called "gouging", and it is gouging the money from a program that is helping low income and disabled people! If this is on purpose, the beauty of it for the heating oil companies, is that the Citizen's Energy vouchers are in GALLONS and not CASH, so the needy get their 150 gallons of heating oil, so the heating oil companies can charge a thousand dollars a gallon, and would anyone be the wiser?

WHO is looking into whether the heating oil companies purposely raised their heating oil from $2.99 to $3.62, knowing Citizen's Energy is picking up the tab? To me, it seems that heating oil has risen way out of proportion to gasoline prices, right when these vouchers came out...SOME COINCIDENCE, HUH???

Yes, I did a little "prying" into my friend's situation, but since the newspapers and TV aren't doing this, I thought I would tell you about it.

I'm sure, Rush Limbaugh and rightwing talk radio, would say, "Joe Kennedy is giving aid and comfort to the enemy".....

Joe Kennedy on $100 Oil and His Deal with Hugo Chávez (click here)

“If you and me and a friend want to protest taxes or the war or anything else, you can’t say we have to pay for a permit just to do that"

(WB Assistant Solicitor Bill Vinsko)

(click here for Citizen's Voice article)

ACLU opposes city plan for protest permit
BY DENISE ALLABAUGH
STAFF WRITER
02/20/2008

The American Civil Liberties Union opposes an ordinance Wilkes-Barre council passed on first reading, which requires people obtain a $20 permit fee to protest, said Mary Catherine Roper, staff attorney in the ACLU Philadelphia office.

“If you and me and a friend want to protest taxes or the war or anything else, you can’t say we have to pay for a permit just to do that,” Roper said. “You can’t just make people pay $20 any time they want to stand on a corner with a sign.”

The ACLU, a national organization that advocates individual rights, will write a letter to council pointing out the problems with the ordinance before the final vote on Feb. 28, Roper said.

The city’s ordinance is based on a Philadelphia ordinance, said Assistant Solicitor Bill Vinsko.

In Philadelphia, however, a permit is required when there is a minimum of 75 people protesting, Roper said. In smaller municipalities, a permit is required when there is a minimum of 50 people, she said. The city’s ordinance states a permit is needed when more than one person plans to participate in a demonstration. (bd: So it's based on the Philadelphia ordinance...except the part with the minimum 75 people! WB's is ONE person!).

Changes will be made to the ordinance before next week’s council meeting after Vinsko discusses the changes with council members, he said.

The ordinance’s intent is not to infringe upon people’s right to free speech, but police (bd: WHAT police? WHO?) requested the ordinance to prepare for possible visits from presidential candidates to the area, Vinsko said (bd: Weren't there presidential elections in 2004, 2000, 1996, 1992, etc...?). Police want to know where rallies and demonstrations would be held so they could plan on having those areas protected, he said (bd: ...but they didn't care in 2004, 2000, 1996, 1992, etc...!).

“We encourage people to speak their minds (bd: But they need to cough up $20 to do so!),” Vinsko said. “All we’re looking to do is to be able to plan for something that is going to occur, and we’re going to tailor the ordinance to reach that objective.” (bd: ...but no one cared about being able to plan for something until Feb. 2008...NOW WE CARE!)

Councilman Bill Barrett said he wouldn’t vote in favor of the ordinance if there is a $20 permit fee. When it comes to freedom of speech, he said he likes the word “free.”

“I don’t have a problem with people registering for a protest or a demonstration. I have a problem with the fee,” Barrett said (bd: But what about the OTHER things, such as relegating protestors to ineffective areas, as Tim Grier states below? You know! "Free Speech Zones"! Kind of like "Jumbo Shrimp", or "intellectual rightwinger", right? It's not free speech, then!).

Political activist Tim Grier said he understands the need for an ordinance for security purposes if presidential candidates come to the area, but his concern is that loopholes would force protesters to position themselves in ineffective areas. He also does not believe there should be a charge to protest. He plans to submit written suggestions to the city clerk’s office about changes to the ordinance before the next council meeting (bd: I hope they read them!).

Police Capt. Donald Crane said police have talked about having an ordinance since two men who protested at the 2005 St. Patrick’s Day parade created a disturbance (bd: ...but not the 2004 presidential election, etc...was the St. Patrick's Day disturbance the first-ever disturbance in Wilkes-Barre? And, btw...that was 3 years ago!).

Police wanted to have an ordinance in place so first responders know where protests, rallies and demonstrations would be held so they could be prepared, especially since this area has been a popular stop for presidential candidates (bd: As I said above, but they never cared before?). Police must protect protesters (bd: They're "protecting us"! That's why they're doing it! They can't protect us...without this ordinance!) and the other people who aren’t protesting as well, he said.

“We never had anything in place. We need something in place (bd: For some reason we're not being clear about...),” Crane said. “I’m all for freedom of speech, but on the other side of the coin, you can’t go into a movie theater and scream ‘fire.’ (bd: The "Straw Man" Argument...falsely compare peacefully protesting, to someone yelling "fire" in a movie theater! How about an ordinance, "No Yelling 'Fire' In the WB Movie Theater"?) There are some limitations.”

(bd: WB council: Keep in mind, that the ACLU stepped in, in the Barletta/illegal immigration ordinance, and it cost Hazleton taxpayers ONE MILLION DOLLARS! Lou Barletta was warned by experts that he would lose and it would cost the Hazleton taxpayers, and that's exactly what happened! This "protest ordinance" has ZERO popularity and it may cost a million dollars defending it!)

Below is a copy of the Wilkes-Barre protest ordinance, leaf through it with the left & right arrows, or hit "open publication" to see it LARGE!

● Times Leader article about WB protest ordinance

● Tim Grier Refuses To Take His Hat Off During Wilkes-Barre City Council Meeting (about the unconstitutional protest ordinance)

(feel free to post any comment you like about this, in the "comments" below this article)