Joe Kennedy for Senate?

He's on the Ballot!

 

 

More and more Democrats are becoming concerned about the moral fitness of Martha Coakley to serve in the United States Senate. They would like to vote against her, but are wishing they had an alternative to casting their vote for Republican Scott Brown. While Brown is clearly superior to Coakley in many respects, the fact is he is still a Bush Republican, and many Massachusetts Democrats just can't bring themselves to pull that lever. But now comes the happy news that Joe Kennedy has made it on the ballot! No, not the Joe Kennedy who as a congressman was once famously described by Howie Carr as "dumb as a post and mean as a snake."

 



Although initially considered a contender for his Uncle's seat, that Joe Kennedy was quickly dismissed as unelectable because of his close ties to South American dictator Hugo Chavez. Happily, there is Joe Kennedy the libertarian! Yes, his legal name is Joe Kennedy, and while that fact is worth a chuckle, there is nothing unserious about his campaign. Just look at this sampling of where he stands on the issues: 

Afghanistan - This region of the world has been at war for centuries and it is presumptuous of us to think that we are going to stop it any time soon. Moreover, the role of the American military should be to defend against attack or the imminent threat of attack, not to act as an ongoing police state on foreign soil. Democrats often claim to oppose foreign wars. But after ten months in total control of Congress and the White House, Democrats have done nothing to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. If elected I would do everything I could to pass legislation to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home.

Healthcare - Just 50 years ago low-cost health insurance was obtainable by almost every family. Doctors still made house calls, hospitals were dramatically less expensive and charity hospitals were available for those who could not afford to pay for care. Today, health care is significantly more expensive largely due to government regulation and liability insurance required to be held by our physicians. The government healthcare programs we have today are heading for bankruptcy. The same methods and people who got us into this mess can not get us out.

Drug War - Regardless of whether you are for or against the various uses of marijuana, my belief is marijuana regulation is an issue that each state can address independent of Federal intervention. The Federal Government should have no say in how each state treats the various uses of marijuana.

Now that there's a credible place for Democrats to cast their protest votes against Coakley, this race, once considered a shoo-in for the Democrats, is about to get interesting!

Parade of Progress

These public toilets called "peepods" are sweeping Europe. 

However, if they become available in the United States do you think feminists will declare them discriminatory?

God's Justice

Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Northampton is scheduled to close next year. It's a priceless historic structure, but what can it be used for except a church?

Even more unimaginable is that Springfield's Our Lady of Hope is closing. Who can imagine Hungry Hill without it?

It is hard to feel sympathy for the dramatic decline of the Catholic Church in this area, considering the terrible sex crimes the church covered up for so many years. It wasn't the child abuse scandals that drove so many to quit the church, after all, anyone who thinks pedophiles can be found only in Catholic Churches is kidding themselves. What was unforgivable was the church's lack of response and evasiveness when the abuse was discovered. When confronted with evidence of outrageous crimes, they were not outraged. That is hard to overlook.

More Snow

Yesterday morning on the dawn bus into Amherst I took this pic through the window of these clouds pregnant with snow.

When I left the Robert Frost Library around noon the snow was falling like crazy.

It's a miracle I didn't break my neck walking down this icy hill. 

Soon it turned into the dreaded "wintry mix" of snow and sleet that requires one to use an umbrella in a snowstorm. 

And of course it all froze overnight, so that this morning the streets were slick sheets of ice. 

How many days until Spring? Oh wait, the first day of winter isn't even until the 21st! Good grief, it's almost enough to make you wish that global warming was real. 

Two Music Videos

Something gentle from Northampton's Calvin Coolidge Museum.

Something cool and bombastic from Rush.