Collecting Our Candy...

Happy Halloween

Organ Failure

In the rough and tumble world of state politics, when a candidate implodes, is destroyed by a scandal, or actually dies, the party mechanism doesn't grieve long for the individual before setting about retaining or taking power.

When Derek Jerome, a Bristol Republican running for a state House seat against incumbent Democrat Frank Nicastro committed suicide, it was a terrible and sad tragedy. However, according to campaign rules, since Jerome died, Republicans will be allowed to fill the slot with a replacement candidate. This candidate certainly doesn't have a lot of time to work in, but at least they have a ballot slot.

However, when Colebrook Democratic State Representative George Wilber resigned his seat and withdrew from his race for reelection after it was revealed he paid $100,000 to keep a woman silent who was accusing him of sexually molesting her when she was a child, Democrats are unable to fill the seat with another candidate. They do however, have a write-in candidate, but this will likely result in a seat being picked up by the GOP.

You see, George Wilber is asserting that his health concerns, which have alternately been described as liver failure and kidney failure, are the true cause of his withdrawal. We are expected to believe that the revelations about hush money to cover up a sex assault accusation days before his resignation is merely coincidental.

House Democratic leadership have already demonstrated themselves to be pretty inhuman, in that they were aware of the accusations against Wilber and the settlement for four years before the news broke. They did nothing and said nothing so they could retain the seat.

Now that they are about to lose it, I am sure there are a number of them inhuman enough to wish that Wilber had the courtsey of dying instead of simply withdrawing. At least then they could field a candidate. That seems to be the most important thing to them in this whole mess anyway.

Obamanomics

Trick or Treat...

Sen. Paul Doyle: Scam Artist

In case there are a few of you out there who still don't believe that the Democrats who make up the majority in the Legislature in Hartford aren't a bunch of hypocrites who game the system to their advantage, and don't follow the rules they invent for everyone else to follow, take the example of Wethersfield's own glorious State Senator Paul Doyle.

In a story broken by Jon Lender at the Courant, it is revealed that Doyle, who does legal work for the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (a quasi-state entity with a checkered history), had CRRA defer payments to him to the next calendar year so he would not reach a threshold establishing him as a state contractor under the new public campaign finance laws that he and his fellow Democrats foisted on the state.

Had Doyle reached that threshold, he and his law firm partners would have been unable to donate to other Democratic candidates.

Here are the questions: Why was the CRRA complicit in allowing this scam to take place? Who authorized the deferment of pay to Doyle for political purposes?

And most importantly, how are people supposed to take seriously a politician and a candidate such as Doyle when he says he wants to clean up the election process by eliminating money from state contractors from the democratic process, except for when he himself is the state contractor?

It really gets fatiguing to watch disingenuous political hacks like Doyle. He takes in money as an attorney, takes in a salary as a State Senator, and utilizes his post in the legislature to land plum gigs like the CRRA so he can vacuum up even more taxpayer dollars, then to top it off, scams the system so he can take some of that taxpayer money he gets paid and donate it to other Democrats. His campaign doesn't need much, you see, because we taxpayers are already paying for that too under the taxpayer-funded campaign system he supported.

It is jackasses like Doyle who cause most people to think all people in public service suck; a position getting harder to debate against.

Tom Christiano - "Unwittingly" Screwing Trumbull

H/T to Magic Rat once again.

Tom Christiano is a Democratic State Rep from Trumbull who, in this little clip, reveals what I think is a chronic problem with most rank and file Democrats in the state legislature. They let their leaders do their thinking for them. They don't read bills, they just vote for what they are told to vote for. Even if it means they induce him to vote for something, say an unfunded mandate, which he promised he would never vote in favor of.

I give Christiano some credit here. He actually admits that he isn't doing his job, won't do his job, and can't do his job. That is, when he actually even bothers to show up to do it.

The rest of colleagues pretend to be competent. Not Christiano. Bravo, sir!

Biden... a gift that keeps giving.

A arther amusing news segment acknowledging that if Governor Palin had made the type of moronic remarks Biden made, the news coverage of it would saturate.

Let's face it, the media is a co-conspirator in trying to down-play this guy's imbecility.

Wilber's Fall

Diddling children can be bad for your political career. And apparently it's bad for your health as well when such an event is finally exposed.

Democratic State Representative George Wilber of Colebrook has apparently announced that the public revelations of a three-year-old settlement he reached with a woman he allegedly molested when she was a child have injured his health and he will resign.

House Speaker James Amann apparently knew about the allegations years ago, but according to the Hartford Courant, did nothing because Wilber denied them and no criminal charges were filed. Says Amann: "This information appears to have been purposely leaked to the media on the eve of an election, which strongly suggests it was done to achieve maximum political impact."

Interesting. Well, perhaps dropping the dime on Wilber was politically motivated by whoever did it. But then again, participating in the cover-up of a potential child molestation case to preserve in office one of your rank-and-file Democratic members could also be said to be poltically motivated too, could it not Mr. Speaker?

GOP Chairman Chris Healy and House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero have called for an explanation of the settlement, as they should.

Wilber has claimed the revelations have injured his health. If he needs to Add that as an excuse as he slithers away from public office, so be it.

Democrats will not be able to add a candidate to replace Wilber should he in fact submit a resignation, as the deadline to fill a vacancy on the ballot has passed.

Apparently we will be rid of Wilber. But this raises a larger question about the willingness of the House Democratic caucus to stand silently by, knowing these allegations and such a settlement were out there, but keeping mum to protect a seat in the legislature.

Dem State Rep. Paid Settlement for Sex Abuse Allegations

Well... speaking of child molesters, according to the Torrington Register Citizen, Democratic State Representative George Wilber from Colebrook paid to settle allegations that he sexually abused an 11-year-old girl in a deal reached during his tenure as a state legislator.

Wilber claims he is innocent of the charges, but paid the $100,000 settlement which required him to refinance his property. In paying the settlement he claims he"took the high road."

The alleged victim, who is now in her 40's, is said to have been abused by Wilber from the time she was 11 years old until she was 18.

In claiming the accusations were false, "I coached Little League," Wilber said.

It is certainly of note that despite his proclaimed innocence, Wilber paid out such a large settlement that required him to refinance his property. It is also of note that he apparently coached an 18-year-old girl in Little League... just a bit old to be in Little League.

Certainly one must technically presume innocence here, particularly as Wilber has, according to the Torrington Register Citizen, never been the subject of a criminal investigation. However, it does strike me as a bit strange that he would be willing to pay out such a sum instead of fight to clear himself if he is in fact innocent.

Perhaps Wilber is innocent of the charges. Then again, maybe one of these signs should go in his yard... you know... just to be on the safe side....

Democrats & the Budget Deficit

H/T to the Magic Rat...

Who are the Real Pumpkinheads at Halloween?

Registered Sex Offenders in Maryland will be required this Halloween to post this Jack-O-Lantern sign prominently on their front door, to prevent Trick-Or-Treaters from interacting with them.

Naturally, the American Civil Liberties Union is opposing the signs, because child molesters have a right to pass out candy to kiddies...

I admittedly do not know what the State of Connecticut has in place concerning Halloween and registered sex offenders. Hopefully they have something in place that is similar, and I would appreciate anyone who knows filling me in on this.

I am well aware of one former state legislator from Pomfret, named after the president of the Confederacy, whose ideas of what kinds of treats children enjoy has landed him on this state's sex offender registry. Hopefully he will not be handing out any candy this year.

At Halloween time especially, consider the fact that liberal legislators like Judiciary co-chair Mike Lawlor are in support of a shadow sex offender registry where certain sex offenders never appear on the registry, and they will never be required to hang a sign like this on their door.

Eggheads Striking Out in the Legislature

The fight against an unpardonably inadequate criminal justice system continues with a group known as the "Three Strikes Now" coalition. This group, headed by State Senator Sam Caligiuri and Dr. William Petit wants to see Connecticut put violent criminals away for good.

It was the home invasion against Petit and his family by two parolees in the summer of 2007 that brought grotesque failures of the criminal justice system to light. Since then, legislative Democrats have voted four different times to oppose a three strikes law that would mandate someone convicted of rape or murder would get life in jail and no hope of parole.

Caligiuri and Petit appeared with Rep. Al Adinolfi in Cheshire yesterday, as Adinolfi signed a pledge put forth by "Three Strikes Now." Both Caligiuri and Adinolfi have fought for this law over the past year and a half and will continue to do so.

The coalition pledge has 52 signatures on it. While the coalition is non-partisan and pledges support to any candidate who supports "Three Strikes" there are very few Democrats who have the courage or sense to do so. Absent is Adinolfi's Democratic challenger, Elizabeth Esty, who can't bring herself to promise to support a bill that would require someone who kills three times to have to stay in jail.

She, like Democratic Judiciary Committee chairs Rep. Michael Lawlor and Sen. Andrew McDonald, offers eggheaded excuses about prison overcrowding and not fiddling with judicial discretion, which has worked really well when you have a three-time killer in front of a judge again.

There are clearly some candidates who don't have the strength of will to be able to draw any moral line in the sand whatsoever. If you want to see whether the candidates in your district are strong on crime, or are apologist pinheads, check out the "Three Strikes Now Coalition" website here and see if they have signed the pledge. If not, you should ask them why.

I love New York

This video, Found at Moonbattery, is awfully hilarious... and makes a good point. I really think Osama bin Laden would get a better reception from these morons.

Cappiello hits Murphy on the Bailout

At least someone thinks the bailout is a pile.

October Arrives...