The LuLac Edition #1304, Sept. 19th, 2010

PHOTO INDEX: OUR MAN BILL PONDERING THIS NEW TOOL OF WRITING, MR. AND MRS. WALTER GRIFFITH, GORT 42 AND JOE VALENTI SHREDDING SOME E MAILS FOUND OUTSIDE THE COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE THIS WEEK, "DUKE FROM DALLAS" AND MR. AND MRS. FRANK SCAVO. SCAVO IS RUNNING FOR SENATE IN THE 22ND SENATORIAL , TEA PARTY ACTIVIST LORRAINE CUMMINGS AND THERESA KANE, CANDIDATE FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE IN THE 115TH DISTRICT AND BETSY SOMMERS CANDIDATE IN THE 14TH SENATORIAL AND TIM MULLEN CANDIDATE FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE IN THE 120TH. (PHOTOS COURTESY OF GORT 42 AND PITTSTON POLITICS.COM.)

BLOG FEST BLABBER

Had the opportunity to attend the Blog Fest for the Fall at Rooney’s Pub in downtown Pittston. Some pretty interesting people and happenings. Here’s a rapid fire LuLac snapshot of what went on.............
20th State Senator Lisa Baker attended the meeting and greeting the folks. A surreal moment happened when the Senator was featured on one of the big screen TVs as she chatted with the bloggers. We had Senator Baker “Live” and “On Tape”………Pope John Paul Ringo officiated at the informal opening of the event praying over a Bud Light…….Organizers Gort and Joe Valenti made sure things ran according to plan. Valenti had his battles with a local lawyer over documents and brought a shredder for miscellaneous blog entries that no longer exist…..Had a great conversation with Libertarian Senate candidate Betsy Sommers who is running for a State Senate seat. Sommers was one of the original advocates of Home Rule in 2003 and has a wealth of knowledge on all subjects governmental. Sommers is running for the State Senate seat held by Ray Musto in the 14th…..Had an opportunity to meet Karen Feather, Chief of Staff from Congressman Kanjorski’s office. She says she loves my blog. Flattered. Let’s see, that’s an even dozen now……Former 10th District Congressional foes Chris Hackett and Dan Muesser were in attendance. Both guys look like they could be actors in Hollywood with their individual and collective charisma….Steve Urbanski made the rounds……Adam H was filming some sort of debate out on the sidewalk later on in the night….Terrence O’Connor candidate for Mike Carroll’s seat in the 118th was there with a smile…Harry Haas a GOP rising star was on hand…..Lou Jasikoff from “The Political Emporium” seemed to have a crowd around him as he articulated some of the issues close to him….....Luzerne County Commissioner Steve Urban was there too meeting the crowd….……Also representing the Libertarian point of view was State Representative candidate Tim Mullen who is running in the 120th district…….Mullen’s two major party opponents were there too. GOP nominee and West Pittston Mayor Bill Goldsworthy was making the rounds. Goldsworthy is hoping he can get some solid support in districts that have previously favored the incumbent, Phyllis Mundy…..Mundy was also on the scene talking issues with the bloggers as well as the other attendees. It seems like yesterday that Mundy won an upset victory in the heavily Republican GOP district. For two decades she has staved off contenders with good constituent service as well as staying in contact with the voters….Representing State Representative Todd Eachus was Marguerite Woelfel from Conyingham. Marguerite and I had a discussion about the importance of local media outlets like Hazleton’s WYLN TV 35..….116th District candidate Rick Arnold stopped by. Arnold is running against Democrat Gerry Mullery who also was there pressing the flesh and talking up his prospects….Radio talk show callers Charlie Hatchko aka “Bible Buck” and “Duke From Dallas” stopped by and debated the issues as only they could….Ever think you recognize someone but weren’t sure about it? I had a 7 minute conversation with Luzerne County Elections Official head Leonard Piazza thinking he was someone else all together. Here he got rid of his glasses and was wearing contacts. I got tired of my fishing expedition and just said, “okay, I’m stuck, who are you?” By the way, the look is good Len…………Lackawanna County was well represented by Frank Scavo, his wife and a band of supporters. Scavo is running for the vacant seat in the 22nd Senatorial and his people were sporting some snazzy golf shirts……Long time State Representative Ed Staback will have his hands full this fall with a challenge from Mid Valley Realtor Theresa Kane. Kane worked the room with all the savvy of a seasoned political pro……...............This might be so hard to believe but I had never met Congressman Paul Kanjorski. I had the opportunity to speak with the Congressman and bent his ear a little about the much maligned stimulus package and how it benefited unemployed workers. My message to him was loud and clear, “It was good”……Democratic candidate in the 117th Rich Shemanski was there all suited up. The young man is running against incumbent Karen Boback…..Duke from Dallas took a picture of me with my talk radio nemesis Lorraine Cummings. Lorraine and I are so diametrically opposed on national issues it isn’t even funny. Every time she goes on Sue Henry’s show I go ballistic and call her out on LuLac. But surprisingly we have a common ground on many local issues. How about that, a Tea Party activist and Teddy Kennedy liberal actually agreeing on something…..Had a great conversation with Barletta for Congress spokesperson Shawn Kelly. Kelly and I talked a little bit about the Health Care vote and how it affected seniors. It was an interesting conversation that will certainly prod me to do some research on the issue. Kelly and I also chatted about the new Barletta Website and I forgot to mention one of the most intriguing fundraisers I saw on it dubbed “Barbecue for Barletta”……Speaking of food, 121st GOP candidate Jim O’Meara was at the event talking it up. O’Meara is having a “Wing Night”, Tuesday Sept. 21st at Dan’s Keystone Grill. The wings there by the way are fabulous and were introduced to me by Mr. Gort……..Pittston Politics.com administrator Joe Valenti has been constantly getting a bust from me because I refer to him as “Michael”. With Valenti’s shaved dome, I say he has a stunning resemblance to national talk show host and former Frank Rizzo aide Michael Smerconish. So when Joe went out for a breath of fresh air I busted him about “the look”. The guy I was sitting with said, “Hey that really looks like Michael Smeconish”! The next thing we knew, two tea party activists started following Joe into Rooney’s wanting an autograph. I think the fellow I was speaking with clued them in. But hey, Valenti will sign autographs. He might shred them after he signs them but you can ask....Was very glad to see Attorney Joe Terrana at the event. Terrana who ran a very credible candidate for Luzerne County Judge in ’09 was circulating. Terrana is sporting a beard now and I’m hoping he’s not going “Al Gore” on us and growing facial hair after a long campaign. (Note: Gore grew a beard after his 2000 victory in the Presidential election that the Supreme Court stole from him, America and the world)…....Blogger Harold Jenkins was at the event. Jenkins has the popular site “Another Monkey”……Had a great conversation with Controller Walter Griffith and his wife. I asked him if he got any interesting e mails from his e mail machine. He said all of his mail is interesting these days…….Renee Butts who almost made a run for Mike Carroll’s seat was at the event with dare I say an entourage……and finally, I know I missed more people than I have mentioned. I’m sorry about that. But I just wanted to give a brief overview of a good time had by all political animals of different political views and persuasions. Perhaps the late Robert Palmer expressed it best: