The LuLac Edition #1890, January 6th, 2012

"Maybe I'm Amazed" logo.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that there is a great deal of distrust among the Luzerne County residents regarding the County Council. I predicted that this new Council was going to have to come to the table prepared for just about anything. There is still a hangover from the corruption scandal. That will last a long time. Meanwhile, new Council members are going to be paying the price for past sins.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that people do not think Rick Santorum’s candidacy will have any legs. Santorum is a Washington veteran and can point to a conservative record. He might be surprised by how well he did but he is no political fool. His 2006 loss came at the hands of a very popular Bob Casey who ran against him in a very unpopular year for Republicans. Look for Santorum’s campaign to keep rolling.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that people are still shocked that Governor Tom Corbett wants to cut more money from the State budget. This is what the man ran on, why are people still surprised over this?
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that people are shocked when an attack in a bar happens after 2AM. I sympathize with the young lady who was attacked and I hope the people who did it are brought to justice but nothing good comes out of being out after midnight. Especially on New Year’s eve when all the crackheads, idiots and amateurs are running amok.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that there didn’t seem to be such great interest in the Bowl Games this week. See what happens when you dilute product? Years ago, even the most casual observer knew that the college Football champ would be crowned on New Year’s Day or at the latest, the second of January. Now you’re looking at a week after the New Year.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that people are surprised that Newt Gingrich is going for blood against Mitt Romney in the New Hampshire primary. Newt offends easily, does not like to be challenged, let alone be criticized. Did the Romney people think Newt was going to go away without responding in kind? And watch this counterattack, because Newt is going to go guns blazing but at the same time deny any role or participation in it. Ya gotta love that about him. I love how he is saying “he worked with Bill Clinton” in the 90s. Clinton cleaned his clock on many occasions, now Newt says they were best buds.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that it has been 32 years since my dad died on this day. He most likely will be amazed that I survived somehow the last 3 decades. Barely but still here.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that more people over the holidays have been talking about CSPAN’S “Contender” series. The network did retrospectives on losing candidates like Adlai Stevenson, Tom Dewey, Wendell Wilkie, Charles Evans Hughes, George McGovern and Barry Goldwater, just to name a few.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that CBS’s “Face The Nation” will expand to an hour for Campaign 2012. The show has only been on for a half hour since its inception.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that Robert Dickey, a singer/guitarist best known for his work on the Bobby and James Purify top ten single 'I'm Your Puppet,' died Dec. 29 in Tallahassee, Fla. He was 72. According to the Associated Press, no cause of death was given.After touring with the likes of Otis Redding, Dickey joined his cousin James Purify in the mid-1960s when producer Papa Don Schroeder brought the group to Fame studios to record their signature ballad "I'm Your Puppet”.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED………that the Newt Gingrich circus continues. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Thursday he is willing to go before the NAACP and urge blacks to demand paychecks, not food stamps, Gingrich told a town hall meeting at a senior center in Plymouth, N.H., that if the NAACP invites him to its annual convention this year, he'd go there and talk about "why the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps." Now this speech is troubling because it seems Gingrich assumes that the only poor people are blacks and the only people who use food stamps are black. People of all colors and races are poor, just poll any checker at a grocery store. Newt’s behavior is why he is regarded as the GOP’s crazy uncle in the attic.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that according to published reports, that much of the outstanding debt in Luzerne County won’t be eligible for refinancing until 2018. That my friends is one big mountain to climb. We wish the new people well at the Courthouse.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that the Union head who came on TV the other night concerned about job cuts said absolutely nothing about working with the new County Council on deferred raises or adjustments to their union contracts to help out. All Paula Schnelly talked about was what a disaster it would be if jobs were eliminated. Kind of like someone on the Titanic saying, “Our sailors might lose their jobs…..and oh by the way, the ship is sinking too”.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that the Hotel Sterling problem is going to be passed on to this County Council. I’ll be very interested to see what a federal investigation is going to expose in this particular area. And you mark my words, when and if this structure comes down, it’s going to take at least three tries to knock it down completely. Even though the Chicken Littles of the Valley are saying it’s a clear and present danger, that sucker is not going to go down easy.