Meet The New Guys

One week to go and then we get to see the Town Board's brand new members. The best that Caruso could buy.

So, set aside the date - Thursday, January 3rd, 7:30 PM.

Oh boy!

Thank You Note

The Pieman suggests that we should take a moment to thank those who have done so much for us.

He posts:

By the way, don't ever forget that this particular Christmas present to the town (Burke, Haviland and Levine) was engineered by Ralph Crauso, and, through him, by our good friend in Albany, Senator Larkin.

If any of you want to thank Uncle Bill directly here's his address and phone number:

Senator Bill Larkin

Room 612

Legislative Office Building

Albany, NY 12247

(518) 455-2770

The Uncle is certain that there is nothing that would please the Senator more than to hear from his beloved constituents about how happy they are with the work of his aide, Ralph Caruso.

So Long, Farewell

The final Town Board Meeting of the year (and the last with Mike A and Lorraine) happens this Thursday (December 20th, 7:30 PM - guess where).

Be there or be rectangular.

Stand up and say goodbye and end up on YouTube.

Open Government, My Avuncular Ass!

What could be nicer on a cold winter day than an electronic missive from a favorite nephew.

This just popped into the Uncle's mailbox and I couldn't wait to share:

Dear Uncle,

Last month I met with Carlton Levine. I got the impression that his view of Woodbury was based entirely on what was spoon-fed to him by the Burke Caruso posse and I told him that it was in his and the Town’s interest for him to hear as many different points of view as possible. He agreed.

I listed a number of people "on the other side" that he might speak with - Gerri Gianzero, Sheila Conroy, George Sewitt, Sandy Capriglione, Robin Crouse, Jim Booth and members of the Village Board. He said that he would reach out to them.

He never did.

I just called him now and he said "I have no interest in speaking to you." Then he hung up.

If that is what his tenure on the Town Board will be like - "I know what I’ve been told and I don’t want to know anything else" - we are all in for a truly lousy two years.

So much for Burke’s mantra "Open Government."

Jonathan Swiller

See It Now, Updated

Updated 12/15
November 15th Town Board Meeting Added

OK, the Uncle has taken another step into the brave, new, digital world (well, the nieces and nephews have).

November 8th

Here is video from the November 8th Town Board public comment session. The main portion of the meeting was about the budget, it's detailed in the official minutes which are available from the Town Clerk. Those minutes do not include the public comments and so that is what the Uncle's dilligent little neices and nephews have whittled down into YouTubeable size bites and uploaded.

In the first video John Burke admits that Town Board Members have no say in the actions of the Town Assessor. When asked about the flyer claiming that McNeill and Aronowitz "approved the plan to raise you assessments he sends Swiller to the Democratic Committee saying (at 5:59) :

"I think that what you want to do is go to the committee that put this out and addresss this issue - if you have a concern, it sounds like you do, not "if", you address it to the people who are on that committee. There is a committeee that meets on a monthly basis, bring it to their attention."

When he was later asked about the flyer, Committee Chairman Manny Mangual gave full responsibility back to John Burke.



The second piece has comments on the flyer by Town Board Members Gerri, Gianzero, Lorraine
McNeill and Mike Queenan.


The third piece has comments by Timber Ridge resident Mickey O'Brien.




The fourth piece has a last comment by Mike Queenan.



Video-taping, converting to digital and then editing is a major pain. It would be nice if the Town Board itself arranged to upload the meetings so that the public could view them. In the meantime, here's what we've got.

November 15th

Maria Hunter



Jonathan Swiller



Mickey O'Brien


Neil Crouse


Sandy Capriglione (part 1)


Sandy Capriglione (part 2)


Gerri Gianzero, Mike Queenan, Lorraine McNeill


Robin Crouse



Mindy Prosperi


Pete Stabile, Bob Hunter


Jonathan Swiller (2nd Comment)



Mickey O'Brien (2nd Comment)

Legacy Ridge Debunked

At last night's Public Hearing on the Legacy Ridge FEIS John Baranowski totally destroyed any hope that Millennium Homes had of getting their project approved when he asked "who pays when my child falls off the water tower?"

Take that developers!

The Next Big Chance to Demonstrate Apathy

The holiday season is upon us and so we are all busy rushing about to prepare for Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Imbolic, Yule, the Ascension of Abdu'l-Bahá, Lohri, Eid-al-Adha and, of course, the Day of the Ninja.

But that's not the best reason for ignoring what happens in Woodbury.

We must join together and, speaking as one, make clear that the main reason we don't pay attention as we are lied to, manipulated and treated as fools is that WE DON'T CARE.

Don't allow your inaction to be misinterpreted as mere "prioritizing."

Woodbury should not be seen as a low priority when, in fact, it's no priotity at all.

Be proud of your apathy.

Speak up for your apathy.

Shout it from the rooftops: "I'M APATHETIC AS HELL AND I'M GOING TO IGNORE EVERY DAMN THING THAT'S DONE TO ME!"

Your next opportunity to demonstrate your total lack of interest is this Tuesday, December 11th at 7:30 when you can avoid going to Village Hall (that's really the Highland Mills Fire House).

The event is a public comment session on Legacy Ridge.

What's that? Who cares? We don't. Yay!

The Greatest Show In Town

See John Burke pretend that he never said what he said.

See John Burke pretend that he never did what he did.

See John Burke pretend that he never saw what he saw.

See reality torn asunder before your very eyes.

See John Burke in his best known role: the poor put-upon sweet-heart whom mean people treat terribly for absolutely no reason.

This is the role that won him the Supervisorship, the unquestioning obedience of Bobo and Charlatan, the naming of a school-building and a warm and loving reach-around from Ralph Caruso.

Admission is free

(if you don't count forking over your intelligence, your trust and your town)

That Busy, Busy Beaver, Burke

Feeling the heat
Woodbury's Democratic Committee head, Manny Mangual, thrust full blame for a dirty campaign tactic aimed at getting Democrats elected to the Town Board on Supervisor John Burke.

Burke, who vacillated between denying involvement and dumping blame on others for a campaign to smear Republican incumbents Michael Aronowitz and Lorraine McNeil, sat by quietly as the head of his own town Democratic Party pointed him out during a Monday committee meeting as the person who wrote, printed and distributed the fliers to 450 homes in Timber Ridge.

Town-house development residents saw their assessments jump as much as 60 percent under former Assessor Roland Tiffany, who retired recently.

The fliers accused Aronowitz and McNeill of supporting the assessment increases, even though neither of them had any part in the decision.

Burke told the Times Herald-Record shortly after the election that he advised Democratic candidate Carlton Levine and committee members to print the fliers shortly before the elections. The supervisor stood by the message, since McNeill was on the board that appointed Tiffany, he said. (Following this reasoning, he apologized to Aronowitz, who was not on the board at the time.)

Mangual's accusation about Burke raised questions about the Democratic committee's allegiance to Burke, as he tries to downplay the impact of the scandal. Even if true, Burke's role in the dirty campaign will not likely result in his ouster.

So, John P. Burke, retired school building, had enough pep, vim and vigor to, personally and on his own, distribute the somewhat misleading (read "lying out his ass") flyer to all 450 homes in Timber Ridge (possibly by coming down their chimneys).

He even took time off to climb into the trunk of the Burkemobile and disguise himself, at various points, as Bobo Haviland and Charlatan Levine.

Wotta guy!

Burke Approves Plan For Kiryas Joel Pipeline Through Woodbury

Well, that isn't actually true. But since when does that matter?

It's Baaaaack!

Route of KJ's water pipeline might change
By Chris McKenna

November 29, 2007Times Herald-Record

Kiryas Joel officials are considering routing their planned water pipeline through Woodbury rather than Blooming Grove as part of the extended environmental review they've been ordered to do.

The original plan to install the pipe beside Route 32 in Woodbury has been resurrected and will be studied as a possible alternative to the Blooming Grove path that replaced it, Village Administrator Gedalye Szegedin said yesterday.

One fresh reason: Going through Woodbury would make it easier to connect four Cornwall wells that the village has obtained since planning its pipeline to the Catskill Aqueduct.

An appeals court ordered the village back to the drawing board last month to flesh out parts of the environmental impact statement deemed inadequate — such as how Kiryas Joel proposed to treat the sewage that its new water supply would make possible.

Each side in the dispute over the water project found reason to cheer the Oct. 12 decision.

Critics, who persuaded the Orange County government to file a lawsuit challenging the environmental study in 2004, felt vindicated that Kiryas Joel would have to reconsider issues that had gotten short shrift.

But at the same time, village officials were happy that opponents couldn't challenge its new study, leaving no toehold to block or delay the project once the village's consultants finished their work.

So far, there has been no talk of further litigation. The lawsuit cost the county $126,806, or about half of the $250,000 allocated by the Legislature, according to County Executive Ed Diana's office. The village's legal expenses totaled roughly $200,000, Szegedin estimated.

The additional study could take Kiryas Joel considerably longer than Szegedin forecast last month. He estimated then that the remaining issues could be answered in about six weeks and presented to the Village Board for approval.

But with cold weather setting in, he now says the village might have to wait until spring to finish searching for wetlands or buried artifacts that the 13-mile pipeline cannot disturb.

The Truth Is Out Back

Dear Uncle, please excuse the disjointed nature of this report, but the Democratic Committee meeting was such a shocking travesty that my head is still spinning.

The first half of the meeting occurred in an alternate universe where this month’s election never took place. The fact that the committee had just elected three members to the town board (re-elected in John’s case) didn’t come up. Nor did they discuss the astonishing fact that the Times Herald Record had found their campaign so corrupt that the paper had called on all three of them to resign.

The only note-worthy thing mentioned in this part of the meeting came in Bo’s reading of the previous meeting’s minutes. He read that the committee had considered issuing a letter condemning the Village of Woodbury for its negotiations with the Village of Kiryas Joel, but that the motion was withdrawn and, instead, they decided to issue a letter that condemned KJ for the way it had acted on the water towers on Rt. 44 without mentioning the Village of Woodbury. (Only Burke voted “no.” )

What makes this note-worthy was what was left out. After the committee business was concluded, during the public input session, Sandy Caprigleone and Neil Crouse got Committee Chairman Manny Mangual to admit that the letter that was sent out had somehow been changed to condemn both villages.

Mangual said that this was done by polling some of the committee members by phone and email.

This may be a violation of the committee’s by-laws. It is certainly a violation of the by-laws – and possibly illegal – that this revote was not reflected in the committee’s minutes.

As to why this strange revote occurred – Manny claimed that it is acceptable to do this if conditions suddenly changed. Crouse asked “What was that sudden change?” At first Manny didn’t seem to know. When Crouse asked if it was the fact that the Republican Committee had issued an identical letter, word for word, Manny repeated that he didn’t know. Then he said that it may have been one of the reasons. A minute later he said it was one of the reasons. A minute after that he said it was the only reason.

Crouse asked who voted for and against the change. Manny didn’t know.

At one point, Uncle, you entered the discussion. Sandy brought up your blog and asked if a member of the committee had posted a comment there that mentioned her.

Manny was indignant. He denounced Sandy for making "unfounded allegations." Considering the lies this group had put out two days before the election, this was pretty funny.

Every member of the committee denied that they had ever heard of Meet Uncle Betty. A moment later, after first denying any knowledge of your site, Bo said that Meet Uncle Betty wasn’t a blog, it was a chat room. A sudden divine revelation, perhaps.

Grace Gerard went even further and denied knowing what a blog was (although at the end of the meeting her knowledge had shifted and she said that “blogs were bad.”)

Grace also said that she didn’t know what a FOIL was. I expected her to deny knowing her own name.

But the next shifting denial was Manny’s. He was asked who put out the yellow flyer accusing Lorraine and Mike of “approving the plan to raise your assessments.” At first he didn’t know. Then he said that it was one person, whom he wouldn’t name, and “that’s the end of the matter.” Then he said that it was John Burke, all John Burke, that John Burke had written it, printed it and distributed it, alone, all by himself “and “that’s the end of the matter.”

John sat there and said nothing.

Which is interesting, because three weeks ago, when I asked John, at a town board meeting, “who put out the flyer?” he didn’t seem to know, but suggested that I ask the committee.

And now the head of the committee at first didn’t know, but a minute later said it was John.

This lying is catching. I found their answers so ridiculous that I laughed. When Manny admonished me for laughing I lied and said that I had coughed. I figured, why should they be the only ones who get to lie?

But in truth, this isn’t funny. It’s disgusting. These people lie and contradict themselves within minutes. They make clear that lying means absolutely nothing to them. The truth is totally irrelevant.

Is this why they got into politics?

Did none of them ever believe in anything?

For What Little It's Worth

Should you care, it seems that the Pieman's (brief) literary talents have been noted by National Public Radio which held a contest for writing a novel in 12 words or under.

Here's the link, the pie slice appears 2 minutes, 58 seconds in:

http://www.onthemedia.org/episodes/2007/11/23/segments/89205

The Democratic Process

The fun continues.

On Monday (November 26), at 7:45, the Dems meet at the Senior Center to explain why it was OK to lie to the people of Timber Ridge (because they'll "take it like a dog," remember?).

They'll explain that the phrase "approved the plan to increase your assessments" means exactly the same thing as: "one of them was on the board that hired the assessor years earlier."

The meeting is open to all (after all, Ralph has to be able to come to bask in his achievement) so do join the festivities.

Gratitude

Pleased as I am to be keep up the great Woodbury Falls tradition of griping (there's something in the water here in the northern reaches of town), taking a day off from the negatives isn't such a bad idea.

May we all realize the reasons that we have to give thanks.

Be well.

Your Uncle Betty

Have You Seen This Child?

Name: Ralph Caruso

Age: Don't ask

Distinguishing features: There's that comb-over

Last seen: Filing complaints and screaming bloody murder over imagined unfair election practices after his loss in the VILLAGE election in 2006.

Totally unseen doing anything similar after proven lies by John Burke, that cost Caruso's Republican slate the Town election 2 weeks ago.

Is Ralph a changed man, willing to forgive the bad acts of his "opponents"?

Or is he a lying, cheating weasel who colluded with John Burke to steal the election from his own party's candidates?

Gee, that's a hard one.

Flog That Blog

http://meetunclebetty.blogspot.com/

The Pieman is right once again (see below). Sweeter than pie, I swear.

Write it down.

Print it out.

Spread it around.

http://meetunclebetty.blogspot.com/

(No "WWW," mind you.)

Write it on bathroom walls.

Or just tell people to Google MeetUncleBetty (no spaces or you'll end up with a Heavy Metal group that seems to have stolen your Uncle's identity).

The more who show up the more folks to chip in on the pizza.

jonathan swiller said...
Unc,
I love you like a brother (or at least like an uncle), but in one way the Ralphlings are right. There is a very limited audience for this blog.
I don't know if you can track this, but how many people actually come here and read what we all have to say?
Is it just a few dozen?
If people care about Woodbury, yes they have to come to board meetings, and to the Democratic Committee meeting next week, but at the very least, they should be telling everyone they know about this blog so that more and more people of Woodbury can take part in this discussion.

“Take It Like A Dog”

Burke and his partners believe they have gotten away with this.

They are sure that eventually it will blow over and that the people of Timber Ridge and Woodbury as a whole will do what an anonymous Burke supporter has predicted and "take it like a dog."

Maybe he’s right

and

maybe he’s wrong.

That’s up to the folks that were lied to.

If they let it pass, stay home and say nothing then Burke wins.

If they refuse to "take it like a dog," show up at Town Hall at the next board meeting and the next after that and the one after that and keep coming, and refuse to roll over and play dead, then Burke will have gotten away with nothing. His great victory will be empty.

It actually does matter.

And it’s entirely up to you.

The Helping Hand and the Hand In Your Pocket

When disaster strikes there are always two types of people who show up: the people who ask "How can I help?" and the people who ask "How can I cash in?"

After every fire, every plane crash, every flood, you’ll find the Church group with blankets and food and words of kindness and you’ll find the insurance representative looking for a way to weasel out of the claim and the ambulance chaser looking to make a buck.

The reassessment of Timber Ridge was a disaster. The residents were hit hard, some of them harder than they could deal with. It hurt them then and it hurts them still.

And here’s what various people did about it:

OCEAN, with help from Lorraine McNeil and Mike Aronowitz, put together a free workshop to help people file grievances.

Bob Donnelly and Ralph Caruso showed up with a lawyer who was willing to charge people $200 a pop to fill out a grievance form.

And John Burke, Bo Haviland and Carlton Levine, knowing how much pain the people of Timber Ridge were in, knowing how angry they were, decided to exploit that pain and anger for their own advantage. They went to people who had been badly used and they lied to them.

Way to go guys.

Words of Wisdom

Living well is the best revenge.

Nailing their knee-caps to the floor comes in a close second.

Burke Defended

Well, finally! We now hear John Burke's side of this, and the Uncle admits, the argument is persuasive. To quote:

Anonymous said...
I can see by ALL THESE COMMENTS .... what, 4 of them. That there are accually only four people that read this stupid blog. Unless someone wrote 2 or 3 times.(which is probably the case). What was so bad about that flyer, that all politicians haven't done before. What, he lied!!! A politician? I've never heard of such a thing! Get over it! Sour grapes.

How can one disagree with such sterling logic?

Yeah, Burke, Bo and the Invisible Man stole the election, but so what?

And backing up this modern Demosthenes, we have this:

Anonymous said...
Blah, Blah, Blah! face it folks, there is nothing you can do about what happened, Cry, bitch, whine, and snot all you want, Swiller (the DICK) and Co. keep writing those letters, it will get you nowhere, Burke is not going anywhere, It's a big shit sandwich (pie) and we all have to take a bite!

Who can argue with such intellectual giants?

The Buck Stops Somewhere Else

John Burke takes responsibility for the for the infamous flyer.

Unfortunately, he has yet to explain what taking responsibility means.

It appears to mean "Hey, let’s talk about something else."

The Uncle would have loved to have been at the Town Board Meeting, but Smallville was on and there is such a thing as priorities.

But we have a received word from our crack cub reporter, J.S. Pieman and here at Uncle Head-Quarters we have taken his somewhat disjointed notes (you can’t get good help nowadays) and attempted to assemble a picture of what transpired (we could wait for the video to show up on channel 22 - but what fun would that be?)

The room, we are told, was nearly full. But missing from the crowd were Mike Aronowitz, Bo Haviland and Carlton Levine (that last is no surprise - the Uncle has long doubted that he actually exists).

Also nowhere to be found were such overly familiar faces as the Rump Roast, The Ankle Biter and Senator-Larkin’s-31-year-resident-of-Woodbury-Chairman-of-the-Republican-Committee-Aide Ralph Whatshisname. All three of whom managed to put in an appearance at the previous night’s Village Board Meeting.

Also M.I.A. were Democratic Committee Chairman Manny Manny as well as Bob (the Toad) Donnelly and Dancing Hank Sullivan (of these last two, it is widely believed that the latter was absent due to being eaten by the former).

The first half of the entertainment, the actual town business, was boring and uneventful. But this was more than made up for the by second half, the Public Excoriation Segment.

Maria Hunter led off by reading the Times Herald Record Post Examiner’s editorial which demanded John (Fuzzie-Wuzzie) Burke’s resignation. Ms. Hunter then asked John to resign.

Then came the Pieman who talked a lot (we have included his full remarks below, as an appendix, for those who are interested - hell, he sent them to us so what else are we going to do with them?).

Among the other speakers were Sandy Capriglione who pointed out:

that John admitted that he had approved the flyer that claimed that Mike Aronowitz and Lorraine McNeil had "approved the plan to increase (the Timber Ridge) Assessments."

and

that John had admitted that he knew that Mike Aronowitz and Lorraine McNeil had not "approved the plan to increase (the Timber Ridge) Assessments."

How, Ms Capriglione asked, did John reconcile these two contradictory things?

John then launched into a five minute digression on how, when you hire someone, you then become responsible for all of his future acts, statements, thoughts and dreams, forever (it’s sort of like when you save someone’s life).

When he finally ran out of gas, Ms Capriglione quietly pointed out that John had not answered her question.

At that point Fuzzie-Wuzzie did a Buddha imitation and clammed up.

The Pieman is uncertain about this, apparently still semi-numb from John’s little verbal ramble, but he thinks that Ms Capriglione may have asked John to resign.

Mickey O’Brien spoke of his long fondness for Fuzzie-Wuzzie and asked him to resign.

Bob Hunter asked John to resign.

Robin Crouse explained something or other about the Ethics Law and then may have asked John to resign.

Mindy Prosperi made an impassioned speech (the Pieman claims that he could not do it justice, but that it made his hair stand on end and urges readers to watch the tape) which ended with her asking John to resign.

The only respite that John got came when Neil Crouse rose to discuss the idea of the Town and Village working together on the Business Improvement District. John was so unbearably grateful to Crouse for taking attention away from the chorus of "resign, resign" that he appeared ready to devote the rest of the evening to the subject. The regret that John felt as Neil left the podium was palpable (that means you could feel it).

The Pieman returned and brought John back to Sandy Capriglione’s question. Taking responsibility for hiring someone is one thing, but words have meaning and the flyer (hell is it flyer or flier?) specifically stated that Mike Aronowitz and Lorraine McNeil had "approved the plan to increase your assessments."

Pieman: "Had Lorraine McNeil approved the plan to increase assessments?"

Fuzzie-Wuzzie: "No."

Pieman: "Had Michael Aronowitz approved the plan to increase assessments?"

Fuzzie-Wuzzie: "You interrupted me, I wasn’t finished answering."

PM: "I thought that you had answered."

F-W: No, you interrupted me."

PM: "Sorry, then please finish."

F-W: "No, you interrupted me, so I won’t finish."

PM: "So, you’re saying that because I interrupted you, you don’t owe an explanation for lying to the town?"

At this point the Pieman reports that he was so blown over by John’s weaseliness (our words, not his) that he failed to note the exact words that Burke used to say, in effect, "Nyah, nyah, you interrupted me, now I don’t have to explain why I lied."

Speaking of lies. The Uncle now realizes that he too will prove himself untruthful. I promised to include the Pieman’s little harangue here, but this entry is damned long enough, so look for it as the first comment.

Yes, yes, I could go back and edit out the bit where I say that I will stick it down here, but that would be revisionism.

Nexr Town Board Meeting

The Town Board will meet this Thursday

November 15

7:30

Town Hall (natch)

Meanwhile, the last meeting is now on channel 22 at Noon, 7 PM and 1 AM

If no one goes to the Town Meeting John will believe - correctly - that no one in Woodbury gives a damn.

Your Choice.

Someone Cares

At least the Record cares about honest elections in Woodbury.

Today's editorial says it all:

Opinion
'Sorry' is not enough
'November 13, 2007'
The supervisor in Woodbury has apologized for his role in disseminating disinformation that might have affected the outcome of the recent election.

The apology is nice and welcome. Now, what else will he do and what will those who benefited from the sleazy campaign tactics do as well?

Here's what happened: Fliers went to homes in Timber Ridge, a condominium development where owners are fighting increased assessments. The fliers blamed two Republican incumbents for hiring the assessor and approving the actions.

Here are the problems: The assessor acts independently, the board does not act on the figures, and one of the candidates was not even on the board when it appointed the assessor.

One winning candidate in the close race said the information came from the supervisor. The supervisor says that's true. So Woodbury has elected a Democratic majority based on disinformation. Worse than that, it has at least one board member and a supervisor who seem to know little about how the offices they now hold really work.

If they really regret these actions, the members will resign and give Woodbury voters a chance to have an honest election.

Keep Your Eyes Open

Most of the members of the Woodbury Democratic Committee love John Burke.

And why not?

He brought them victory.

He has a beautiful, warm smile

He's just a big, friendly teddy bear.

Until he isn't.

When Donna Columbo announced her run for mayor, she went to see John. She mentioned that Channel 12 was coming to interview her. That was until John called them. The minute she walked out the door John was on the phone demanding that Channel 12 hold off interviewing any candidate until they had all (read Ralph Caruso) announced.

John was part of Ralph’s "Preservation Team" and so he was preserving Ralph.

Bear in mind, he was just returning the favor. When John ran against Sheila two years ago, it was Ralph who put together the unsigned late hitting lie that helped bring John to victory.

It was a lesson that sank in and led directly to the Timber Ridge flier which lied Bo and Carlton into office.

But that’s just gravy. It’s not the main prize.

John’s job for the next 5 months will be to use the town board to do everything he can to make the village board look bad.

That’s to pave the way for Ralph’s next try to take over the village.

And if it means lying, if it means abusing the power of the town board, if it harms Woodbury - well, so what? It’s all in a good cause. The coronation of King Ralph.

But don’t take my word for it.

All I’m asking is that you keep your eyes open.

The Shapelessness Of Things To Come

That notorious flyer has garnered all the attention, and yet there are so many other reasons to be scared shitless of Supervisor John Burke's second term.

He has made clear that, in his view, public enemy number one is the Woodbury Village Board.

Rut roh!

A bit of background:

Those fine folks who run the bucolic Village of Kiryas Joel bought an illegally subdivided piece of Woodbury land adjacent to Gonzaga Park. They then knocked down an old stone wall and some number of trees in the Park, erected a fence, began to put up water towers and refused entry to Woodbury Building Inspector Gary Thomasberger.

Aside from being a brilliant way to make friends, they ignored a number of laws.

However (Lord, I hate these howevers) the law being what it is (gulp) it seems that, in the end, whether the Village of Woodbury spent lots of time and money in court making KJ file the proper papers and follow the proper procedures, they (the KJans) were going to end up with the right to build the water towers.

Yay municipal sovereignty!

OK, so the Woodbury Village Attorney tells the Woodbury Village Board that they can fight against the machine and eventually lose or they can work out an agreement that gives Woodbury some (very slight) input and lie back and accept the inevitable.

They pick the latter.

In all this, the Uncle believes, there was a third course which would have better served us - silence. Wait for the Planning Board to have its scheduled meeting, let them deal with it as the law maps out, stay out of expensive court battles and nothing more.

Woodbury would have lost the tiny bit of oversight that it got, but the Village Board wouldn't have come across (justly or not) as a bunch of wussies.

That being said, aside from the PR hit the board is taking, there was no real harm or foul.

But, there is that aforementioned PR hit.

The Republican Committee met and denounced the Village Board for the perfidy of reaching an accord with KJ's muckimucks. (Feel all better and manly now?)

But, as I say, all this is just prologue (sheesh Unc, you do go on.)

Even before the Republiclowns met, the Democraps had had their monthly confab.

It was there and it was then that smiling Bo Haviland, boy stop signal, introduced his resolution to condemn the Woodbury Village Board.

Only at this particular get together a member of the said Board, a Mr. Neil Crouse, was present.

Crouse explained his Board's reasoning, and the explanation was sufficient to get the condemnatory resolution dropped and to have, in its stead, a resolution condemning the folks who run KJ for the way they went about this whole matter.

Neither Bo nor John Burke was pleased. They were both still out for Village blood.

And so, when the resolution condemning KJ's actions passed (and it did) it was with Bo abstaining and Burke voting no.

Excuse me?

Did I just hear myself correctly?

Burke voted against condemning KJ's steam-roller tactics?

That he did. If he couldn't get the Dems to make "bad-bad" at the Woodbury Village Board, he was going to take his ball and go home.

When it comes to villages, John's credo is "Forget KJ, Screw Woodbury!"

Which all puts into perspective the lovely quote from John in the Times Herald Record Picayune Advertiser on November 3rd:

John Burke "said he would also use his position to vent disapproval with the decisions of the recently incorporated Village of Woodbury."

SO, we begin to see the future take shape. John Burke sees his role as Supervisor to make sure that the Town and the Village of Woodbury are at each other's throats.

Sounds like a fine recipe for municipal suicide.

But what do I know?

Third Time's The Charm

Uncle Betty revisits the classics (or else demonstrates that he is tapped out).

Either way, here, yet again, is a reminder of the last minute misinformation that went out one day before Burke was first elected.

His fingerprints on the current Late Hitting Lie certainly back up the belief that he and Ralph put out this one as well (Ralph's fingerprints are found in the timing, layout and delivery method - it was taped to garbage cans - that were all right out of the Caruso Good Citizenship Playbook).


Patent Pending

Is Ralphie as dependable as clockwork, or what?

Here it is, the day before the election, and what pops into mail boxes all over town?

Sugar plums?

Lumps of coal?

Nope.

It's the patented Caruso, always on time UNSIGNED LATE HITTING LIE.And what a magnificent big stinking turd it is.

Dare I quote, or will Ralph sue for copyright infringement?

Town of Woodbury Town Board Members Voted Thursday Evening November 3, 2005 at a Hastily Called Regular Town Board Meeting – ok let’s pause here and admire the phrase "hastily called regular town board meeting."

Honestly, could any of you have produced such a work of art as that?

The Uncle (who in his youth attempted to pass the occasional whopper, learned the hard way, that lying, like wing walking and bear baiting, is a pursuit best left to the trained professional) could never dare dream of creating such an exquisitely bald faced lie.

It’s as if Ralph anticipates the reader will see this mutant flamingo of a statement and say –"Naw, it has to be true, it’s so, it’s so,…obviously self-contradictory that no one would make it up."

Yes indeedee, that’s how the human mind works. Show it the impossible and it will invent an explanation.

So, we have this HASTILY CALLED, REGULAR TOWN MEETING.

And were there refreshments?

Jumbo shrimp, perhaps?

Nope.

We are told that it "was Originally Scheduled as a "Work Session" Meeting (yes, of course it was, since every other work session is on Monday night, this mutant one was due on Thursday just so Sheila could be sneaky and turn it into a regular town meeting just like every other Thursday Town Meeting and oh my head hurts, but please, Ralph, continue)

"and Approved The Largest Zoning Change in Woodbury’s History!"

Woodbury’s history?

Just Woodbury’s history?

Don’t wuss out on us now Ralph. It’s an obvious typo. Has to be. I’m sure it was meant to say:
THE LARGEST ZONING CHANGE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD!

And that’s only one side.

Turn the page over.

I dare you.

"READ THIS ARTICLE"

Aha, John Burke has shown up.

Ralph was far too subltle, only captitalizing the first letter of every goddamned word.

None of that for big John, a hearty, well pompadored fellow, with capitalization to match – and yes, time for another pause while the Uncle draws yours mind's eye towards this happy band of warriors.

See them now, prancing in tights through Sherwood Forest

.Spry, young Robin - no other than Ralph, a leader among men, an object of yearning among women, steady as a rock and twice as humourless.

And Little John, quite obviously, the largest, most fearsome of the group: Carol Mullooly. A woman, yes, but manly in so many ways. A veritable walking rump roast of a warrior.

Friar Tuck – Burke himself. A man of the material world with just enough of the spiritual to get him into the Abbot’s wine cellar.

Maid Marian: Bubbles Reveille, sitting side-saddle atop a prancing roan (OK a large, prancing roan).

Alan a Dale and Will Scarlet: Henry(Hank) and Bo Amidee Haviland (or is it Bo Haviland Amidee?) The Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Brain-Dead of Woodbury politics.

And, off in his keep, humming "shoo fly don’t bother me" the mad Sheriff of Nottingham: Don the Ankle Biter.

And what brings this band of merry men together?

Why, it’s page two of the patented Unsigned Late Hitting Lie.

Ralph, exhausted by his labors on the first side ("Hastily," remember? "Regular," remember?) lies spent, in a coagulating pool of his own grey sweat.

And so John Burke, and all his capital letters, stolen, one at a time, from the Board of Ed (along with a lifetime supply of chalk) takes over:
READ THIS ARTICLE
THE LAWS THAT WERE PASSED WILL PERMIT "HIGH DENSITY HOUSING" ON ALL THE LANDS LEFT TO BE BUILT IN WOODBURY!

Obviously the work of a lesser talent.

"High density housing" indeed? That one was already done to death.

Yes John, one house per acre John, high density John, sure John.

Oh, ho hum!

"All the lands left in Woodbury." Oh fer sure fer sure.OK, OK.

I’m hard on John. But what he lacks in wit and originality he makes up for in productivity. A mere 14 words, and he has crammed in three whole lies.

We already know about High Density.

But then there’s the little idea that this applies to all the lands left to be built on in Woodbury. And what backs this up? Why "read the article."

I’ll give John this, that last one is subtle. "Read the article isn’t exactly a lie, because it doesn’t state any facts – all it does is imply.And what does it imply?That if you read the article, everything that Ralph and John wrote will be backed up, and by no less an authority than Chris McKenna.

Now give these boys credit. There’s the article, right on the same page, out in the open, for anyone to read.

And that’s the beauty part.

The article doesn’t say a blessed thing about any of this.

But they know no one is going to read it.

High density? – not in the article.

Applies to all the lands left to build on in Woodbury? – not in the article.


Hastily scheduled…originally work session…largest zoning change???

Nope, nope and nope.

Not one blessed word about any of those in the article.

And they know you won’t read it.

Wanna sneak a peek?

Don’t tell anybody..shhh – here it is:

November 04, 2005
Woodbury board OKs housing
By Chris McKenna
cmckenna@th-record.com
Woodbury – The Town Board met last night at the Woodbury senior citizens center and adopted a package of laws allowing developer Bill Brodsky to proceed with plans to build 451 homes on land previously zoned for 148, off Dunderberg and Nininger roads.
All the votes were 4-1, with Councilman Michael Aronowitz casting the sole dissenting vote. Supervisor Sheila Conroy and councilwomen Geraldine Gianzero, Lorraine McNeill and Colleen Campbell voted yes.
It was a strangely muted conclusion to a controversy that has stirred fierce opposition at town meetings. The crowd of about 100 was silent after the votes. Several spectators later rose to speak, but the board wouldn't let anyone talk about the project without the developer or his representatives there to respond.
Afterward, Conroy reiterated what she has said all along were some of the project's chief merits, including the donation of more than 100 acres of open space to the town and the inclusion of age-restricted houses.
"The thing I feel bad about is it was turned into a political issue from the beginning," she said.
Aronowitz, who has repeatedly urged the board to hold off on the votes until it finishes updating the town master plan, said afterward he was concerned both about the Brodsky project and a cluster-housing law just adopted that affects other large land parcels in town.
"To me, it's not just one project," he said.
Brodsky's proposal still needs Planning Board approval. That board has already begun reviewing the project, even though the Town Board had not yet adopted the required zoning modifications.

By the way, the Mayor of Las Vegas wants to cut the thumbs off graffiti artists – how come we never get to do fun stuff like that in Woodbury?

No Anonymi

The Uncle tires of anonymous posters, spouting old, tired, unimaginative insults (I have no problem with inventive, creative insults).

So, I am going to add a few "Anonymi Free Posts."

In these occasional respites from nameless snipers I will delete unnamed (or even pseudonymous) posts.

Use your real name here or be consigned to the trash.

The Uncle does not believe in censorship, so you are free to pollute the rest of this blog.

But at these few oases of responsibiliy only the identified will be allowed entry.

Readers: if the nameless begin to bore you, feel free to confine your reading to the comments at these identity required posts.

It will be interesting to note if any Burke or Caruso supporters, so far choosing only to dwell in the shadows, are willing to post. Why is it that each and every one of them refuses to be named?

By the way, if I doubt that the name you use is real - poof!

If you have a problem with any of this do drop me a line: Cuzzincookie@hotmail.com

Wise Pie

There was a nice little post from the Pieman a day or so ago that the Uncle overlooked at first. I think it's worth repeating.

There is such a thing as the truth, real and unchanging. There are those people who understand this and there are those who don’t

The truth is not there to be called upon when it’s convenient. A person is either honest or he is not. You can not be “somewhat honest” any more than you can be “a little pregnant.”

Jonathan Swiller

Very Hot Pie

It appears that the Pieman’s hours are as bad as my own. In the Uncle’s case it is the regular nocturnal visits of los fantasmas. What steals the Pieman’s sleep is anyone’s guess.

Whatever the reason, he has just sent over John Sullivan’s latest freshman English essay along with commentary. Both follow below.

GOP incensed over fliers
Says misinformation affected race outcome
By John Sullivan
November 10, 2007
Times Herald-Record
Woodbury — Supporters of the Republicans who were defeated in a close Woodbury election are alleging that misinformation about the candidates in fliers sent by their opponents swayed the vote's outcome.

An unknown number of the fliers blanketed homes in Timber Ridge, a development where residents have been fighting the town over increased assessments. The yellow leaflet states in large black letters that the two Republican incumbents, board members Lorraine McNeil and Michael Aronowitz, hired Town Assessor Roland Tiffany and approved the plan to increase those assessments.

However, assessors act independently of town government, and Aronowitz wasn't serving on the board when it appointed Tiffany.

The flier created a stir among Timber Ridge voters, who are still fuming about seeing their assessments jump by as much as 50 percent or more under Tiffany, said Mickey O'Brien, a McNeil and Aronowitz supporter who also organized the fight against the assessments last year. The controversy resulted in a slight decrease of the assessments, as well as a court proceeding still pending against the town.

It also placed a cloud over Tiffany's career, who declined to apply for reappointment this year. The Town Board recently appointed Laura Breslin, an independent appraiser and former account clerk for the Town of Warwick, to take his place.

O'Brien alleged that many Timber Ridge residents came out to vote against the incumbents after seeing the fliers.

Democratic challengers Amidee Haviland and Carton Levine received the most votes of 666 and 618, according to unofficial results.

Their win, along with town Supervisor John Burke's unopposed re-election, gives the Democrats a 3-2 majority on the board.
But Aronowitz's close third, with 608 votes, has many of the incumbents' supporters wondering how much of a role the fliers played in the outcome. O'Brien said the Democratic candidates denied involvement in the fliers when he confronted them about it. However, Levine admitted that the misinformation had been approved by Burke.

"I was informed by John Burke that that was the appropriate language in terms of their (McNeil and Aronowitz) actions on the Town Council prior to the assessment."

Burke said he believed the allegation to be true, because the Town Board before him appointed Tiffany. Burke, however, apologized for including Aronowitz, who was not on the board at the time.

"I will take responsibility for our (the Democratic Committee's) mistake," Burke said.

-end-

At Thursday’s Town Board Meeting, Mr. Burke made clear that he knew that the Town Board (including Lorraine McNeil and Mike Aronowitz) had nothing to do with "approving" the reassessment of Timber Ridge. (See the public comment session at the end of the meeting on channel 22)

Sullivan’s article shows that Burke okayed the flyer before it went out.

The people of Timber Ridge were incensed by the reassessment.

There are 450 homes in Timber Ridge. Most of those homes have two or more residents of voting age.

That’s 900 or more eligible voters.

Mike Aronowitz lost to Carlton Levine by 10 votes.

I have no doubt that, among those 900 or more angry people, at least 10 votes went to Levine because of the flyer.

John Burke knowingly lied to the people of Timber Ridge in order to smear his opponents.

He stole this election.

Remember that just one day before Burke’s last election, an unsigned flyer appeared all over Woodbury lying about Burke’s opponent Shiela Conroy. It is not a major leap to believe that Burke was involved in that smear as well.

Now Burke says: "I will take responsibility for our (the Democratic Committee's) mistake."

What does taking responsibility mean?

Is there anything short of Burke’s resignation that will satisfy "taking responsibility?"

Does Carlton Levine intend to take office knowing that he was only elected because his campaign committed fraud?

How long will Woodbury stand for this corruption?

Bo and Carlton Triumphant

Well, it appears that Bo and Carlton have won in Woodbury.

John (and Ralph) now control the town board (or will in January).

Things may get very interesting.

It is definitely time to start showing up for board meetings (or, a poor substitute, watching them on channel 22).

Congratulations winners.

And thank you for your work Lorraine and Mike.

Limited Time, Sign Your Name, Show How Smart You Are, Post

OK

Here are the rules.

Wanna show how smart you are?

Predict the outcome of any (or all) races.

Sign your name.

Unsigned comments go bye-bye.

The winner gets something (Public acclaim? A sandwich? Dunno yet.)

Take your best shot.

Woodbury or elsewhere.

Contest ends when the results are announced (gee, really?).

BINGO!

Yep
Here it is.
Right On Schedule.
The Patented Late Hit Lie

So, according to Bo (that's Amidee folks) and Carlton, Lorraine and Mike "hired the town assessor and approved the plan to increase your assessments."

Four statements: 1) Lorraine hired the assessor; 2) Mike hired the assessor; 3) Lorraine approved the increase and 4) Mike approved the increase.

Four statements and only three of them are dead wrong.

Wow.

Yes, Lorraine was on the town board, years ago, when Roland Tiffany was hired. Back then it was a non-controversial choice, but still, she was there.

Mike wasn't on the board yet. (Bo and Carlton get it wrong once)

The town board neither approves nor disapproves of an assessment. By State law they can't.

So Lorraine did not approve "the plan to increase your assessments." (Bo and Carlton get it wrong twice)

And Mike did not approve "the plan to increase your assessments." (Bo and Carlton get it wrong three times)

Three lies in four statements. Damn those boys are working overtime.

The Pieman Gets Testy

John Burke and his running mates say that they opposed giving part of County Route 44 to Kiryas Joel and that they will fight annexation.

It is true that Burke and Ralph Caruso were both against turning over Route 44, but neither of them offered any solutions.

Lorraine McNeil backed the compromise that SOCA-At-Work/OCEAN offered to the county which kept the road from being given away. See:

http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2007/09/13/photo_news/news/5.txt

As to annexation. So far, there has only been one petition ever filed to annex Woodbury land into Kiryas Joel. Neither Burke, nor Caruso, nor Haviland, nor Levine did anything about it.

Lorraine worked with us for months to convince the Kiryas Joel Alliance to drop the petition. See:

http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2005/05/18/photo_news/news/1.txt
and

http://archive.recordonline.com/archive/2005/05/11/truce11.htm

It’s easy to talk.

Actually getting results is a different matter.

It’s easy to make claims.

Backing them up with facts is a different matter.

Jonathan Swiller

Morally Bankrupt Burke

......................................................................................................................................

Morally Bankrupt Burke? Isn’t that a little harsh?

Hmmmmm, no. Whether it was Burke, or Manny Mangual or Carlton Levine or even Ralph Caruso, whoever came up with Woodbury “Community” Team was out to confuse voters.

The Community Party is backing McNeil and Aronowitz. Not Burke, Haviland and Levine.

But maybe they’re saying that they have the backing of the community, or are working for the community or just like the idea of a community. It’s a word in English. Nobody owns it.

If that were the case, why is the word in quotation marks? Quotation marks mean that the word or phrase is a direct quote or is translated or is being given a special meaning.

But there’s nothing illegal about using the word.

Right. Just as there would be nothing illegal about a Republican calling himself the “Democratic Choice” and claiming that he meant he was in favor of democracy.

It’s not illegal, it’s merely corrupt.

The Pieman sent us his endorsements. It seems like a wasted effort. The Uncle expects that all his darling, little Anonymi have pretty firm views of whom they will vote for. But what the heck.

The Executive Board of SOCA At Work/OCEAN is endorsing the following candidates:

*Elaine Slobod for State Supreme Court Justice

*Myrna Kemnitz for County Legislator for the 7th District (Monroe)

*Lorraine McNeil and Michael Aronowitz for the Woodbury Town Council

*Brandon Nielsen for the Blooming Grove Town Council.

We are endorsing a mix of Republicans and Democrats. We believe that, in local politics, party affiliation matters far less than character and ability.

We would be happy to email a full explanation of our choices to anyone who contacts us at nyocean@gmail.com.

We ask that you learn the issues, question the candidates and vote.
The single largest bloc in any election is always those people who stay home.
Once we defeat apathy, everything else is easy.

Jonathan Swiller, Chairman
Nanci Binder, Vice Chairman
SOCA At Work/OCEAN

???????????????????????????????????????????

Court orders continued study of KJ pipeline

By Chris McKenna

October 13, 2007Times Herald-Record
Kiryas Joel — An appeals court ruling on Kiryas Joel's controversial pipeline proposal has sided with Orange County by ordering the village to continue studying the potential environmental impact.

The judges declared Kiryas Joel must answer more fully such questions as how the village or county would treat the increased volume of sewage that would eventually result from the water-supply project.

But the Appellate Division decision released yesterday also contained good news for Kiryas Joel. Village Administrator Gedalye Szegedin said that by ordering the village to amend its environmental impact statement rather than create a separate statement, the judges spared Kiryas Joel another lengthy period of comments and criticism from government agencies and opponents.

"It's a King Solomon decision," Szegedin said.

He said village consultants will prepare a report answering the outstanding issues and give it to village trustees for approval, perhaps within four to six weeks. The trustees may then adopt a findings statement 10 days later, ending the environmental review.

"The level of scrutiny and level of oversight is totally limited to the Village of Kiryas Joel trustees," he said. "There is no other forum for anybody to raise any other issues."
Orange County officials couldn't reached for comment yesterday.

Kiryas Joel plans to build a 13-mile pipeline to tap New York City's Catskill Aqueduct in New Windsor. Village officials call it a long-term solution to the community's mounting water demand, one that would avoid competing with neighboring communities for ground water.

But opponents waged a ferocious campaign against the project in 2004 and convinced the county government to sue Kiryas Joel. The suit claimed that Kiryas Joel had conducted an inadequate environmental review.

Barring another lawsuit, the only remaining hurdle after the review is done is New York City's approval to tap its water supply.

The principal issue Kiryas Joel must address is sewage treatment, although the appeals court also asked for further review of other topics the county raised. One is the potential of the project to spur further growth in the already-booming community.

Three county lawmakers — Frank Fornario, R-Blooming Grove; Roxanne Donnery, D-Highland Falls; and the late Spencer McLaughlin, R-Monroe — led the fight to challenge the water project.
After hearing of the decision yesterday, Donnery and Fornario both said they would be upset if no further public input was required. But Fornario also said the demand for more study "validates the county's position. It justifies our decision to pursue this."

Woodbury activist and pipeline opponent Jonathan Swiller called the ruling a tribute to McLaughlin, who died of pancreatic cancer earlier this year.

"This was one last gift from Spencer McLaughlin to the county to make sure that the rules are followed by everyone and to protect our environment," he said.

Orange County wins appeal in KJ pipeline suit

By Chris McKennaOctober 12, 2007

Goshen -- 1:40 p.m. -- An appeals court ruling on Kiryas Joel’s controversial pipeline proposal has sided with Orange County by ordering the village to continue studying the potential environmental impact.The judges declared Kiryas Joel must answer more fully such questions as how the village or county would treat the increased volume of sewage that would eventually result from the water-supply project.The ruling by the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court was signed Tuesday and released today. It essentially affirmed a 2005 ruling in state Supreme Court in Goshen.Kiryas Joel plans to build a 13-mile pipeline to tap New York City’s Catskill Aqueduct in New Windsor.

Village officials call it a long-term solution to the community’s ever-mounting water demand, one that would avoid competing with neighboring communities for groundwater.

But opponents waged a ferocious campaign against the project in 2004 and convinced the county government to sue Kiryas Joel.

The suit claimed that Kiryas Joel had conducted an inadequate environmental review.The principal issue is sewage treatment, although the appeals court also asked for further review of every other topic the county raised. One is the potential of the project to spur further growth in the already-booming community.

Fairness In Action

OK, so the Uncle is not a great fan of the man in the White House and this week his actions brought even more to piss and moan about.

It's true that I am not happy about the veto of the S CHIP program which would have extended health care for children.

I admit, that I was further put off, but not surprised that the troop "drawdown" of "at least a brigade" that Mr. Bush promised the nation isn't going to happen.

But, hey, there may well be pretty damn logical explanations for all this.

And, no doubt, there are those of you out there who like George Bush, think he's doing a slam bang job, and know what those pretty damn logical explanations are.

So, please, tell us.

The Uncle looks forward to reading the comments that you post explaining all this.

Thanks.

The Pieman Has Something for Monroe Voters to Think About

The Pieman has sent his thoughts about Michael Amo's party change.

Here are three things about Michael Amo.

First of all, he is a pleasant and intelligent fellow. I find him to be quite likeable - off the floor of the County Legislature.

Secondly, he is quite open about who his constituency is. It's not the people of his district - which is made up primarily of Kiryas Joel, with a little bit of Highland Mills and Harriman thrown in. It is not the people of Kiryas Joel (with those Highland Mills and Harriman people thrown out). He has a constituency of one - Gedalye Szegedin - the Village Administrator of KJ (a made up title that indicates that he out-ranks Mayor Abe Weider). What Gedalye wants to have happen in the County Legislature, Michael Amo wants to have happen.

Thirdly, by leaving the Republican party to become an independent, Michael Amo has now situated himself to be one of the most powerful people in the Legislature. His change of party means that the Leg. now has 20 Republicans, 20 Democrats and one Amo. He is now the swing vote, which puts him in the best possible position to horse-trade.

Up until four years ago, the folks who ran KJ got what they asked for from the Leg., but starting with the vote asking NYC to drop the offer of a KJ Pipeline to the City's water system- a vote that KJ lost 20 to 1- Gedalye Szegedin has lost one important vote after another.
- He lost when the county voted to bring an Article 78 law suit against the pipeline environmental impact filing.
- He lost when the county voted against the Gonzaga water towers.
- He lost when he was forced to put work on hold laying a pipe across the Heritage Trail until the Physical Services Committee was ready to decide on granting an easement.
- He lost when he asked that the Village be handed the middle of County Route 44.

But now he has Michael Amo's new status as the swing vote. And that might just change everything.

If Monroe elects Greg Townsend to the seat he was handed when Spencer McLaughlin died the Legislature will continue to be split 10 to 10 to 1.

However, if Myrna Kemnitz gets the seat, the Democrats will hold a solid majority (11 to 9 to 1). Michael Amo's leverage as the swing vote will evaporate.

Something for Monroe voters to think about.

Jonathan Swiller

October Question

Is it time to pay attention to the Woodbury Town Board election yet?

MoveOn.Org’s Blunder

The Senate, free from any pressing issues, had sufficient time on its hands to condemn MoveOn.Org for its ad in the New York Times that asked "General Petraeus Or General Betray Us?"

The Uncle has no problem with piling on. And so, rather than point out the mix of hypocrisy, stupidity, cowardice and out-right political posturing of the Senate’s latest game of "Let’s Change The Subject," we will toss in our own little snipe at the ad.

MoveOn succumbed to one of the greatest weaknesses that writers have. They were seduced by their own cleverness.

Someone came up with the oh so cute little pun of "Petraeus" and "Betray Us" and, instead of giving the word play a quick smirk and then following their own name’s advice, they built an ad around it.

They took their eyes off the prize and chose preening over effectiveness.

During the years in my presidential palace (perhaps not so very many years, but long enough for me to forget that I was a renter, not an owner) I learned that a short, pithy speech that got me what I wanted was of far greater value than a long masterfully written one that got me applause from a few sycophantic literary types and yawns
from the general public.

Glance st one of the hours-long orations from Castro or Chavez and what you are seeing is the triumph of the ego.

One of the most painful things for a writer to do is to throw away a good line. But when you are at war - and political writers had better realize that they are always at war - winning the battle is what matters, not displaying elegance while achieving defeat.


And so, MoveOn’s sin wasn’t in slandering a general (whose use by Bush as a political pawn made him fair game) but in going for applause when they should have been going for converts.

Uncle Pinhead

OK,

So the Uncle is a Pinhead.

Here he sat, feeling lost and unloved, stroking the poor kitty cat into near baldness for solace, wondering why no one was posting.

IT'S BECAUSE YOU SOMEHOW TURNED OFF THE COMMENTS FEATURE YOU MORON!!!!

Oops, sorry.

If you care, you can go back to the August 23 post (Wheels Within Wheels) and catch up on what your fellow anonymi have had to say.

Anybody got any Alzheimer meds?