Ah Massachusetts.

[TayTay]

I don't know whether to cheer the place or burn it down. Honestly. I think everyone from this place is certifiable insane. Oh, and endearing. And damn hard to get along with. And they piss me off. And they really inspire me to want to do better. Except when they don't. In which case, I want to strangle the whole lot of them and move to someplace really foreign where the sane people live, like, like, like, ahm, Pennsylvania. (LOL!) Except that I love Massachusetts. It's the Democrats who annoy me. Except when they don't and they fight and stuff. Arrrggghhhhh!

Yeah, it's been that kind of a morning. Why would anyone want to come here? Why would anyone want to leave? (Well, there is the sheer entertainment factor alone, that should keep people here.) Sigh!

Oh yeah, I just went to a delegate's meeting for the State Convention. That prompted this. Damn the underhanded, dirty, sneaky tactics that some people employ to get others on the ballot. And to use the Great Seal of Commonwealth on a campaign letter is a violation of the law, not to mention a douchebag trick. Oy! Bunch of no-account friggin bastids.

One Dem breakfast, and one Dem convention meeting (in an Irish bar) down. One Lt. Gov's debate tomorrow, simulcast in an Irish bar tomorrow, followed by more trips to talk about candidates at, ahm, Irish bars. (Don't other ethnic groups have bars? Why can't we, just once, meet in a Jamaican bar. "Ya mon, we have Democrats here. Guinness?)

Thanks, I need this rant. I appreciate it.

[TayTay]

1. And another thing.

I hate that friggin anti-Kerry Healey ad on the local AAR radio station. Before I die, I want that stupid class-warfare thing to go away. I'm on board with the populism thing for the Dems, really I am. But to run ads with Muffy and Stuffy from 'the narth share' doing pinched-nasal accents and pretending that they are the old dead class thing from the '50's has to go. (There aren't any brahmins left. They is all dead. Okay, they aren't all dead and they did move to the North Shore, but they haven't been an electoral force in this state for 50 friggin years. Get the hell over it.)

Bad SEIU, bad, bad, SEIU. If you are going to do class warfare, you have to go along the current class lines, not them that don't exist anymore.

Incomprehensible, but sort of applicable to this group rant over. (Just bite me you bunch of friggin bastids. Who's buying. I'm going to an Irish bar. To hang out with Democrats.)

[sandnsea]

3. bwahaha

Oh yes yes yes. I so hear you...

:bounce: :bounce:

[TayTay]

4. Honestly, sometimes you just want to scream

Democrats: if you promise to get your heads out of arses, I promise to stop being angry at you long enough to actually get something done. Believe it or not, underhanded tactics piss people off. Really, they do. Stop doing them. If we had wanted your candidate we would have voted for them in the caucuses. They can't buy their friggin way onto the ballot.

This is getting ridiculous. I don't care how much money he has, I am not breaking my promise at the caucus. I am voting for the person I said I would when I got elected. My vote is not for sale.

Friggin bastids.

[MH1]

6. Heh heh heh heh

Good rant. But can you explain to a non-local wtf you're talking about? Who used sneaky tricks to get on the ballot? Or is it that now they're on the ballot, you're not allowed to talk about what sneaky friggin bastids they are?

[TayTay]

7. A little bit. But I really just needed a rant and selfishly indulged mysel

The Massachusetts Dem Party desperately wants to take back the Governor's office. (Nicknamed 'the Corner Office' here, because the Gov's office is in a prominent corner of the Mass State House.) There were 3 candidates a year ago, but one dropped out and decided to rerun for his Sec of State job. (Thus forcing John Kerry's brother, Cam, to drop out of that race. Cam is now co-chair of the Victory '06 effort which will build support for the Dems and raise money for the eventual nominee.)

There were then two candidates who bumped along for 9 months gathering support and preparing for delegate selection at the February caucuses. The outsider candidate, Deval Patrick, scored an amazing upset win and got over 50% of the delegates. His announced rival, Tom Reilly (who is a good man, even if I am supporting Patrick) has hit some rather severe roadblocks in his campaign. (Ahm, yeah, let's leave it at that.) One of those roadblocks was suddenly abandoning one Chris Gabrielli and not choosing him for a pre-selected Lt. Gov's pairing. (Ahm, it gets complicated. Mass has separate races for Gov and Lt. Gov until the primaries, when they combine staff and run as a team. Are you still with me. Pre-selecting a Lt. Gov and bypassing a race pissed people off. Sigh!) Gabrielli was not pleased.

Mr. Gabrielli is a venture capitalist and has 'more money than God.' He also has friends in high places who appreciate Chris and his money (not necessarily in that order, btw.) They think that the Mass Dems should have someone who can outspend the wealthy Republican Kerry Healey. so they convinced Gabrielli to try and win a spot on the Sept. primary ballot by getting uncommitted delegates at the June Convention and, basically, stealing other people's committed delegates. (Much swearing deleted here for the good of my mental health.) There were many questions about whether or not this was legal according to the Chahtah, ah, Charter of the Mass Dem Party. It was legal if Phil Johnston, chair of the State Party, said it was legal. (And he did. As did the Mass Dem Party structure.) So, Gabrielli has launched a full scale assault on delegates and has already spent $1.2 million dollars on this effort. (There are 5,100 elected delegates to the convention. There are 600 or so alternates. Do the math. Us delegates are under assault from the Gabrielli forces.)

Mr. Gabrielli needs about 750 delegates or 15% of the assemblage to get on the ballot. (Again, this is the only thing that matters right now. His ads are aimed solely toward delegates. That is a shitload of money to drop on less than 6,000 people.) I get e-mails from Gabrielli everyday asking me to change my delegate vote because, 'everyone deserves to be on the ballot. It's basic fairness.' (No they don't. That's why they call it an election dummy. There are winners and losers in this process, ya jerk.) I did not give permission for my private e-mail to go out. I wonder how on earth my private e-mail got into his hands? Coincidentally, it was on the registration form that I mailed in to the Dem Party for the convention. If only I could connect those dots. (I am so dumb.)

I get robo-calls from Gabrielli. I get a piece of mail every day, as does my husband. I am under a Gabrielli assault. They won't take me off their e-mail. Yesterday was the last straw. I got this very deceptive letter from "Democratic Elected Officials" that used a close replica of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to make it look more official. (A campaign violation, btw.) It said in the opening line, "Some of us are supporting Deval Patrick." (Lie! One person is, and they still are.)

The middle paragraph is enough to make me want to go postal: "As Democrats, we have always been te Prty of inclusion. We are the Party that defended the right to vote. We are the Party that puruses opportunity for all. We have always been the Party with the big umbrella, welcoming different progressive ideas and candidates to run for office as a DEMOCRAT because it makes our party stronger. We believe that to keep any of the democratic candidates off the ballot in September would be abandoning our cherished principles. We would be damaging the reputation of our Party heading into the November elections." This was signed by 22 elected State Reps and State Sens.

Ahm, no, it's called an election. People won, others lost and then they get to go on the ballot. This use of liberal principle to defame the democratic process is underhanded, dirty and beneath contempt. I am ripping mad about this and spoiling for a fight at the convention as are 2809 committed delegates for Patrick. We intend to raise a little hell of our own against this kind of hardsell. It should be an interesting time.

Clearer? I don't know if the State 'Powers That Be' don't want Patrick to win outright because they are afraid Mass won't elect him or not. But this is disgusting politics. Disgusting. (Go see a pic of Patrick. I suspect other motives. Plus he is the only candidate to back the Cape Wind Farm and the opponents of that have 'more money than God' and I suspect motives on their part as well.)

Just another day in the liberal paradise!

[TayTay]

8. btw, to make this germaine to this group.

I met 3 people today who were at the legendary 1982 State Dem Convention. "I got Evelyn Murphy on the ballot." Those of you with the Boston Globe bio of Kerry can go look that one up. And for numbnuts who think Kerry had an easy time being elected in Mass, just cuz 'he's a liberal' this type of thing is what he fought in his career. Yeah, he had to overcome this type of crap from 'the Powers That Be' in the state.

Damn, that man is a weeble.

From: http://homepage.mac.com/knarley/Personal6.html

Weebles Wobble But They Dont Fall Down...
...But sometimes they really fake you out because they wobble really close to the floor and I normally get scared and try to catch them but by the time I get there they are already coming back up and then I feel stupid because I know I should have known better because everyone knows that Weebles wobble but they don't fall down.

[rox63]

9. Wow...

I live here, and I didn't know a lot of this stuff. I was wondering what all the Gabrieli ads were for, since I wasn't seeing any ads from the two candidates who have actually been pounding the pavement and shaking hands for almost a year now.

[rox63]

5. I must have missed that one

The only SEIU anti-Kerry Healey ad I recall is the game-show one, where they ask the woman to name one Kerry Healey accomplishment - 0ops, trick question. But I mostly only listen to AAR when I'm in the car, so I don't catch much of that stuff.

[sandnsea]

2. lololol

Okay, that was great. For reasons completely separate, yet eerily similar, I was beginning to think I needed to move to Massachusetts!! Not so. Shitty-assed politics are everywhere I see. :)

Bah, I wish I had more patience.

Have fun Tay!!