Terry Cowgill

Fly on the WSJ Eddy Board Wall

Say what you want to about the Wall Street Journal editorial board (and it is very conservative), but at least they have the guts to regularly give you an insight into their thinking. Click here to see the video.

In this case, the board has a spirited discussion on the controversial immigration bill making the rounds in Washington. Our old friend John Fund has an interesting theory as to why so many Republicans are supporting the measure.

This kind of discussion is refreshing to see. Imagine, for example, The New York Times putting this kind of candid video up on the Web. For all its crying out for greater openness in our public institutions, The Times is about as secretive about its own doings as the old Soviet Politburo.

Kudos to the WSJ for doing this on a regular basis (even if I disagree with those guys about half the time).

Salisbury GOP: Few Signs Of Life

I went to a Republican Town Committee meeting in Salisbury last night as a journalist.

Aside: Contrary to popular perception, I am not a Republican and never have been. When I lived in New Hampshire, Cornwall and Middletown in the 1980s, I was a registered Democrat, but have been unaffiliated since moving back to the NWC in 1990.

As is often the case at these kinds of meetings, it was more interesting for what did not happen than what did. Here’s what happened:

Bobby Riva has thrown his hat into the ring for selectman. Riva’s fellow school board member, Roger Rawlings, will run to retain his seat, although he told me a couple of months ago he is now an independent.

Incumbent Selectman Peter Oliver has indicated he will not run for re-election. Jeff Lloyd may be open to running for selectman. Mike Flint gave a hypercharged pep talk. I asked some questions. That was about it.

Here’s what did not happen:

No one stepped forward to run against Curtis Rand for first selectman or against Salisbury’s representative to the Region One Board of Ed, Amanda Halle. No one was optimistic about the immediate future of the Salisbury GOP.

Continue reading Salisbury GOP: Few Signs Of Life…

The Alberto Death Watch

As he often does, Ed Koch writes with remarkable clarity today on Alberto Gonzalez’s imminent death by firing from the Bush admin.

I often wonder how otherwise smart and accomplished people can do such stupid things. Why would someone like Gonzalez, an intelligent man with more experience in the law than 99% of the people in the federal government, do Bush’s bidding when someone like John Ashcroft would not?

Had lunch over the weekend with a man who used to be a high-ranking executive in a big corporation. He personally knows people who have been called into the White House and been asked by the president to perform a task or do a favor. They all report it is difficult (but not impossible) to say no while sitting there in the majesty of the Oval Office.

Imagine how difficult it must be for Gonzalez, who owes much of his station in life to Bush. While Texas governor, Bush appointed Gonzalez to a variety of high-ranking statewide positions, including a seat on the Texas Supreme Court.

Perhaps the lesson is that, while leaders want advice from people they feel comfortable with, it is not wise for any executive to surround him/herself with yes-people. It is particularly foolhardy to appoint advisers who owe much of their professional success to you. It makes saying no doubly difficult.

I know. I once worked for someone who brooked no dissent. I and a few others said no and were shown the door, leaving behind only those who liked to nod their heads up and down. It was almost as big a disaster as the Bush admin.

Oh No, Not Him Again

Update: 3:30 p.m.: Now Jimmy is backpedaling.

Update on two threads ago: The war of words continues over Jimmy Carter’s recent comments that the Bush admin is “the worst ever” and that Tony Blair was essentially Bush’s poodle.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. I can only think of one president in the last century who actually did a worse job than Bush. Carter was a disaster: double-digit inflation and interest rates, high unemployment, dreadful economic growth (stagflation, I believe they called it).

And of course, there were hostages, a tripling of oil prices, gas lines and Carter blaming us in his infamous malaise speech for the state of the nation, when in fact it was his own failed leadership that left us in a wreck.

And I don’t care if he was a nice man who meant well. Good intentions are not enough. I want results in a prez. Actually, as Scott Ott points out, you could make a case that Carter was the greatest ex-prez in history simply because things improved so much after he left office.

Continue reading Oh No, Not Him Again…

Reax From A Former Sabo’s Resident

I don’t often make a practice of writing a post on a previous post, but in this case I think it’s warranted.

Someone who identified herself as a former resident of Sabo’s trailer park has posted a comment on the original post (Death of a Trailer Park) I did on that unfortunate place. And since most of my readers are not checking that nine-day-old post, I wanted to draw your attention to it.

Click here to read the comment (if you don’t feel like scrolling through the entire post) and here to read the editorial I wrote that accompanied the reprinting of the blog post in the print edition.

When I first saw the comment waiting in the moderation queue with 123 spam comments, I almost accidentally erased it. I’m really glad I didn’t because if it’s genuine, it provides a much-needed perspective that was missing from the original post.

I know Marshall and I disagree on this, but I’ve come to the conclusion that the comment of “Chrissie” is real. For one thing, I can’t imagine what would motivate someone to make this up. It is not sarcastic, not designed to make fun of the denizens of Sabo’s (as a prankster might do), but rather it attempts to defend the people who lived there in the plainest and most sincere terms.

Chrissie insists that things were not as bad as I and most of the commenters said they were. People weren’t starving. They tried to keep the place as clean as they could. They took some pride in living where they did and, in the words of Chrissie, “we … did r best.”

She even says the residents often dined with Sabo, which runs counter to my understanding that the tenants disliked the landlord and vice versa.

At any rate, I thought original readers of the post might enjoy the comment. I am most eager to hear your reax about content and authenticity. Frankly, I was touched.

Debate Hangover

First of all, I want to thank everyone who participated in the real-time blogging last night during the Republican debate. Marshall was a little late, but that’s because he ran into Elvis and Falwell at The Woodlands. Dead people make great dinner companions. That’s because they offer such a unique perspective on life.

I wanted to call in this morning to Marshall & Mike to offer a little post-debate slicing and dicing, but I had a million things to do. Here’s my thought currently: The more I think about it, the more I am struck by how soundly the candidates ignored the sitting president of their own party.

I don’t think I heard any one of them mention GWB by name. Some of them (even arch conservatives like Duncan Hunter) were clearly trying to distance themselves from poor George. Not since Jimmy Carter has a president been so unpopular within his own party.

But Carter redeemed himself by doing an admirable job as ex-president. Somehow I doubt you will see GWB building affordable housing or acting as roving ambassador after he puts us out of our misery and heads back to Crawford to clear brush.

And it’s no wonder so many people can’t stand him. He and the Republicans in Congress have screwed up on almost a historic level. Congressional testimony yesterday by James Comey, the number two man in the Justice Department during the Ashcroft era, was, in the words of this Washington Post editorial, “worthy of a Hollywood script.” What a bunch of clowns!

And who came up smelling the best in last night’s debate? The consensus was that Rudy did the best job. Great. The my-way-or-the-highway candidate who most resembles George Bush looks more and more like the strongest his party can offer.

Here’s what I fear the most. Come November 2008, it will be Rudy and Hillary. That will be enough to make me stay home (or slit my wrists).

Live Debate Blogging Tonight

10:40 p.m. Colmes is interviewing Rudy and giving him face time to brag. That’s an indication of how well he did. Gentlemen, thanks. This was even more fun than last time.

10:38 p.m. Jake, yah maybe, as Carl Cameron just said, with Mitt and McC arguing over who was the most conservative, Rudy appeared above the fray and therefore was the victor.

10:33 p.m. Who was the big winner? The spin room is useless. What do you guys think? McC and Mitt went at it, arguing over who was the most conservative. Mitt wins on that score.

10:30 p.m. Mitt handled Wallace’s question on irritating the GOP base really well. He had to think for a moment but cited NCLB and eliminating the federal Ed Dept. Not bad …

10:27 p.m. Marshall, I think Mitt could go up against Hillary and do well, although perhaps not win.

10:20 p.m. Hume’s hypothetical about a terrorist attack came across as lame, too contrived. But Rudy did well … “they should do whatever they could think of.” Whatever that means. No one will say whether waterboarding is torture. Is it, Jake? Thompson mentioned Reagan at 10:18, only the second time all night. A miracle compared to the last GOP debate!

Continue reading Live Debate Blogging Tonight…

What’s Going On, You Ask?

A letter to the editor this week from Jeff Lloyd addresses a subject I have often wondered about. And besides, like me, Jeff asks the question “What is going on?” So he is definitely a man whose style I admire.

[Aside: The LJ does not post its letters on-line, so you’ll have to buy the print edition or take my word for it]

Jeff writes of a near-miss at the intersection of Route 44 and Lincoln City Road in Lakeville. That experience was bad enough, but Jeff raises the larger question of why so many parents insist on driving their children to school when public transportation is available via the big yellow bus.

I have long wondered about this myself. On those rare occasions when our family schedule demands that I pick up or drop off my kids at Salisbury Central School, the circle in front of the drop-off is full of idling cars, so I typically park somewhere else down the hill.

We used to have neighbors across the street who for years refused to put their children on the bus. Every day after my two kids got on it, the mother of our neighbors would collect her four kids and (on most days) would literally follow the half-full bus to the school in her giant SUV.

Continue reading What’s Going On, You Ask?…

AARP … Aaaargh!

Went out to my mailbox today and expected to at least find a nice tidy tutoring check. No check. Instead I got this! And they think I’m a woman — a feminist woman (Ms.).

Yikes! Next thing you know, they’ll be sending me brochures for retirement communties in Boca Grand, emails about free online crossword puzzles or coupons for the early bird special at Red Lobster.

* * * * * * *

BTW, speaking of the mail (how’s that for a transition?), in the last two months I have received two samples of razors that appear to be on steroids. The Schick Quattro Titanium has four blades compared to my usual two. Wimpy. I put it aside. Then came the Gillette Fusion. It had five (5) blades, a pivoting head and a drooling lube strip.

I had to try it, even though I was prepared to hate it. It was unbelievable. I had three days worth of stuble (which is a tough row to hoe for any razor) and it cut through the abrasive mess like butter. But what a dent it puts in your wallet.

Since I now have the razor, I won’t have to shell out $10.99. But an 8-pack of blades retails for (hold onto your beards) $24.99 at the CVS online pharmacy. That’s more than three bucks a shave. At that price, I could buy a bottle of Poland Spring in Boca.

Back and Forth …

Interesting exchange going on in the previous post. I find myself agreeing with “Samantha” — whoever she is.

I tend to give people who serve on our boards and commissions the benefit of the doubt. They are volunteers and are understaffed. With rare exceptions, they are trying to do a good job under difficult and trying circumstances.

Michael Flint spent a good deal of time on Straight Talk last Sunday taking the Salisbury Planning and Zoning Commission to task for being several weeks late in posting the minutes of its Jan. 16 meeting.

Now I believe in FOI law as strongly as the next guy. But it looks like either a commissioner forgot to write the minutes or the commission was having difficulty finding a recording secretary (probably both, judging by what was said at the P&Z meeting I attended last Tuesday). Now, if the minutes had not been filed because the commission was trying to keep information from public view, that would be another story. But I see no evidence of that.

Similarly, Mike had words for First Selectman Curtis Rand, who failed to follow up on the previous adminsitration’s passage of a code of ethics for town officials. It looks like a simple case of something that got lost in the transition from the Bernardoni to Rand administrations.

Now if Curtis had dragged his feet because he was hiding some wrongdoing in town government, I would be the first to seize on it. But again, I see no evidence of it.

I don’t blame Mike for what he is doing. He is trying to engage his listeners in the same way that I’m trying to get my readers involved. We have different approaches, but (on balance), I’m glad he’s out there raising questions. If you don’t like it, hit the mute button — or listen to Leo!