Governor Jack Markell has announced three scheduled “Town Hall’ style meetings to take place in each of the counties of Delaware. The first will be on Tuesday night, I have to be honest from the report I read, I am not sure if that is the 17th, or the 24th, at Del-Tech in Dover, the next meeting will be held on Oct 3rd at Cape Henlopen High School , and the final meeting will be at Delcastle High School near Newport.

These meetings are being put on so that the Governor can discuss the Delaware economy with the people.

Really? Well where the hell was he to discuss the economy during the legislative session when all the legislature was talking about were social issues? We had gun bills galore, we had homosexual marriage, we had bills to allow cross dressing men to use the ladies rooms in Delaware. But how many bills did we see that had anything to do with the economy or creating jobs.

The obvious answer to why is Gov. Markell suddenly so concerned with the economy, when it seemed just a short time ago that he felt men being able to use the lady’s room was the most important thing going, is the recent release of the Moody’s  Analytics report that stated that Delaware was the only state in the nation still in jeopardy of  falling back into recession, this, four years after the national recession.

But is there another reason why the Governor would want this to be the news cycle? Could it be the fact that the special investigator into campaign fraud has announced that he is looking into whether Gov. Markell or anyone on his campaign knew about the money bundling that was taking place, and being contributed to his 2008 campaign?

There was a time early on in this administration that I, a conservative Republican, gave Gov. Markell the benefit of the doubt, however as time has gone by, and as the facts become clear, I have to say, that Gov. Markell may well be the weakest, and maybe the most corrupt governor we here in Delaware have seen for some time.

When we look at the Fisker fraud and waste of tax dollars, when we look at how this governor allowed his party, who by the way, control both the executive and legislative branches of government in Delaware, how he allowed them to waste valuable time on gun bills and bathroom bills and playing to a small constituency with the homosexual marriage bill, all while the state’s unemployment rate was stagnant, even though the nation was at least showing some slow growth, we have to ask, what has he been waiting for to start on the economy with only about two years left in his term?

Now suddenly the light has gone on for Gov. Markell, and he thinks it’s time to work on the economy? Well Gov. Markell a better time would have been about five years ago, or even a year ago, instead of trying to burden law-abiding citizens with punitive practices when trying to legally obtain a gun.

I hope that my job allows me to attend the Sussex meeting, and if not, I hope one of my fellow citizens will ask the question, where have you been Gov. Markell for the past five years on the economy?

The name Michael Zimmerman has been in the local news quite a bit as of late. Zimmerman, a Dover developer, is but the latest named in an ever-growing circle of campaign fraud and corruption.

Zimmerman is the third person to be found guilty of illegally contributing to the campaigns of the current governor of Delaware, Jack Markell.

The pattern seems to be, that owners of businesses convince  their employees to make contributions to the campaign  of Jack Markell, then reimburse the employees, and others, through the companies they own.

The first, and what seems to have been but the tip of the iceberg, was Christopher Tigani, the owner of N.K.S., a local liquor distributor. Tigani was fined $108,00. That was followed by Kemal  Erkan, a Greenville businessman, who settled a non-prosecution case, and paid a $15,000 civil fine, for also having used his company, United Medical LLC of Stanton, to reimburse employees who had made donations to the Markell campaign.  Zimmerman was fined $21,600 for his illegal funneling of campaign contributions.

Zimmerman may be the most interesting, not for the amount of money that he paid to the campaign of Gov. Markell, but because of statements that he has made since being indicted.

Mr. Zimmerman has said that he is a registered voter in Florida, along with the people who actually made the donations, and were later reimbursed. Zimmerman was quoted in the Wilmington News Journal as saying, “I didn’t come up with these things on my own”, inferring that the Markell campaign may have been coordinating with these men, perhaps actually mapping out how to go about making these illegal contributions.

When asked whether this was true, Governor Markell said, “Absolutely not”, others in the Markell inner circle have also denied that anyone within the campaign had any knowledge of how this happened.

Okay, so are we to believe that these three men, and maybe more, put their reputations at risk, their businesses at risk, their very freedom at risk, simply to help elect Jack Markell? That they were so impressed with Mr. Markell that they would go to any lengths, including making illegal contributions to see that he got elected?

Are we to believe that they had no hope of gaining any influence over the Governor? That they were not hoping that by making these contributions that they would receive special consideration at some future date? I am sorry, but I find it hard to believe that anyone would risk all that, simply to elect a person with no intent of gaining such influence.

So if a man will go to such lengths to make contributions above and beyond the legal limit, if they will risk their homes, their businesses, all that they have worked to build and achieve, in order to gain influence over an elected official, does it make sense that they would do so without the knowledge of the person they hope to influence? What good does it do, to make these donations if the person you are donating to, doesn’t know you donated all that money?

That may explain why the special investigator, E. Norman Veasey, who was appointed by  Delaware’s Attorney General Beau Biden, back in 2011 to investigate campaign finance practices in Delaware, is now expanding that investigation to include looking into whether Jack Markell, or anyone involved with his 2008 campaign, had any role in  helping these people make these illegal contributions, or any knowledge that this was being done.

We now know that there is a pattern of people making these illegal contributions, that is without question. It is now time to shine the light on the fact that in all likelihood the campaigns, if not the candidates themselves, are playing their role in this practice.  Or, are we to believe that these three men just happened to come up with the same idea, to contribute in the same way, to the same campaign?

It is time that the candidates and the campaigns pay the price for these illegal actions. Somewhere there is someone who heard a conversation, or received an email, they need to come forward. If Jack Markell, or anyone on his campaign played a role in this, then they need to be held accountable, the same as the men who made the contributions.

I have to admit that as time has passed, the memory of that clear September morning has started to gray around the edges. Not because the emotions we all felt that day, and the days following, have lost their value or meaning to us, simply because that is how human beings handle grief and mourning. We tend to compartmentalize it.

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy we all felt raw, as if an open wound were spreading across the very surface of our nation, a wound that seemed as if it wound continue to open until the nation and all that it stood for would simply collapse in upon itself. But that didn’t happen, we came together as a nation, we shared our grief with our nation family, we all understood how each of us was feeling. We knew our neighbors were as mad, and as frightened as we were. We knew that we all felt the need to avenge the lives of those taken from us in such a heinous fashion.

But looking back over twelve years it begins to take on the feeling of a dream. I know that for those who were more directly affected by that day, it will be forever real, forever engraved in their memories of the loved ones lost. However for the majority of the citizens, that day has already taken on a sense of historic relevance, we see it as those in the future will see it,  from a distance, with an eye more towards the effect it has had upon the nation, rather than the effect it had upon us as individuals.

And my friends it has had both a terrible effect upon the nation and the individual. This once welcoming nation of immigrants, this diverse multi-cultural nation made strong, not by its unwillingness to accept people of all races, and faiths, but made strong by its determination to create a nation where all were welcome, and all were free. A nation in which the poorest were free to practice their faith as they saw fit. A nation where the smallest minority was protected from the majority that otherwise might grind it into nothingness.

I fear we are losing these strengths. We are becoming a nation of people who seek to isolate, and to narrow the very freedoms that made this the freest and strongest nation the world has ever known. And I believe that in a large part, it is due to that September morning, when not only our nation changed for ever, but the very world itself changed to a point that we may never be able to return from.

I sense a fear among many people of these United States, a fear that they swaddle in hate filled rhetoric. They speak of other people as if they are not human, as if simply based on their place of birth, or their chosen faith, that they are unworthy of our humanity. These fearful people attempt to hide their fear from the world by calling others animals, or barbarians. We see these people being murdered by actual barbarians and they say, “let the Muslims kill the Muslims”.  Is this what Christ would say?

Yes it has been twelve years, and no, we will never forget that day, nor should we, but neither should we allow that day to rob us of the one thing that has always raised this nation above all others, our moral superiority, the ability to know right from wrong, not simply based upon our national interest alone, but based upon knowing as a nation, that if we turn a blind eye towards man’s inhumanity towards man, if we allow terrible people to do terrible things to innocent people, then we have become no better than the men who flew those planes into the Towers and the Pentagon on that clear crisp September morning twelve years ago. And that my friends and fellow citizens is not the America I grew up in.

So on this anniversary of September 11th I will ask what I know will be hard for many, and impossible for  some, let us pray for those lost, for the children, the wives and husbands, the fathers, the mothers, the sons, the daughters, brothers and sisters, for all those who were affected by that tragedy. Let us pray for all who gave their lives seeking a justice for those lost on that day. Let us pray for our nation, that we as a nation will not fall prey to the human nature that can lead us to hatred that we are told will condemn our very souls. So on this day I ask all of us to pray for the souls of the very enemy that seeks to destroy us, pray that their eyes and hearts should become open to the saving graces of the one true God. We are all children of Abraham after all.

God Bless America!

Wading into Politics

By Duke Brooks

What individual would willingly expose themselves, their families, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the tender mercies of a modern political campaign?

It’s challenging, daunting and requires exceptionally fine-tuned judgment.  Politics invokes passion, anger, emotions…all the things that have no place whatsoever in the professional operation of a statewide political campaign.  Many have tried and been victimized by media, rumors and the opposition.  Certainly, the ideal GOP candidate must be committed to principle and see their participation in something larger than themselves as a calling, a duty and a privilege.

Add to that a lack of actual elected political experience (so the candidate isn’t tainted by the ‘process’ or beholden to special interests) and no self-serving, egomaniacal drive, and one would, at least, in theory, have an ideal Republican candidate. At least, that’s who we would like to have as a candidate.

We have one like that in Delaware, and you probably already know him.  His name is Kevin Wade.

Kevin ran for the U.S. Senate last year, and in the GOP primary for the Congress in 2010.  Obviously, long odds have never discouraged him.

His hometown, Reading, Pennsylvania is a rough-and-tumble polyglot working-class place.  Kevin Wade graduated from high school in Nixon’s first term and went to work in a steel mill three days later.  Realizing that the world offered more than a blue-collar paycheck, Kevin worked his way through the University of Delaware to a bachelor’s of electrical engineering.  After a stint at DuPont, he struck out on his own in the early 1980s and has never looked back.  His firm, Philadelphia Control Systems, occupies a unique place in the realm of consulting engineers.  If you’ve ever eaten a Hershey’s Kiss, know that it was wrapped on an assembly line programmed by Kevin Wade and his engineering team.  The company specializes in solving the complex problems of production automation and the software that runs modern factories.

Kevin travels worldwide, helping his clients solve major engineering problems.  He spent time on North Sea oil platforms and in European, Asian and South American factories.  His firm has never failed to deliver results for their customers.  Engineers solve problems, and Kevin solves big, complicated ones.

Kevin looks at “the numbers” and can tell that America has been set on a wrongful course by Washington leftists.  The national debt is not payable; Kevin’s grandchildren will be handed that bill in fifteen years or so, and their lives will be much the worse for it.  Kevin’s not the only American who takes the irresponsible actions of the permanently entrenched career legislature in DC personally; during the campaign against perennial incumbent Tom Carper last year, Kevin had to contend with the absurd ‘campaign’ of a third-party interloper, the top-heavy, one-party nature of The First State and a biased, partisan media.  Wilmington and Philly newspapers had already picked ‘their guy’ and wouldn’t be dissuaded by the facts.  Shocking, isn’t it?

Quite a few GOP insiders have pointedly asked me, “Will Kevin run against Chris Coons?”  My answer is, “Kevin has no plans to run.  But I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.”

Now, strictly hypothetically, what would such a race, for instance, the 2014 Delaware campaign for the US Senate, look like?  Are there any credible Democrats who would challenge the incumbent junior senator, who was openly called “my pet” by Harry Reid when he ran against Christine O’Donnell in 2010?  Probably not; there are no potential GOP challengers, other than Kevin, on the horizon either.  Kevin Wade has the name recognition and the ideas, long on common sense and short on inside-the-Beltway nonsense, necessary to displace Coons.  Kevin’s ideas are bold, readily understood and logical.  They make too much sense for Washington to ever adopt, but Washington’s ways aren’t working, and haven’t for decades.  What has Coons actually done?  Well, um…he, uh…not much, I guess.  But he is the favorite of the liberal media.  Kevin Wade now splits his time between hosting a radio program on New Jersey’s WIFI-AM and running Philadelphia Control Systems.  By the summer of 2014, his national profile could be firmly re-established as a voice for the common sense conservative movement, enabling him to attract the national constituency (read: donations) necessary to win a Senate seat.

I can’t speak for the State GOP Committee, but I’m certain that Kevin is the favorite of rank-and-file Republicans statewide.  And, if he decides to run again, he will be the favorite of anybody who can add, and who realizes that a $17trillion debt is mathematically insurmountable.

The facts are clear, stark and obvious: Sending the same people who created the problem back again to the Congress to solve it doesn’t make any sense.  I don’t know about you, but I want an outsider with some fresh, clear ideas to have a voice in DC.  Kevin ought to wade into that mess, drain that swamp, and get things back on an even keel.

After all, engineers can do anything.

The August 14^th interview with Kevin Wade begins at the :54-min. mark:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/conservativennationradio/2013/08/14/radio-free-america-with-duke-brooks

The writer is President of Conservative Nation Media, Inc., communications director for the Sussex County (DE) Republican Committee and was spokesman for Kevin Wade for U.S. Senate in 2012.

Back in 2008 a lot of people on the left thought that, and said that, a president Obama, could and would be a uniting force in America. That he would move us into a post racial America.

I am not really sure whether we will ever move into a post racial America or not, those wounds are so deep, and so many people have created an industry out of trading on racism and perceived racism, that we may never see a day when all Americans see themselves only as American citizens.

However, with the move towards intervention into the civil war in Syria, it would seem that President Obama may have actually stumbled unto a way to unite the citizens of this nation in a common cause. He may have found an issue that aligns the right, with the left, the rich with the poor.

The only two, “classes” that seem to be divided on the issue of whether or not to intervene, would be the citizens of the nation and its ruling political class, or as they are better known, our elected representatives.

It seems in many cases that elected officials are not listening to the citizens, I know shocking right?. Of course there are exceptions to the rule.

The thing is however, while a large majority of  American citizens are against becoming involved in the Syrian civil war, the reasons for that opposition are many.

There are of course many on the left and the right, who feel that all wars are wrong and that America should never in any way become involved in any conflict beyond our borders. That our national interest do not extend beyond those borders, and so neither should we project our military force around the world.

Personally I think that is an antiquated and naïve point of view. To not recognize that we are living in a global economy, and that there are nations and groups out in that global environment that seek to hamper or destroy the United States through attacks on our global interest, is dangerously blind. The attacks on 9/11 were not an attempt to destroy the U.S. through attrition, by killing as many Americans as possible, it was intended to throw the world economy, but more importantly the U.S. economy into such turmoil that markets would crash and the U.S. would be weakened beyond repair. That didn’t happen, but it doesn’t mean that our enemies have given up that tactic.

We are also seeing many current and former military people, and their families, opposing the possible, if not inevitable involvement in Syria. While I have never served in the military, I think I can understand why these citizens, who have seen up close in many cases, the true cost of war, why they would seek to limit the amount of military involvement. I have no criticism of their views, since I have no actual experience of my own to counter their views with. I would only say, that if we are unwilling to project our military force, then why have one at all?

Others out there will tell you that to enter this conflict will lead to WW III, well not to make lite of any conflict in which men, women and children will die, we have been hearing that every armed conflict around the world will lead to the next WW. Of course there is no way to know whether any conflict will escalate into an all out global conflict or not, but again, the only way to ensure that no conflict happens ever, is to do away with all military weapons and personnel. Now as soon as someone convinces all of the bad guys around the world to promise never to attack the U.S. ever again, well then we might consider throwing all the guns in the oceans. Until then we must be prepared to defend ourselves and our friends, and yes, even our interest around the world such as oil supplies.

Of course there are many on the political right who are opposing this intervention simply based on political lines, President Obama is a Democrat and so Republicans must oppose this. To be honest, many Democrats that are supporting it are also doing so because of political affiliation.

I am not even sure, contrary to popular belief, that President Obama actually supports the idea of an armed retaliation for the chemical weapons attack that has led us to this point. Personally I think that Pres. Obama painted himself into a corner with his, “RED LINE” comment. At the time he made the comment about the use of chemical weapons being a red line, I am sure it was little more than a good P.R. move in his advisor’s view. But once made he now must either back up the tough talk, or seem weak not only here at home, but also to our allies and enemies around the world as well. You see simply waving the big stick around does no good if you are known for never busting some head from time to time.

I too am opposed to this intervention into yet another conflict. This may seem odd to some of you who have been following my writing for any amount of time. I supported going into Afghanistan, I supported the Iraq War, and no, before someone says it, not because those wars were led by a Republican president. I supported them because in my view there were clear and present dangers from those nations to both the homeland and our global interest around the world. I also felt that a real case could be made for why we were fighting there. But more importantly, I felt that when we entered into those conflicts we had every intention to “win” them. And yes I know the definition of what winning them meant has never been clear, but other than total annihilation of an enemy, is there ever a clear idea of what winning would mean at the beginning of a war?

My problem with this latest “Wag The Dog” is that in my view that is all it will be. This is another case of a weak president attempting to look strong. It has been weeks since the gas attack in Syria. The discussion of whether or not the U.S. will take military action has been little more than an extended news cycle.

We have been hearing nothing but a lot of talk about whether the President will or will not use the military. Then it became the question of whether or not he needed to seek the approval of Congress. Then as public opposition grew, he of course sought cover by actually going to Congress for their approval. Now we are in the stage of negotiating amongst   ourselves exactly what this intervention would look like. No elected official worth his or her elected salt would agree to an intervention and then leave it up to the experts, you know the men and women who actually have fought wars in the past. Oh! No! They have to have every missile, and every bullet accounted for before they will okay the use of them.

We are actually treated on the nightly news to the very strategy of how we will launch the missiles from ships and from where the ships will most  likely be located. I expect next we will send out form letters to all Syrian citizens alerting them to the very day and second of the very hour we will launch the missiles. And in the end we will most likely not hit any real targets of military value, no, more likely, we will again bomb aspirin factories and baby formula factories killing janitors, and offering apologies for our blundering military.

So you see, I am not opposed to military actions to protect our interest around the world, and I also believe that we do have a certain moral responsibility to protect people from dictatorial rulers, think Hitler.  But if our leaders are putting our military men and women in harm’s way simply for photo ops, or to protect their street creds,  and if they have no real intention of actually affecting the outcome of the conflict they are entering into, then I feel that they are doing it for all the wrong reasons, and we should rethink our global goals.

Of course entering the Syrian civil war on either side puts us at risk of escalating the conflict, Israel and Iran could easily be drawn in, not to mention the entire Middle East. This of course would also have a devastating effect on U.S interest in the region such as oil prices! OH! Wait a minute, could our green president see escalating this conflict as a way to again drive up oil prices, thus increasing the value of all of his good friends in the alternative energy industry that he has invested so much of the tax payers money in, and failed to deliver any results?

Whatever your reason for opposing this intervention, I think we can all agree, at this time, the president and those supporting him on this, are doing so, for all the wrong reasons.