Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Time to Man Up Mr. President!

     Twenty two plus years ago, on December 21, 1988, a Pan Am 747 carrying 259 passengers and crew, was blown out of the sky over Lockerbie Scotland by a bomb. A bomb that was later proved to be from Libya and eventually a Lbyian national , Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was tried for the crime and convicted. Lbyan Dictator, Muammar al Gaddafi, was long suspected of having ordered the bombing but there was never any proof offered, until today.
     Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who recently resigned as justice minister in protest over the innocent killings of peaceful protesters in Libya, told a Swedish Tabloid, Expression, that Gaddafi personally ordered the bombing of that plane. If true, then it follows that since gaddafi is the recognized leader of Libya, the bombing was a clear act of war carried out by a soveriegn nation. Although over a dozen countries were represented by those on board, the clear majority, 189 of the 256 people on board were from the United States. Over 50 of those, including Nicole Boulanger of Shrewsbury MA, were students returning home for the holidays from studying abroad. That act of war was clearly against the United States.
     Now there is a high official from the Gaddafi Regime claiming that the dictator personally ordered the bombing. What will our President do with this new information? I fear not much. Today he said the Libyan treatment of protesters was "appalling" and he announced Hillary Clinton was being dispatched to Geneva to talk about the evolving situation. Wow, that should really make Gaddafi think twice, don't you think? Plus there was no mention from him of the new revelations. (There were no questions about it either from the mainstream media.)
     Shortly after 9/11 Gaddafi contacted the then Bush Administration and handed over all of his WMD programs. Why did he do that? Was he feeling generous and remorseful? Its obvious today that was not the case. The reason he did that was because it was Bush in charge! A real Texas cowboy type who would shoot first and ask questions later. Gaddafi knew Bush meant it when he said you were either with us or against us. He knew he had to offer some sort of olive branch to stay in power.
     President Obama does not project that same sense of authority in this part of the world. It has become very clear throughout the region in the past month that the Obama Administration is basically absent from the table and not able to influence events.
     If the President takes the new information about the act of war perpetrated by Gaddafi on the United States in 1988 and acts on it appropiately by publicly siding with the opposition forces and moving military forces into place he would go a long way towards changing that equation. The cultures in these countries are very different from the culture we live in. They see force as strength and diplomacy as weakness. Until the administration learns that, like all of the others before it, it will remain innefective.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Mayor O'Brien misses the point....

     Today I watched the you tube video provided by the Worcester Gop of Mayor O'Brien's remarks in front of the election commission and was appalled. Here was an elected official trivializing the apparent misdeeds of a few over zealous activists by saying, more than once, that 43,000 people voted in the past election in Worcester. I guess he was implying since there are only a few allegations of voter fraud, it doesn't really matter. He even recited the large gap of votes between the winner and loser in the election. I can only infer that he wants us to believe voter fraud is ok in one sided elections. Mayor O'Brien, you missed the point entirely. Voter fraud should never be accepted. Period!
     The sixth Worcester District race for State Representative is a prime example of why. That race came down to a one vote win for Peter Durant, even after three recounts. In Southbridge, a Democrat stronghold in the district, allegations of the same type of voter misdeeds as those alleged in Worcester surfaced on the day of the election. It was also in Southbridge where some ballots were questioned which opened the door for a liberal Duval Patrick appointed judge to declare the race a tie, forcing another two elections on the taxpayers. Even if only a couple of votes for the Democratic Incummbent were the result of fraud, it would still be a travesty to all of the voters. As disappointed as I am in the Mayor's reaction to the allegations in Worcester I am sadly not surprised. This type of response to these types of accusations is not new to the Democratic Party. I cannot help but think it is in their playbook for winning elections. Maybe it reads something like this:

If voter fraud is alleged or even proven in a landslide victory, minimize it by declaring it didn't matter anyway. If the election is close and the Democrat wins, negate the fraud by stuffing more ballots into open ballot boxes during the recounts and blame it on "honest mistakes." If the Democrat loses, do the same thing but cry foul at the inept election workers for being wrong the first time. Also confuse the situation by getting the media to go along with any outrageous claim you can come up with. for why the election was loss such as smudged ballots or hanging chads. Never under any circumstances admit or allege that the voters did not want you to win!

     As absurd as that sounds, I don't think it's any less absurd for an elected official to stand in front of an election commission and imply voter fraud should be accepted as trivial or meaningless. Mayor O'Brien is way off base on this issue and I hope the voters in Worcester let him know it.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Winter: Round Two

     Welcome back winter. Like the eye of a hurricane, these past couple of days were nothing more than a calm in the middle of the maelstrom that is New England winter. Frigid cold, heavy snow, tired plow drivers, frustrated people...it's all back this week.One little bit of silver though, our little ones are already home so no worry about more snow days piling up. Tonight the temperature is already at 13 degrees with a -6 degree wind chill. Ah, the wind. Such a welcome sound to the stranded sailor on the South Pacific. Not so much here. While I write this I can hear my furnace struggling to keep it at bay, spending our money at rate faster than a slot machine at Foxwoods. Ugh!
     Where are all the global warming fanatics now? Isn't it curious how we only here from them during the inevitable heat waves in July? I swear this winter is their fault. Mother Nature has an uncanny way of constantly contradicting the crazies among us who think they know better. As for that stupid oversized rat in Pennsylvania, will someone please shoot him and make some sort of hot stew out of him, please?
     So here we are again. Shuttered inside our homes as winter rages outside. At least it isn't November with all of Winter's fury ahead. It's February, and in a few weeks nights like these will be a memory...for a few months anyway. Until then there is nothing to do but hope the walls stay intact and the trees don't come crashing down. Yeah, welcome back winter, thanks for nothing.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Iraq and the myth of no WMD's

     Recently I have been receiving emails in response to some of my earlier blogs from very passionate liberals. While I welcome the spirited discourse generated by these emails I am wondering why they chose that venue instead of commenting directly here. One of them said he could not leave a comment but every time I test that it works for me so I don't know. Anyway, one of the things that constantly crops up is the liberal mantra of how wrong and evil it was for our country to invade Iraq. Last night I was actually sent a link to a news article by one of them that tells about an Iraqi who lied to us about their Chemical Weapons program and how that information was used to justify invading Iraq. I guess the goal was to somehow convince me that the chemical weapons I was exposed to in the First Gulf War were no longer there or not real in the first place in 2003. Really? Is that how far a leftist liberal has to go to discredit the Bush Administration. In response I am posting a couple letters I received from our governement under the Clinton Administration in 1997 and again in 2000. As you can see these letters admit my unit was exposed to Sarin and Cyclosarin nerve agents that were destroyed by our forces after the cease fire in March of 1991. Folks, we did not bring the stuff with us! The Chemicals were developed by Iraq and put into their arsenal long before we arrived. I believe it is crazy to think we destroyed all of their chemical weapons when we were not even near Baghdad at that time!
 
     That raises another issue that I take exception to with the left. When our forces entered Iraq in the Spring of 2003 it was not an un-provoked attack. It was a resumption of combat operations due to Iraq having violated the terms of the ceasefire they signed in 1991 to stop hostilities. During the next twelve years Iraq continually snubbed their nose at the UN by not allowing inspectors to do their jobs, by attacking their own people, by threatening their neighbors and many more indiscretions aimed at ignoring the world and intimidating its neighbors. Even President Clinton knew Iraq was a rogue country and while I am not satisfied with his response to their clear violations, his administration did respond, even with force. To those Bush haters like my new liberal friends who believe the presence of WMDs in Iraq was a myth I ask this. Where
did all those chemical weapons go? 
      I have some answers provided by some of our popular media outlets. In 2006 Fox News reported over 500 WMDs had been found in Iraq by our forces from 2003 thru 2006.  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200499,00.html    As recently as October 25, 2010 the New York Post reported that in the WikiLeaks documents there was plenty of evidence that our forces had been finding not only caches of chemical weapons but labs and remnants of a chemical weapons program. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/us_did_find_iraq_wmd_AYiLgNbw7pDf7AZ3RO9qnM
     Another thing that has always irked me about the liberals in this debate is there insistence that deposing Saddam Hussein and the Bathist Party was somehow not in our best interest. This view seems to come universally from people who have never met an Iraqi citizen. I have. As a matter of fact my unit, the 344th MP Compnay, (the first platoon of which I was a member is located right here in Worcester) escorted over 22,000 Iraqi soldiers from the battlefield during the Gulf War. What I learned about them is this. They are smart, literate and care about the things you and I do. Jobs, the pursuit of happiness and a sense of safety for their families. Under Saddam those things were not guaranteed or even enjoyed by most of their citizens. Just ask a Shiite or a Kurd.
     Taking out a rogue regime after it violated a ceasefire agreement with us was not only the right thing to do, it was necessary. In that part of the world, anything less would have been looked upon as being weak and it would definitely have led to more tragedy for us all. As far as the argument that we were creating more al qaeda members by our actions, there is just no proof of that. There is plenty of proof however that our actions in Iraq attracted thousands of al qaeda members and sympathizers to the battle from other countries who wanted to kill us. Instead most of them were killed or captured. That in and of itself was a victory. While Iraq is not the most stable place on Earth yet, it is certainly a lot better off now than it was under Saddam and there is a form of democracy taking hold there, despite what the liberals believe.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Project New Hope

     Project New Hope is a non-profit organization that puts on retreats for veterans and their families. When our soldiers return home they are faced with many issues that can be overwhelming to the families. If they are married they may find it hard to adjust to their new role with their spouse who has been running things during their absence. There may be financial strains on the family as a result of their deployment which can cause stress, resentment and actual loss among other things. One sad statistic involving veterans is that many relationships they are in including marriages do not survive the return of the veteran. This is especially hard on any children involved. Project New Hope uses its retreats to help families address the problems involved with a veteran returning home.
     Project New Hope is 100% privately funded and relies heavily on fundraising events. If anyone is interested, this Sunday from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm, at Biagios Grille on Park Ave Dick Doherty will be performing and half the proceeds will go to Project New Hope.  http://www.projectnewhopema.org/   Also on Saturday March 26th the Worcester Sharks are partnering with Project New Hope to present this season's Hereos Night! Tickets, which are $15.00 each ($20.00 face value), can be bought through Project New Hope at http://www.projectnewhopema.org/ and the Worcester Sharks  at http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sharksahl.com%2F&h=885bf. I am also selling tickets to the game so drop me a msg if you want. If you were planning on attending an upcoming game please think about joining us on March 26th, thanks.
   

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Illegal Alien Benefits...on our dime!

     This past Saturday a bold headline proclaimed "Young immigrants vow to press on for resident benefits" http://www.telegram.com/article/20110212/NEWS/102120398 This article by Russell Contreras  of THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, is yet another example of our local paper acting as a propaganda tool for all that is liberal in our state and country. First of all let me point out in the headline the ILLEGAL ALIEN students are referred to as "Young Immigrants."  This is a blatant attempt to hide who these people really are; ILLEGAL ALIEN sons and daughters of ILLEGAL ALIENS who disregarded our laws and then took advantage of all the goodies the Democrats in power have provided for them. All we have to do is look to the Boston Housing Authority to see the corruption in place. President Obama's Aunt has been living in one of their units for years after being ordered out of the country by the INS. (It is disgusting to think of how many veterans who served their country are homeless right now in Massachusetts while ILLEGAL ALIENS like her get free housing on our dime!)
          Now we have a group of young ILLEGAL ALIENS who are demanding that the taxpayers of Massachusetts allow them to attend our tax funded higher education institutions at the same tuition rate as resident CITIZENS! How did we ever let this farce get so far? I wonder why we even allow them to attend these schools in the first place. For every ILLEGAL ALIEN who does, a citizen is left out. Are the Democrats so far gone they cannot see how hurtful and wrong this is to the young people of this state to be left out in the cold while law breakers are given the opportunities they should be getting?
     All of the arguments used by the ILLEGAL ALIENS in the article can also be used to explain why actual citizens should get a higher education. Better opportunities to make them productive members of society is a noble idea, for our own citizens! One of the telling things mentioned in the article is that these ILLEGAL ALIENS have already been afforded a high school education at our expense but apparently that wasn't enough. Are the Democrats so ignorant they cannot see how every benefit given to an illegal immigrant by our tax money is a big bright neon sign of enticement to others in their respective home countries who may be thinking about coming here? Can't they see that whatever they give is never enough? And please don't tell me it's not just the Democrats who pander to the criminals. In this state they own the issue.
     As a veteran I am also extremely upset that programs in place for myself and other veterans have to compete for resources with ILLEGAL ALIENS! Only Democrats seem to be able to say otherwise but it cannot be denied, especially here in Massachusetts. Millions and millions of our tax dollars go towards paying for ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT education, health care, housing, food, utilities and so much more. Every other recipient of our state tax dollars have to compete with these criminals too. How is it that we as an electorate ever let it get this bad?
     Mr. Contreras' liberal bias bleeds through every paragraph. At least three times he refers to the ILLEGAL ALIENS as undocumented student immigrants and four other times he leaves out the word undocumented and just writes student immigrant. This is the type of reporting I am referring to when I characterize the mainstream media as being a mouth piece of the liberal establishment. I could not find one question by Mr. Contreras in which he asks the ILLEGAL ALIENS why they think they should be rewarded for breaking this country's laws! Many other questions come to mind but of course they will never be asked or answered.
     In 1922 my Great Grandfather came over from Italy on a ship leaving his wife and nine children behind. He worked in menial jobs and lived in a tenement house for two years before he could get them here. He followed all of the rules in place and did it the right way. Most people's families , no matter their ethnic background with two well known exceptions, have a similar history. People like my Great Grandfather are and were IMMIGRANTS. People like those referred to in the article are CRIMINALS! They should be treated as such and denied any benefit of any kind from their illegal activity.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Who's on first?

     As I watch the events unfold in Egypt today I am reminded once again how inexperienced and incompetent our President is in International affairs. Yesterday afternoon our President actually co-opted the demonstration in Egypt and compared it to his victory in 2008.  He went on to espouse the virtues of the Egyptian People in having changed their leadership in this manner. Several hours later he was forced to hide behind a press release as it became clear the Egyptian President was not actually leaving. No amount of spin can hide this major misstep by our President.
     From the beginning of this event the administration has been shown to be out of step and lacking any real intelligence about what was really happening. Whether you like Obama or not does not matter. When we have a president this far removed from facts about world events like this it is dangerous for all Americans, especially those who are in other countries. Although the liberal media machine will work hard to cover up the apparent incompetence it will not be an easy task. Just two weeks ago Vice President Biden said that Mubarak should not step down and said the protests around the Middle East were unconnected. Although Secretary of State Clinton's remarks have been more middle of the road, I suspect that is because she is smarter than Obama in these matters and probably saw the writing on the wall before he did about Mubarak's fate. Yesterday was just plain embarrassing to watch as our President came out like a cheerleader at a football game and praised the young people of Egypt for bringing about a change in their leadership. When Mubarak defiantly refused to step down last night I wondered if I was the only one who saw the similarities between Obama and Bush when he declared Mission Accomplished on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Of course the media will just ignore it and in the coming weeks as more and more facts come to light from those closest to the protest, the liberal machine will give Obama more and more credit for helping to bring about these changes.
     As an American I hope our President will quickly overcome his ignorance of what just happened in Egypt and get up to speed so that we can as a nation help Egypt make a smooth transition to a true democracy. To that end we do have true leverage. The United States is the biggest source of funds for the Egyptian military and our administration needs to take advantage of that. If we don't, we are leaving the door open to groups like the Muslim Brotherhood to step into the power vacuum and if that happens all bets are off as to the safety of Israel and the United States.
     President Obama has to act quickly to get rid of incompetent fools in his administration like the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, who just yesterday said the Muslim Brotherhood was "largely secular" and not particularly extreme. (For those who don't know, the Muslim Brotherhood is largely suspected of having assassinated Anwar Sadat because of the peace treaty with Israel and they are credited with being the father group al qaeda and hamas.) There are plenty of other amateurs working in the administration and it is long past time to get rid of them for the good of all of us. There are some strong intelligent people there too and I hope the President leans more and more on them. Going forward I hope we can start getting better intelligence about the events that have unfolded and where these protests will erupt next.
     Sometimes events happen that force us as Americans to put our political differences aside and unite as one voice. I believe this is one of those times. One of the realities around the world is that the people on the street in oppressed countries always look at America for guidance and always hope for our help. Unfortunately we sometimes have to support dictators for very political reasons and this leads to the alienation of the regular folks in those countries. When an opportunity comes along like the one in Egypt right now for there to be a real democracy formed, we should act quickly as a nation to help and to repair our relationship with the people there. Although I don't have much faith in his ability, I do want our President to get the response right so that we can do that. I want our leaders from both sides of the aisle to help him in this endeavor. This needs to be done for the good of our country. I am happy for the people of Egypt, I just hope their euphoria is not short lived or misguided.
    
    
   

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Where Is Our Money?

     I woke up this morning and while perusing recent articles I found yet another liberal puff piece about the stimulus funds in the Worcester Telegram. Unbelievably the reporter, Bob Salsberg of the Associated Press, wrote what amounts to a testiminonial for Federal Funds having helped Massachusetts in its dire time of need the past two years. Even the headline in big black bold letters proudly proclaimed that the Stimulus put $7,000,000,000 (Billion) in the state of Massachusetts' pocket! Both of the people quoted in the article, Michael Widmer and Rep. David Linsky D-Natick, are well known liberal democrats and added to the tone of the article by touting how effective the stimulus has been in staving off a major depression and in creating 71,000 MA jobs.
     Of course there was no mention of the hundreds of thousands of jobs lost in that same time frame or of the sluggishness of our economy two full years after the stimulus was passed. There were also no quotes from any Republican Pols or others who may have an opposing view on the matter. I guess if there had been, that in itself would have been news. As a fiscally conservative minded person, I was dead set against any of these so called stimulus bills. It is just not the right way get an economy going. Just ask yourself this. What would happen if you walked into a bank, told them you were $12,000 in debt which you could not afford to pay back, and then asked for $20,000? We all know the answer to that and if bankers think its's bad business for them, why is it good for our government? All that aside, the reality is that the stimulus bills have been passed and they are here. Given that, I have a huge problem with Massachusetts only receiving $7 Billion dollars.
     Instead of rejoicing over that number, our elected leaders should be screaming at the top of their lungs for a bigger piece of the pie! $7 Billion is simply not nearly enough of the funds for a state the size of Massachusetts.
     In February of 2009 Pesident Obama signed a stimulus bill which was for over $787 Billion. The $7 Billion Massachusetts has received amounts to less than 1% of the total. This for a state that is 14th in population and 8th in median income. You would think that with so many of our congressional seats held by Democrats, and a Governor who is supposed to be so close to the President, our state should have been able to get a heck of a lot more of those funds that were allocated. It is insidious that our citizens are paying so much more per year in Federal Income Taxes only to see the stimulus money unfairly distributed to so many other poorer states. A quick check of the US Census Burea http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/statemedfaminc.html figures shows that 6 out of the 10 poorest states are all recieving more stimulus funds per capita than Massachusetts. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/where-will-the-stimulus-money-go-a-state-by-state-breakdown/ Yet our elected leaders continue to tout the virtues of the funds we have received without addressing these glaring inequities in how they were handed out.
     All of this leads back to questioning why reporters like Mr. Salsberg refuse to do their jobs and ask these same questions of our elected officials. I am not a professional reporter yet it took me less tham 1 hour to find the information I am referring to. We are being ripped off, scammed and swindled as taxpayers here in Massachusetts and it's time to start putting a stop to it!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Highest Paid Jobs In Massachusetts?

     Have you ever seen those ads for the staffing agencies who only offer jobs that pay over $100,000 per year? What kind of jobs come to mind? Doctors? Lawyers? Ceo's? Engineers? Entertainers? How about Parking Attendant or Floor Sweeper? No? Well here in Massachusetts those are the jobs that should come to mind. On June 15, 2009, Jay Fitzgerald of the Boston Herald reported that the Teamster's Union Local 82 in Boston was employing ex-cons as laborers at the Hynes Convention Center.  In that article it was mentioned some of those laborers were making over $100,000 per year as members of the union.
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1178998
     The article detailed how these people were responsible for the labor in setting up shows at the convention hall and then the cleanup...in other words sweeping the floors! When that news first came out the headline and outrage was about the violent criminals who were being paid out of public funds. Of course the typical Democrat response from the pols at the time was, well, the state doesn't hire them, the union does, we just contract with the union. It is the typical doublespeak that drives anyone who understands math absolutely crazy! I always wonder why the reporters doing the interviews never follow that answer up with the observation the workers get paid out of the money the taxpayers pay to the unions as part of their contracts! As bad as it was ex-cons were involved, I think the real outrage should have been over the salaries these thugs were making. Now it has happened again or I should say the outrageous practice of our state government over paying for labor has come to light again because it is clear the practice never stopped.
     On Thursday February 3, the Boston Herald reported they had discovered 16 parking attendants working for Massport at Logan Airport who made over $90,000 and of those 7 had made over $100,000!  http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_0203mass_pay_at_massport_some_parking_attendants_pull_in_100g_a_year/srvc=home&position=1 
     So what are the duties of these parking attendants. According to the article, finding cars for travel weary commuters and brushing snow off of them, traffic control, manning the booths etc. It was clear after reading the article someone was trying to make the job sound important and vital to justify the salaries but there is just no way to do that seriously. While I am grateful to the reporters, Joe Dwinell and Hillary Chabot, for bringing this out into the open I am still left with more questions. According to the article the attendants are members of Teamsters Local 25 Parking Union. Well, are we to believe that the Logan Airport contract is the only one that local has in the city of Boston? A quick check of the local's website shows it boasts a membership of over 9000 workers. I wonder how many other attendants throughout the city in public lots are represented by this local. If their parking attendants are making $100,000 plus per year can you imagine what their nurses or food processors are making?
     As disgusting as these pay rates for parking attendants are I cannot in good conscience blame the union. I lay the blame solely on those elected and appointed state officials who are supposed to be watching out for the taxpayer and doing what's in the best interest of the State of Massachusetts. Can anyone argue with a straight face that $100,000 or more per year for parking cars is in the taxpayers best interest? So why aren't the reporters grilling these folks about these contracts?
     In the article State Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan promises to "review" the practice. Really? How about promising to stop the practice? Is that too much to ask? Massport spokeswoman Danny Levy claims last year was an "unusual" year. What does that mean? Did they all of a sudden have to park trailer trucks instead of cars? I wonder what her salary is? The one pol quoted in the article, state Sen. Mark C. Montigny (D-New Bedford) did say  “There’s no excuse for a parking attendant to be making over $100,000 anywhere — under any circumstances.” Well that sounded nice for the paper but the truth is Sen. Montigny is a member of the ruling party in Massachusetts and that party is the biggest supporter of the same union in question. Simply put he was being dis-ingenuous. How about this senator? How about admitting there is no excuse, under any circumstance, for a Massachusetts state official to sign a contract that would lead to at least 16 parking attendants making over $90,000 per year!
     These practices have been going on forever in this state, remember the big dig? Until the day comes when the Democrats lose their monopoly of power in our state government nothing will change. For those who believe that day will never come I ask you this. Do you think any group of 20 voters anywhere in this state would agree that a parking attendant job should pay over $100,000 per year under any circumstance? How about the people who live and work in the inner cities in this state. Democrat strongholds or not do you think this would sit well with them? I don't. Think about all your friends and family who are struggling right now just to survive. Think about your own job and what you get paid to do it. If you are as angry as I am then call your state reps and senators and let them know how you feel.  At the very least go to the voting booth and start leveling the playing field for the citizens of this state. Until we do there will continue to be parking attendants and floor sweepers making over $100,000 per year!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Now is the time!

     When I looked out my window this morning at 5:30 am and saw how cold and frozen everything was, not to mention the four plus feet of snow on the ground, I wondered for a moment if I should just head back to bed. I shook that idea off and instead carried through with my plan of attending the Massachusetts Republican Party Grass Roots Conference in Milford on this cold Saturday in early February. Although I did have a fleeting thought that I and the other five Republicans from my town who were attending would be the only ones there, I ignored it and hoped for the best. I had no need to worry.
     It has been just over a year since the election of Scott Brown sent shock waves through the Massachusett's political landscape and it is clear the aftereffects are still being felt. When the Chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, Jennifer Nassour, opened the conference at just after 9:00 am there were well over 400 enthusiastic Massachusetts Registered Republicans already in attendance. Just a couple of years ago that type of turnout would have been unheard of. Not today. It was not just the numbers of people there, it was the energy they brought with them that made this conference such a huge success. From the first moments when Peter Durant (who won the 6th Worcester representative race by 4 votes, even after three recounts, only to see a Duval Patrick appointed judge declare the race a tie) led the throng in a strong recital of the Pledge of Allegiance until the last speaker left the podium at 5:00 pm the crowd was buzzing. During breaks groups of people could be heard debating the issues of the day. In the training blocks the questions raised were inciteful and thought provoking. Those on hand to answer those questions, many of whom are, or have been, successful as Republican candidates in Massachusetts at all levels, were articulate and well informed. There is no doubt the information, suggestions, and strategies shared will lead to more and more successful Republican camapigns across the state at all levels.
     To those people of all political persuasions who believe the Scoltt Brown election was a fluke, or a one time convergence of several different situations that can never be repeated I say this. "You are wrong."
     As this conference demonstrated today, the Republican party in Massachusetts has been reborn and re-energized. Infused with a new type of activist who is not afraid to declare themselves as Republican and not afraid to try and win races at any level or in any location, the party is alive and ready to fight the Democrat Machine in Massachusetts in every way in the upcoming election cycles. It was not too long ago many of us thought turning this blue state into a red one was more of a dream than a realistic goal. Not anymore. With hard work, perserverance, and continued energy, we will overcome the machine and shock the world again! After today I am sure of it!