Tuesday, April 03, 2007

If you walk away, walk away...

I was worried that I'd be left off the distribution list, but to my surprise, I came home today and found "A Personal Note from Barbara Russell" waiting for me. Because criticizing others' campaign materials seems a little too petty even for this blog, I'll refrain from commenting.

I will say, however, that if the election were decided by the quality of the campaign literature, I would win hands down. This, of course, has nothing to do with me. I owe it all to my talented friends, mainly this one, who is a fantastic designer, if a crummy Spades player (hee hee).

Anyway, on to the news. Just a few follow up pieces today, one of which is surely to land me in hot water.

First, remember the house in the crater? Well, it's gone. Seems you can only fight an overbearing "democracy" for so long.

Second, the confusing saga of Isis continues, including an investigation into campaign contributions given to former Howard County Council Chairman Chris Merdon. Here's my non-committal previous post on this subject and here's the ensuing fire storm. Look, I understand that my editorial decisions reflect my biases and by choosing to mention this story I'm being somewhat partisan. Regardless, to say this story isn't relevant to HoCo, as some have tried, is simply foolish, especially considering the amount of comments I had when last I mentioned it. So, let's try this time to focus less on personal biases and more on whether anything in this story actually merits concern.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Even if Merdon did it, at least he is out of office.

Ulman, on the other hand...

I think, if you look at the people who donated to Ulman's campaign, you will find nothing but special interest groups and friends of his daddy.

I think we must examine the problems the Board of Public Works had during the Glendening administration, since he was the director of the board.

If he wants to claim the experience, then he's got to live with the consequences.

Anonymous said...

I concur, your campaign material is on par with what is used in presidential elections. Hey- maybe you should raise 25mill and run for prez in '08?

Anonymous said...

Tell me if I'm wrong (Or right!)

Those who supported Merdon think the Isis thing is minor, but Ulman's armor chinks are major because he's in office.

Those who supported Ulman think Merdon's infractions are major and Ulman's are minor.

Those who supported neither Merdon or Ulman hope that Ulman's are minor, but suspect Merdon's infractions are significant.

If Merdon were in office, I think we'd hope his infractions would turn out to be minor, while Ulman's would be insignificant because he's not in office.

Either way, Ulman's worst actions were minor, and Merdon's infractions were much more suspect.

Hayduke said...

Anon 6:24: Seems about as "right" as anyone can be.

Anonymous said...

Whatever. Merdon's actions are not as major because he is not in office anymore. He can't do any more damage. I didn't vote for Merdon and don't support him. If he ever runs for office again, feel free to nail him to the wall for whatever he may have done.

I also don't support Ulman.

I personally don't think we should have a County Executive who lies on his resume to get elected, then changes his bio once elected to remove the made-up positions, like it never happened.

If you can live with that, good for you. But I remember when we used to have standards for candidates of both parties.

Anonymous said...

Not a Merdon supporter, not an Ulman supporter? Did you vote for Steve Wallis?

Maybe we should add a position the old conversation about two parties. In reality, there were three vying for HC co exec in Nov 06.

Anonymous said...

I see you're at it yet again with trying smear Chris Merdon.

So, a sleazy new governor, with a power craving Comptroller want to run a fishing expedition for dirt to smear the former governor and any other republican candidates they can. And a sleazy half-assed newspaper like The Sun, which is hardly a bastion of impartiality, is all too eager to print anything disparaging toward republicans, and you want to help promote it.

Hayduke - you really are a shameless *#&^@*#&#*. But then, you learned well from your master - Ken Ulman. I guess simply because The Sun refuses to give any press to anything alleged against Democrats, that obviously means they did no wrong, right? Only in the backwards Bizzaro world of Maryland can people like you get away with such unfettered biases.

To quote Dr. Suess, the three words that describe you best are "stink, stank, stunk".

Anonymous said...

Tom, why must you serve your master, even after he has been exposed as DIRTY? Wrong is wrong. The guy was right for office but now that he isn't in office everything is OK because he lost?

Dirty is dirty. When you defned your boy no matter what you lose what little credibility you had.

Anonymous said...

You're jumping the gun Anon 7:10. That's my point. So is the Sun, and Hayduke, and O'Malley, and everyone else who is jumping on this witch hunt bandwagon. You're all stretching the facts to fit a desired conclusion. The only dirty boy around here is Ulman.

Anonymous said...

We all know Ulman is awful and built his campaign on a house of cards, but do you have to be so acerbic about it?

Anonymous said...

Yes, I do.

Anonymous said...

To Tom's detractors:

You can all rest comfortably on the free speech protection that's provided here, and tested by your antagonist himself:

One half of the opposition intensity wouldn't get two minutes on the local conservative blogs.

Freemarket, you're positions are the worst excuse for libertarian I've ever read. You'd shut down Tom's comments in a NY minute if you could. AND your intensity rivals his.

FreeMarket said...

Anon 7:45- I did not have a single comment on this post, so it is funny how you are trying to drag me into it. However, I am flattered. You must take me very seriously! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Freemarket= intense?

OK. I'll take a leap and agree.

Rivals Berkhouse? THAT's hilarious. You must not read the comments from either of them. Berkhouse isn't intense. He's disrespectful and lacks an argument (other than "I hate Ulman"). It takes a "special" kind of person to wish ill on another person, even one you disagree with. My only hope is that Berkhouse doesn't teach this type of hatred to his children.

Anonymous said...

I don't have hatred for the person, whether it's Ulman or Hayduke. I have contempt for their actions and their behavior. Or more clearly, Ulman's behavior and Hayduke's unabashed defense of Ulman's behavior.

There's a big difference. It's easy for those who disagree with what I say and/or how I say it to simply label me a "hater".

The point of my comment is that Hayduke is bashig on Merdon simply because the Sun, in all it's unbiased (sarcasm emphasized) glory, chose to write an article about the so called Isis crisis. And, just because the Sun did not choose to write an article about Ulman's misdeeds, Hayduke seems to think that makes Ulman innocent.

It's the whole double standard/hypocrit issue all over again. It's the main reason why there is so much partisanship in this country. The fact that I'm drawing attention to Ulman's issues, or Hayduke's biases, does not make me partisan or a "hater".

I stil have yet to see any responder to my comments address what I'm saying instead of how I'm saying it. Very telling....

Anonymous said...

TB, Noone responds to your comments becuase they don't make any sense. Hayduke is not bashing or smearing Merdon. He is simply asking people whether they think it merits concern.

Anonymous said...

It's also very telling that you don't make any points other than to lob accusations at the Sun, Ulman, and Hayduke.

What do you want people to respond to?

"I see you're at it yet again with trying smear Chris Merdon."

Where is YOUR response to Hayduke's question?

"So, a sleazy new governor, with a power craving Comptroller want to run a fishing expedition for dirt to smear the former governor and any other republican candidates they can. And a sleazy half-assed newspaper like The Sun, which is hardly a bastion of impartiality, is all too eager to print anything disparaging toward republicans, and you want to help promote it."

Wait, is there a point in there?

"Hayduke - you really are a shameless *#&^@*#&#*. But then, you learned well from your master - Ken Ulman."

Is this a comment that warrants a response?

And my favorite, '"To quote Dr. Suess, the three words that describe you best are "stink, stank, stunk".'

Oh, THIS must be the rational comment that you are hoping will prompt an intelligent exchange of ideas.

Get real, Berkhouse. There aren't even any comments of substance buried in the pile of manure you call a discussion.

Anonymous said...

The Sun's article makes no definitive conclusion - it only asks questions about this or that. If the Sun had any credibility it would wait until there was certainty that something wrong (illegal) was done before publishing a bunch of innuendo. I make the distinction of something "illegal" instead of just "wrong" because "wrong" is subjective and "illegal" is objective.

Hayduke for his part, is perpetuating the Sun's lowsy pattern of biased behavior toward Republicans. I know, it's all just a conspiracy theory that the press treats republicans harsher than democrats. It's been proving many times around the country that there is significant bias from many media outlets toward republicans. But I digress.

Additionally, as Hayduke sort of points out, the whole Isis question does not really impact Howard County. Yes, one man at a meeting of dozens of people resides in Howard County - earthshattering news indeed.

If Hayduke can be substance-free and biased, why can't I?

Anonymous said...

Even if the Sun is slanted towards the Dems (as many think), remember who the Sun endorsed?

Even a biased source can be open-minded, especially when confronted with someone as unqualified as Ulman.

Anonymous said...

True, but a lot of good it did him. The voters obviously were not open minded enough to see the merits of the endorsement.

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