"Is Mike Fleck worth $2 a vote?"

It sure looks that way, if you are Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, and you have hired Michael and Alison Fleck of Easton as "consultants" on your reelection campaign. I personally don't think "Fleck-Aid" is worth a penny a vote, but that is my own opinion. I think anyone looking for a consultant on a campaign would be better off buying packets of "Kool-Aid" and serving it to volunteers other than jumping into Mike Fleck's vast black Hole of political wisdom

The "Work" of managing Ed Pawlowski's Mayoral campaign cost him more than $15,000 dollars. In the Campaign finance reporting period of June 9, 2009 to October 19, 2009, the Friends of Ed Pawlowski doled out 9 payments of more than $1500 to Mike Fleck, and 4 payments of $500 to Alison Fleck. That easily exceeds $15,000 paid to the Fleck clan. I am sure there will be a few more payments in the after election reports, and likely a "bonus" for the excellent turnout. (sic)


Lets see, Mayor Pawlowski received 7908 votes, so employing the crack political team of the Flecks cost him about two bucks a vote!
It is not up to me to say that the money was earned, but with Fleck's history, especially out in western Lehigh and Berks county, that point could well be argued.


Interesting things these campaign finance reports, you find out things like who owned the building the Mayor rented office space for his campaign from, and who gave an in kind donation of several thousand dollars worth of office furniture.

But what I was looking for was the phone bill. In this case, it was Verizon wireless. You see, I got a tip that I would find some very enlightening phone calls to numbers outside the state on that bill, during a certain period of time.
I can tell you that in that period of June to October, The Friends of Ed Pawlowski paid Verizon $1200+ for services. I can't imagine that was for just the Internet, you know?

Now because this was a campaign expense, the wireless bills and the numbers they called that are listed on it can be requested for examination. You know, I just want to be sure that the reelection campaign wasn't calling strip clubs or anything improper, because I am curious that way. I am especially curious about any long distance calls that might have been made, like you know, to other parts of the country.


But then, on the other hand,,,,,,

You know, for $15,000 dollars, you might think that someone would buy a shredder and not throw campaign bills out in the regular trash where anyone can find them and share them with people . That is how identity theft happens a lot I hear! (Like anyone would want to be Mike Fleck!)


But I might have a question or two for Mr Fleck, and I can wait to get an answer.


Because when I ask the question, I will already know the answer, and in this game of not so high stakes political poker, I will be ready to go all in. More to come..............

P.S> I should mention that I am in the process of finding out how to get a look at the entire collection of phone records from the Mayor's campaign. I am told that they are legally in play by a credible source, but we could be wrong. If they are accessible, I will ask for them. I think it important to see them as a whole, not just bits and pieces.

Why President Obama is really coming to Allentown

(Satire warning! Think Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal!)

Well, isn't this nice? The Leader of the free world is coming to Allentown to start a "listening tour." I am not even from the Valley, and I want to shoot Billy Joel for writing that damn song.
My President, yes Barack Obama is my President, is coming to the Queen city. I think that is a great thing.

But I have a little secret.

He's not coming on a listening tour. President Obama is actually coming here to negotiate a peace treaty In Allentown's' version of the Gaza Strip down on Linden Street.

That's right, He's here to negotiate giving certain minorities that live in the area self government, and allowing them to secede from the city and create their own city within a city. (With financial assistance from our Federal Government, of course.)

There are a few wrinkles to be worked out, like who will be responsible for the indoctrination centers (schools) or converting the protection forces (gang) into a trained and disciplined police force. The bottom line here is this really is Mayor Ed Pawlowski's best bet to balance the City budget. If it works in Allentown, it might work in other big cities.

The only real hurdle left is deciding whether the State or Feds should pay for the perimeter guards at these gated communities, you know controlling who is allowed in or out. (Anybody can get in, not everybody can get out) I personally wonder whether the new thirty foot walls that will be built surrounding these new independently governed enclaves to separate the unwanted from the greater community at large will be seen as a way of giving the independent residents of these new cities privacy..... or keeping them out of sight of those who don't want to look at them.

These new sub cities will be electing their own government, from their own people. Of course, their leaders will be called Council people and mayors or such.
But from the outside looking in, I would have a different word for them. Trustees.

What are we teaching the kids?

I wonder sometimes what we are teaching children when they see us willingly bend the rules to achieve an end. Sometimes that end isn't exactly worthwhile.

I don't care for union bashing, but let's face it, some union leaders act like idiots. The case in point is the President of the Allentown chapter of the Service Employees Union complaining about a boy scout who worked in a park.

All other issues aside, is it really good public relations to attack the boy scouts? The union President just gave fodder to all the extremist crazies at both ends of the political spectrum.

My point here is that it seems to me that every disagreement in recent time is being pared down to one group hating on another, and claiming that what their particular group values is under attack.

One groups' family values is another groups' hate target, be it unions, gays, or now even the Boy scouts.

I would like it if someone called a timeout and sent all participants to neutral corners to consider how their actions will reflect on the next generation. It is a generation that is being taught that the only way to settle conflict is to hate the people you disagree with more than they hate you.

I don't think anybody is going to win a disagreement that is discussed (or screamed) like that.

Does Mayor Pawlowski condone acts of hatred on his behalf by bloggers? It sure looks that way to me

Think Mayor Pawlowski in the middle, with his Blogger Crazy team flanking him.

Bloggers Note: This is a guest post from "Third Baseman," author of the Send in the Clowns blog listed on the sidebar. I edited this for continuity and clarity, and Third Baseman approved the final draft. -Chris Casey

For whatever reason, my neighbors here in Allentown reelected Ed Pawlowski as mayor on November third. Hey, majority rules, I have to live with it, at least until I hit the lottery in UK or Ireland, or Swaziland, right?

What's pissing me off now is all the trash talking that is being done, and was done, and is still coming from people who support him. And two of these people (Bill and Angie Villa) are doing it while claiming it is their right of free speech. These two people are holding themselves up as some kind of pillars of virtue. Like they, and only they, have a right to speak.

They are two of the most vocal supporters of our Mayor on the Internet, and in the Blog world in particular. They repeatedly post a picture of Angie Villa with the mayor, to show how much they are in favor with the Mayor.

It is only a photograph, but the way they use it, it conveys that they have the full support of the Mayor in their actions. I want you to think about what the Villas are doing on blogs, and decide for yourselves if what these CLOWNS are doing is so sanctimonious. I want people to decide if they think these two blog clowns are doing the Mayor Clown's bidding.

For starters:

Posting THOUSANDS of Comments on every local blog, mostly off topic, condemning a Valley resident (Blogger Bernie O'Hare) for a mistake he made almost 25 years ago. It has nothing to do with the death of the Villa's daughter, I think it has everything to do with O'Hare's criticism of Mayor Pawlowski on his blog. They keep asserting he hasn't been rehabilitated. If anybody needs rehabilitation, I think those two should try it. I can't read a single local blog that hasn't had to go to some kind of blocking to stop them. That is rude that they do that.

Then there is the Hammering and slamming of a sitting City Councilman (Michael Donovan) for standing up to their hate attacks. They even mocked him over his posting about a daughter of his who died. (As if they are the only people allowed to grieve for a daughter who died young?) I think, again, that it is all about trashing Donovan because he stands up to the mayor, and I think they do it on the mayor's behalf. They swear they have the power to keep him from being reelected. I hope not.

They also regularly engage in Belittling and mocking a community activist (Mike Molovinsky) who stands up for what he believes in. He is another guy who questions what the Mayor is doing, and so is another target of the Villas nasty sniping and misrepresentation.

And then there are my Army Veteran friends, like Chris Casey and The Volvo driving Soccer Mom. The Villas accuse them of unsubstantiated crimes like "Viewing their blog" and "disagreeing with them. They posted photos that portrayed Chris and Carrie as humongous fat people, to try and provoke them. I got news for the Villas, all it did was make us all laugh.

All those pictures and slams the Villas posted did was show just what petty and small minded morons they are. And Damn, what is the point of the blog if they don't want people reading it?

Maybe They don't want the wrong people, you know, people who don't agree with them, to read their blog, is that what it is? That would make sense!

The Villas are not acting like very nice people. I could list other targets of their hatred, like a Lynn Township attorney Dave Najarian, Allentown Activist Alfonso Todd, who Villa labeled an "uncle Tom" and even our District Attorney Jim Martin, who has been the target of Villas wrath because he didn't take the drunk driver who was responsible for the death of Sheena Villa and summarily execute him in public.

Chris Casey told me the reason he won't help the Villas in their crusade is because Bill Villa does not want justice, he wants vengeance. I read their blog, and I saw the ten million word litany of hate directed against individuals employed at the daily paper, and if I were an editor or reporter at the paper, I wouldn't meet with somebody who posted my picture on the Internet and called me a liar either.

I almost forgot, they even trashed a young man studying to be a priest because he defended some of these people, and made fun of his religious faith, they still post his picture and label him a "cuckoo cleric." But I bet the Bill and Angie Villa go batwhacky for me pointing out what they are doing. How dare I call them crazy! The right to trash people is theirs, and theirs alone! Only they can call people crap, don't do it to them, or they will go all "pity us, our daughter died" mode.

That is over with. The death of a loved one is no excuse to practice what Bill and Angie Villa are doing.

I think Mayor Pawlowski is using Bill Villa's thirst for vengeance as a weapon against his local political opponents. including the paper. I don't pretend to know all about Villa or the Mayor, or Jim Martin, or Bernie O'Hare, but I do know what I see in front of me. Every one of Bill Villa's targets have one thing in common, they all have challenged Ed Pawlowski in some way.

Mr. Mayor, I have a question, an excellent question as your blog pal and the person you gave an exclusive interview to would say.

ARE YOU ENCOURAGING THE ACTIONS OF BILL AND ANGIE VILLA AS THEY CYBER BULLY ALL YOUR PERCEIVED POLITICAL ENEMIES?

You seem to benefit from their Blog bullying. Mr. Mayor, and you have remained pretty quiet while they launch attack after attack that you benefit from.

Don't you think you owe it to the people you govern to stand up and condemn these attacks?

You have a degree from a bible college, right? Is this the kind of behavior they teach you to accept there? I would like to know what you would tell your two kids about what the Villas are doing Mr. Mayor, and how you would explain to them that you can say nothing while people are being intimidated by someone who hints they have your support.

I have the blog moderator's word that she will not edit a response from your office in any way, and post it exactly as you write it. We would like to hear from you Mr. Mayor. Please tell me that you do not support the actions of the Villas, because your silence while they attack your opposition on your behalf with lies and insults says you do.

Valley Of The Dolls

In the mid 1960's, Valley of the Dolls was a controversial best seller. Jacqueline Susann wrote about the abuse of prescription drugs, and the rumor was that the characters portrayed may actually be real Hollywood celebrities. The other night I saw a clip of someone on a talk show saying that she awoke from a drug stupor having sex with her father, another celebrity. Makes one wonder about about the progression of controversy in the last fifty years. Have we become more degenerate, or just more public about our flaws? Have we become more tolerant, or more demanding in wanting to hear the juicy stuff? Can you be a celebrity now without talking about rehab?

Please understand that Liberace could never say that he was gay, and still have a career forty years ago. We certainly appear to be much more tolerant now, at least about our entertainers, if not our politicians.

Dear State Rep Doug Reichley: Are you still best buddies with John Perzel?

Way back in 2006, the last time Doug Reichley even had a name on the ballot against him, one of his main campaign claims was that he was best buds with then Speaker of the PA house John Perzel of Philadelphia.

Today it was revealed, after a lengthy investigation, that old Johnny Boy Perzel was busy using about ten million dollars of tax dollars to help himself and possibly other Republicans keep getting reelected.

To read the newspaper story, CLICK HERE.

John Perzel used a taxpayer funded database to help push Republican candidates. John Perzel is to the Pennsylvania Republicans what Mike Veon of Beaver County was to Pennsylvania Democrats.

I keep telling people that no political party has a monopoly on corruption, they are all doing it. Pennsylvania politicians for the most part do resemble pigs feeding at a trough, the good ones are few and far between.

Representative Reichley was proud of his role as a Perzel protege way back when. I wonder if he will stand by his man now? Oh wait, there he is standing with presumed gubernatorial wannabee Tom Corbett. A guy who investigated the opposition for two years before getting busy on the corruption in his own back yard.

For me personally, I think there are only two men running for governor who are competent to do the job. Republican Congressman and former State Senator Jim Gerlach, and present State Auditor Jack Wagner. But that is another post, another day.

Doug Reichley is hoping voters forget his past. HE DID ACCEPT THE INFAMOUS 2005 PAY RAISE. HE HAD TO BE SHAMED INTO PAYING IT BACK. He is hoping voters will suffer selective amnesia on that, but during a taping of WFMZ's "Business Matters" the host asked him to explain that. I have a CD of that, but I'm not sure about the proprietary rights, so I won't post it here. He clearly admitted what he did.

But it is 4 years later. We shouldn't be so forgetful, or we get the representation we deserve, not what we need.

Doug Reichley accepts obscene amounts of money from Insurance company PACS. Go to the PA State website and check it out. If I can get that link to work, I will add it here.

Thank you Daddy

My Daddy came home, and so did my Uncle.

Today we remember the Daddy's, sons, and yes, Sisters and daughters who did not in the past, and especially the present.