Strikeout 1 - Page One of Sunday’s Courant, Jon Lender reported that currentt Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Dick Blumenthal is investigating Bysiewicz for her alleged misuse of taxpayer financed software to capture email addresses for political purposes.  Bysiewicz’s office has sent thousands of unsolicited emails to people who sought services and information for her 2010 political campaign. Blumenthal’s office confirmed an investigation was underway based on a “whistle-blower” complaint by a state employee, a Republican staffer from the House Republicans, who got the email asking for a donation.

Bysiewicz said, and this is truly rich, that the email were public and she did ask the Secretary of State’s office, herself, for those email under a Freedom of Information request. Blumenthal must be wondering, “can’t this woman do anything right for 10 minutes.”

Blumenthal said there was no indication that anything is amiss, he is just checking it out. Time for another “Dear Richard” letter.

Strikeout 2 - Kevin Rennie “Now You Know” column “No Validation For Bysiewicz” capsulizes Bysiewicz’s Alice in Wonderland logic on her request of Blumenthal to validate her qualifications to seek his office. As everyone familiar with this pathetic tale of political ambition knows, a candidate  for state Attorney General needs 10 years of “active law practice” to take the oath of office.  This week, she asked Blumenthal whether the requirement was Constitutional and whether her management tenure as the keeper of state records gave her the requisite time.

“She exploited her position as secretary of the state to seek an opinion from Blumenthal for what was a question tied solely to her political ambition,”  wrote Rennie. “What “active practice” means, Blumenthal said, needs to be clarified by the General Assembly or courts, but it’s more than being registered as a lawyer. Bysiewicz ignored the substance of the opinion she requested, concluding that the matter had been decided and she needed no further clarification.”

Strikeout 3 – Colin McEnroe “To Wit” mocked Bysiewiczand Blumenthal is in his own unique style that no writer could emulate.

“Plagued by questions about her qualifications, Bysiewicz sought a legal opinion from Attorney General Richard Blumenthalwho, after several days of mulling things over, struck the ball with his foot for the purpose of making it travel a great distance. Blumenthal stayed neutral in the matter, assuming you agree that “I don’t care if Susan Bysiewicz lives or dies” is basically a neutral statement.”

 
Strikeout 4 – Englehart’s cartoon (seen above). Maybe he can start a tee shirt line.

Anyway,  can you imagine being one of those overworked state employee at Bysiewicz’s office showing up for that cheery Monday morning staff meeting?

Now 17 years later, Connecticut is on the hook for $18 million. Nice work, Dick.

The Republican American put it all together nicely.

One Connecticut columnist tossed out a note of caution. “Among the little discussed reasons Blumenthal may not wish to leave his job is this: He may not be able to leave it without exposing his entire record in office to his successor and to the public,” wrote Don Pesci of Vernon in November. “All those e-mails left behind, and some of the grosser errors he has made in his prosecutions, may testify against him if he should run for higher office.”

Well, leading Democrats barely had finished shoveling dirt on the corpse of Sen. Dodd’s political career Jan. 6 before Mr. Blumenthal announced his desire to replace him, shocking even Sen. Dodd’s harshest critics with his lack of grace. And sure enough, three weeks later, the first skeleton emerged from his closet.

In Waterbury Superior Court on Jan. 29, a jury awarded Gina Malapanis, owner of Computers Plus Center Inc., $18.3 million in a countersuit she had filed against the state. In 2003, Mr. Blumenthal sued her company, which had supplied computers to state government since 1993, claiming it had sold the state 44 computers that did not have the specified components. Ms. Malapanis was arrested in June 2004 on charges of first-degree larceny for allegedly bilking the state of more than $300,000. The state later dropped the charges.

Bottom line: Mr. Blumenthal wielded the blunt instrument of his office against an entrepreneur, destroying her business and even trying to get her thrown in jail, on accusations a jury found were so unfounded, she deserved compensation 61 times the amount she was accused of stealing.

Former congressman Rob Simmons, a Republican seeking Sen. Dodd’s seat, said the case “serves as a window into (Mr. Blumenthal’s) sue first, ask questions later mentality that has helped create one of the least competitive climates for business and cost our state jobs.”

For the record, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, who aspires to Mr. Blumenthal’s job, reported last month 13,414 businesses filed paperwork to dissolve last year while the number of business starts was down 6 percent from 2008. One can blame the banking industry, George W. Bush, Wall Street, General Motors or Ben Bernanke, but none of those culprits set out to kill a Connecticut computer company, put all of its employees out of work and imprison its owner.

And no one should entertain the least hope that other businesses, from small, startup electronics outfits to Pratt & Whitney, are unaware a job-destroying, anti-business atmosphere pervades Connecticut, or that it wears the face of Dick Blumenthal.

Blumenthal found the statute to be constitutional, but said the issue of what constituted “active” legal practice was an area best left to the courts. This came as no surprise to people who know Blumenthal, who is always eager to avoid conflict or a hard decision. Regardless, the official request by Byseiwicz was a canard, since Blumenthal, by his own admission, had no standing to make such a opinion.

“I’m moving forward,” Bysiewicz said, meaning she will try and convince rank and file Democrats that she meets the state law requirements of 10 years of active legal work.

Through the prism of Bysiewicz’s legal mind, Blumenthal’s ruling actually validates her position, which it doesn’t. But no matter. Nothing can stand in the way of Susan Bysiewicz’s ambition – even if it means ignoring the law she is sworn to uphold.

This political opera is now in its third or fourth act, with Bysiewicz declining to seek to declaratory ruling from the state court on whether her resume matches up with the term “active” legal practice. She is willing to roll the dice that the Democratic delegates to the state convention and the Democratic primary voters will either ignore her lack of time as a lawyer, or simply won’t care or be clued in.

But her opponents, George Jepsen, a former Senate Majority Leader from Stamford and Democratic State Party chairman and State Rep. Cameron Staples, D-New Haven, are not going to let her slide on this. And, if the Democrats in the Legislature try to change the law to allow her to qualify with a lower standard, each of them will be held accountable for changing the rules at the last minute.

There is no doubt that the three Republicans exploring running – John Pavia of Easton, State Rep. Arthur O’Neill, R-Southbury and State Sen, Andrew Roraback, R-Goshen, all meet the standard. They have practiced law without anyone asking for their resumes.

Blumenthal, according to various media sources, will hold a press conference Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. to say the matter should be resolved by the courts. Bysiewicz has argued her tenure as Secretary of the State gives her the requisite 10 years of time needed to be a lawyer of “good standing.”

Democrats George Jepsen and State Rep. Cameron Staples, D-New Haven, have challenged that assertion as had former Democrat State Party Chairman John Droney.

Bysiewicz has been all over the lot on this issue, compounded by her decision in 2006 to pay half of her occupational tax, saying, in a sworn statement, that she was not engaged in the active participation of law. When that was reported, Bysiewicz quickly cut another check for $55 and said it was all a mistake. She made similar filings in 2007 and 2008, but had the state of Connecticut pay the full $110 fee in each year.

The Hartford Courant editorial page wasn’t buying it, and Monday, questioned whether Bysiewicz was being square with the voters.

The Courant wrote:

“Then it turned out that she used taxpayer money to pay the professional fees for herself and seven or eight staff lawyers. Officials in other state agencies — including the governor’s and attorney general’s offices — say their staff lawyers pay their own fees. Ms. Bysiewicz looks bad by comparison.”

“Her campaign plane’s engine is belching fire and smoke.”

Now the matter will likely go to court and Bysiewicz should seek the ruling herself, and her campaign should pay for the effort. Bysiewicz has wasted enough taxpayer’s money and time trying to game the system. By any reasonable standard, she doesn’t qualify for this gig. But as always, Bysiewicz has always been measured by her ambition and she has no equal on that score.

“After his agenda took a stunning defeat in Massachusetts, President Barack Obama claims he finally gets the message and has opted to join the American people in their anger.  What he fails to understand is that the frustration stems directly from the leftward agenda he has tried to push through Congress despite the overwhelming protests of voters.  They’re furious because the Obama Administration promised that his so-called $787 billion economic stimulus experiment would keep employment under eight percent, but today the national unemployment rate is ten percent and Connecticut has lost nearly 37,000 jobs since Obama took office.  They’re irate because rather than focusing on getting America back to work, his Administration has consistently tried to use the economic crisis as a means to pass his expensive liberal agenda of cap-and-trade, government-run health care, and unsustainable budgets.

“It is clear that the President and his Democratic allies are playing politics, hoping that voters will have forgotten the billions of dollars that have been spent over the past year.  The Obama Administration has put American prosperity at risk dropping the ball on national security, adding $9.1 Trillion to our national debt over the next decade and jeopardizing the world’s best healthcare system for the sake of more government control.”

“Republican victories in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts have shown that President Obama has no coattails; three states that the President won in the fall of 2008 and lost in 2009 and 2010.  Chris Dodd saw the writing on the wall and decided to retire. Sending another Democrat like Dick Blumenthal to Washington will only lead to more government takeovers, weakened national security policy and Connecticut voters deserve better.”

Get ready for the rhetorical flourishes by Blumenthal to “reign in the culture of greed” or the “those who manipulated and cashed in,” or  the abuses of Wall Street “fat cats.”

It’s all part of Dick’s populist pitch but it won’t cover his inept and duplicitous record of selective enforcement of civil laws as Attorney General or his convenient silence when it was required to call out Chris Dodd and other Democrats.  Blumenthal also thinks we forget how the entire AIG matter blew up in his face when Glen Beck called him out on it in the most memorable interview in recent history. (See Below).

But that doesn’t stop Dick Blumenthal from trying, for continuing to press on by being the omnipresent White Knight – the slayer of all that we mortals fear.

Blumenthal took the bold step of opposing Ben Bernanke thisweek to another term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank during an interview on WNPR’s “Where We Live.”‘

 It’s an easy free shot, since Dick will not get to actually vote on the nomination. Bernanke should be replaced for other reasons, mostly his monetary policies which greased the way for companies like Countrywide, AIG and others to crank out high-yield but under-collateralized investment vehicles to flourish.

“We need to send a message to our nation that we’re done with the kind of laxity toward Wall Street that has been tolerated for much too long,”Blumenthal said in the WNPR interview.

Really? Is Dick referring to his own laxity when it counted – a year ago when the Democrats were sending billions to big investment companies like AIG? TARP money totalled $180 billion to AIG which has a corporate presence in Wilton.

But let’s go to the Dick File  and remember what Blumenthal didn’t do when  the Countrywide scandal broke, involving Chris Dodd and other Washington bigwigs. Blumenthal said Dodd has done nothing wrong and while other Attorneys Generals around the country were suing Countrywide over predatory lending practices – Dick did nothing.  Only months later, did he quietly announce an investigation. Why? Because he knew ther was a possibility that Sen. Dodd would have been put squarely in the cross-hairs.

On AIG, it was worse.  Last spring,  Blumenthal held a press conference with Democratic legislators after it became apparent that the TARP dollars to AIG would allow for large bonuses for company executives.

Dick “demanded” that AIG hand over records on bonuses, how much money these greedy people were getting, including many who lived in Connecticut.  We all remember the ACORN led-mobs that picketed private homes of AIG employees.

“I urge AIG employees to do the right thing and give back every penny. They did not deserve this money, and they did not earn it,”Blumenthal said in his statement.

Blumenthal then made the mistake of letting his ego and desire for television get the better of him. He agreed to appear on the Glen Beck Show, and if it was a fight, they would have stopped it in the third round. Beck nailed him on the key issue – that a contract between two parties is a sacred Constitutional right. Blumenthal believe contracts are sacred unless he thinks they aren’t or they pay people too much.

Beck pummelled Blumenthal on his grandstanding and inciting protesters to scare the children of several AIG employees during the protests. Beck pressed him on Blumenthal’s thin legal read of the laws which would prevent the bonuses.

“It is not against the law and I never said that it is against the law, and I have never said that we would take action,”Blumenthal admitted.

Blumenthal simply said it was his opinion that the bonuses were greedy. That’s what he always does – affix his values to an issue to reap a public relations windfall. Blumenthal doesn’t care about the free market. He has his money, lots of it, all nicely tied up in various trusts which gig out the income he needs. The rest is paid for by the Connecticut taxpayers.

Dick Blumenthal is prosecutor, judge and jury and he can’t stop from giving an opinion on anything – except Susan Bysiewicz. We can’t wait to see what he comes up with on that request.

The effect of this Election should have an immediate positive impact on halting temporarily the Democratic takeover or nationalization of the auto industry, the insurance industry, banks and pharmaceutical manufacturers among others.

Or will it? Will the leftist Band of Brothers and Sisters in the House led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rosa DeLauro, George Miller et al, join forces with their fellow travelers in the Senate - Chuck Schumer, Barbara Boxer and Barbara Mukulski and push forward on single-payer health care?

Democrats might drag their feet in Massachusetts and put off certifying Senator Brown as the winner while they scramble to put a health care bill together. Let them. Do it.  Go ahead, show your utter disdain for the voter and move forward with your vote.

And let the Democrats from the House delegation from Connecticut take notice. We are coming to take you on every step of the way to protect our country from your confiscation of our freedom.

Tonight, Scott Brown fired more than a cannon shot. He unloaded a firestorm.

God Bless the Commonwealth.

In early December, neither Brown or Nassour were getting much attention from the political establishment. After all, why should they? Attorney General Martha Coakley had just beaten a strong field of Democrats to emerge as the first potential woman to hold a U.S. Senate seat from her party.

Coakley had a 30, repeat, 30-point lead in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans, 3-1.

Brown, Nassour and scores of volunteers got to work. They nationalized the race and started calling people. Coakley took a eight-day vacation.

His message  filled the blogosphere and radio airwaves while the Democrats in Congress continued to push their crazy agenda on health care, corporate bailouts and nationalization of major industries. Even by Massachusetts standards, this program was not selling.

During some of the early days of his campaign, Brown might have collected $500 in contributions and they were grateful. 

Then something happened and the checks starting rolling in without warning. In one day, he got a few thousand. The Republican National Senatorial Committee quietly started wiring funds over, sensing a pulse and some headway by Brown’s simple message – “I will be the 41st vote.”

The volunteers began to appear to make calls and knock doors. Brown hopped in his green GMC truck and drove thousands of miles,  meeting anyone, anywhere.  A “Women for Brown” fundraiser netted the candidate around $30,000.

During the debates, Brown cleaned Coakley’s clock, positioning himself as an independent person, grounded in fiscal responsibility and social moderation. Brown said the health care bill was a ripoff and he would oppose it. Some thought that foolish, but Massachusetts has already experienced government run health care and were on to it.

Contributions poured in with increasing frequency as the new year dawned. More bodies, some from adjoining states and others from as far as Texas and Illinois walked in. Then, about 10 days ago, the Internet and the Message intersected in that moment of synergy that defies explanation.

In the first day, Brown’s website generated close to a million dollars. For the next five days, the campaign hit the million-dollar mark. The campaign ran out of lawn signs. People made lawn signs. The lawn signs came in. Brown got up on the airwaves, matching Coakley in every possible market.

Sunday, President Obama appeared with teleprompter in Boston for a rally and managed to scare up 1,500 Northeastern students at a college auditorium. Obama made a crack about Scott Brown’s truck –  inferring any dope can drive.

“Anyone can buy a truck,” Obama said. “The truck might take you down the wrong road.”

Down the road, in Worcester, at a union hall no less, 3,000 people showed up for the guy in the truck.

Monday, Brown’s bus hit Boston’s North End, North Andover, Littleton and Wrentham and at each stop, there were thousands of people from every walk of life. They wanted to shake Brown’s hand, get his autograph and get a picture.

In North Andover, there were at least 3,000 people lining the streets. Brown’s truck was parked at the end of the gauntlet he walked. He grabbed a bullhorn and jump into the bed.

“I don’t mind that the President is taking shots at me or my record. I don’t mind if he tries to distort it,” Brown yelled. “But I draw the line someplace. Don’t ever say bad things about my truck!”

The crowd ate it up, roared and chanted “Scott Brown, Scott Brown, Scott Brown.”

Brown, calmed them down, and finished - “and on Wednesday – I am going to take this truck and drive down to Washington, D.C.!”

Despite all of the national attention, Brown is truly a well-balanced individual. He has two grown daughters and a wife, Gail,  who works for a local television station. He grew up in a broken home but doesn’t play it up. Brown understands he is a vessel for the frustration, anger and hope for many Massachusetts voters who have finally had a belly full. During the bus tour, Brown remained serene, talking to family members, a fellow from Chicago who got his number and wanted to send a check. Brown turned him not to worry, saying they had enough money for Election Day and any court challenge.

Brown’s able staff worked diligently around him, prepping him for the next appearance, taking calls from national media and monitoring his mood. It never changed – steady.

By the last rally, Brown looked as fresh as he did that morning. When he appeared in Wrentham, Brown thanked the owners of the banquet hall for making the facility available on short notice. The campaign had to move it there because the crowd was so large.

The entire day of campaign made you believe that anything is possible – and it is.

Sometimes, the good guys win. Let’s hope it’s tonight.

Campagn Update – Boston

This morning, while driving up the Mass Turnpike around Route 30,  we experienced one of those moments where political legends are made.  Alone, standing astride an bridge overpass, in  the blinding, harsh sleet, a lone man stood waiving a “Scott Brown for U.S. Senate” sign.

Cars and trucks rang out supportive horns. Later, when  we arrivred at the Boston Massachusetts GOP headquarters, we told the story to a volunteer.

“Yeah, I know that guy, I live near there and saw him Sunday,” he said. “Unbelievable.”

Maybe Scott Brown won’t win Tuesday, but he surely has the passionate following. This morning, a phone bank had people almost fighting over lists to call. The feedback, even from Democratic households was solid for Brown.

Sunday, President Obama came to Northeastern University and manged 1,500 people, mostly college students eager to see a President, but many uninterested or unable to vote Tuesday.

Across town, Scott Brown had World Series start Kurt Shilling with him and over 2,000 real voters chanting his name.

The direct mail from Democrat Martha Coakley is so absurd in its tone as to be laughable. Coakley is one of the worst candidates ever in both her work ethic and professional comportment.

This morning, Brown is going to start a bus tour, beginning at the Boston Garden and ending in his hometown of Wrentham tonight.

What the media elites and professional class hasn’t grasped is the country has caught onto the Democratic policies and they don’t like them. The more the Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid’s of the world push it, with Obama’s blessing, the more defiant the people naturally become.

Soon, Rosa DeLauro, John Larson, Chris Murphy, Joe Courtney, Jim Himes and Dick Blumenthal will soon face this day of reckoning.

Dick Blumenthal can’t help himself – even in a moment of anguish, he has to add his two cents to validate his pathetic need for attention.

It happened today, in the Hartford Courant, as it rather tastefully lamented the impending bankruptcy of Bernie’s Wholesale Appliance, which many Connecticut residents have shopped for 63 years. Whether they were victims of the economy or a model that finds it difficult to compete with big box chains, it didn’t matter to Attorney General Dick Blumenthal. He has to be heard.

“I am pleased that Bernie’s — more than most bankrupt companies — recognizes its responsibility to consumers even as it faces financial fallout,” Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement Thursday. “My office will continue to monitor this bankruptcy proceeding to ensure that consumers are protected and promises honored.”

“Financial fallout” – ruin, bankruptcy, the end of a an era and all Dick Blumenthal can say he is pleased that Bernie’s will conduct its death in an orderly manner. And you have to love the “my office will….”

Last time we checked the deed of 55 Elm Street, Hartford,  it was the people of Connecticut paying for your digs, Dick.

Does Dick Blumenthal really understand us? Does he understand the American culture of risk, reward, defeat and renewal. Does he even care that 350 people are on the street?  No one is asking for a bailout here, certainly not Bernie’s but do they need his benediction to remind them of warranties and gift cards?

Why couldn’t Dick Blumenthal just shut the Hell up? 

Is this what we want in the U.S. Senator at a time where our economy is in tatters and the liberals want more from us in taxes and redistribution?  Dick Blumenthal is no different from Chris Dodd or Barack Obama in this regard.

Blumenthalis an elitist snob, living off a trust fund, who does not believe in capitalism as the driving force for good and advancement of our society.

Blumenthal has continually railed against the profit motive. He wants to decide what companies can earn a profit and how much of a profit before he pronounces sentence. His entire career has been based on the politics of resentment and victim-hood.

Now he tells  us he is “pleased” with Bernie’s exit from the stage. Please indeed.