LTE: Check Your Facts in 33rd District Race

Whoever can sling the dirtiest, most pungent and derogating mud wins! Reminds me of the “sling” used by the Neolithic people of the Mediterranean. Those who survived long enough to perfect their skills … won time and time again!!

Even females who equate themselves to be a bluestocking, are joining this parade of dribbling posts, void of facts, yet full of good ‘ole “trash talk.” Here is what one of those bluestockings posted in the elections column here on the Leesburg Patch about Mary Lou Costello Daniel:

“So now the Democrats want to hire/elect a collections lawyer to make sure they get every last nickel out of taxpayers who are already working hard to make ends meet?”

Don’t mention the fact that MLC Daniel served as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Winchester, prosecuting domestic violence and sexual assault cases for five years. That might perk up the ears of a few women, don’t ya’ think? 

Neither did the bluestocking mention the fact that Mary’s public service has included providing assistance to several non-profit organizations in the region, including the Stephens City Rotary Club Scholarship Fund, the Mary Ellen Kerr Scholarship Fund and the Child-Parent Center of Winchester. Mary is a member of the Frederick County Rotary Club, the Board of Blue Ridge Legal Services, the Coalition for Racial Unity and a former member of the Council Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Does that sound like someone looking to bleed every last nickel out of taxpayers?

She’s also been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, which along with several other steps that must be taken [that can found here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/bar/barinstructions.pdf  has to sign the following oath or affirmation: 

I, ........................................................ , do solemnly swear (or affirm) that as an attorney and as a counselor of this Court, I will conduct myself uprightly and according to law, and that I will support the Constitution of the United States http://www.supremecourt.gov/bar/barinstructions.pdf

I don’t know if she’s the most qualified for the job. However, I am certain I wouldn’t waste my time finding “mud” to sling at the candidate I am not voting for. I’d be spending that valuable time checking the facts and doing my due diligence to ensure I’m voting for the right person.

In September 2012, Congress had an approval rating of only 21 percent, yet 30 days later 90 percent of the incumbents won their bid for reelection.

Something is terribly wrong with those figures!

Today, Congress earns about a 12 percent approval rating. Who doesn’t think that the same voters who turned out in 2012, will return in 2014 and reelect the vast majority of incumbents once again? The vast majority of the people who go to the polls are the most uninformative and/or gullible people I can think of. They believe what is fed to them by the media.

Do we all remember the summer of 2011 when Congress put together another one of their "special panels" to come up with 1.2 trillion in cuts over the coming 10 years or the automatic non-discriminate cuts across the board would go into effect?

Of course we do.

Well, in March 2011, Fox News.com reported [ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011...tive-programs/ ] that the non-partisan GAO identified ways in which the federal government could save as much as 200 billion a year without cutting services. 

That "SPECIAL PANEL" of the summer of 2011 only had to come up with 120 billion a year in cuts!

However, once the cable news networks realized that the viewers were more interested in all the caterwauling back & forth between the members of the parties, like it was some kind of reality show, well, the news networks stopped any more reporting of that "boring" GAO report, or any other “boring facts,” and instead of telling viewers where the answer to all the budget problems could be found, gave the viewers what they wanted: action! Here is the complete GAO report in pdf form. [ http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11318sp.pdf ]

So, why did the news agencies drop this fact like a hot potato? Could it be because they treat their news reporting like a reality show because that is what their viewers want, therefore it's the kind of news reporting that their advertisers are willing to pay to advertise on.

And why did your politicians ignore the GAO's report? Because anyway you cut it, a special interest group would end up losing funding. They only needed to choose approximately 60 percent of the savings the GAO identified.

And now? Well now, those Political Junkies are glued to the cable news networks, drooling over the drama created by the media about the government shutdown, like another “dream come true reality show.”

It’s pitiful.

Kenneth W. Lovering