Jay Wolfe releases new video

Saint Ted?

The Democratic National Convention kicked off with a Ted Kennedy love fest that would make one gag. On one hand, the specter of any human being suffering from cancer is worth sympathy. However, the hero/saint treatment is appalling.

The nation knows about Chappaquiddick, when Kennedy's young female friend died on his watch. He saturated his brain in alcohol, drove off a bridge with a young woman in the car. When he miraculously escaped, he neither tried to help his friend, nor did he call the authorities. Instead he changed his clothes and went to a party while some parents' daughter lay dead under water.

Few people outside of West Virginia know of the felonies committed in our state on his watch. Ted Kennedy supervised his brother's 1960 presidential primary campaign in Southern West Virginia. In separate accounts, political boss Raymond Chafin and Caperton administration official Dr. Allen Loughry wrote about the massive sums of cash sent from "bagmen" in Chicago to bosses in Southern West Virginia. Upon receiving the money the bosses changed their support from Hubert Humphreys to John F. Kennedy. They then used the cash to convince voters to support the new favorite. Ted Kennedy deserved federal prison, not the United States Senate.

Yet this is their patriarch, their saint. Saint Ted was on hand to give his approval to the next generation of crooked politician with questionable Chicago ties. At least the Kennedy ties were with a mob that supported their country in times of war (FDR let J. Edgar Hoover use the Mafia for port security.) Obama's friends such as William Ayers wanted to kill American lawmakers and police officers. Ties to the mob and the Chicago machine are bad. Ties to terrorists should rule out anyone from elected office. Sadly the Democratic Party overlooks such trivial relationships, thinking a Cheshire cat grin and vague calls of unity will mask the reality of Obama's past.

Decision 2012

It takes very little time at all for the 24 hour news networks to get started talking about the next presidential election with seriousness. I doubt that Fox waited more than a year after Bush's re-election to begin discussions highlighted with the logo "Decision 2008." Certainly this caters to political junkies that crave the discussion and speculation (if not usually die hard facts) that one hears on news programs.

It was probably before the 2006 congressional elections that the various news networks anointed the nominees. Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton would battle for the presidency. Commentators probed strengths and weaknesses of both, and talked about the supposed eventual losers such as John Edwards and John McCain. Would they be offered vice presidential spots? Obama never entered any serious consideration. By 2007 McCain had dropped from the radar was well.

Then we got reminded that voters decide elections. A plain spoken Arizona senator and an utterly inexperienced Illinois senator shocked the media world.

This election may have been partly a result of the early speculation on Giuliani and Clinton. Candidacies have a momentum all their own. Some build and keep building, others build, climax, and fall. The earlier one's name comes out as a certain candidate, the more likely that voters will get fatigued on the person. Also an early entry gives ample time for the press to dig up the kind of goodies that torpedoed the Giuliani attempt.

One lesson from this campaign season is to try to avoid early discussion of your candidacy. Enter later, make sure you have no foolish blemishes to hide, and try to be experienced and public enough so that people know who you are from the beginning. That is the formula for winning this season, as we will see in November.

Gary Howell wins endorsement of West Virginia Family Foundation

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Gary Howell

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 304-790-9292

Gary Howell wins endorsement of West Virginia Family Foundation

Gary Howell, candidate for the State Senate in the 14^th District, has won the endorsement of the West Virginia Family Foundation PAC, based on his pro-family positions on a variety of topics. Howell was notified of the endorsement on Wednesday.

In announcing the endorsement, Kevin McCoy, WVFF PAC chairman, said, “We commend Gary Howell for his favorable response to our family vales questionnaire and for his strong commitment to protecting tradition family values.”

McCoy added, “Our family values questionnaire is an excellent tool to evaluate a candidate's commitment to those values our organization and its members hold dear. We are please to endorse his candidacy and look forward to working with him in the near future.”

West Virginia Family Foundation is a conservative grassroots organization which seeks to promote pro-family values within the state of West Virginia. Howell said he was honored by the WVFF’s support.

“West Virginia families share values and ideals that are ingrained through a love of God, a belief in the family unit, and a commitment to strong communities,” said Howell. “In the State Senate, I’ll fight for those values, and I’ll be a voice for hard working families across the district.”

Howell is owner and operator of Howell Automotive in Keyser, a leading supplier of auto parts. In 2003, Gary was named “Exporter of the Year” by the U.S. Small Business Administration. He was honored by the West Virginia Motor Sports Council in 2005 for promoting West Virginia across the country. He was also honored with the Governors Commendation for International Market Entry 2007, in recognition for completing sales with the Philippines, South Africa, Aruba, Belgium, Greece, Spain and Sweden.

The 14^th Senate district covers all or parts of the counties of Barbour, Grant, Mineral, Monongalia, Preston, Taylor and Tucker.

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Obama's Chicago Problem

West Virginians will be very familiar with this kind of situation. When people from a certain political party want support for a statewide election, they must make a pilgrimage to see people they would probably rather not deal with (or should want to avoid anyway.) The southern coalfield bosses with their cheesy nicknames and tradition of corruption have helped manipulate results for politicians willing to "play ball" for many decades now. Some embrace the corruption, others do only what they must to get what they need. Few walk away untarnished.

Chicago is Southern West Virginia writ large. More money, more ruthless operators, and more sleaze. The main difference is that Southern West Virginia bosses may be corrupt, but none of them turned against their country.

Obama's biggest Chicago problem involves William Ayers. Today he has been embraced by left wing academics as an anti-war hero. In the 1960s and 70s he helped to organize and lead the notorious Weather Underground. This group targeted the US Capitol and police officers with the same kinds of bombs Al Quaeda uses in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ayers claims that his only regret lay in the fact that they were not more effective (i.e. violent.) Obama worked with Ayers on the board of a Chicago foundation and has been described by many as a friend of Ayers. A meeting with Ayers helped to kick off Obama's original Senate run. Robert C. Byrd was blackballed from consideration for national office because of his ties to domestic terrorism; now Obama has been shown to have ties as well.

Another problem lies in close Obama ties to disreputable slumlords in Chicago. He bought a house in Chicago under market value with a mortgage deal that average Americans could only dream about. These Obama friends are notorious in Chicago for providing substandard housing, at times they failed to keep the heat on for their poor tenants during the harsh Chicago winters. Obama jumped on McCain for not knowing how many houses he and his wife owned. However McCain used one of those houses to care for a child in need. Obama did not even use one room in his multi-million dollar mansion to house his half brother who lives in a Kenya hut on less than a dollar a month.

Corruption, lack of compassion, and questionable competence continue to erode the Obama candidacy. The careful Clinton orchestration of the Democratic convention indicate that they are looking past the looming Democratic disaster of 2008 to a candidacy for Hillary at the end of John McCain's tenure in office. Meanwhile Barack Obama has gone from utopian uniter to just another corrupt Chicago political hack without the effectiveness of someone like "Old Man" Daley.

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By the way, take some time to visit www.nomomojo.org This site keeps you up to date on the campaign of Russ Weeks and the growing reasons why we need change at the top in West Virginia.

China possibly cheating...No way

I love the investigations from The Fourth Medal on Yahoo! investigating the untold stories at the Olympics. The Chinese gymnast who is underage, the digitally enhanced fireworks during the opening ceremonies, the girl who lip-synced during the opening ceremonies because she was prettier than the girl with the great voice, Chinese gymnasts falling during their event and still winning a medal over an American with a nearly perfect vault, and more.

But, is anyone really surprised that the Chinese would cheat? This is the country that makes children's toys out of lead paint and breaks our patents and copyrights. Want to buy a movie before it premiers in theatres...the Chinese can help. Why would it be a stretch to win at all costs in the Olympics? Sure they have a great medal count, but how many of those medals are in straight forward competitions. Take out the judging which is subject to human error and influence, where do they stand in pure one on one competitions? Not too great at that point. Of course, the judgement sports have always been subject to speculation

Olympic Dreams

Growing up in Texas I was involved in very high level swimming. At age 10 I was a part of one of the countries fastest relay teams. We coasted through the Texas State Championships, swam twice a day in the summers, and really had a great time together. When I moved to Ohio, the swimming program was less focused and I drifted out of the sport. I picked it back up and competed in the Ohio state championships in high school. From there I was fortunate to experience just enough college level training to realize that I wasn't interested in committing that much of my life to the sport. Clearly I am no Michael Phelps. Heck, I wouldn't even have to get into the pool to prove that to anyone, I could be identified as not being anywhere in the same league simply standing by the side of the pool in a swimsuit. Unlike golf where I can dress the part, a Speedo swimsuit quickly betrays my lack of training.

When the dream was gone, I was able to simply walk away with my head held high because it had been a decision not to pursue that interest anymore. In America, we get that choice. There has been some coverage of the Chinese Olympic machine, but much is glossed over. I expect that one brave journalist will come home to write their memoirs about what they observed in the Chinese athletes. I heard some dialog during the gymnastics portion about a Chinese athlete who had been put into the program at age 3. This isn't like in America where you go to football practice then go home to your parents, it's a full-time away from home program. During her early teen years (prime competition age for a Chinese athlete...against the rules, but prime age nonetheless) she desperately wanted to go home and quit. Her parents told her to stay because of what it would mean to her family if she stayed. When I wanted to quit swimming my parents told me I could quit at age 13, but they emphasized that they wanted me to learn the importance of commitment and seeing things that I start through to the end. It was about a lesson.

I am thankful that I was able to make a choice and pursue the life of my choosing. Perhaps being forced to compete could have one day yielded me an Olympic trial, but how many athletes were forced to dedicate themselves to the programs only to fizzle out in the end. I am sure that they were gracefully told they were wasting space in the pool because they wouldn't be one of the top three. I will take freedom and be accountable for my decisions over forced success anyday.