29 June 2005
Spectator
The View from HereEerie County Follies
The next time someone asks why Eerie County is one of the worst governed areas of the country, the Spectator suggests that we simply show the inquirer a picture of Elise Cusack. You remember Ms. Cusack. She is/was a county legislator who was on television nightly bragging about how she had voted against both the sales tax increase and the layoffs that resulted from the county budget fiasco. Ms. Cusack, who only found her way into the County Legislature because of the Republican Party's vendetta against Bill Pauley, decided not to run for re-election because Joel Giambra pitched one of his hissy fits at her in the county parking garage. She has now been announced as the replacement for Lou Ciminelli on the State Power board. "Things" don't change in this area because the "people" don't change. After laying waste to a county treasury that was surplus when she found it ... after demonstrating utter ignorance of the way out of the crisis she helped create ... after showing her cowardice to face the tough choices presented by the crisis ... after all that, Cusack gets rewarded with another political plum. Well, why not? She did such a bang up job in the Legislature, right?
On the flip side of the same coin, Giambra can take a guy like Tom Burton who did a yeoman job as a Trustee of Erie Community College and show him the door. Burton had no fear of standing up to Giambra and telling the county executive exactly what he thought. Giambra responded as the Spectator could have predicted. Burton had to go. There is little room for independent thought anywhere near Joel Giambra. And yet, an exposed grifter like Ray Gallagher is left to pollute the ECC process. Gallagher, you might recall, was once found guilty by a state investigation of having used employees at the NFTA for political purposes and other corruption. But try getting rid of this guy! He's like gum on your shoe. He's never been out of a political job and we are now also naming a beach after him. And Tom Burton gets the boot. Only in Eerie County ...
Being a Marine Just Ain't What it Used to Be
Last week, the Boston Globe reported a study done of Marine Corps combat readiness in Iraq and found some startling results. The Marines were lacking heavy machine guns to protect convoys and road patrols. They lacked light machine guns for the ground patrols. Their Humvees STILL lacked armor to protect them from roadside bombs and those vehicles that have been armored break down because the suspensions can't support the weight of the armor. And finally, the tanks that are being used by the Corps need replacement after virtually constant use. Keep in mind that all this is occurring three years after the cretins in the Bush Administration decided to go to war and more than two years after sending our troops into harm's way. Bush decided to go to war but he had nary a thought of getting his invasion force adequately equipped.
So while the sheep in DoD and Congress continue to pour money, blood and lives down the sewers of Iraq, doesn't it begin to raise questions as to what the money is being spent on? Where did $200 billion go if Marines can't get machine guns? Someone in the Armed Service committee in the House asked that question recently. Also asked was why no armor yet? The Marine general's response was even more scandalous than the facts about equipment shortages. This rear echelon asshole sat before Congress and said combat Marines didn't have what they needed because he "took his eye off the ball." What exactly does that mean? Marines are being blown apart. The "lucky" ones are only losing sight or limbs. The unlucky ones are coming home in steel coffins. The best response that a fellow Marine could muster was to use his limited vocabulary and spout a hackneyed sports cliche to hide the fact that he failed to procure the essential equipment needed to save Marine lives. It isn't like this moron sliced his goddamned tee shot. Americans are dying because of his failure. Do the words "dereliction of duty" ring any bells? Do you think someone might be asked to get his sorry ass out of the Corps over this? Did you even know about this incredible outrage? Is anyone talking about it? The Spectator didn't think so.
Last year at this time, Bush and his cabal were kicking the shit out of John Kerry because he voted against an appropriation for the troops in Iraq. But a year has gone by, tens of billions of dollars have been spent - mostly on contracts and graft - and Marines don't have machine guns. Do you think any reporter will raise a question about this incredible state of affairs?
So here's the deal - we paid Chalabi a ton of money to tell us what we wanted to hear to get us into war. We changed the rules of the game to pay Cheney's Halliburton billions in a no bid, no competition deal. In return, Halliburton has screwed the taxpayers and the military to the tune of billions of dollars in overcharges. And our Marines are getting killed for lack of machine guns. Yet we still wonder why recruiting quotas aren't being met. Go figure. The brave kids in the desert continue be "Semper Fidelis" but in return this country is making sure they are "Semper Screwed."
Copyright 2005 by Buffalo Report, Inc.