By Stanley P. Gershbein
I was channel hopping as I usually do on Sunday mornings trying to catch what both sides of the aisle have to say about the important topics in politics. I stopped for a few minutes to listen to Chris Matthews and his panel discussing the pros and cons of the recent CNN/USA Today/Gallop poll of January 20th to 22nd – the one that was bad news for Senator Hillary Chicken Ca-ca as a presidential candidate in 2008. 51% of those asked said that they would definitely NOT vote for her while only 16% said that they would. Every single one of us has heard the same tired old information about Mrs. William Jefferson Clinton. Mary Ann Akers, of Capitol Hill’s Roll Call, came up with something that almost none of us have thought about. Miss Akers said that the former first lady’s downside, as a candidate, isn’t about the scandals. Nor is it about her polarization. She feels that voters are not hot on Hil because, as she put it, “Hillary is old news.”Wow! Matthews never thought about it, none of the other panelists thought about it, and that sure is something that I can’t remember being discussed anywhere.The truth here is that even though we are a long way off from the conventions and the nominations, many, many Americans have grown tired of discussing her candidacy.Ok, guys. What’s your thinking on this?********Just an interesting observation about the Senate vote confirming Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. It was mostly a partisan vote with one Republican voting ‘against’ and four Democrats voting ‘for’. That means five Senators voted in opposition to their party preference. Agree or disagree with them I have to stand up and salute them for their bravery.*******Do you remember the name Ken Jennings? He’s the man with that ultra-long wining streak on Jeopardy. He put his mega-magnificent memory to work on the show and won more than two and a half million dollars. Becoming famous and rich is what having a super-sensational memory can do for you.Hand to God, the following is not a joke. According to several news reports it really happened.Since becoming a celebrity the man with the astounding intelligence took a leave of absence from his job in Utah and has been earning more megabucks on the talk circuit than on his job. He visits colleges, TV stations, graduations and corporations and just about everyplace where they pay him to deliver a prepared speech. He gave a lecture recently at Siena College near Albany. After his address he was more than a little detained. In fact he was very late in leaving. The man with this ultra-fantastic memory forgot where he parked his car.********I generally ignore anonymous Emails. In fact I delete them without reading what the writer has to say. I received one this morning with a few words on the subject line that had me curious enough to change my mind on this one. No! I won’t tell you what the title of his Email was. If I do I’ll receive twenty or thirty more this week with those same words. In any case, the following is in response to the reader who wrote tell me how President Bush is breaking the law by eavesdropping on suspicious telephone calls. No. Those that side with him tell us that he is NOT breaking the law. Previous presidents have authorized similar programs to protect us. Whether or not my president is breaking the law is still being discussed, debated, and argued. Many Democrats who are so filled with hatred for Dubya say that his actions are still questionable. I’ve mentioned my feelings several times and since this reader was genuinely sincere and really polite I will try again. Here goes:If my president is breaking the law by ordering surveillance on particular telephone calls, I don’t care. I’ll say it again louder – I DON’T CARE! The Bush-bashing loony left will do or say anything just to make him look bad. They are playing politics with this extremely important issue when they should be worrying more about the security of their constituents. If blame, guilt or responsibility should be directed anywhere, it should be in the direction of the New York Times. The old gray lady with all the news that fits informed our enemies about what our government is doing. Does anybody think that they are still talking on telephones? There is only one question that matters. Are my president’s intentions in place to save lives and make us safer or is the staff of the N.S.A. a bunch of busybody, gossiping yentas who would do anything to get my Tanta Becky’s secret recipe for potato latkes?********And speaking about playing politics I truly believe that President James Earl Carter owes America an apology. No. Not for having a lousy economic policy. No! Not for having a horrible foreign policy. And another NO for being one of the worst presidents of the twentieth century. Even my Democrat friends admit that.Jimmy owes a great big apology for politicizing the funeral of the First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement, Coretta Scott King.Shame on you, Jimmy. Shame, shame, shame on you.********I am StanGershbein@BellSouth.Net telling the N.S.A. not to bother with my Tanta Becky’s secret recipe for potato latkes. The frozen ones are better.Emails and letters are the property of this newspaper and may be published. For verification purposes only, all correspondence must contain the writers name, address and telephone number.
