Free Press – March 15, 2007

Sandy Miller, Impeach George W, Chimps, Text Messages Teen Drivers, Integrated Math Dropped, Proposition 957

Dear Friends,

Good morning. The Bucks County Democratic Party managed to shoot itself in the foot ten days ago when it failed to endorse County Commissioner Sandy Miller for another term. It’s not the first time that the party’s made a mistake. Four years ago, the Democratic Party failed to endorse Miller, but she won the primary fight and continued on the Commission’s board.

Miller vows to stay in the race. She’s been elected to the board four times. Miller is the best-known Democrat in Bucks County and will undoubtedly win her primary battle…much to the consternation of the Democratic machine. It will continue to have egg all over its face, which should make the GOP smile. The county Republican Party hasn’t been smiling much lately.

You might wonder why Miller came in dead last in her party’s caucus? Steve Santarsiero, Diane Marseglia, and Andy Warren (a former Republican commissioner turned Democrat) finished well above Miller. The answer is that Miller rarely opposes the Republican majority (Charley Martin and Jim Cawley). The Democratic Party expects Miller to vote against every measure, which the Republican majority proposes. That makes no sense, of course, and Miller knows it.

The same thing happened to Commissioner Walter Farley nearly 40 years ago. Farley, a Democrat, was not endorsed for a third term on the commission’s board because he was not an obstructionist. He voted with the Republican majority too many times.

I served with Walter Farley. He was an excellent commissioner. It just goes to show that political parties often get things wrong…which takes me to my next topic.

Last week, I received a mailing from “The Nation,” a liberal periodical now in its 142^nd year. It is calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush. “The Nation” believes that the president has misused his power.

Before the Democrats swept back into the majority, few believed that Bush would have to worry about impeachment. Now, most important, Democrats have subpoena power because they control both houses of congress. Democratic chairman of congressional committees will investigate how the president took America to war.

I look at impeachment this way. If Bill Clinton was impeached (but not convicted) because of the Monica Lewinsky affair, wouldn’t you think that W is much more vulnerable? Do you think that the Democrats will respond in like manner? I do. Like the Republicans before them, they won’t be able to resist the temptation.

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Have you read Michael Crichton’s best selling thriller, “Next?” I thought of it when I read the Inquirer’s account of a new discovery concerning chimpanzees. “Chimpanzees in West Africa made wooden tools resembling spears and used them to hunt other primates, the first time such behavior has been observed in a species other than man, scientists reported,” the Inquirer wrote (Feb. 25).

Crichton’s book is full of dilemmas involving the biology industry, gene discovery and the possibility that apes and birds may possess human intelligence. Father Fred Riegler, the Pastor of St. Isidore’s Catholic Church, suggested the book. He was right on the mark.

In that same edition, I read that teenagers are now text messaging on their hand- held computers while driving…that is, kids sending and receiving text messages via cell phones while they’re rolling down the road, radios blasting, the Inquirer reported.

Several weeks ago, I wrote a column about fatal accidents involving teenage drivers. You faithful readers understand the perils of teens behind the wheel. When teen drivers have teen passengers in their car, statistics prove that it is more likely that a crash will occur. Every state representative and state senator understands this of course. Why won’t the legislature restrict teen drivers? I suggest that you ask State Representative Paul Clymer (215-257-0279) or State Senator Rob Wonderling (215-529-1215).

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You’ve read that the Quakertown school district will abandon its controversial Integrated Math program in the senior high school. Beginning in September, students will return to traditional math instruction. This comes after parents and recent graduates of QHS complained that they were unprepared for college math. The school bowed to public pressure.

As an aside, I was surprised that the student reporters of “Paw Prints,” the Quakertown school district newspaper, failed to touch on the controversy. The heated discussions about the math program were constantly in local newspapers. But not a word about it appeared in “Paw Prints.” Is that because the student reporters were out of touch…or the teacher advisors used sensors’ scissors?

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Last, I was amused by Proposition 957, the state of Washington’s most recent approach to comedy. The gay community is responding to a state Supreme Court ruling that upholds a ban on same-sex marriage. “Proponents of same-sex marriage have introduced a ballot measure that would require heterosexual couples to have a child within three years or have their marriages annulled,” the Associated Press reported (Feb. 6).

Here’s the reasoning behind the referendum, which will appear on the fall ballot if supporters can gather at least 224,800 signatures by July. “The gay community says that Proposition 957 is aimed at social conservatives who have long screamed that marriage exists for the sole purpose of procreation,” the AP story concluded. Supporters of Proposition 957 are telling heterosexual couples to paint or get off the ladder.

This is high drama…amusing too.

Next week, I’ll share a hilarious article I read in the New York Times about pole dancing…no longer taboo…it’s catching on in book club circles! Stay tuned.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith