Sorry I have been gone so long...

Due to circumstances beyond my control, namely taking care of my mother and my father's estate as well as work duties, conventions and a much needed lengthy vacation, I have not been able to post the last couple of months. I look forward to my retirement in June or July, so that I can further work on this blog and other projects that have languished the last few months.

But, I assure you I have been paying close attention to what is going on in Berks County and will be able to start posting again real soon. And boy, do we have a lot to talk about! Keep watching for new entries about the world of the Berks County political scene real soon. Until then...

Respectfully, I am...

S. Dogood

PS. While Ms Stitzman and others have been falsely accussed of being the writer, I assure you that all speculation and attempts to out my identity are dimwitted inaccuracies at best. I apologize to those, especially Ms. Stitzman and a certain young gentleman, for these stupid accusations. S.D.

Silence was on the money...

This past weekend at the Democratic County Commitee meeting, which I was at, Michael Morrill announced he was not running for the 127th Legislative District against Rep. Tom Caltagirone.

While I was right on the money, I laughed at Morrill's announcement since we have known this since last month. Morrill's poll showed he could not beat my favorite Representative and showed how out of touch Morrill was with with reality. I was informed by our Union leadership that the poll showed Caltagirone was quite strong and that a majority of his constituents stood with him. They told me that Rep Caltagirone's numbers were around 95%. Talk about strength!

Morrill has plenty to answer for including where his money came from, especially since his reports thus far have failed to show where his money came from. I have from good sources in the Attorney General's office that they are continuing their investigation and Morrill may find himeslf having to pay not only a significant fine, but may actually face some charges.

While I looked forward to this election, especially since Rep Caltagirone was right on the mark in regards to Bill DeWeese. It would have been intersting to see how Morrill would have attacked knowing that there is an investigation into DeWeese's handling of Bonusgate. From an outsider I have to tell you that I believe Caltagirone's re-hiring of Chris Winters and the guidance of John Ryan as Executive Director, would hav rendered Morrill's positioning as moot and unremarkable. Mr. Winters is known throughout the political world of Berks County as a talented public relations man and political strategist, while Mr. Ryan has consistently demonstrated a brilliant legal mind and is a respected legislative guru in Harrisburg and across the Commonwealth. Throw in the talents of others legislative personnel in Harrisburg, such as the effective talents of William Andring and one quickly realizes the talent that Rep Caltagirone has at his disposal.

I know that the Rep and his staff have had a rough year, especially with the horrible death of their colleague, Sonia Medina, in August. But their tenacity and perserverance stands as testimony to the type of people Rep. Caltagirone has working for him. I know when I have called for help, the Rep's staff in the district has gone out of their way to help me.

Now, I did not see Mr. Winters this past weekend and I was disappointed because there is a lot of work to do this year. I hope he will find time to help in other areas of the County to maintain our seats under attack and even help pick up seats elsewhere. And Mr. Ryan, I hope you will assist in developing strategy to protect our incumbents like Mr. Kessler and Mr. Seip. Now I know that they will not be able to do much while working, but I certainly hope they will make themselves available for strategy calls at night and on the weekends. If they do, we will be in a strong position. Even Republicans have made respectful comments to me about the abilities of these gentleman and as a woman, they have always treated me with the utmost respect, even when we have disagreed.

Now, since Rep Caltagirone seems to be safe in the Primary, I intend on focusing my energy on electing a Democrat in the 187th and saving Rep. Seip and Rep. Kessler. Let me be honest though, Rep Kessler has not always made me happy with his positions and I know my Union is considering not supporting him for some of his positions. Also as a practicing Catholic, I am not happy with his perceived attacks on our Church and Schools. But he is one of ours, so though I do not agree with him, I will do what I can to help him.

See folks, I would rather work and elect a person I do NOT agree with on 10, 20 or even 30 percent of the time, then see someone elected who I only agree with on 10, 20 or 30 percent of the time. But alas, that is why the lunatic left like the Nefarious Blogger do not get it - they attack our own and strike at them because of the small percentages we do not agree on. As I have said time and time again, they lack civility and compromise. I would rather work with a Republican to gain a compromise then work with a lunatic left who does nothing but attack that which they can not control.

For the last 7 years we have been polarized by a divide in our country that gets wider every year, and while we all may want to point the finger at Bush: the reality is that we only need to point to the lunatic right and lunatic left in each party to understand why our Forefathers hated political parties so much. Give me the ladies and gentlemen of compromise and civility, and I guarantee our country will become more united, stronger. While we enjoy the freedom, we need to realize that our fears are overcoming us. We attack our heritage as a Christian nation and then wonder why the hate grows among us. While we are a nation founded by Christian principles, our Forefathers gave us the ability to be free from persecution for our religion; it was never envisioned that the Christian faith would be targeted from within. Instead of idolizing our parents, our family, our God, we have become fixated on ourselves, our wealth and the rich and famous. We care about the trials of Britney Spears, instead of worrying about plight of the homeless man in our backyard. How demented is that!

I hope the lunatic left will get over this attitude that it is their way or nothing or we will see our Party disintegrate into a quagmire of irrelavency. The Republican Party, under the careful guidance of Mr. Gillen, seems to be getting a grip on their divisiness; let us hope the Democrats will do the same...

Respectfully, I am...
S. Dogood

Can you say, the Nefarious Blogger is PARANOID!?

So I am reading the Nefarious Blogger, John Morgan for those unfamiliar with Dogood-imposed alias, and I see that he is on a "hunt" for a "beast". I am intrigued by his constant stupidity so I read on. Here is the brief synopsis of what is going on:

John, and his sidekick, Disreputable Boy, have been called to the carpet on their constant attacks full of inaccurate information, vicious attacks and innuendo by a person calling themselves, One Nasty Beast. John, in a perfect portrayal of why John should have NO, Zilch, NADA, credibility with anyone, decided he was going to identify One Nasty Beast by his or her GPS location!?!?

So John goes and takes picture of two building that he says are the location for One Nasty Beast. One building is in Norristown and the other one is in Clark's Summit. Here is the problem, it is neither. One of my regular readers (Thanks Iceman!) sent me proof on who One Nasty Beast is and after my jaw dropped, I was quite amused! Don't worry One Nasty Beast, your secret is safe with me!

But the reality is that John proceeded to get into a discussion with another Blogger, "Truth" on how he has a computer program to identify where a blog reader is from! John insists that he has the ability to locate a reader by their GPS coordinates?! So, "Truth", who seems quite intelligent technically-speaking, challenges John to identify the location of "Truth". Now folks I know you will not believe this but John actually answers the challenge by saying his computer has identified "Truth" as living at a home in Amity Township. Now here is the kicker folks, John identified "Truth" as living in Berks County, but the person DOES NOT EVEN LIVE HERE!!!!!!!

Hey John, the men in the black helicopters are coming for you. No, wait there are private investigators in that car outside your home! No, wait all of us are spying on you John because you are just so truthful and honest. In the meantime, your sidekick is saying that people are making veiled threats against his job. Gimme a break! You two want to take shots at people and then act like you are the victims?

While I do enjoy reading your issue posting, specifically on healthcare and working family issues, from policy people: your own paranoid mind is getting the better of you!

Respectfully, I am...
S. Dogood

It has been a long month...

I am so sorry to all of you who have pushed for my return, but I needed to take a break to help my Mother with handling affairs of my Father. You want talk about red tape!



Anyway, we were able to get all the paperwork completed and this is literally my first time where I have actually had time to look at the web and see what has been happening in our beloved Berks County. And wow, was my reading interesting!



From the crazy, factually ignorant and full of crap Nefarious Blogger and his sidekick, Disreputable Boy, to all the political intrigue in Harrisburg and locally: I think I was really glad my Mother needed my help. I could not have written fast enough to keep up with it all. But, now I am back and I look forward to writing. First off though, I thank all of you for your emails and comments wondering whether I was coming back. I had approved only one of your comments and realized I could not approve all of them or it would have taken quite awhile to go through them all.



Now, let's get started and give some lunatics a reality check!



Respectfully, I am...

S. Dogood

Email responses, II

To Kirk Wentzel - from this point forward known as the Disreputable Boy - Relax. You made the choice to be gay, now live with the consequences. John is your friend and he is a boy. That would make him your "boy-friend". This is not rocket science. Actually, it is Junior High 101.

Whether you and he are engaging in sexual acts is not my concern or interest, nor do I have any interest in your relations with your paramour. I have no desire to discuss your sex life or whether you are amused, nor do I really care what you think about anything. Your position has been well established and as I have said before, per you, if we do not agree with you and your warped thinking then we are wrong. If we disagree with you and call you on your twisted thinking, then you scream that we are bigots and you yell discrimination because we "hate" gays. How sad and untrue!

Well, let me clarify something for you Kirk... I do not like your actions and words because of what you portend to stand for. The reality is that you want to attack people and expose their dirty laundry, especially when they are no longer here to defend their actions. You disrespect your own Mother with stories of her involvement with a man in an affair. What bearing does that have on anything with all the critical issues facing all of us at this time? Not a thing. Disreputable Boy, please go bury your head in the sand and do not waste our time with your diatribes.

For the record, I am not a "minion" of Mr. Caltagirone but would proudly support him in whatever way I can. His record of helping my fellow Union brother and sisters, as well as the unfortunate is widely recognized, respected and appreciated. When your record of helping others approaches the level of Mr. Caltagirone, then you have room to talk to me about why I support him. Our Union will be endorsing Mr. Caltagirone and I am sure we will be giving him money and bodies to help his efforts. We are extremely proud that he is a prime sponsor on the health care reform legislation as well as other important working family issues. You see Disreputable Boy, that is what matters, not whether one of his brothers had relations with your Mother. That was her business, not ours, nor for that matter Mr. Caltagirone's.

So, I do not expect an intelligent response, just more attacks, but I question whether your employer, Century 21, would be real thrilled about you posting while on their clock and dime. I work second shift, so I at least respond when I am on my own time. For future reference, as a woman, I take offense to your assertions that any one's personal affairs, affect their ability to lead. Some of the greatest women in history have had less then perfect personal lives but it is how they handled those challenges that determined their abilities to lead successfully. Some of the greatest women leaders of our time have had colorful histories, but they have done well by their fellow human beings.

Your tearing down of others is just a vain attempt to legitimize your poor excuse for existence and your selfish nature towards your fellow human beings. You better come back at me with more than a story about the past, especially one in that the person you want to attack has since passed away. You want to live your lifestyle, but it does not mean that the rest of us must accept it or find it morally acceptable.

For the record, my best friend is a lesbian and while I do not agree with her choice, our friendship has never been strained. She was there throughout the death of my Father last month as I was for the death of her Mother and Sister five years ago. That is called friendship and love, not bitterness and hate, which are what you espouse so well.

I will take the love and friendship, for my Savior has made it quite clear that I am to love my neighbor and my enemies. You, sir, do not know what that teaching means or implies, nor can you ever accept it because you will never be able to control it.

Please do not waste the good people of Berks County's time with anymore of your hate-filled diatribes: we are sick and tired of it all and happily most of us readily will lift a hand to help our friends, family, neighbors and even our enemies, in their time of need. If you are offended, so be it. I guess I will need to ask the Good Lord for forgiveness of my offense, but so you know, I will ask Him to forgive yours as well. All of them. God bless.

Respectfully, I am...
S.Dogood

Now this is the way to start the New Year!

Since returning to work I have been slightly busy trying to catch up, but I just got a phone call that I felt was too important not to get the word out right away...

MICHAEL MORRILL HAS TOLD VARIOUS SOURCES, INCLUDING MULTIPLE ELECTED OFFICIALS, THAT HE WILL NOT RUN THIS PRIMARY AGAINST REP. CALTAGIRONE!!!!!!!

Now folks, you are going to love Mike's reasoning... "The Democratic Leaders who wanted him to run last year have come and told him not to run."

Now Mike, what leaders would that be? Mike, please name them and I will happily call them and ask if they told you not to run. If you name them and I confirm that what you say is true, I will happily post that you were being honest and publicly apologize to you.

Now here is what I think may really be happening (THAT MEANS IT IS MY OPINION, NOT FACT):

1. Supposedly our fellow Union did a poll for Mike in his bid against Rep. Caltagirone. The numbers probably came back showing the Rep. having a solid hold in his district with extremely strong positive numbers. I was told that one poll showed Rep Caltagirone with positives in the high 80 percentiles. That is impressive!

2. The Attorney General investigation into Mike's campaign finances is going forward and there is some concern about what may come from the investigation. I do understand that the Attorney General is taking all cases like this one very seriously.

Ohh Nefarious Blogger, before you comment about your "witch hunt", "investigation" - ummm, whatever you call your "research"; let me be clear on this point.) The cases are taken seriously, unless the cases are without merit because they are based on improper interpretation of the law, which the Nefarious Blogger seems to have such a penchant for these days.

3. Those of us who know Mike for his causes through the years are not exactly always enamored by the games he has played to push himself to the forefront. It is a well-known fact that other then some people in SEIU, Mike had NO support from any other Unions in his possible run. Matter of fact, at a large gathering of Union leaders and key players during the holidays, 99% of them said they were behind Rep Caltagirone and his strong record of support of the Unions over the years. Matter of fact, Bill George recently told a group of Union people when asked, that he is completely, without any reservations, behind Rep Caltagirone. My understanding is that this is pretty much across the board. I think that speaks volumes!

It does not matter, whatever the reason, Mike will portray it in whatever way helps Mike to sleep at night.

One final note to Mr. Dan Sauder...Mr. Sauder, there are a lot of other people who need your help this year. Please shake off the mud and move on. You are needed to team up with others to help BUILD the Party, NOT DESTROY IT! Let us get Democrats elected and re-elected this year. Based on comments I have seen from many within the Party, I see hands being offered in friendship and teamwork: reach out and grab them!

Respectfully, I am...
S.Dogood

Responses to email and posting, part 1

To One Nasty Beast - I understand your thoughts but I am not sure I concur. Damian actually sent me an insightful posting which I did post and I have to credit him for having the courage to be an anarchist.

By the way, I do not believe you are Michelle Kircher at all. A very reliable source has tied you to some of the new liberal members of the Democrat Party who think John Morgan is out of control and are attempting to rile him up because they want him to leave because he is, in their words, a "major distraction and is not worth his wait in salt". Based on other emails sent, they supposedly have a woman's IP address but the entire group is protecting her because the nefarious blogger is so vindictive and again in their words - "out of control". They believe he and his boyfriend, Kirk Wentzel have an axe to grind and are trying to use liberal ideals to strike at anyone they can( you know the discrimination thing since they are admittedly gay) I will follow up on some leads on this story because I have received various posting about Wentzel and Morgan. BUT LET ME BE CLEAR - IF I CAN NOT VERIFY THE DETAILS WITH AN ATTORNEY, NOTHING WILL BE PUBLISHED. I will not give you teasers then attempt to give you made up facts without legal backing, unlike another blogger we all know!

TO MR. CHRISTOPHER WINTERS - I appreciate your comments and concerns. Please rest assured I have no problem making sure people know I am not YOU or anyone from Mr. Caltagirone's offices. Matter of fact, in the past, you and I have had some interesting and heated discussions. While we agree on much, I would have to disagree on your assessment of the nefarious one and his cohorts. I understand that you believe that there is room for everyone, but I do not think they feel the same. So, I have to believe you may be deluding yourself if you think you will ever be able to work with them without worrying about what knife was coming and from where.

I will agree with your comment on Mr. Sauder, and yes, I will refer to him in that way from this point forward. I did find it amusing out of all the people who have responded to my posts, you are the only one who picked up on my use of respect in my writings.

Rest assured I meant no disrespect to your family, especially your parents (your Dad and my Dad were a lot a like), your wife and your children. I am not sure how you do all you do, especially with 5 children. I hope this posting will suffice in responding to your request.

To Melissa Marie - Thank you for compliments. As you asked, I will oblige. At no time will I post anything without facts, nor will I post any accusation without making sure I have checked with a legal expert on the facts.

Yes, I thought John Morgan's story on Mr. Caltagirone reports was amusing. I spoke to an election law attorney, actually one of the best in the state, that is used by the Democratic Party routinely. His exact words were, "You have got to be kidding me. There is no violation to report or investigate. Rep Caltagirone has claimed the monies on his Committee report as an expenditure. He is not required to double list a receipt on his personal report. Let this gentleman (his words not mine) take his claim to the DOS and watch as they laugh at his accusations." Melissa, I do not think we need to say much more.

There are many more people to respond to but it is getting late and I have to catch up on other items. But, please keep the data coming. Upon verification, I will post the information.

Until them, Respectfully, I am...
S. Dogood