She's baaaaa-ack

Old racists never die, they just find a different Journal Register rag to write for.

Looks like Lisa Mossie will be allowed to foul more Montgomery County newsprint, at least until the next time she decides to crawl down into the bigoted slime she loves to wade through.

In case anyone missed it, here is the column that got her fired from the Times Herald back last spring.

And, just in case it gets killed by the new "Comments Czarina" at the Mercury, here's my take on Mossie's re-hiring by the Times Herald's dumber, uglier cousin:

So let's see if I've got this straight: Lisa Mossie gets properly fired at the Times Herald for her racist rants, waits a little while, then with no apology and no explanation, gets hired to continue her vicious, kooky, right-wing fringe assaults in the pages of the Mercury. This, in a newspaper that already employs one over-the-top wingnut, Tony Phyrillas.

Do any sane people still work for this company?

The Fire Next Time?

The inferno pictured here didn't happen in the United States - it took place last February in Podyelsk, Russia, when a nursing home went up in flames and killed 23 residents.

Thank goodness things like that can't happen here, right?

Sadly, that's not right. It can happen here -- right here in Montgomery County, PA -- especially when you have accidents waiting to happen like the high-rise Shannondell monstrosity in Audubon, Lower Providence Twp.

Shannondell features buildings as tall as seven stories, filled with aging retirees in various stages of ability and mobility. Some with canes, some with walkers, some with wheelchairs, all of whom would need to get out in a hurry in case a fire breaks out.

Of course, in the event of an emergency, the first thing that happens is that the elevators automatically shut down. Now picture these senior residents trying to make their way down seven flights of stairs in a dark, smoky building. It's not a pretty picture, and it suggests that what happened in Russia earlier this year could pale in comparison to what might take place in a worst-case scenario at Shannondell.

But that could never happen, I've heard Shannondell supporters argue. Those buildings have sprinklers and are fire-resistant, they say.

And in answer, I refer you to last fall's report from Medicare, which inspected Shannondell's nursing home component for, among other things, its fire safety level.

They found the facility had three times the fire-safety deficiences of the average US nursing home. Triple the average number of potential fire hazards. That's just plain scary.

Among the serious problems they uncovered were improperly maintained smoke detectors, sprinklers that were not in working order, obstructed exits and no record of fire drills being conducted.

It's a disgrace, and a horrific disaster waiting to happen. The county should have shut the place down based on that report alone.

The sad truth is that these high-rise mistakes should never have been built. But now that they are there, there has to be a minimum level of preparedness, starting with monthly inspections to make sure that all systems and equipment are in proper working order.

There should also be a complete disaster plan in place that includes fire evacuation drills under "like-real" (e.g.,no elevators) conditions, a floor-by-floor plan for getting every resident safely out of the building via the stairway, and reassigning living space for anyone who cannot be evacuated from an upper floor without an elevator.

That is the bare minimum that's needed, and I have my doubts whether anything close to that has happened thus far.

Sprinklers and elevators are great for advertising brochures. But if disaster ever strikes -- which, according to federal inspectors is three times more likely at Shannondell than at your average facility -- it won't mean much to the elderly residents admiring the smoky view from their toasty seventh-floor firetrap.

Arlen Specter's Miserable Voting Record

Does this sound like a Democratic voting record?:

Aid to Less Advantaged People, at Home & Abroad: 38%
Education, Humanities, & the Arts: 25%
Environment: 36%
Fair Taxation: 5.6%
Family Planning: 60%
Government Checks on Corporate Power: 37%
Health Care: 38.5%
Housing: 25%
Human Rights & Civil Liberties: 30%
Justice for All: Civil and Criminal: 21.6%
Labor Rights: 45%
Making Government Work for Everyone, Not Just Rich/Powerful: 26%
War & Peace: 23%

Source: ProgressivePunch.org

If Arlen Specter wanted to be a Democrat, he should have voted like one.

Specter, Groen and "residual goodwill"

I spent last summer getting over my anger with Montgomery County Democratic Chairman Marcel Groen, who smirked his way through the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary, telling people what a weak candidate Barack Obama was. Groen's behavior was not just bad form, it was bad politics and simply wrongheaded. He created wounds that still haven't fully healed.

But in spite of how our county leader behaved, the Democratic Party rode Obama's wave to a huge victory in November and we solidified our spot as the majority political force in Montgomery County. Of course, Marcel couldn't help but tell us how much he lovvvvved Obama then.

While I didn't necessarily forgive or forget, the anger faded after a while.

Then last week, the Inquirer carried a story that got me madder than ever at Marcel. At least when he supported Hillary, he was backing another Democrat. But now, he's trying to shove a Republican down our throats.

I think it's time to shove back.

Marcel -- along with Montgomery County Democratic State Representative Mike Gerber -- has joined Arlen Specter's "Advisory Committee" to push this turncoat Republican octogenarian as the Democratic candidate in next year's US Senate race. It makes me ill to even think about it.

"There's a lot of residual goodwill," said Montgomery County party chairman Marcel Groen. "Most folks think he's now the incumbent Democratic senator, and we should coalesce around him."

I'm not sure where Marcel is getting his polling data, but I know that "most folks" surely does not include me, or most other Montgomery County Democrats that I talk to.

I can assure you there is no "residual goodwill" here.

Next year, assuming that Joe Sestak follows through on his intention to challenge this fake Democrat, I will do everything I possibly can to support Joe's candidacy. And I believe the "most folks" will coalesce around Joe, not Republican Arlen Specter, in the Democratic primary.

And after we send a message by naming Joe Sestak as the Democratic candidate, it will be time to send another message by finding new leadership for our Montgomery County Democratic organization.

We need to find someone who backs real Democrats instead of propping up frail, aging Republicans who don't support anything our party stands for.

Trick or Tweet?

OK, I'm Twittering.

I just wish they had named it something else. "Twittering" does not sound like something that heterosexual males should be doing.

Anyway, I have no idea how active I'll get, but if you want to follow, it's the same as here, but with no spaces: Montcopadem

Song of the Blastocyst

This goes out to Lisa "Trixie" Mossie, defender of laboratory-Americans:



The BLA Anthem

I ain't got no body
Nobody cares for me, nobody, nobody cares for me
I'm so sad and lonely
Sad and lonely, sad and lonely
Won't some sweet mama come and take a chance with me
Cuz I ain't so bad
Sad and lonesome all the time
Even on the beat, on the, on the beat
I ain't got no body
Nobody cares for me, nobody, nobody

Really ain't got nobody, sad and lonesome
Baby need love

Tea as in Turkey

As in "stick a fork in it." The right-wing lunatic fringe has tried mightily to mount some sort of vast uprising against Obama's stimulus and budget plans. This weekend showed just how completely the wingnuts have failed.

Across the nation, foaming-at-the-mouth Limbaugh Loonies blogged their call to arms for all who were offended by the President's middle-class tax cuts, expanded health-care coverage, education funding and the creation of new jobs -- all things that the right apparently hates -- to protest in grassroots "Tea Parties." Here's how local zealot Lisa Mossie breathlessly spread the word on her bizarrely named far-right blog, Bluftooni:

All you folks in SE PA not going to CPAC, there's a Tea Party protest at Independence Mall on Saturday, 2/28 at noon.

Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...

...the tough get goin'!

Who's with me?

Sign up here

Well, apparently Blutarsky charged out pretty much alone this time. Here's how the huge protest looked at its height on Saturday:



I count at most about 50 people.

Now take a look at this same area when Obama held his primary-ending rally here last April:



Something tells me we don't have much to be worried about.