Mayor Pete, now called the Secretary of Transportation for all of the U.S., a cabinet level position in the Biden regime, visited Kansas City, Mo., recently, enjoying one of the perks of his job. That is, getting to pose in grip and grin photos and take some of the credit for a big transportation project, the new Kansas City airport. Having flown into KCI numerous times over the years, a new airport is a huge, much-needed upgrade for the area. The old airport’s Soviet Bloc look was past due for a revamp. So, great news for Kansas City and for travelers, and kudos to those who made the project happen. As to Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg (BOOT-ə-jəj) …
Kansas City airport
It’s good to celebrate successes, but Buttigieg’s most recent history shows a failure to respond meaningfully to the continuing crisis in East Palestine, Ohio. So that’s where his energy should be focused. Playtime comes after dealing with the tough stuff.
In his two years as transportation secretary, Pothole Pete – his moniker for his lukewarm performance as mayor of South Bend, Ind., because he couldn’t get the streets’ potholes fixed – has delivered the mediocre level of performance that’s the standard for members of Team Biden. In the first year of his transportation gig, Buttigieg was absent for two months on paternity leave during a transportation crisis. He was then criticized for his response to multiple airtravel problems. He called a nationwide flight shutdown a “data point” from which learning could come.
The East Palestine environmental disaster that began in February has been Buttigieg’s most defining event of who the transportation secretary is. While the crisis called for strong, coordinated actions from the government, Buttigieg was a no-show, revealing his lack of commonsense and empathy. He blew an opportunity to take the lead in addressing a horrible situation.
More than a day late and a dollar short, Buttigieg finally visited East Palestine on February 23, 20 days after the Norfolk Southern train derailment, and a day after former President Trump visited. The current president hasn’t traveled to East Palestine, but Biden did fly to one of the world’s most corrupt countries, Ukraine, to deliver more American dollars to the president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, displaying where the U.S. president’s priorities are – not with Americans enduring an environmental disaster in Ohio. Since the people in the Biden administration appear to walk in lock-step on the worst path, Buttigieg, a good soldier, is perhaps just following orders.
It would be good to see even one Democrat step up and do the right thing. Pete could have done that in Ohio. It should have been crisis communications 101 – if only he could have executed a plan. Presumably, emergency response and crisis communications plans are in place at the Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, FEMA, the EPA, NTSB, Norfolk Southern, National Guard, the Secretary’s office and with first responders and state & local officials. Whoever the players are, assemble all relevant parties in a virtual “war room” and go through everything that needs to get done, anticipate questions and needs that will arise, determine the lead organization and spokesperson, etc., etc. Get the people of the community taken care of and get the area cleaned. And overcommunicate to all stakeholders. Communications, communications, communications.
Residents of the community and the American public didn’t see that happen. But things that made no sense to the layperson happened, most strikingly setting fire to all the chemicals in the derailed cars, sending dangerous, toxic material into the air, ultimately to land on ground and water. With animals dying, there was no confidence in the community if residents were safe now or in the future. And as to Pete, he tried to blame former President Trump – the default response among Dems remains: it’s Trump’s fault. (Given Trump has been out of office for more than two years, how long will Democrats try to use him as the catchall answer to anything gone wrong?)
Buttigieg may be “book smart,” but he has a poor sense of the right thing to say and when to show up. In the face of people in Ohio suffering and uncertain as to the health, safety and economic impacts on their lives and those of their families as a result of the environmental disaster in East Palestine, Buttigieg said, “There are roughly 1,000 cases a year of a train derailing,” seemingly minimizing the impact of the February 3 derailment.
One thousand derailments sounds like a lot. Two years into his transportation gig, wouldn’t Buttigieg be “all over this?” Rail transportation is not exactly a new invention. It’s reasonable to think railroads and trains should be operating efficiently and safely. On a priority scale, safe railways and rail transportation that don’t kill or harm people, wildlife and the environment should rank much higher than one of Pete’s favorite topics: ending “racist” roads.
To give Pete some credit, on the mediocrity scale, for example, he is much less mediocre than Vice President Kamala Harris. Perhaps in an effort to bolster her dismal image, Politico recently wrote a puff piece on first gentleman Doug Emhoff. Maybe Pete can follow the example – an image-bolstering interview with Pete’s husband, Chasten James Glezman Buttigieg, telling us what a great husband and dad Pete is.
These types of pieces may reinforce support from the Kool-Aid drinkers, but the rest of us just want to see elected officials do their jobs well. Failing that, resignation would be in order.
On March 1, a train crash in Greece resulted in the deaths of 36 people. The Greek Transportation Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned, saying he felt it was his duty to step down “as a basic indication of respect for the memory of the people who died so unfairly.” Karamanlis said he had made “every effort” to improve a railway system that had been “in a state that doesn’t befit the 21st century.”
But after the debacle of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, did the “woke” General Mark A. Milley, or any of his Joint Chiefs of Staff brethren, resign out of protest or acceptance of personal responsibility? That would be a “no.” What of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has overseen the opening of U.S. borders and the mass importation of more than 5 million illegal aliens? No. And certainly not the Secretary of Transportation, Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg.
Officials who don’t fulfill the duties of their jobs will not resign under a Biden regime. They have no sense of honor and duty to the citizens of the country. Their only duty is to protect the power of the collective – the Borg. Protect it, and it protects them.
Sidebar
More than 50 years after another major environmental disaster, Ohio takes a hit again when train cars derail spilling vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate chemicals. The 1969 event was one of multiple fires on the Cuyahoga River that had been contaminated for years with debris, chemicals and oil. A polluted Cuyahoga River, along with a major oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., served as focal points for a developing environmental movement and the first Earth Day in 1970, as well as the creation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Richard Nixon in 1970.
Vehicle remains line the Cuyahoga River shore near Jaite, Ohio, 1968. Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Maria Fotopoulos writes about the connection between overpopulation and biodiversity loss, and from time to time other topics that confound her. On FB @BetheChangeforAnimals.
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
SVB Bailout Burdens All But The Rich — The Biden admin is going to bail out the rich tech firms smacked by the Silicon Valley Bank failure.
This means America’s working class and the rest of the good, play-by-the-rules types are going to face one more burden, as we are going to be on the hood for it.
Abortion Pill Causes Dangerous Pregnancy Complications; Body Parts Not Necessarily Expelled; Dangerous And Toxic — Jessica of Montgomery County -based ProLIfeNews interviewed in February retired Superior Court Judge Cheryl Allen, who now serves as counsel for PA Family.
Among the subjects is how the ease in which abortion pills are now distributed is causing serious complications for many young women.
She noted one little discussed consequence in the unremitting encouragement of their use is ‘retained products of conception.’
“Which really means baby parts,” she said. “These pills are supposed to expel . . . the fetus but there’s no guarantee that every part of the baby’s body is expelled. Any part that is not expelled from the woman’s body can be very dangerous and toxic”
Medical authorities claim it is safe to take these pills up to 10 weeks in a pregnancy. Prescriptions are required to get them but they may be obtained via telemedicine which means there is no physical examination. Many of those getting these prescriptions are immature and/or poorly educated.
Without a physical examine and a certainty as to how advanced is the pregnancy, the likelihood of a bad outcome is far, far higher.
Since the interview, Walgreen’s Pharmacy has announced that it will not distribute abortion medication in 20 states.
“For someone to be able to get a prescription like this without a physical examination, is really dangerous,” Judge Allen said.
In another matter, she said the University of Pittsburgh has no intentions of stopping experimentation on aborted fetuses even if it means losing state funding.
She said that if state funding is cut off from Pitt, it is prepared to go back to being a private university as it was before 1966. No tears here if that happens.
What Happened At The Montco GOP Convention — The below letter was sent by Stan Casacio regarding the meeting of the Montgomery County Republican Committee concerning the election to replace Liz Havey as party chairman.
Dear friends + fighters for real Republican values,
Thank you to my fellow ally Republicans for their patience and their belief in that, although difficult, competition can never be crushed if brave people do NOT back down. Something did change on March 1st 2023! A lot of the people there did not have real knowledge of what is at stake, or of the big issues facing swampy MCRC. I know many of you do not know this, but when I showed up and asked to go into the Chair Convention (also Endorsement Convention derailed), the armed guards—which alone is unbelievable to have armed guards—refused me access to the room no matter what I said. I then had to send someone in to find the parliamentarian lawyer to come out. After about 5 to 10 minutes he came out and he told me that I couldn’t go in. I said, wait a minute, that’s impossible. I am a member of the Republican Party and I live in Montgomery County and I’m a candidate for Chairman. He said hold on and went back in the room to communicate, I’m sure with the party bosses, on what to do. He came back out and said ‘OK I can come in, but my lawyer couldn’t come in.’ At that point my lawyer and I said if he can’t come in, then this is in no way a proper meeting and I will have to initiate court action. The lawyer then said ‘OK hold on a minute, let me go back.’ About 10 minutes later, he said ‘OK as long as you’re not disruptive’ (I have never been disruptive and I’ve always been respective of all my fellow Republicans even those that I disagree with) and we were allowed to come into the room, but we were not allowed to circulate and had to stay in the back of the room. Why? Why are they run by fear?
Very interesting way to start a supposed “democratic by the rules” convention. To further demonstrate hypocrisy, one of the parliamentarians made a grand speech indicating that there will be no disruptions and that we will follow Robert’s rules and the bylaws. The former of which did not happen. Just a thought – how many elections in the last 20 years have our bylaws won? He then proceeded with the meeting. Of course you all know what happened then, Joe Rooney—who was probably one of the best area republican leaders—and has put his life on the line for our country, stands up to make a point of order in which he asked, “When did Liz resign?” and of course it was brought out that Liz resigned on the 15th of February but then appointed herself as ‘acting chairman’ until the convention. Rewriting the bylaws at their convenience. Now I’ve been doing business for close to 50 years and have dealt with a lot of lawyers; I know all lawyers can make up anything out of everything, so we were told that ‘yes the bylaws do say that the chairman can appoint themselves as a temporary chairman until the chairman is elected,’ even though nowhere in the bylaws does it allow for that.
Joe Rooney wanted to make a motion to postpone the convention and was trying to explain his reasoning as to Why but was then unbelievably told to “Sit down and shut up!” or he would be physically removed from the meeting by those armed guards! I don’t know about you but I was totally shocked. Joe being the consummate gentleman, sat down and the meeting proceeded. You know the rest. 3 minutes to decide the future of MCRC—no questions from the floor—no debate between the candidates and one wonders why MCRC is failing.
What we found out is, there are rules but yet there are NO rules when it comes to having a debate in our Republican Party. If you remember I only had about a week to campaign and I was on vacation which was planned by my wife for four months prior. Plus you also have to remember that Chris Nascimento (nice guy) was basically groomed prior to anybody knowing the exact date that Liz was going to resign. He had an opportunity to collect the myriad of proxy votes (our party’s version of mail-in ballots) and because of this had a tremendous head start. When you calculate the total vote (including proxies) of approximately 500 plus votes and the fact that Chris got 300 plus and I got 200, then if you eliminate the proxy votes, and remember I only had a week to campaign and flew up in 24 hours of the convention, I call it at the very minimum dead even vote.
There’s something else that’s even more important and that is that 50% of the party has no say or position on any of the committees that surround the party chairman. In effect as I said General Patton in one of his famous quotes “if everyone’s thinking the same no one’s thinking”. Remember that if it were not for passionate conservatives and passionate Republicans there would be no MCRC. In fact, as I looked over the room I saw many old timers who have consistently supported the head chairman of MCRC—good, bad or indifferent—and therefore really bear responsibility for the demise of our once great Republican Party. I knew how they would vote. Of course, they never EVER take ANY responsibility. It’s always those darn rebels. There are never any mirrors in their homes.
As of today, I have not had a single call from Christian to ask me how we can bring the party together. How can we demand voter reform, transparency in our debates if we cannot even have transparency or act democratically at our local parties? Why is it that the Party Chairman, especially the one that I think has been replaced, takes criticism or ideas as somehow a personal threat and therefore those people must be destroyed via attacking their character, name-calling, etc. I guess my hope that something would change and there would be an openness and an effort to include everyone is just the impossible dream that I have.
Thank you for your support. I will continue to support individually great candidates who represent common sense conservative principles that have proven over historical times to work. I will never back down from the ineptness of leaders who think they walk on water. I know I don’t. I do know humanity only improves when we challenge each other to be the best version of ourselves.
Thank you for your time.
Stan Casacio
What Happened At The Montco GOP Convention What Happened At The Montco GOP Convention
The Constitution Party is the fifth largest political party in the United States.
It began life as the US Taxpayer Party in 1992. Its chairman is James M. Clymer of Pennsylvania.
As of November, the Constitution Party had 20 members elected to municipal offices throughout the United States. Clymer was its vice-presidential candidate in 2012.
The Constitution Party refuses to take any federal funds for its presidential campaign.
“The mission of the Constitution Party is to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity through the election, at all levels of government, of Constitution Party candidates who will uphold the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights. It is our goal to limit the federal government to its delegated, enumerated, Constitutional functions.”
In an email discussion, Troy Bowman, the Southeast Region Chair for Pennsylvania, stated that the party’s outreach efforts consist largely of mailing flyers, newspaper ads, social media posts, and phone calls.
Speaking of the Constitution Party as a party with a strong Christian backbone, Bowman went on to say, “it is not debatable that this country was founded on Christian principles which are deeply rooted in the Bible.” However, the party welcomes anyone “who believes what the original intent for the Constitution was.”
In Pennsylvania, the party has six elected members in municipal offices and hopes to have more after next November.
Lastly, he added, “what I have learned in the last 14 years is that the Republican Party can not and will not (emphasis mine) ever fix itself or rehabilitate itself.”
Change a word or two, and this could be the Greens talking about the Democrats.
Though I don’t share all the party’s values, I have not hesitated to vote for a Constitution Party candidate when a Green Party candidate was not available.
Hopefully, the Constitution Party will be on a plethora of municipal ballots this election year.
