Has anyone noticed the painted on grin of Joe Sestak? We see it in Joe's commercials, like a creepy version of Mr. Rogers. In their debate, Specter hammered Joe over his Navy "reassignment". And Joe kept on smiling like a Stepford wife. No emotion. Just a happy grin. This is hardly the image of the kind of Naval man that commands men, barks orders, and rises to the rank of Admiral. Nor is it the image of irate, tyrannical boss that has plagued Congressional and Campaign staffers alike.
Who requires that much forced and unnatural self-control to stop himself from spilling out all over a debate on TV? In private, Sestak probably has more in common with Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" when he went after Nurse Ratched. In public, Smiling Joe had more common with Nicholson after the lobotomy.
If you like the Stepford imagery, check out this link.
David,
ReplyDeleteNot here to gloat in the slightest, but I am amused at the change in opinions you have had with respect to the Admiral since the PA-7 Watch days. Sooner or later, he has that effect on everyone. I do like the Sleestak reference. We used that one in the Navy as well.
Cheers,
Stu
Stu-
ReplyDeleteBack in 2006, we were desperate to get rid of Weldon. We had our suspicions about Sestak, but we gave him the benefit of the doubt. We felt that with the different chain-of-command in politics we could handle him. Also, we felt he wouldn't be able to cover up as much of his behavior. I, personally, felt that he wouldn't be that stupid/arrogant to burn through talent.
His votes are better than Weldon's, but he completely screwed us on the Iraq vote, after campaigning on timetables, and how he would stand up to Bush.
I wish we could get Navy people that served under him to speak out. There is a blog: PA2010.com where this is discussed often. If you or your buddies have some stories to tell. PLEASE!!!
Sestak failed (and fooled us on 3 levels):
1) He didn't vote right on the hard votes.
2) He treated civilian staff (congressional and campaign) poorly.
3) He failed to help down-ticket candidates and the local party. Worse, yet, he actually worked against them to his own benefit.
I had no idea he would so bad all three issues.
David,
ReplyDeleteNo need to justify. I understand your motivation in voting for him. Minds do change.
I do note that you take issue with him treating "civilian staff" poorly. Does this mean that you believe his treating of his military subordinates to be acceptable given they are in the military service? I would actually submit that his treating of subordinate poorly in uniform is more egregious given they have no ability to leave. Any military leader can come in with a Sestak approach and be successful in the short term. Unfortunately, they leave quite a mess for the guy who comes behind them and has to fix the morale of the unit. Obviously doesn't work so well in the civilian world.
As to all of the candidates, I wouldn't be excited by any of them. I never really cared for Specter (even when he was a Republican) and while Toomey has stated viewpoint similar to mine (and is ostensibly Catholic), I don't know enough about him to have an opinion. As with the last Presidential election, I fear most choices these days amount to "spend more and make the FEDERAL government larger" or "spend ludicrous more and make the FEDERAL government crazy larger". The latter seems to be what we have now. Only a matter of time before this huge ponzi scheme collapses.
If you, or your readers, are interested in an alternative way of looking at things, I encourage you to read from the following website: http://distributism.blogspot.com/. Often called the "third way," it is an economic philosophy that was touted heavily by Chesterton and Belloc and I believe takes the best from both the prevailing political outlooks in terms of economic theory.
But we do agree that Sestak needs to go. I will continue to follow along and still enjoy our discourse. I am amazed that four years went by so quickly.
Warmest,
Stu
Stu-
ReplyDeleteI agree that his treatment of the military staff was more egregious. They had no choice, and couldn't walk-away as civilian staffers can. My reason for emphasizing the "civilian" staff is 3-fold.
1) The civilian treatment is more on the record and reported on with interviews, but his treatment of his military staff remains secret and hidden.
2) Sestak deflects attacks on his treatment of military staff as an attack on his 31-years and as a insult to the entire military.
3) He's demonstrated his tyrannical behavior with TWO different kinds of civilian staff: Congressional and Campaign
Anyway, I enjoy our discourse as well. Again, I ask for some good Sestak stories from "The Before Time" (before we got stuck with him).
BTW, you might want to check out: http://www.disorderlyreport.com/
It's a blog from a friend of mine. His recent piece on the oil spill and the role of government is pretty good.
David,
ReplyDeleteI too recall how excited we were when Sestak came on board in 2006. I also remember thinking how odd it was that he didn't own a house in the district, how his campaign kept shunning Bryan Lentz (who stepped aside from a seat he deserved), and how his family formed this Soprano-like protective posse around him. Looking back on it, the signs were there, but none of us wanted to heed them.
It's simply INFURIATING to me how so many people in the DelCo leadership refuse to accept the truth about this man. He took in $3MM from us in 2008, yet only spent $600k of it - why? Because he was planning then and there to run for the senate. I recall people on the '06 campaign saying, "You think this guy will be satisfied being 1 of 435?" but I didn't think he'd ditch us so soon.
Sometimes I think it'd be worth elevating him to the senate just to get rid of him, but it will only further entrench his mafiaso hold on the county committee.
That's my piece. Keep posting on pa2010.com. I just hope the undecideds are paying attention.
We got the worst bang for the buck out of Joe for what that seat cost, and how much he's forced Arlen to spend and helped Toomey.
ReplyDelete