The Ocean State Republican

On Thursday, July 24th, 2008 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., come to the Bellevue Marina located at 360 Gooseberry Road in Wakefield to join and support Dave Coté’s campaign for State Representative - District 36 (the ocean section of South Kingstown, Charlestown, Westerly and all of Block Island). The picture to the right is a view from Bellevue Marina.

Enjoy a fun filled evening on the waterfront and enjoy cocktails and great food with Dave. Please confirm your attendance with David directly at 401-782-6365 and/or email David at dacote2 [at] cox [dot] net with your RSVP.

If you have any further questions, feel free to reply to this e-mail. In the mean time, feel free to check out Bellevue / Point Judith Marina at http://www.pjmarina.com/

$50 Supporter
$100 Captain
$150 Commodore

Checks payable to: Friends of Dave Coté
31 Wild Rose Ct.
Wakefield, RI 02879

A reader over at Michelle Malkin’s blog, nauseated by the media worship of The Obamessiah, has penned the “The Obamessiah’s Prayer” for his liberal flock.

The Obamessiah’s Prayer

In the name of Reverend Wright, Obama, and Bill Ayers we pray. Obama hear our prayers.

Our Obama, who art in Washington,
Hallowed by thy children.
Thy Presidency come,
Thy Legislation be done,
In Washington as it is in Chicago.
Give us this day our daily gas ration,
As we repent for our carbon addiction.
And lead us not into trepidation,
But deliver us from George Bush.
For thine is the Presidency, the Congress and the Supreme Court.
For eight to ten years.
Obamessiah.

I was glad see that Rhode Island Future’s Matt Jerzyk agrees with his “fellow conservatives” that East Providence’s local candidate nomination process is badly flawed. If we can agree on this, maybe there is hope for world peace after all. Naaah!

I noticed something interesting in the course of my research about East Providence’s unusually onerous procedure to get candidates on the ballot for city council and school committee. There is actually a state statute (§ 17-14-7), which at least partially explains why our signature threshold is so high:

§ 17-14-7 Number of signers required for nomination papers.

…(d) State senator. The nomination papers of a candidate for a party nomination or independent candidate for senator in any senatorial district shall be signed, in the aggregate, by at least one hundred (100) voters of the senatorial district.

(e) State representative. The nomination papers of a candidate for party nomination or an independent candidate for a member of the house of representatives from any representative district shall be signed, in the aggregate, by at least fifty (50) voters of the representative district.

(f) City offices. The nomination papers of a candidate for party nomination or an independent candidate for any local office to be filled by the voters of any city at large shall be signed, in the aggregate, by at least two hundred (200) voters of the city; provided, that in the city of Providence, at least five hundred (500) signatures shall be required.

In subsection (f) of this statute, it does state that 200 voter signatures are required for nomination to “at large” city offices. This applies to any city in Rhode Island (except Providence) where candidates are elected “at large.” However, eight (8) of the ten (10) local offices in East Providence are elected by ward (the exceptions being City Council At-Large and School Committee At-Large). That means that East Providence’s unusual rules — which I’ve discussed over at Anchor Rising — for the remaining candidates who are elected by ward, such as the “no duplication of signatures” rule, signatures must be collected from within your ward, and only being allowed to turn in collected signatures once, etc., are over and above what the state statute actually calls for.

I suspect that this has to do with the fact that many years ago, all candidates for city council and school committee in E.P. were elected “at large” (i.e., the top 5 vote-getting candidates got the 5 spots on their respective committees). However, when our city charter was changed to allow for most local candidates to be elected by ward (still not sure when, but everyone agrees it was long ago), the citywide candidate signature threshold of 200 was left as it had always been, which of course has had the [hopefully unintended] consequence of discouraging people to run for local office here.

Obviously, a 200 signature threshold for city council and school committee for candidates not elected “at large” makes no sense in a city pretty evenly divided into 4 wards. I’m no math wiz, but if the “at large” candidates are required to get 200 signatures, and a city has 4 wards, wouldn’t it make sense that candidates running to represent their own ward should only have to get 50 certified signatures from within that ward (which is the same threshold as a candidate for State Representative)? Of course, that only makes sense if lively local political competition is a desired goal. I’m sure there will be more to come about this. In fact, I guarantee it!

I’ll keep this post brief, because I know Monique over at Anchor Rising will be blogging about it later. In addition, The Providence Journal and The East Providence Post will also have their own write-ups. Basically, this evening’s meeting of the East Providence Board of Canvassers — while quite contentious at times — came down to the reading of several affidavits, complaints, and cross-complaints.

The well-attended meeting was held in a glorified walk-in closet, which did not appear to be air-conditioned, so that may have contributed somewhat to the “heated” (bad pun) atmosphere during the canvassers meeting, both between the canvassing board members, as well as from some members of the audience.

After the shouting was over, it was decided that the Board of Canvassers will hold a “hearing” next Tuesday, June 29th at 7:00 p.m. at East Providence City Hall, to consider any evidence regarding the various complaints which were filed.

That being said, nothing that the BOC is planning to do going forward, will affect the candidacy status of the two major candidates who have received publicity as of late, Brian Coogan (city council) and Shannon Barbosa (school committee), both of whom received enough “certified” signatures to remain on the ballot for the upcoming elections, regardless of the eventual status of any signatures which were previously ruled to be invalid for several reasons previously covered in the newspapers.

This evening’s meeting was a regularly scheduled canvassers meeting, not a “hearing” as provided by law, where witnesses can be called, physical evidence can be presented, and the accused can have a chance of defending themselves.

So, as they say, “you ain’t see nothing yet!” We’ll be seeing more “nothing” next Tuesday night, so come by if you get a chance. We know you want to!

East Providence is slowly starting to overtake West Warwick as the center of the political universe in Rhode Island (or at least you would think so due to the amount of press coverage we’ve received as of late).

There will be a meeting of the East Providence Board of Canvassers at 7:00pm on Monday night at East Providence City Hall (Third Floor). Besides regularly scheduled business, there will also be complaints and challenges heard regarding several candidates for non-partisan offices which have received some press coverage as of late. An agenda with numerous spelling errors is posted here on the Secretary of State’s “E-Crier” section. Apparently, we’re now the East Providence Republican City “Vommittee.” How cute.

Anyway, it should make for interesting political theater, so you’re welcome to attend.

Finally, Barack Obama’s campaign has settled on a site for his Berlin speech. But some German politicians have now criticized his choice as being one full of Nazi-related symbolism.

Barack Obama will hold his speech at the Siegessäule monument in the heart of the city, according to an announcement made by his campaign office in Chicago on Sunday. In his speech, he will speak about the “historic US-German partnership” and about the importance of strengthening trans-Atlantic relations, according to his campaign team.

Still, even as the issue of his speech’s location has now been settled, a number of politicians in Berlin are still dissatisfied with the site. The Siegessäule — or Victory Column — was erected in memory of Prussia’s victories over Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1870/71). The column originally stood in front of the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building, but was moved by Adolf Hitler to its current location in 1939 to make way for his planned transformation of Berlin into the Nazi capital “Germania.”

“The Siegessäule in Berlin was moved to where it is now by Adolf Hitler. He saw it as a symbol of German superiority and of the victorious wars against Denmark, Austria and France,” the deputy leader of the Free Democrats, Rainer Brüderle, told Bild am Sonntag. He raised the question as to “whether Barack Obama was advised correctly in his choice of the Siegessäule as the site to hold a speech on his vision for a more cooperative world.”

Andreas Schockenhoff of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats said, “the Siegessäule in Berlin is dedicated to a victory over neighbors who are today our European friends and allies. It is a problematic symbol.”

Source: Spiegel Online

Rhode Island’s largest conservative organization (and sponsor of this blog), the RHODE ISLAND REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY, will hold its next monthly meeting on Thursday, August 7th, 2008.

This meeting will also serve as the RIRA’s biennial Endorsement Convention. A candidate endorsement by the RIRA requires a 2/3’s affirmative vote of the membership present. Local GOP candidates or their representatives are welcome to attend. An endorsement by the RIRA membership is required to be eligible for potential financial assistance from RIRA-PAC.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 P.M. in the Banquet Room at Bickford’s Family Restaurant on Jefferson Blvd. in Warwick (Exit 15, off Rt. 95). Please note that this meeting will be on the first Thursday in August, not the second.

The RIRA is the Rhode Island affiliate of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, a thoughtful national organization of GOP conservatives working to grow and strengthen the Republican Party in the tradition of President Ronald Reagan. This is a dinner meeting, and if you want to eat, you pay for your own meal. Any like-minded conservative Republican is welcome to attend.

For more information, please contact RIRA President Ray McKay at president [at] ri-ra [dot] org or (401) 487-2514 or NFRA Northeast Region Vice President Will Ricci at NEVP [at] ri-ra [dot] org or visit the RIRA web site at http://www.ri-ra.org.

When the 2008 WaterFire season was originally announced, there were no lightings scheduled in July, due to lack of a lead sponsor. A July WaterFire has since been made possible because community resources came together in a creative way. WaterFire’s only lighting in July will be sponsored by numerous Providence Hotels and Restaurants working together.

The July 19th lighting of WaterFire will celebrate the kick-off of the United Way’s LIVE UNITED Campaign. LIVE UNITED seeks to engage a wider and ever-growing community in the work of the United Way, a national, non-profit organization that aims to advance the common good through community activism.

In an incredible statement of unity and recognition of the importance of WaterFire, the Providence hotels and restaurants have joined together for the first time to ensure that the fires will burn brightly on July 19th.

Barnaby Evans has created two special WaterFire ceremonies to mark the official kick-off of the United Way’s new “LIVE UNITED” campaign (including a 300 torch Promethea and unique musical composition)! These special events are going to be another memorable moment for all who participate.

It is going to be a beautiful and magical night and we very much hope you will join us. Please join the Providence hotels and restaurants as we join together downtown to launch a major new initiative of the United Way of Rhode Island: Read the rest of this entry »

“Unleashes” is probably the right word to use to describe this first general election ad — and this is only the beginning.

Republican Presidential candidate John McCain has started running “comparison” ads nationwide, regarding Obama’s many inconsistent statements about Iraq, and his complete lack of qualification to be Commander in Chief. It clearly calls into question Obama’s credibility. The ad’s release is presumably timed to coincide with The Obamessiah’s overseas trip (yeah, good luck with that).

It’s actually a pretty good ad on several different levels. However, it would have even been better with the theme music to “Flipper” playing in the background:

Presuming that the Secretary of State’s website doesn’t crash due to gerbil failure, we should know after 4:00 a.m. on Friday morning which candidates for federal, state, and local offices qualified for ballot placement (or in local political lingo, “QBP”). Candidates or other interested persons can check the status of their candidates here.

Projo: Tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. is the deadline for anyone to file a challenge. Someone can challenge a candidate who the Secretary of State’s Office certified for the ballot. And someone who tried to make the ballot but did not can also challenge his or her denial.

At 5:00 p.m. tomorrow in the State Room of the State House in Providence, Mollis will hold a lottery to determine the order in which unendorsed candidates for Congress and the General Assembly will appear on primary ballots. The lottery will also set the order in which recognized political parties and independent candidates will appear on the November ballot.

PS I was at our local board of canvassers earlier today at closing and verified that all Republican candidates in East Providence will qualify for ballot placement.

The Friends of Aaron Guckian, Republican candidate for Warwick School Committee At-Large, invite you to a “CONCERT IN THE PARK,” featuring Opera, Broadway, and Popular Music on SUNDAY, JULY 20, 2008 from 5:00PM to 7:00PM.

This event will be held at Pawtuxet Park near the Aspray Boat House.

Family and children are encouraged to attend.

Donations Appreciated.

~ WITH SPECIAL GUESTS ~
Noel Espiritu Velasco, TENOR
Gigi Mitchell-Velasco, MEZZO-SOPRANO

PS For those who don’t know Aaron, he is Gov. Carcieri’s Director of Advance, as well as an accomplished Opera singer in his own right.

Much like the ridiculous headline for an over-the-top post at Rhode Island’s Future, the above headline is also “technically accurate.”

Of course, we all know Matt is not a WHITE SUPREMACIST — as far as we know (we’ll have to ask Hillary just to be on the safe side).

From what I’ve been told (since my ISP actually won’t let me visit the site in question), there is nothing more on it than a verbatim reprint of a story previously published at Boston.com, regarding Gov. Carcieri’s widely publicized dispute with Mayor Cicilline over the recent rape of a Rhode island woman by an illegal alien who had previously been in the custody of the Providence Police. Nothing more; nothing less.

In other words, Matt’s using the occasion of a woman’s rape in a disgusting attempt to score cheap political points against the governor — when the governor is absolutely 100% correct on the facts — instead of directing his rage at the rapist, and towards Providence Mayor Cicilline’s lax enforcement policies. How’s them apples?

For an entertaining summary of where the local lefty “progressive” blog Rhode Island’s Future has been headed as of late, we turn to the great British philosopher Ozzy Osbourne, and his classic 1980s song “CRAZY TRAIN.”

I’ve always been impressed with the high quality, as well as the equal opportunity ribbing that JibJab has given to candidates of both political parties since 2004; and their newest release — “Time For Some Campaignin’” — is no exception.

Although they lampoon everyone, their portrayal of Sen. Barack H. Obama riding a unicorn and babbling about “change” is going to be a classic. Well, here it is…

PS The video may take some time to load completely before it starts playing automatically. However, you can manually start playing it before it’s finished loading.

Okay, so it’s not exactly Powerball…

By law, [the Secretary of State's office] has until July 18 to certify every signature in order for candidates to officially be placed on the ballot for the September 9 primary or November 4 election.

At 5 p.m. on July 18, Secretary of State Mollis will hold a public lottery at the State House to determine the order in which unendorsed candidates for Congress and the General Assembly will appear on primary ballots. The lottery will also determine the order in which recognized political parties and independent candidates will appear on the ballot for November’s election.

Source: RI Secretary of State’s Office

President Bush announced on Monday that he would lift a long-standing executive order banning offshore oil drilling and he essentially dared Congress to do the same!

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid basically told President Bush, and the American people for that matter, to DROP DEAD!

Here’s what President Bush said:

“When Congress lifts the legislative ban, I will lift the executive prohibition… The only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the U.S. Congress. Now the ball is squarely in Congress’ court… For years, my administration has been calling on Congress to expand domestic oil production. Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal. And now Americans are paying at the pump.”

But according to press reports Reid came right out and said he would BLOCK any amendments to lift the ban on offshore drilling and ram through legislation that could ADD 30 PERCENT TO THE COST OF CRUDE OIL!

According to CQ Politics:

“House and Senate Democratic leaders plan to bring energy legislation to the floor this week, using procedural tactics designed to block Republicans from offering amendments that would lift the drilling ban.”

“In the Senate, Democrats hope to take up as early as Wednesday a still-un-drafted bill that would tighten regulation of speculation in energy futures, which some lawmakers contend adds as much as 30 percent to the price of crude oil.

“Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., said he would block any effort to propose amendments to the bill that did not deal directly with the speculation issue.”

You read that right!

Harry Reid is essentially saying that he will BLOCK any legislation to drill for oil unless conservatives agree to pass legislation that would potentially DRIVE UP the price of gas at the pump.

And he may be BLOCKING this legislation as you read this letter!

But guess what? You are making a HUGE difference!

According to the same article:

“With gasoline prices continuing a steady rise, Republicans have intensified their calls for more offshore drilling in the face of polls that show growing public support. Republicans claim Democratic leaders are trying to hold off votes on drilling out of fears that some members are shifting positions.”

The credit for that shift is YOURS! Your calls and Blast Faxes have had a tremendous effect!

Now let’s FINISH the job! Let’s deluge these congressional leaders RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW!

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personal Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and EACH and EVERY Member of the Leadership of both house of Congress.

Tell them to stop their evasions. Tell them to stop ducking the issue. Tell them there is absolutely NO EXCUSE NOT to lift the ban on offshore drilling. The American people do NOT need to pay high gas prices at the pump or freeze this winter or pay outrageous prices for food at the grocery store simply because liberal politicians want to pass their failed left-wing agenda on the backs of the American people.

http://www.grasstopsusa.com/drillnow.html

The Left is having multiple “Obamasms” since Barack’s the nominee. If he becomes president, the first “change you can believe in” will be the change of our national anthem, from “The Star Spangled Banner” to “The International.” If he doesn’t win the election, all the Lefties will be whining about him losing because he was black, when in reality it will be because he lines up somewhere left of Lenin/Lennon politically.

Quotes straight from the mouths of the Left:

Chairman Obama said, “We can’t, uh, drive our SUVs and, y’know, eat as much as we want and keep our homes on, s’y’know, 72 degrees at all times whether we’re livin’ in the desert or livin’ in the tundra and, and then just expect that every other country’s goin’ to say OK.” (That is an exact transcription. Everyone keeps talking about how eloquently he speaks. Is that because he doesn’t interject “yo, yo, yo” before every sentence and call everybody “dawg”? He’s a terrible public speaker with poor phrasing, cadence, timing and vocabulary).

Question: Were it not for the U.S. aid to these “other countries,” the people would have starved or been rolled over by the Communists. Who cares what they think of our standard of living? They all envy our prosperity.

Mrs. Chairman Obama said, “The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more.” She continued to whine, “We spend between the two kids, on extracurriculars outside the classroom, we’re spending about $10,000 a year on piano and dance and sports supplements. And summer programs … do you know what summer camp costs?” and “The salaries don’t keep up with the cost of paying off the debt, so you’re in your 40s, still paying off your debt at a time when you have to save for your kids.” That’s on a combined family income of about $500,000 a year.

Question: Does it look like she’s giving up any of her pie? Doesn’t she sound like Karl Marx, who said, “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need?”

Maxine Waters said to the oil company executives, “And guess what this Liberal would be all about. This Liberal will be about socializing … uh, um … would be about, basically, taking over, and the government running all of your companies.”

Question: Do you think she could do a better job? Do you think she could do any job?

Nan Pelosi said, “Whatever the military success, and progress that may have been made, the surge didn’t accomplish its goal. And some of the success of the surge is that the goodwill of the Iranians — they decided in Basra when the fighting would end, they negotiated that cessation of hostilities — the Iranians.”

Question: Does she have any idea what she’s talking about?

Do you want this country to become the People’s National Democratic Socialist States of America?

Neal Pollack
(This letter was submitted by a conservative friend from Colorado.)

On Saturday, July 19th, the Hopkinton Republican Town Committee will be hosting the monthly South County GOP Breakfast at Boucher’s Wood River Inn, at 1139 Main Street in Wyoming, starting at 8:00 A.M.

The menu will include coffee, tea, juice, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, home fries, etc. The cost is only $10.00 per person which includes meal, tax, and gratuity. RSVP by Thursday, July 17th, by contacting Kenneth Mott [688-7140]; Scott Bill Hirst [377-4643 or scottbillhirst [at] yahoo [dot] com], or Martha Stamp [783-6192]. Reservations are suggested, but are not required.

Each month a different town in South County (Washington County), plus the Kent County towns of East and West Greenwich host the breakfast. Town reports are given and this month a number of GOP candidates for the fall election will undoubtedly attend.

Not to be a knit-picker, because there actually are a few good people working in the Secretary of State’s office (approximately two by my count), but the Secretary of State’s office website — specifically the part that lets you check on which candidates for state and local office have qualified for ballot placement (QBP) — seems to have been offline, more than it’s been online as of late.

I wasn’t able to use it for most of the day and evening today. I’ve only been able to see anything there within the last hour or so. For the moment, it seems to be back online, but with the same information that they had there back on Friday night. Of course, we hope they will [be able to] update that information later tonight.

Why do I get the feeling that their computer server is being held together with duct tape, and somehow employs a gerbil on a wheel for it’s main power supply?