MOMCAT'S VEGAN PROJECT: SUCCESS--STEVE IS VEGAN! MOMCAT WINS VICTORY FOR HER PALS!

BLUEBELLE THE WONDER CAT IS NOT EDIBLE AND DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO EAT HER!!!

I was interacting with a vegetarian friend on facebook just awhile ago.

I decided to just go ahead and do it!

It snowed maybe 8 inches to a foot last night.

Not much to do this weekend except take it slow after an awesome week.

In His infinite wisdom the Lord often slows me down by different means.

A snowstorm this time.

:)

NEITHER IS 14 YEAR OLD POUND PUPPY AND MY HERO AUGIE THE DOGGIE. NOT EDIBLE.

I've had a great week, spent much of it up in the Capitol building in Hartford.

Saw the Gubernatorial candidate I worked to get elected inaugurated.

Was credentialed for the first time in my life for anything.

Succeeded in all my goals and more at the Capitol.

Met some great people, published some great stuff.

Made contacts with some amazing people.

New friends galore.

News stories galore.

Had tons of laughs.

Took some great pics.

THIS IS MOMCAT. THIS IS HER PROJECT. TO GET ME TO TODAY, VEGAN, NOT HERSELF. SHE NEEDS MEATS! I DON'T!

I have lenses and filters and what-not galore for my Canon Eos Rebel 35mm film camera. Went on Ebay and bought a used digital that will accommodate all those lenses and filter system and what-not. Should come in the mail any day!

It will help this writing project big-time! Got it for a fraction

of what I'd have paid retail and new. :)

I went to the Capitol Monday to make sure I could navigate the building

when it was busy Wednesday, inauguration day, and got hooked up.

Had to purchase a cane this week for getting around in general.

Wednesday I went to the Capitol, saw the swearings-in

at the National Guard Armory and spent most of the

day on the floor of the State House of Representatives.

"Dream come true" kinda stuff.

Got a call from the new Secretary of the State Denise Merrill's

staff Thursday night that she was having a panel discussion on Elections and election reform. She moderated a lively and informative discussion.

Governor Malloy

stopped in to say hi.

"Madam Secretary" Merrill

held a brief press conference afterward.

As she departed the conference room, she stopped in the hallway where I was chatting with one of the panelists to say hi, and I said

"Hi Denise, are you gonna be in you office in a few minutes? Can I stop by?"

She said she'd be there in 5 minutes, I said I would be there, too.

I finished my conversation in the hallway,

and headed over to Denise' offices near the House chamber.

I was promptly escorted by her and her press aid into her office.

I interviewed her about the Bridgeport voting, the panel discussion,

recent U.S. Robert's Supreme Court rulings, the 2010 campaign

and much more.

And we chatted in a social way and LOL'ed a lot. Fun galore.

Her press aid asked me if I would consider putting a video of the

entire conference onto this website. I will be looking in to that and

likely doing that next week when the CTN television network

downloads the video onto their own website.

Once I have the tech stuff figured out, the video

should be available here at

unabashedleft.blogspot.com

your online source for all your military affairs and comedy needs.

:-D

MEOW IS MOMCAT'S LOYAL PARTNER IN LIFE, FORMERLY FERAL, LIKE MOMCAT, HE IS BLUEBELLE'S FATHER AND MOMCAT IS BLUEBELLE'S MOM. THEY WERE RESCUED FROM THE STREETS OF A CITY IN CT. BLUEBELLE WAS BORN IN A BACKYARD ARTIFICIAL WISHING WELL TO MOMCAT A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO NOW, AND MEOW HAS BEEN A LOYAL AND DEDICATED FATHER AND PARTNER EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. MEOW AND MOMCAT USED TO HUNT TOGETHER AND DEFEND EACH OTHER AGAINST WILDLIFE SUCH AS RACCOONS, DOGS AND ALSO FROM HUMANS. BOTH MOMCAT AND MEOW ARE MUCH CALMER NOW, ALTHOUGH MOMCAT IS VERY CHALLENGING TO GET TO KNOW, BECAUSE SHE WAS BORN A CAT IN THE WILD AND NEVER LIVED A DOMESTIC LIFE WITH HUMANS BEFORE.  IT TOOK MONTHS OF HARD ATTEMPTS TO EARN MOMCAT'S TRUST, SHE HAD BEEN TAMED IN LARGE PART BY ANOTHER HUMAN WITH GREAT FELINE SKILLS, BUT UNDER MY CARE I HAD TO DEVELOP A RAPPORT WITH MOMCAT.  SLOWLY, DAY BY DAY, WE GOT CLOSER. SHE FINALLY LET ME SEE HER IN MY BASEMENT AND CAME OUT OF HIDING ONE DAY. ANOTHER DAY SHE LET ME TOUCH HER WHEN I WAS FEEDING HER. ANOTHER DAY SHE LET ME STROKE HER CHEEK. AND THEN ONE TIME SHE JUMPED ONTO THE FURNITURE I WAS ON AND WANTED ME TO PET HER FOR A HALF HOUR OR MORE!!! YIPPEE!!  WHAT AN HONOR MOMCAT BESTOWED UPON ME. WHAT A GREAT DAY THAT WAS! MOMCAT WENT MISSING ONE NIGHT WELL OVER A YEAR AGO NOW. I LOOKED AND LOOKED FOR MOMCAT. SHE WAS NOWHERE. I LOOKED ALL NIGHT. 1A.M. 2A.M. 3A.M. 4A.M. NO MOMCAT.  I WAS FEARFUL AND BECAME CERTAIN SHE HAD GOTTEN INJURED AND DIED IN THE BASEMENT. SHE ALWAYS TAKES RISKS DOING ACROBATIC THINGS WALKING AROUND THE RAFTERS AND WHAT-NOT. I WAS TERRIFIED FOR MOMCAT. MEOW WAS CONFUSED. I TORE THE BASEMENT APART LOOKING FOR HER. LOOKED EVERYWHERE. I FINALLY SAW AT 4:30A.M A NOOK OR A CRANNY HIGH UP, 9 FEET HIGH THAT I HADN'T YET LOOKED IN. TURNED OUT SHE WAS A BIT CONSTIPATED AND NOT FEELING WELL AND HIDING TILL SHE FELT BETTER. :)

<3

PINK HEARTS GALORE!!!

MOMCAT!!!!!

SHE LIVED!

OMG.

A GENUINE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.

I WAS IN LOVE WITH A FERAL FELINE. IN MAD CRAZY LOVE WITH MOMCAT!

AND OF COURSE WITH AUGIE, BLUEBELLE AND MEOW AS WELL.

AND HUMANS, TOO.

I FORGOT THAT.

I FORGOT THAT I WAS A GUY THAT LOVED EVERYBODY.

I HAD FORGOTTEN THAT I WAS A PRETTY GOOD GUY.

THAT NIGHT SAVED MY LIFE IN MANY WAYS. 

LONG STORY.

GIVE ME A CALL IF YOU WANT TO HEAR IT SOME TIME.

WOW.

AUGIE AND IGGIE(NOT PICTURED HERE) ALSO HAD SAVED MY LIFE EARLIER IN LIFE.

It's the weekend and there was oodles of snow where I live last night. I'm not going any where far this weekend. God is looking out for me.

He sez slow down this weekend Steve.

Go Vegan 2day.

No sense putting it off anymore.

Besides canines and felines, I love bovines, swine, and cows. The cute Girl Scout who sold me some thin mints at the front door yesterday and who will shovel my snow for only 6 bucks today loves goats and doesn't want to eat 'em. Me neither. I don't want to see how they treat those poor little veal guys that have to live in those tiny boxes and not move their entire short lives so that they are so tender to eat.  I know dairy cows have really boring and sad lives. I know that the chickens who lay the eggs I used to eat had horrible "cooped" up lives they suffered. I know that if I buy a new leather coat a steer or something had to be slaughtered so I could wear that instead of cotton or something. Slaughtered.

Every time I have a burger, a hot dog, a chicken wing, a turkey breast, or any meat at all someone was

Slaughtered.

omg.

I truly believe that people are spiritual beings having a temporary human experience.

I also believe that dogs are spiritual beings having a temporary canine experience.

That cats are spiritual beings having a temporary feline experience.

Pigs having a temporary swine experience.

Cows a bovine experience.

Horses an equine one.

And on and on.

So I'm all done eating mammals.

And fish, too,

To make the point and to drive it home.

Vegan.

I'm in a unique position to take an extreme position

to advocate and educate for the animals that

I love so much.

Especially all those warm-blooded critters

who are my good buddies and always have bailed me out when I asked. :)

I'm Vegan.

And proud to be!

Sure feels good to procrastinate no longer!

In Jesus' precious name I pray and give thanks and praise.

Amen.

la-spca.org

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Keith Olbermann Leaves MSNBC-"Countdown With Keith Olbermann" Is No More

Much is being written and will be written about Keith's departure announcement last evening at the end of his broadcast.

I've written a lot about his employers and will do so, and did already elsewhere today at:

http://www.examiner.com/government-in-hartford/keith-olbermann-departs-msnbc-and-lieberman-departs-washington?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d3b261f98a0124f%2C0

This is just a fan tribute. A retrospective of awesome memories of a great

American broadcast.

Already classic TV.

Keith will tellya he's been playing a character all these years.

He's referred to his character as more or less a

caricature of his own self.

LOL

The fools on the right never got it.

Don't get it.

Never will.

2 bad 4

them.

Keith's

a

very

funny

man.

:D

But comedy's comedy

and satire's satire.

And satire

without

a

point

is

comedy

or

dramady.

The Fixed News Network owned by Rupert Murdoch

is Comedy,

slipping into dramady

because Republican politicians

think the farce is real.

Along with his staff Keith turned the MSNBC division of NBC,

its prime time line-up in particular,

 into a complete satire of the Fixed News phenomenon

in it's entirety.

A caricature of "objective" news--

like Fixed calls itself:

Fair and Balanced.

lolololol

NBC tried to "punish" Keith back in November for donating to

wounded AZ Congresswoman Gabby Giffords' campaign and one

other, exercising his constitutional rights to do so.

It was NBC that got punished and ended his suspension

1 business hour after announcing it. :D

Keith managed to convince the execs at 30 Rock to

hire Rachel Maddow on full time in prime time. :)

Good News!

Rachel's research staff, editing staff, and Rachel herself and their

TRMS

took on the world, one general at a time. :)

One candidate at a time.

Methodically

dismantling the empires of

various political idiots.

Keith at his laptop, reminds me of me at mine.

Wish I had a fraction of his talent.

Gonna missya on-air, man.

But don't be a stranger

you have more freedom

now to freely

assemble with

people who call themselves

Unabashedly Left.

:)

I just know Keith will be back soon in another capacity

helping to dismantle the right

one brick at a time, but sometimes

bringing entire walls and buildings collapsing

down as he's done

with his extraordinarily successful

Countdown

project.

It sure does look  like you've got your tongue in your cheek in this shot, Keith. Wipe that smirk off your face.

Roll up your sleeves.

Let's get back to work.

We have a couple of parties to crash.

The "Tea."

And the "Republican."

On second thought...

Keep the smirk!

Peace....

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MISSILE MATTERS: THE END OF DADT AND NATIONAL SECURITY/Rachel Maddow, Ellen Degeneres + Barney Frank

Hi all. I'm under the weather this week, so bear with me please.

The weather sucks. Three snow storms in Wallingford in one week near Hartford. Sigh.

My health ain't great. Cold lingers and medical matters persist. Sigh.

This article on the passage of DADT and START

and giving credit to Rachel and her TRMS staff

deserves a replay.

So enjoy.

Peace

Steve

Rachel Maddow and her "The Rachel Maddow Show"[TRMS] deserve much credit for their work on the vote that finally succeeded this lame duck session to end the codified discrimination which was the uniformed military's Don't Ask Don't Tell law. 

The tired old arguments that group cohesiveness and battlefield situations required only straight troops or hiding sexual orientation were the same ones that resulted in the separate but unequal black divisions following the Civil War and right up to and including WW II.  If these ethnic divides had not been eliminated, General Colin Powell never would have led, for example, nor been the last Republican cabinet officer within the ranks of those involved in National Security, as Secretary of State, worth his salt[or SALT II, or START treaties ifya prefer--lol].

Rachel's own orientation, though not really relevant, is fairly well-known and she advocates for policies in a journalistic environment caused by the Rupert Murdoch nonsense at the Fixed News Network that calls for a bit of advocacy journalism, not that advocacy journalism is a "bad" thing inherently at all.  Spin happens.  If you see my living room, you might describe white walls and a brown sofa set. I'd be more likely to describe the crack in the ceiling that appeared to have not been caused by rain or water when I decided to recommend its purchase by my own partner at the time.  Facts are abridged and spin happens in all reporting all the time every day. Even good 'ol Walter Cronkite spun.  He spun in favor of NASA and against Vietnam, eventually for example.  Rachel's colleague at MSNBC, Keith Olbermann, did a great commentary not long ago on Walter and Edward R. Murrow recently about this sort of thing.  What Murdoch, Beck and the elected and party officials on the other side have done however is confuse reporting and editorializing with governing.  Palin, Gingrich, Boehner, McConnell, and Romney cow towing and pandering to the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck is the new novelty in US politics. I consider Rachel, considerably younger[and endowed with an awesome research, editing and other-staff] and much more successful, a role model and inspiration.

Ellen Degeneres is a well-known pop culture icon who starred in a sitcom years ago when she decided to acknowledge her lesbianism publicly years ago now. When she "came out" it was a bold and heroic move and a different time that she had alot to do with changing.  She too is a role model for me.  She stopped her successful sitcom to do talk TV and has done that impressively and it is funny AND topical.  She does much to advocate for bullied kids.   Elsewhere on these Unabashed Left pages see a series on "Bully, Bully, Bully" by a guy who was bullied himself as a kid, me. Thanks Ellen.  What a great public servant, free of charge--not collecting a single tax dollar--only dishing them out with a great income because of her great success in a career that breaks records!

And what amount of letters could I type to describe the leadership of Cambridge, MA Congressman Barney Frank. A civil rights icon to me and much more.  He "came out" years ago and has been amazingly effective.  He, along with Chris Dodd on the Senate side got the Banking bill through forya this year.  Thanks Barney.  He demolishes others in National Security debates.  He knows the advantages of DADT's demise to long-term national security.  What we need now that there are women, blacks, Hispanics and gays in the uniformed military with equal rights under the law is to get more of them into positions of prominence, like Colin Powell was.  I just happen to believe that a few Moms, and diversity among the uniformed and Defense Dept. civilian  leadership will help us massively!  We've had Moms as Secretary of State repeatedly, lets try one or two on the Joint Chiefs, or as Chairperson of the Joint Chiefs or as Defense Secretary and see what happens.  Just a theory, that maybe humanized defense strategy may emerge with diversity in the ranks of General Officership and civilian Defense and Intelligence leadership. Yaknow?  Diversity has worked elsewhere, it is one of the last bastions of uniformity--all guys and mostly white guys like me still!

Ellen is a show business celebrity, so she can get away with having her picture taken when she's kissing partners and marrying them.  Remember the huge debate over Al Gore's lip-smack with his own wife, Tipper, on stage at the Democratic convention in 2000? Silly, huh?  Now I happen to be a Liberal Christian, myself. A proud card-carrying member of the United Church of Christ AND the Episcopal Church. And Unabashedly Left. Believing that Christ Himself has a position on Nukes, DADT, the US aggressions in Afghanistan, Iraq and the $700 billion annual Defense Dept budget.  He opposes them, I do believe. :)

It just happens to be my view that Jesus loves Unconditional Love and that he's rather partial to kisses and hugs in general. Al kissing Tipper, Ellen kissing Portia and more. And it happens to be my view that those enlisted personnel and those making military policy at all levels, from Privates accused of Wikileaking to Presidents like our awesome Barack H. Obama[previously guided by Rev. Jeremiah Wright of the UCC] utilize or should utilize their moral guideposts in determining their actions.  And their religion may determine their decisions at least in part, or should just maybe? Some of the crew on the right acknowledges the influence of their religion on their policy positions on everything from abortion to tax policy. Liberal Christianity has much to say about policy, I submit.

I've applied with a dot com for authorization to begin as a reporter for them on Military Affairs from a Liberal Christian perspective. I hope to succeed in getting this project off the ground very soon. I will keep you posted. Sarah Palin is winking atya!

She is claiming to be a Christian right-winger like a lot of folks today.  I submit that Reverend Jeremiah Wright was taken entirely out of context in the video snippets put out there during the 2008 election.  If you look at the body of his work, he has spoken out forcefully and with passion and has had a strong worthwhile message. Many Christians of a more liberal persuasion have a message to deliver in a means that may require a more moderate presentation. Let's not be afraid to articulate our legitimate Christian Liberal views, please. :)

In Jesus' precious name I pray,

Amen.

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Palin Calls Criticism "Blood Libel"/Congresswoman Gabby Giffords Still Critical

In her most hypocritical action since resigning as Alaskan Governor after only half a term when she got famous and came down to the lower 48 to sign million dollar TV contracts, become a talking head like her guru, alcoholic and addict without a program Glenn Beck, and position herself to run for President after a ludicrous Republican VP nomination that demonstrated her total ignorance of issues altogether, Sarah Palin called criticism of violence-laden rhetoric of hers, Sharron Angle's, Rand Paul's and others as "Blood Libel." The term is an anti-semitic term used commonly to accuse Jewish people of using Christian kids as ingredients in Matzohs. The response was to criticism of herself, Angle and Paul and their type of political "discourse" including crosshairs from rifle scopes aimed at Congresswoman Gabby Giffords on Palin's own website, Angle's threats against Senator Harry Reid calling for "Second Amendment remedies" against him during the last election campaign, and Paul's defense of supporters of his who assaulted a peaceful protester at a Senatorial debate last year. Giffords happens to be Jewish. The photo above is a classic that shows the palm of her hand written on by herself so she could remember what she stands for[lower taxes for the wealthy was on her hand, for example].

In her slick 7 minute slick Facebook Madison Avenue advertising speech, Palin gave another wink to the Fox news crowd.  Her anti-semitism and racism is showing clearly now, although she probably doesn't even know either term, unfortunately. She doesn't read books, newspapers or periodicals, she said during her Vice Presidential bid.

In her talk she argues that there's never been a time of peaceful political discourse. Was it when people were dueling with handguns, she asks?

What a fool.

U.S. History has been highlighted by the peaceful advancement of human wants and their deepest needs.

The Civil War being the one major exception.

Even the anti-Vietnam war movement and the cooler

heads in the Civil Rights struggle prevailed

under the leadership of leaders such as the man whose birthday we

will celebrate as a nation once again in 5 days, the

Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior.

I read a quote by Chris Matthews of MSNBC yesterday that said it all for me. Second Amendment fools were carting rifles and what-not to a Presidential event and compromising the safety of all involved, especially the Secret Service personnel assigned the task of sacrificing their lives up for the safety, survival and well-being of the President of the United States of America. Matthews asked simply, not a direct quote, but an important point: "Why are they carrying guns to a political event?"

Politics is talk.

Guns mean war.

Peaceful discourse is what is needed, and even the more vitriolic elements of Republican Leadership, including Speaker Boehner have had to concede that their rhetoric has inflamed the nation, and appear poised to cool things down a notch, hopefully. A scheduled debate on repealing the Health Care bill just passed, ludicrous and inciteful in and of itself, has been postponed.

It was Chairman Mao Tse Tung who said:

"Political power stems from the barrel of a gun."

Palin is an ignoramous in way over her head.

So was Mao and Hitler.

Anti-semites and war-mongers.

We need to stop taking Palin seriously.

We need to bury her politically today.

Now is the hour and the opportunity.

Go away Sarah.

You've had your 10 minutes of fame.

Your Alaska "travelogue" on TLC

was cancelled this week due to lack of interest.

Now depart, pleeeeze you fool.

Congresswoman Giffords remains in critical condition in an AZ hospital.

Doctors remain optimistic about her survival, but her

prognosis for full recovery still remains in question.

Six are still dead.

13 others still were wounded.

Goodbye Sarah.

Good riddance.

Our prayers continue unabated for the wounded, the dead and their loved ones in this tragedy. Amen.

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Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot, AZ Shootings: Photos and Prayers

No extensive comments offered here. Just some photos of U.S. Representative

Gabby Giffords.

Shot yesterday and still in critical condition.

A medical update is on-air live right now on the news networks.

The MD's are optimistic, but she is in trouble, and prognosis is not

being definitively offered. A doc just said "I just don't want to go down this speculation road, but I'm cautiously optimistic."

:)

I think?

So some photos without comment.

And a request for prayers from all my believing friends, and for

wishes and whatever power you may invoke

from my non-believing friends,

agnostic, atheist

and any others of any

faith

or

of

none.

For the dead and their families especially.

Particularly the Social Worker on Gabby's staff, the 9 year old girl

who died because she wanted a civics lesson and all the

dead

and their families.

And for the survivors for a rapid recovery emotionally, physically

and spiritually for them and thos who love them.

For our nation, and for our elected officials

who do take risks.

For Secret Service, and security pros.

And for their loved ones.

Hug someone you love today.

Hug someone you don't please, too.

Some lovely photos follow.

In Jesus' precious name I pray.

Amen.

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HAPPY DEMOCRATS: PICTURES OF CT'S INAUGURATION DAY

I admit it. I'm partisan. I'm a Democrat. With a big "D" and with a little "d."

Governor Dan Malloy of Connecticut is another Democrat.

He was inaugurated Wednesday.

I was there, too.

Dan was happy.

I was happy.

:)

Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman was really happy.

She seemed humbled by her office.

And delighted that she got to

that office from where she originated.

She made Dan laugh a lot whenever they were together on a stage.

Nancy Wyman did that. :-D

High School student Mary Fox sang like an angel and looked like one, too.

She was really happy to be singing at the inauguration of

Democrat Dan Malloy!

Probably the most realistically delighted of all the Constitutional

Officers and maybe the most popular of the crew was

brand new

Secretary of the State

Denise Merrill.

While Dan was taking the oath, you could see his wife, our new

First Lady,

couldn't contain herself.

She was really happy!

So was the Judge administering his oath,

the Honorable Gerald Fox, a friend of Dan's

from Stamford.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman

just grinned and grinned

all day.

She told oodles of funny

unscripted jokes. :-D

You could tell

everyone really likes Nancy, too.

Nancy was delighted for all of her friends who won, too.

That showed.

These three pictures weren't taken at the swearing in at the Armory.

They were taken at the morning House session where Speaker of the House

Christopher G. Donovan,

another winning Democrat,

was re-elected House Speaker.

Both he and Denise Merrill were delighted.

But Denise is much more demonstrative than Speaker Donovan.

That's Sec. of the State Merrill taking her oath just before Dan took his.

In the house session, these shots came out really dark, sorry.

But you can see how happy the new Sec. of the State was.

You can't really see how happy Speaker Christopher was.

He was very happy and proud of his daughter, who is seated behind

him and a college freshman, his son who is behind him and his

wife sitting next to his daughter. They were all really happy.

All his kids like politics too, and look like they are majoring in Political

Science or gonna do politics somehow someway someday.

That makes Speaker Donovan proud.

Very proud.

It shows.

It should.

:)

You could tell that everyone really likes Secretary of the State Merrill.

She was so happy it was funny to see.

I want to do follow-up reporting on the Bridgeport ballot situation, among other election issues, and

Sec. Merrill is a key part of that process.

I got to meet her and her campaign manager, Liz,

at a rally for Dan featuring

another winning Democrat,

President Barack H. Obama,

btw,

YES WE CAN, SIR, AND YES WE WILL IN 2011 AND 2012,

at the Arena at Harbor Yard

during the campaign.

She's already called a conference on the matter,

and her press helper Av called me yesterday

to tell me about it and I'll see Denise at 10a.m. if

the snow's not too bad.

After a formation of Fighter Jets flew over them, a bunch of guns fired blanks

and gave Dan a 19 gun salute, and

they played Ruffles and Flourishes

Ms. Merrill came rushing into her office on the first floor of

the Capitol telling her staff

how much "fun" it was

standing with Dan whilst all

those honors were happenin'.

She went into her office,

emerged a couple of minutes later,

surrounded by a few people.

I asked her where she was off to.

She said she was going to the House chamber.

She was going to listen to Dan's speech to a joint session of

the House and Senate.

I said I was headed there, too, shortly. She said she'd be

back in her office after that.

She said "I have to give my 'OhYeah's.'"

That was just too real, too humble, and too funny.

Dan gave a barn-burner of a speech, with oodles of specific

proposals and promising a detailed budget message within a month.

He was inspiring, directive and a leader to say the least. 

He was wearing a jacket and a bright green tie, but he

might as well have had his sleeves rolled up

and been sitting at a conference table,

because he was already getting to work with the Legislature.

 

 

He told it like it is.

This picture shows how happy Dan really was at his victory, and at

how his message did resonate with the voters.

But clearly he has the hardest job in Hartford today.

Cleaning up the mess following the Rell/Rowland 'Administration'

is a nearly impossible task. Governor Rell wasn't even around on Wednesday.

No class at all.

And we still have the whole mop-up going on nationwide following

the Cheney-Bush fiasco that just ended 23 months ago

resulting in

"The Great Recession"

and

two wars.

These are  State Police choppers. There were oodles

of State Capitol Police, Hartford cops, and State Troopers.

They were all happy, helpful and courageous, yet unobtrusive.

State Capitol Police Lieutenant Glen Richards was so helpful

that I wrote the Chief of that department an email about it.

I also wrote a nice article at examiner.com/government-in-hartford/stevenalexander praising the State Capitol Police and they

were really appreciative. That was a very nice surprise

for everybody.

Up until she was sworn in as Secretary of the State,

Denise Merrill

was the House Majority Leader.

The new House Majority Leader is

J. Brendan Sharkey.

I met him, and he's very nice

and has a great sense of humor, too.

He spoke a lot during the House session.

But the most funny, popular and happy person that I saw was new

 Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.

She's real.

I regret not getting a chance to say thanks to

her predecessor,

Secretary of the State

Susan Bysiewicz.

She sure earned her paychecks

since the election,

what with the

missing ballots

in Bridgeport.

Now Denise

has inherited

that matter.

Susan

served the state

with grace,

honor,

dignity,

dedication,

and got

oodles

of

political

raw deals

in the past year.

Secretary of the State

Susan Bysiewicz

was a great

public servant and

will continue to be,

if we have that

good fortune

as a

people

as a state and as a nation.

We need her leadership.

I can see that her staff will miss Susan terribly. :(

I can see that the staff in that office

has affection for their new leader, Denise Merrill.

The happiest, and maybe the most popular Constitutional

Officer in Hartford at the

Capitol.

Wednesday

January 5th 2011

was

a

happy

day

in

Hartford

for

a

bunch

of

Happy

Democrats!

Guide them well please.

Amen.

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