Democracy Has Prevailed.

May 9, 2007

Don't Reward Bad Behavior

A big part of what makes Pittsburgh "America's Most Leavable City" is the arrogance, hubris, and feelings of entitlement of its leaders. In a One Party Town where the local Democratic Committee makes endorsements in primary votes (Hey, kids, did you know that Dem parties in other towns don't necessarily do this and let the voters have a real voice?), far too many of our elected officials seem to believe that they do not need to play by the rules and that they do not need to be accountable to their constituency.

So you have a Mayor who plasters his face and name on every flat surface in town, crashes private parties in his quest for further celebrity, and only tells the truth when the MSM catches up to his lies.

You have County Chief Executive Dan Onorato who believes that elections only serve to "distract" the public.

You have City Councilman Len BoDUCK Bodack who refuses all debates and tells his supporters that his challenger is "trying to take the food out of my kids' mouths."

You have City Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle who spends tens of thousands of dollars on a worthless report written by her mother's live-in friend and is under suspicion of funneling tens of thousands more dollars into her own pockets via payouts and kickbacks.

And, now you have City Councilman Jeff Koch whose campaign created T-shirts that were the exact same color as Public Works Dept. shirts that ended up on the backs of Public Works employees during work hours and whose own Campaign Treasurer was one of the workers wearing the shirt. (Not to mention that Koch has a history of not listening to the wants and needs of his district to the point of "telling an 80-year-old woman to 'sit down and shut up.'" at a community meeting.)

Don't reward their bad behavior and arrogance!

Let them know that they serve us -- not the other way around.

Let them know on May 15th.

(Yes, you can still vote AGAINST Luke Ravenstahl. The new machines make it easy to write in a vote. Write in "William Peduto" or "Pierogie" or "None of the above!")

These are your public officials -- don't encourage them -- don't give them any more of a stage for their silly antics:


Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com
http://www.writeinbillpeduto.com


Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com
http://www.citizensforswartz.com


Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com
http://dowdforpittsburgh.org


Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com
Rev. Ricky Burgess


Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com
http://www.brucekraus.net
.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Re elect Koch!

Keep Kraus/Peduto out of office!

Anonymous said...

Koch didn't make anyone wear the shirts. Koch had nothing to do with the guys putting the shirts on in the morning before they started to work.

Bram Reichbaum said...

The Jeff Koch thing was unbelievably ugly and you know it.

So, I note that the 2pjs endorsements went to write-in Bill Peduto and Ricky Burgess. That might be kind of a mixed blessing for Ricky.

Tim Murray said...

Great post, and it's nice to see all the artwork.

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. It always seemed to me that the Democratic primary in Allegheny County resembled a Russian election. There's one party you can choose from, and woe to those who pick the wrong candidate from that party.

Why does the ACDC even bother with the pretense of an election?

Anonymous said...

kraus is a kreep..he's looking for a job since he hasn't worked in the 2.5 years he's been campaigning for this JOB!!!Give him a paint brush

Anonymous said...

Thanks for plugging the pierogie. If he doesn't pull at least a half-dozen votes, his only option may be to accept a job as Mark Rauterkus' campaign manager.

I'm not kidding about that last part.

-- Chris Potter

Maria said...

OH NO!

Poor Pierogie!

Maria said...

Koch Fans:

What? No props for my giving Jeff awesome pop and lock skills?

Mark Rauterkus said...

Potter. I don't want the pierogie as a campaign manager. I want him as a media coordinator. That is the job that was offered by me via you to it.

Get the facts straight. I have a campaign manager. And, I'm not kidding.

And, the joke is where, exactly?

The Pgh City Paper is running a platform for a bobblehead toy for mayor. So, what you kid about and what you don't are at odds with reality at times.

But, a write-in for NOTA (none of the above) is worthless. A write in for Peduot goes to a guy who doesn't want that job. A write in for a toy pieorgie is better than those two as he wants the job -- but -- his votes won't be counted.

So, a write in for a real person who said he'd do the job and is with a campaign to come in the months ahead would be best yet.

Leverage and power -- and messages -- applied in the right ways at the right times with the right voice can be effective. Goofy votes -- even with write ins -- squanders voter's power -- just as those in office rely upon.

Anonymous said...

I apologize for misconstruing your job offer, Mark. For a minute there, I got you confused with a competing offer from Mark DeSantis.

And just so it's clear, I'm AM kidding about that last part.

-- Chris Potter

Anonymous said...

Did you know ...
The 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club has endorsed "No Endorsement" for mayor?

See all the club's endorsements at

http://www.pgh14widc.org/2007_Endorsements.html

Anonymous said...

How the fuck many times are you going to misrepresent that quote from Onorato about elections being a distractions?

Maria said...

The word "distract" in the above post linked back to the full quote:

"Maybe the city's in a position to look for some security and let things settle down a bit," said Mr. Onorato. "We don't have elections to distract us."

Here's the P-G article it's from.

Danny O can now claim it means whatever he wants, but it is what it is and it came out of the mouth of someone whose goons tried to challenge the petitions of his only opponent. The challenge was so RIDICULOUS that they dropped it at the last moment. It also comes out of the mouth of someone who never even thought to debate his opponent.

I'm not misrepresenting anything.

You're the one trying to spin it.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Onorato wants to put an end to all open elections.

You really are a bunch of silly mo-fo's.

Maria said...

You are the one now doing what you accuse me of: you're trying to put words into my mouth.

No one said that.

I doubt that anyone believes that that is what Onorato said/believes.

What was depressing about what Onorato said was he seems to reveal how he really feels about elections and the public.

Instead of regarding elections as a sacred right that Americans have, HE regards them as mere distractions. That is an ugly attitude.

But, of course, you likely already know this and are just spinning again.

Maybe your talents are being wasted here -- you really should send your resume to Team Bush.

I think you have a real future there.