Politics

I can remember as a young boy watching wrestling on the old television set with my grandmother Gen. She was a tiny Irish lady who would get really animated when the wrestling matches came on. As the wrestlers took to the ring and begin to knock each other silly and flip each other over the back and onto the mat, my grandmother would swing her arms and yell at the wrestlers. Performers like "Haystacks Calhoun" and "Slave Girl Moolah" were a few of our favorites. I think my grandmother and a few neighbors even traveled to Hagerstown to watch some of those live wrestling matches on display in the nearby city.

Ezra Klein is a very gifted young man who is getting deserved recognition in newspapers and on television. His abilities were on display in a Washington Post column (March 19, 2012) describing how the fabulously rich Koch brothers were hard at work in a bold attempt to take control of the Cato Institute by getting control of the board. They are said to see a need for this so that they can tailor the organization “into a party organ that would aid their effort to unseat President Obama.” If they are able to buy the shares of a deceased board member, they will have the power to effect the transformation from a staid academic purveyor of ideology to a nuts-and-bolts political servant.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Halli Casser-Jayne is a woman who likes to share her opinion. When the 2008 presidental election was in full swing in 2007, Casser-Jayne wanted an outlet to give her two cents. So she did what any other politically minded individual would do - she started a blog. "I understood that this was a ground-breaking election, not just over Obama, but where this country was," the Shepherdstown resident said during a telephone interview. While spending a year sharing her insights on politics with the blogosphere, Casser-Jayne discovered she struck a nerve.

By LAURA ERNDE Staff Writer Maryland Del. Sue Hecht's voice echoed as she spoke to a mostly empty room about the need for more women to get involved in politics. "Your voice can make a difference," Hecht told the small but dedicated group of women at the eighth annual Washington County Women's Fair on Saturday. Whether it is joining a parent-teacher organization or running for state office, women need to get involved in deciding the issues that affect them and their families, she said.

o If you like reading Tim Rowland, you'll love watching him. See what else Tim has to say Memo to Hagerstown City Council candidate David Lidz: I don't know you, but are you nuts? In the initial count last Tuesday, Lidz made the cut, finishing ahead of Forrest Easton for the fifth and final council seat. But when the absentee ballots were added in Thursday, Easton moved ahead of Lidz by six votes. We all knew, or thought we did, what was going to come next -- a long, protracted mess.

There have been times when Benita Keller's photography has taken her beyond the edge of politics. As she waited to go through customs leaving Nigeria in 1989, the first of her international excursions, she realized that the armed guards were confiscating the film of the people in her group. "Can they do that?" she asked the airline representative. "They can do anything they want. They have machine guns," was her answer. She had 60 rolls of film she didn't want to lose. She asked for help, and the pilot smuggled it out in his luggage.

Time flies, but little changes. About 15 years ago I was covering the West Virginia State Legislature, when one of the Damron brothers - I disremember which - took the floor of the House of Delegates, microphone in hand and loaded for bear. The bill under discussion was one to curtail election fraud. Even as late as the 1980s, voter shenanigans were not unheard of in the Mountain State - even if they didn't quite touch the legendary proportions of decades past when the winning candidate was determined by who could offer a poll-goer the largest swallow of whiskey.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - George Pentz emerged from political retirement in September and will be going right back to it Nov. 14. Pentz, who served on the Chambersburg Borough Council from 1985 to 1995, was appointed Sept. 19 to fill the vacancy created when former Fourth Ward Councilman John Redding, the Republican mayoral candidate in the Tuesday, Nov. 8, general election, moved to another part of the borough. The borough code requires vacancies be filled within 30 days, but the council was left with a dilemma because the seat is also up for election.

Can elected officials divorce state spending from politics? Despite his victory in the West Virginia governor's race, Bob Wise is still complaining about what he says was Gov. Cecil Underwood's election-year spending from the Governor's Civil Contingent Fund. The problem is, however, is that Wise can't point to a single project that was funded for political reasons. We advise Wise to rewrite the spending guidelines if he feels it's necessary, but stop carping about the election.

WASHINGTON COUNTY Editor's note: The Washington County Commission for Women is trying to document the county's women who were pioneers in their career fields. In honor of Women's History Month, The Herald-Mail is presenting, each Sunday in March, a sample of women who the commission is considering as "firsts" for a book. This is the last in a four-part series. In the sixth grade, Linda Irvin-Craig appeared before the Washington County Commissioners to advocate for the closure of a small two-room school building she was attending in Big Pool.

Craig to make June 3 announcement For months, speculation has been rife that Republican David R. Craig, the Harford County executive, would make a run for governor in 2014. Supporters will have to wait until June 3 to find out, said Josh Wolf, political director for Craig. Wolf said Craig will make an announcement at his house that day. That's the same day Craig is scheduled to be in Hagerstown “for an important discussion regarding the future of Maryland.” The Hagerstown event will take place at 7 p.m. at Bulls & Bears restaurant at 38 S. Potomac St. in downtown Hagerstown.

Former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill once declared that “all politics is local,” and voters across Pennsylvania will be making choices in that vein as they head to the polls Tuesday. Tuesday's primary election will feature ballot choices in judge, borough council, board of township supervisors and school board races. Republicans and Democrats will be voting to choose their candidates who proceed to November's municipal election. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Three polling places will change for this primary election.

No doubt political apathy is on the rise. More people seem to be avoiding politics and not voting these days. Maybe we should send a committee out to Ohio to study the voting patterns of that state. Perhaps there's a fix. Although I didn't read this in Leonard Pitts' column, I did come across some news that suggested that some 19 people in Hamilton County, Ohio, cast more than one vote for their candidate of choice. One specific poll worker might have cast some six votes for President Obama.

Ezra Klein is a very gifted young man who is getting deserved recognition in newspapers and on television. His abilities were on display in a Washington Post column (March 19, 2012) describing how the fabulously rich Koch brothers were hard at work in a bold attempt to take control of the Cato Institute by getting control of the board. They are said to see a need for this so that they can tailor the organization “into a party organ that would aid their effort to unseat President Obama.” If they are able to buy the shares of a deceased board member, they will have the power to effect the transformation from a staid academic purveyor of ideology to a nuts-and-bolts political servant.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of traveling to my youngest son's graduation.  It was a time to celebrate the sacrifices and hard work he and the other graduates had to put in to complete their college degrees. We were joined by families who traveled from all over the country to support loved ones as they received the symbol of achievement in their chosen fields of study. However, the event had a bit of a mournful quality to it. At the opening, there were words and a moment of silence for the victims in Newtown, Conn.

I just got back from a week on the campaign trail and finished what was an odd experience. With Tuesday's elections, I took the opportunity to try to stump for votes for some of my football favorites. I was looking for votes for Boonsboro's Clayton Anders as a right Wing-T candidate. I was trying to rally support for Michael Oher, Haloti Ngata, Justin Tuck, Julius Peppers and Jake Long as a party line. And I was using RGIII as a frontrunner. Let's just say I was kicking around a political football.

Where is Thomas Nast when you need him? The great, late-19th century political cartoonist (who began Boss Tweed's demise in New York City with humor) would have had a field day in Washington County these last few months. We've had magical increases in school site property values, a ballpark springing like a deadly mushroom amid downtown concrete (with an appearing and then disappearing donor) and a high-tech industrial park offering jobs normally found only in the shadow of one or more front-time research universities.

I'm used to politicians lying in their campaign advertisements. What I'm not used to is campaigns acknowledging that their story lines are untrue, but perpetuating them anyway. “Mitt Romney is a felon.” “Really?” “No, but if he committed a serious crime, that would make him a felon.” “Obama is promising to send checks to people who refuse to work.” “Really?” “No, but he has the power to do it, so you have to figure that he will.” Great, politics has gone virtual.

Robert Griffin III remains unsigned as the Washington Redskins open the second day of their five-day rookie camp. The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Baylor was the second pick in this year's draft. The team's third-round selection, offensive lineman Josh LeRibeus, was also absent again Tuesday. The two aren't considered holdouts because training camp doesn't officially begin until July 26. Neither can be on the field this week with their fellow newcomers until they have signed their contracts.

If Larry W. Faircloth wins a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates in November he'll follow a path set by his father, Larry V. Faircloth, who served in the House for nearly a quarter of a century. The son, Larry W. Faircloth, 41, of Inwood, W.Va., won the Republican primary for the 60th District Tuesday by beating Gary W. Kelly, 682 votes to 582. Meanwhile, Larry V. Faircloth, 63, also of Inwood, was unopposed in his bid for the office of state auditor in Tuesday's Republican primary.