pawatercooler.com

Thanks be to God. May Phelps and his evil family be bankrupted and never bother anyone ever again.

I personally attended the funeral of Army Spc. Mark Melcher along with the Patriot Guard Riders last year in order to help shield the family from possible attack by the Westboro nightmares. Fortunately they didn’t show up that day, so we were able to salute a fallen hero in peace. Nobody should be subjected to that kind of abuse, and the fact that they’re doing this at military funerals makes it thousands of times worse.

Remember Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church? These are the people who go around the country picketing the funerals of Iraqi War soldiers with signs that say “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.” They’ve finally gotten the smackdown they deserve.

Jury awards father $11M in funeral case

A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals out of a belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.

 

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members demonstrated at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

 

The federal jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress.

I promise that I will feel bad about reveling in others’ misery. Later.

Handy chart from the American Family Association of Pa.

“without precident”

Risa Vetri Ferman, Republican candidate for Montgomery County district attorney, has raised an amount of campaign funds without precedent in county history for this office.

 

Having raised $511,000 over the course of the year, according to the most recent fundraising records, Mrs. Ferman’s campaign finances dwarf those of Democrat opponent Peter Amuso, who has raised a total of $109,796.

 

Mrs. Ferman has gained significant public recognition for her prosecutorial work in Montgomery County since 1993. She has been first assistant district attorney since 2002 and has enjoyed the emphatic support of current District Attorney Bruce Castor, now seeking a seat on the county Board of Commissioners.

 

Republicans still head the prosecutorial office, the commissioners and most of the other county row offices, but Democrats have inched closer to capturing some of them in each election. Mrs. Ferman said partisan politics has likely not entered into the minds of most voters when considering her candidacy.

That’s a serious amount of cash compared to Amuso.

Lowman Henry explains why.

Russell will also be able to count on help from the media in getting the word out. Popular radio talk show hosts Quinn & Rose jumped on the Irey bandwagon last year and still have no love for Murtha. And, former Johnstown Tribune-Democrat editor Chris Voccio has launched a new conservative publication and his first shot was aimed squarely at Murtha.

 

Add in the probability that Hillary Rodham Clinton will be leading the Democratic ticket in 2008 – she is far from popular in Murtha’s largely-rural district – and you have a very different climate from 2006. It is a climate that should put Murtha on the defensive, if not on the unemployment line.

What’s with these kids?

Garrett Reid arrived at a Montgomery County adult probation office Tuesday afternoon and was then taken away in handcuffs by Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies.

 

Sources told NBC 10 News that the 24-year-old’s urine was tested Friday and was positive for an opiate.

 

NBC 10 News cameras caught the eldest son of Eagles head coach Andy Reid leaving the family’s Villanova home and arriving at the probation office in Bridgeport.

 

Asked if he had anything to say as he got out of a blue Ford Explorer and walked into the probation office, Garrett Reid shook his head, put his palms up to either side and walked inside.

I’m losing track of which one is which.

No wonder the Coach had trouble with T.O. He can hardly keep his boys in line.

Friend of the watercooler & suburban Philly type, Trek Medic, is going to be on Blog Talk Radio at 10pm eastern to discuss stopping Hillary and the Red November Initiative.

BlogTalkRadio.com

Michael Goldfarb at the Weekly Standard reminds us about Congressman Murtha’s career.

We’ve covered the fact that Murtha has received donations from every interest to which he granted an earmark–many in the last few days before he introduced the earmarks in legislation. He’s funneled money to a group headed by a former staffer which supposedly helps wounded veterans find jobs–but there’s no evidence that they’ve helped anyone. He falsely claimed that the Department of Energy supported one of his earmarks. He falsely claimed Department of Justice support for another. He’s threatened his colleagues. He’s broken House rules to get earmarks.

 

And all that is merely this year! We have not yet touched upon Haditha, or ‘slow-bleed,’ or the draft, or AbScam.

Read it all.

… and Chris Voccio adds a personal note.

Up until a couple of week’s ago, I was publisher of Johnstown’s daily newspaper, The Tribune-Democrat, and sat on various boards and committees. I considered, and still consider, the people mentioned in the WSJ article as friends.

 

But I was, and continue to be, amazed at how these folks, people who you would think should be stalwart Republicans because of their positions, are thoroughly brainwashed into thinking that the world will come to an end were it not for Mr. Murtha.

 

Just a week after taking the helm at The Tribune-Democrat, and before I was plugged into the scene in Johnstown, I wrote a column called Murthaville where I pointed out the folly of his pork initiatives. You would have thought I criticized the Almighty.

 

Not only were the traditional Democrats in an uproar over the column, but the chamber of commerce types were equally enraged. (As publisher of the newspaper, I was also on the board of the local chamber, a great organization despite complete dependence on Mr. Murtha’s handouts.)

The Philadelphia Inquirer endorsed commissioner candidates in the counties surrounding Philadelphia.

Here’s what they said.

Bucks: Martin (R) / Cawley (R)

Martin and Cawley helped oversee the acquisition of parks and farmland under a $59-million, 1997 open-space referendum, and they support a ballot authorizing $87 million more. They’ve planned the county courthouse expansion, worked to stop flooding along the Neshaminy Creek, promoted underused sites for redevelopment and industry and explored green-energy savings.

 

Democrats Diane Marseglia, a Middletown supervisor, and Steve Santasiero, a Lower Makefield supervisor, have been thoughtful in offering fresh ideas and alternatives for Bucks County. This has allowed voters to focus on the issues, rather than be distracted by partisan stridency.

Chester: Aichele (R) / Cozzone (D)

Aichele, a former county controller, oversees a land preservation and urban revitalization program that is a model for other counties. She has worked to maintain Chester County’s excellent bond rating, low county tax rate and fiscal conservatism. Running with her is Terence Farrell, a two-term county recorder of deeds.

 

Cozzone, an unsuccessful candidate for county controller in 2005, has 20 years of private-sector financial experience. Those skills can easily translate to administering budgets, carrying out big-ticket projects or approving contracts. She is running with Bill Scott of West Chester.

Delaware: Lewis (R) / Cannon (R) / McGarrigle (R)

Lewis, 51, is a Haverford commissioner; Fizzano Cannon, 38, a member of the Middletown Township Council; and McGarrigle, 48, is a Springfield Township commissioner. They plan to take on some of the county’s most pressing issues, including airplane traffic and noise, open space and aging inner-ring communities.

Montgomery: Matthews (R) / Damsker (D)

They went with the incumbents, knowing that the race is really between the two of them… yet admitting that based on registration, it might just be be Ruth vs Joe.

Matthews, 58, of Ambler, has worked to maintain the county’s financial stability, attract industry, reinvigorate its boroughs and expand social programs. His running mate is District Attorney Bruce Castor.

 

Damsker, 62, of Cheltenham, admittedly has risked her reelection bid by running with Joe Hoeffel, a former congressman, county commissioner and Rendell appointee. Hoeffel’s strong name recognition could force some voters to choose between the two Democrats.

Philly’s top-cop says that Michael Nutter’s plan to stop and frisk “suspects” would be a disaster.

Departing Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson said the presumptive mayor’s promise to invoke the more aggressive law enforcement strategy would undermine the community rapport that Johnson feels he has developed in six years on the job. He said the next commissioner “is going to have a problem” with discontent – or worse, civil unrest – if that goodwill is undermined.

 

“I mean, and he gives the opinion that he’s going to run the Police Department, not the police commissioner. He will run the Police Department – ‘I will do deployment.’ Well, how are you going to deploy? He’s never been a police officer in his life, yet he knows more about deployment than we do.”

I believe this is the first deployment of the chickenhawk argument in Philadelphia.

Nutter also has embraced a controversial strategy in which officers can stop, question and frisk people they suspect of carrying illegal weapons. Criminologists say such strategies have reduced violent crime in other cities – but almost always at the cost of increased hostility from civilians.

 

“I start with the premise that well-trained, well-supervised Philadelphia police officers can implement this plan legally and successfully and ultimately the citizens of this city will appreciate it because fewer of them will be shot or killed,” Nutter said.

 

“I think we have to move beyond this automatic knee-jerk assumption that somehow aggressively going after illegal weapons with people who are shooting and killing innocent bystanders is somehow going to create problems in the community. What is creating problems in the community is that on average . . . one person a day is killed and five people are shot.”