Arora's career - do or die?

This last week or so has been pretty disappointing in politics. There have been two bright spots, though – marriage equality in Maryland and the fact that Sam Arora, backstabber to the gays, is FINALLY getting some larger press. And that the national press is pretty much calling him a complete and total lying ASSHOLE. And is calling for his resignation.

I’ve known Sam Arora for a very long time. We both attended the Barrie School in Silver Spring, which was a very small school with a very strong focus on community and civic-mindedness. Our graduating classes were around 25 people per class, and we all knew each other intimately. In this regard, I was there when Sam was active in the student government. I watched him care about issues, and I listened to him debate. I attended the funeral of his sister, Reshma, even after I graduated and moved out of Silver Spring.

That is what makes this personal for me.

Last spring I attended the wedding of two friends in Baltimore, Maryland. We bore witness to their absolute joy on that day and left feeling as though we could only be so fortunate as to find the love and acceptance that they share. We also felt ashamed - they were unable to be legally married in the state of Maryland, and that is, in part, Sam's fault. Ultimately, they had to have the legal ceremony in DC.

I believed that the Sam I knew would have made a good legislator. Our community preached tolerance, and so did Sam himself, at one time. This would be his first lie.  

The thing is that in spite of all of this – the fact that I have known him and his family for over a decade, I didn’t receive a response when I sent him a letter last year. In fact, no one did. He posted one small paragraph on his website and has refused to address the issue publicly since. Not even now, when every mainstream newspaper has asked him for a response. There is none. And a good legislator listens to their constituents.

The only response I got from him was to be unfriended on his facebook page and banned from posting on his wall. Thanks, Delegate. So much for listening to the concerns of your public. I - like everyone else - only requested an answer.

I’m going to post the same thing I emailed to him a year ago, the first time he lied to people:

Knowing you then, you were incredibly thoughtful and compassionate, and we were fairly certain you would run for President one day. When you ran for Delegate, I had wished I still lived in your district, so I could have voted for you - instead, I encouraged my family and my friends, who are your constituents, to do so. Because of the kind of person that you were, and had been. Because of the judgment you had shown in the past.

Seeing these news articles was an enormous disappointment to me, and a slap in the face to those that were counting on you. To see you - YOU of all people - go back on your word on a fundamental civil rights issue - was completely astounding. If your faith is causing you to betray your word, resign. To stay on at the expense of those that trusted you to represent them would be shameful, dishonest, and cowardly. Your constituents do not deserve to be lied to.

And I’m going to say it again today. Delegate, please address your constituents and resign. At least say something – a public official should not be hiding.

And also? Would someone please give Joshua Lapidus a job? My applause, sir.

Fairfax County has a poop problem

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fairfax-neighbors-head-to-court-over-unscooped-dog-poop/2011/10/19/gIQAPCRkDM_story.html?hpid=z2

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/virginia-woman-found-not-guilty-of-violating-pooper-scooper-law-after-jury-trial/2011/10/26/gIQANQlAIM_story.html

Dear Fairfax County,

YOU ARE AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM.

And a double embarrassment to the integrity of your citizens. I cannot believe you wasted taxpayer dollars and a JURY’S TIME on PROSECUTING A DOG WALKER for maybe/maybe not failing to pick up a piece of dog poop. And LO AND BEHOLD – they cleared her!  

I also cannot believe that there are communities full of people that are ACTUALLY INSANE ENOUGH to send in dog shit for DNA TESTING so you can prove what evil citizen forgot to bring a biodegradable plastic poop baggie with them and then SHAME THEM PUBLICALLY.

You people are clearly on crack, because there is no other explanation beyond a really bizarre poop fetish.  But I could not come up with a better personification for the kind of retard that spends three quarters of a million dollars to live in a McTownHomeCommunity then this story.  WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST HIRE A CALL GIRL TO CRAP ON YOUR CHEST NEXT TIME?

It would be a lot less embarrassing to the rest of us.

And FWIW – I clean up after my dog and think others should, too. But I’m pretty sure a simple citation would have covered this one.

Cheers,
The rest of us

WTF happened to DC?

Growing up, if you screwed up, your parents would figure it out – and address it pronto. There was never any question of it being the fault of something or someone else. If they didn't address it immediately, it was expected that another adult would.

There was a recent, and very overblown, discussion on a local DC blog about a cyclist “attacking” a child that threw rocks at him. The kid allegedly threw something at the cyclist (could’ve killed him) and the cyclist stopped and backed his ass against a wall. The thing is, rock throwing is an ongoing problem in DC – as well as brick throwing (someone broke an ankle, DCPD did nothing), cinderblock throwing (nearly killed someone), and potato throwing (WTF?).

Frankly, I’m of the ilk that believes that this is a pretty dangerous crime. Hit a cyclist in the head with a rock and they could very easily fall in front of a moving car and be killed (and for all of you that don’t think that’s a problem, IMAGINE THE TRAFFIC DELAYS). I support the cyclist for addressing this on the spot, since it has been regularly ignored by local law enforcement. If the parents won’t parent the children, society winds up doing it.

This, apparently, makes me guilty of PERPETUATING VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN. Even though, like, I wasn’t there.

So I did a little further research and discovered this little gem from The Hill is Home.

http://www.thehillishome.com/2009/11/rock-throwing-nihlistic-youth-of-a-street/

“Roger” refuses to address the children who are throwing the rocks and instead chooses to focus on the owner of a gravel driveway. He goes on and on, for lengthy paragraphs, about how this is, in fact, the fault of the homeowner. For having a gravel driveway. That has been there for years.

Molly- here on this Blog in your own post, you have admitted current ownership of the NW corner house at 17th & A Sts SE, one that seemingly has truckloads of stone in the public space. When the previous owner had placed the stone there during 2004(?), I thought what a dumb idea and knew that eventually someone would get hurt. It has now happened. Since you now have ownership, these stones are your responsibility with never-ending potential liability to public safety. The property was also identified on local TV News broadcast with no comment from the owner. You may already be on some attorney’s radar screen because of that broadcast. If you don’t like that either then go raise hell with the TV news too. It’s rather arrogant of you to ask of me, an innocent non affected 3rd party, to contribute financially to your dilemma. I don’t readily have the money to fix your property’s problem. You may not like nor appreciate what I post here, take it as economical advice versus being served a court summons from an attorney representing an injured party. I hope you have adequate Homeowner Insurance since everything you own is on the line while that stone exists there. Good Luck to you.

Molly – Please believe that I am not attacking you, but expressing a neighborly concern for everyone’s safety and wellbeing here including your own. I also wish people would not throw stones, it’s just impractical, but limit their quick and easy access to small stones.

I am all about SAFETY, PREVENTION and LIMIT of LIABILITY. Landscape stone is not in my yard or yards of my neighbors since it could contribute to much danger. I’ve expressed safety and prevention in person to my immediate neighbors and they respect me and equally share similar concerns. People who read this faceless blog, may or may not know me in person. HGTV and other home improvement channels have shows using Stone for landscaping all the time. In some instances it’s great, but in our urban neighborhood with plenty of foot traffic of all types of people, small stones are a continuous liability. Sure it’s way too easy to blame the disruptive kids, but when weapons are easily reachable to them or anyone, the blame easily becomes a shared issue.

The stones have already contributed to this one unfortunate heinous act. I am not an attorney, but do work in the field that supports public safety of millions of people every day. Don’t like what I have written, then by all means consult with a reputable attorney of your own choosing, get their professional opinions about what has transpired here and potential liability associated to similar future events. Their advice could be similar, reduce one’s liability by not having small stone in landscape easily reachable by transient pedestrians and thrown.

Roger is clearly on crack.

Let’s not blame the criminals for their crime, let’s blame rocks for being accessible.

The only problem is, Roger’s attitude has become prevalent around here. Blame everyone and everything except the person who has committed the crime. Then, when that person grows up and murders someone senselessly, hold a candlelit vigil, hold hands, and proclaim tearfully about how you’re “taking back the night!” and how, as a "member of this community," you feel so much safer when you’re in large groups clutching candles.

But by GOD, do NOT address the crime.

Is it any wonder that the nation is in shambles? These idiots are writing your public policy.

On a serious note

While I am not a scholar of history, the last time I checked, one of the rights of being an American citizen was the freedom of speech and the right to disagree with governmental policy within the scope of the law. Politically, this falls under the right of revolution (the tame, 21^st century version where we blog about it) and is spelled out in the Declaration of Independence:  

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

In this paragraph, the citizenry is told to think, to check, and to balance. It also points out that the power of the government draws its powers from the consent of the governed. This very suggestion gives credence to the opinion of the citizenry.

This article,  written by a marine, however, tells us that it’s disingenuous for us to have these opinions once boots are on the ground; and that you cannot support the soldier and disagree with his cause. The soldier uses the buzz word “undermine” and insinuates that any controversy is detrimental to the success of the mission. The trouble with this, of course, is that it doesn’t leave any room for discussion or change, even when the battle itself changes – to send more troops, to withdraw troops, or in light of new intelligence information.Further, if we’re going to use the term “undermine,” this marine’s comments undermine some of the very tenets of this country that this marine has sworn to protect and defend. Freedom of speech and protest is our way of life, as long as we respectfully contain it within the scope of the law.

We as citizens are responsible to understand, as best we can, the choices and decisions of our government, because they are supposed to answer to us. We are responsible for becoming educated, for consideration, and to apply our thoughts by voting appropriately. We are responsible for voting our opinion, because we are told that it matters - as one commentator put it, the constituti­onal responsibi­lity for oversight rests in our democratic process.
 We are not told to blindly agree with the decisions of the government and military once boots are on the ground – in fact, that is inherently discouraged, for there is no room for despotism in a democracy.

I would like to think that a thinking citizenry that takes these responsibilities seriously - and one who applies them with care and consideration to improve the country to its very best abilities – is the very definition of supporting the troops.

Sam Trombley is a Moron

Thank you, Sam Trombley, you've made our shit list today. But mostly you've made our WTF list.

How is it possible that anyone, in this day and age, could be dumb enough to think that because you legalize same sex marriage, there's going to be a HIV epidemic because the gays are going to... start having more sex? I can't believe anyone was stupid enough to think that gay people weren't having sex all along because the US government didn't recognize them as couples, and therefore they were just totally all waiting until these pesky little bills passed, so they could do it all legal-like.

And how is it even possible that you think that a HIV-epidemic is going to come from people committing their lives to EACH OTHER and thus, forsaking all others and lowering their risk of STDs?

As the New York Senate prepares to vote on marriage equality, Sam Trombley (R), a member of the Clinton County Legislature, argued that homosexuality is a public health risk: “I’m surprised the health department has not come out against this because we are going to have an HIV epidemic if this passes.” He added, “You don’t see two male dogs sleeping in the same dog house together.”

Idiot.

Yuppie City

http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2011/06/what-is-coffee-house-etiquette-talking-or-no-talking/#comment-348951

Oh, DC.

Thank you for providing us with further proof that the city has “gentrified.” And by “gentrified” I mean “turned into a bunch of really insipid whiners who pay $800,000 for a row house and are LITERALLY COMPLAINING IN THE BLOGOSPHERE ABOUT PEOPLE THROWING THEIR BIO-DEGRADABLY BAGGED, TIED OFF AND SANITIZED DOG SHIT IN THE ‘INCORRECT’ TRASH CAN.”

FYI? People still get shot here.

Wow, Senator Hamerlinck, you sound like Sam Arora.

http://www.iowademocrats.org/2011/06/go-back-home-iowa-republicans-welcome-students-testimony/

“I do not like it when students actually come here and lobby me for funds.  That’s just my opinion. I want to wish you guys the best.  I want you to go home and graduate.  But this political fear, leave the circus to us OK?  Go home and enjoy yourselves.  I want to thank you for joining us and though I have to concede, your time speaking before us is kind of a tad intense.   It’s probably a pretty new experience.  You probably prepared for it for days and you sat there in front of us trying to make sure your remarks were just right, and that’s a good thing.  But actually spending your time worrying about what we’re doing up here, I don’t want you to do that.  Go back home. Thanks guys.”

Ass.

Everyone knows it's our favorite thing here when our elected public officials don't care about the opinions of their constituents or the general public.