The Larry Kane Report

The Veep buzz that is now the rage of the nation is missing one key name. . All the experts are talking about Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Mitch Daniels, Nikki Haley of South Carolina, and everyone’s favorite, Marco Rubio. First an assessment: Christie would be very exciting, but the downsides are his candor and spark, which could be misinterpreted. It’s sad when candor and spark could be a problem. Marco Rubio lied in his book about when his parents came to America, suggesting that they came after Castro’s takeover of Cuba. They actually came  before. Nikki Haley is a novice, pure and simple. Paul Ryan is a bully, pure and simple. He cares little about people with economic needs. Mitch Daniels is probably the safest bet – an intelligent Governor from a possible swing state, Indiana.

But wait! Pat Toomey should be on the A-list. The Pa. Senator won his seat by almost completely avoiding social issues, concentrating instead on economic priorities. From my perspective, Toomey could be the strongest veep choice, a conservative who is not focused on many divisive issues. Romney,  who was pro-choice, was for stem cell research, and was for mandated health care, needs a running mate who the right wing of his party can trust. Toomey would also help bring in Pennsylvania, which is a must win for the Republicans.

SECRET SERVICE -

The scandal is the most serious breach of Presidential security in modern history. The people who participated in this craziness should be prosecuted. The fact that people with sensitive documents and vital elements of the security plan, could compromise the nation and the chief executive is outrageous. While the talk show hosts make light of the episode, there is nothing funny about it.

WRITING BLOCK?

I can’t believe the early response to the Phillies performance. If you were reading some of the news columns, you would think that the season was dead and done with. Why is the sports writer’s glass always have empty in this town? Is it better copy? Does it sell more? The fans are much more cheerful than the scribes. Thank goodness for that.

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Rick Santorum may have little choice. With polls showing Mitt Romney either close or overtaking him in Pennsylvania, Santorum faces some risky business. It is one thing to lose to Bob Casey in a 2006 general election. It is another to possibly lose in your home state in a Republican primary on April 24^th, a loss that could have impact on a political future. That’s why I think Santorum will gracefully withdraw in the next few days. And then, of course, there’s the pressure from conservative leaders like Richard Land of the Souther Baptist convention. The hospitalization of his daughter Bella did force the Romney campaign to pull its anti-Santorum attack ads in Pennsylvania. That was a smart thing.  Now that Bella is out of the hospital, Santorum is scheduled to campaign again. The next few days will be the key.

N-F-L and The Big Stick

The NFL has upheld its suspension against New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Peyton for his role in the bounty scandal. I don’t know Peyton, but he’s lucky to have a job. That kind of violation in any sport should cause a lifetime suspension, especially when lives and limbs could be on the line. Then again, everyone deserves a second chance. Just ask Michael Vick.

FRESH AIR IN MONTCO

The buzz around the Montgomery County courthouse is the atmospheric change since Josh Shapiro and Leslie Richards have taken over the government. There is more transparency, less conflict, and courthouse employees, Republicans and Democrats alike are cheering. Even Bruce Castor, the lone Republican on the Commission, is a happy camper. Reasons for the change: The Commission has a zero tolerance policy on savage bickering, part of the political scene in Norristown for decades.

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VOTER ID! While well-intentioned this is perhaps the dumbest law ever enacted by the Pa. Legislature. It is dumb because it affects everyone equally. The obvious reason for the bill, it is said by pundits, is to hold down the vote in urban areas.

But there is no proof of that, only speculation The Voter ID bill is just a plain pain for everyone.

First-of-all, voting officials already have the right to ask for identification. But what if you’re out walking or running or playing with the kids and you decide you want to vote, but you left your wallet at home? Also, will people at polling places ask for ID when they know the people that have been coming to the polls for years?

This bill comes to you from the same Pa. State legislature that was one of the last in the nation to require seat belts years ago, that has one of the largest budgets in the world, that took years to enact Josh Shapiro’s bill to ban holding a cell phone, that passed its own pay raise in the middle of the night, that has a corruption conviction rate that the cons in the big federal penitentiaries would admire. This is a legislature that meets year round yet doesn’t accomplish much more than the 60-day legislatures of New Mexico and Florida. This is a state legislature whose Capitol Building is a mammoth cash-eating structure, and whose members went into a political coma on a real tax structure for the gas drillers who are making a fortune.

You’ve got a friend in Pennsylvania!

WHY A CONTESTED CONVENTION MIGHT BE FUN

There are several reasons why a contested GOP convention might be fun. First of all, it is great for those of us in the news media, and we all know, that outside of the London Olympics, the Summer news cycle can be boring. Another reason is uncertainty. I mean candidates who have millions in cash, and who have a hard time finishing the dance, would have to fight even harder, and although I’m a big fan of adagencies and campaign advertising, spending millions on TV will not affect the outcome on a convention floor.

Of course, the incumbent has a big advantage here – no intra-party competition. But then again, that will be offset by the Republicans getting all the drama, which might make the Democratic Convention an afterthought, unless the President decides to move the convention on the final night to a stadium, which he has.

The last contested convention was the Ford-Reagan battle in Kansas City. Ford edged out Reagan, but lost to Carter, and Reagan beat Carter in 1980.. I was at the 1976 contested convention at the Kemper Arena. It was charged with drama. It was unpredictable. Of course, those were the days when a candidate like Ronald Reagan could lose, but still have a second chance.

In today’s political world, you’ve got one chance, and then if you lose, don’t bother to come back.

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First of all, if you’re on the edge of the current wave of extremism, this brief comment is not Republican, Democrat or Independent. It’s all about decency.

The latest news is that Rush Limbaugh apologized to a law student from Georgetown University for personal remarks about her. I don’t care about Rush Limbaugh’s politics. I DO care about decency. The FCC is always worried about too much skin on TV, but when is the FCC going to worry about HATE RADIO, and HATE TV?

Don Imus got fired for crossing that line. Limbaugh moved dangerously close to losing it all before he apologized. And then there’s Bill Maher. Maher’s use of the unspeakable word against Sarah Palin is as despicable as Limbaugh’s characterization of a law school student as a slut and prostitute.   I agree with some commentators that the President, to take a stand on decency, should return contributions from Maher. That would be only proper.

As far as Limbaugh. He had no choice. The woman he slurred could have taken him to the bank, and his sponsors were abandoning him. His attack on Danica Patrick as a “woman driver’, after her comments seeming to support the government’s support of contraception is stupid but harmless. The driver is a public person, and therefore, has to deal with this kind of sucker punching all the time.

Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown University law student, who was not allowed to testify before Congress about the cost of contraception, is a different story. Ms. Fluke, who eventually testified before an unofficial Congressional committee, is not well-known. That gives her certain legal freedoms to seek damages.  Limbaugh called Ms. Fluke a slut  because of her willingness to testify about the cost of contraception. He has, in referring to her, also charged that taxpayers are her pimp.

Now he has apologized, but questions linger. Where is the morality in broadcasting, whether it be Limbaugh or the excesses of Bill Maher? Limbaugh  has talent and he is entertaining, but power and fame is seductive, and dangerous. Maybe he’ll learn from this that he can still be provocative without dividing people.

And what about the FCC? This is the era of slime. It is sad that those who propel hate into the public discourse, are not penalized more than people or companies who have a wardrobe malfunction.

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