Monday, March 29, 2010

Real American Blogger

First a Monday morning Separated at "Birth" for ya (sent in by a loyal reader):

Nebraska state Senator (and former Air Force Lieutenant Colonel) Bob Krist...

And G.I. Joe:


(real American...logos)

***

After our last post about the protesters at Senator Ben Nelson's west Omaha office, we received lots of comments about who could park where and when and why.

We received this fairly detailed response from one of the protesters, and thought we'd let you see the whole thing:
I am a member of the Omaha Chapter of Americans for Prosperity.


It is our group who has been sponsoring the weekly protests at Ben Nelson's office every Tuesday for the past six months. I just wanted to clear up some misinformation generated by the bloggers.


No matter how bad the weather we were there. Most Tuesdays we met with his staff. Right after his final cloture vote he kicked us out of his parking lot on 76th and Pacific. We then parked across the street and continued to protest. In January we found out that he was moving his office. Right up to the move he refused to tell us where.We found out anyway.


He moved from a highly visible location with plenty of public parking to a off-the-beaten-path location with no public parking within several blocks.


The first Tuesday at the new location, we went into his office and asked what the "rules of engagement" would be. His staff told us we couldn't park in the parking lot because we were protesting. We argued that we were constituents, petitioning our elected official. (We had requested a meeting with Nelson several times but he wouldn't meet with us.) We asked if MoveOn or Organizing for America came would they let them park in the parking lot and they said yes. The staff had let them use their private parking lot in January for a protest. They also told us that the other tenants, all doctors, wouldn't want us parking there.


The following week we got permission from one of the doctors to park in the back parking lot, as it was a large lot and hardly anyone parked there. We also found out that the doctors were not opposed to our protests.


Next week, during our protest, the building management came out and told us if we didn't leave in five minutes, she would have our cars towed. We told her we had permission from a tenant and she said that didn't matter. A couple of days later, all the doctors got an email from management saying that all "unauthorized" cars would be towed. So what's "unauthorized?" They have patients who park there.


Last week we parked our cars off-site and either walked or shuttled to Nelson's office. We had the best turnout yet. They called a tow truck but there were no cars to tow. I wonder if the management got stuck with the bill. I think the truck driver was amused.


We will continue to park off site. They can't kick us off the sidewalk. We won't protest this week in honor of Holy Week. This week we will pray that Nelson finally sees the light.


No phony self-deprecating ditty like Nelson's last night at the Press Club nor $500.000 in commercials defending his vote or another whiny op-ed in the Omaha World Herald will deny the fact that two-thirds of Nebraskans opposed the government-run health care bill. He did not listen to us. We will continue to protest until he does.


We are asking him to admit his vote for the Health Care Bill was a mistake and to work with us to have it declared unconstitutional or repealed.


By the way, Nelson knows this bill is designed to bankrupt insurance companies and replace them with a public option. All of his explanations for voting for the bill are all over the map and even contradictoy. He simply sold us out.
So there you have it kids. Interesting, no?

Funny that Nelson's office thought they could keep the new location a secret and that a tow-truck was called when there was nothing to tow. Why would someone call a tow-truck if there were no illegally parked cars? Hmmm.

In any case, remember all those cars back in 2008 with the Obama bumper stickers right next to the "Dissent is Patriotic" sticker?

Don't see those so much anymore...

***

The gang over at the Objective Conservative believes Democrat Gary Kudym will be the selected to fill Chuck Sigerson's spot on the Omaha City Council.

We have no reason to disagree. Feel free to discuss.

(And while you're at it, be sure check out some of the other Nebraska political blogs: the always great Uncle Wiggly's Heartland Notebook , Right Wing Professor, and Plains Feeder, amongst others.)

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Having met Senator Krist, it fits the bill. He is an American hero! (Since the original figures included an Action Pilot) We need more men like him in office, beholden to his constituents and not to the man who appointed him. He gave a great address last week to the unicameral, asking for budget cuts in all areas, including the sacred cows of the state.
SS, great catch on the logo.
-charles

Anonymous said...

I really don't know what all the libs are upset about. The Republicans just want to keep the Government out of their uterus's.

One Out In The Third said...

Ben could do in Omaha like he does with his office in Kearney...just have a P.O. Box and a phone number that goes to a cell phone of one of his staffers. He has an "office" but it can't be found. Puts a whole new meaning to "transparency in government."

Ben is having a call-in show on KGFW Kearney and other radio stations across the state this afternoon between 2 and 3 pm CDT. An 800 number will be provided during the show. KGFW TOT pundits are betting on Ben having his "agents" calling in 45 minutes prior to the show so the first half hour will be pro-Ben...maybe the whole hour.

KGFW offers streaming audio on their web-site. As the Sweepster would prefer...just use your favorite search engine to find KGFW. I would guess KFOR Lincoln will be putting on the "Ben Power Hour." Maybe a few "dissenters" can find free parking around KFOR.

Macdaddy said...

SS, great job getting some more info on the brouhaha. You know, this sounds like a job for an old school journalist and the work is already done! It's a freebie! All the players are known. It's just a matter of calling them up, getting some comments, and printing it up. I line to think the OWH has a liberal bias and that's why they aren't covering it, but it's probably because they really, really hate being beaten to the scoop by SS. You should offer to buy them a drink. You'd get more traction.

One Out In The Third said...

Correction...

KKAR in Omaha is sponsoring the call-in this afternoon.

Oh mander said...

OWH has a liberal bias?!? Really?!? I might actually start reading it again . . . :)

Anonymous said...

In case nobody know it yet, Gary Kudym isn't city council material. He is an excellent insurance salesman and great guy to fill out a foursome but he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. He has absolutely no knowledge of public finance, public policy or union/management relations. He'll be a complete disaster for the taxpayers of Omaha.

Anonymous said...

2:08 - - Then he'll fit right in.

Anonymous said...

anon 2:08

Those items do not disqualify him, in fact he sounds like mayoral material.

-charles

Anonymous said...

Omaha World Herald are you listening on the Nelson matter. Did Jake tell you not to report this????

Scott K. said...

Has anyone seen my wife? After Barry signed the bill, she disappeared!

Kyle M. said...

Has anyone seen my blog? Even Lisa isn't reading it any more!

TexasAnnie said...

Thank you Street Sweeper for the informative guide to Nebraska blogs. I especially enjoyed reading "Uncle Wiggily's Heartland Notebook." I could not find biographical info about the author, who, is clearly well versed in history and philosophy. I appreciate his original writing very much! (And I will tell him so AFTER I accomplish the dreaded task of registering at his site. I am technologically disabled...)

Oh, and Ben Nelson? I have known since 1995 just how evil he can be (remember he was Governor then). He had a bill introduced at the Unicameral on his behalf. It took on diametrical opposition a la this years' LB1110. Nelson got his bill passed and I subsequently met him at a non-political function. I inquired only slightly and very politely about the bill. The man looked me in the eye and I swear, DENIED having anything to do with the bill, laying blame for it's negative consequences to Nebraska's TRULY most vulnerable citizens, SOLELY on the Legislature. Sooo, I can't say that I have believed anything Nelson has said in the last fifteen years! Too bad Nebraskans didn't 'get it' BEFORE sending him to Washington. Glad to hear you'll be sending him back home in 2012.

Majority said...

Good morning Sen White.

Glad to see you are keeping up with the issues hear on LS.

Jamie said...

Even the most boring posts get more comments than anything on NNN :)

Street Sweeper said...

Dpt! Pta! Boring!!!?
-Ed.

Jamie said...

i admit i'm not the most familiar with the omaha city charter but....

is it unreasonable (or illegal) to request that the seat remain vacant until the voters can vote their own candidate in?

Uncle Wiggily said...

Texas Annie:

Thnx for your kind words ...

FYI - my blog does not require registering - all I ask is for folks to use some sort of nom de cyber other than "anonymous" - which you already do ... so, as Monte Hall used to say, "Come on doooooown!"

Uncle Wiggily said...

... and btw, Sweeper - thanks for the shout-out. My blog traffic picked up noticeably after your post.

The check is in the mail

Ricky said...

Gary Kudym played golf in our Post Office Golf League and he is not a bad player and a generous fellow.
Why not he?
I don't know which political party he belongs to; hopefully he's not a Republican. (The Omaha City Council is supposed to be a non-political position.)
I wonder if the council has screened the guy (no women in the final five, correct?), for his views on the police and fire-fighters contracts?
As for Benny; let the Republicans find a guy they think can beat the Democrat in 2012. Probably Nelson will choose not to run again. If I were him I wouldn't. It's not worth it.
But if Nelly did choose to run for the Senate again, I bet he would win.

Anonymous said...

DRILL, BABY, DRILL!
-President Obama

Miss Jane, that was just for you, just in case you missed Fox and Friends this morning.

Have a great day!

Anonymous said...

The only thing I know about Kudym is that he litters the streets with his signs, violating the sign ordinance, thus being disrespectful of the rules. Perhaps he should pay for advertising on golf park benches instead.

Shoe Salesman said...

So once you get through all the nonsense of that description you decipher that nobody's car was towed.

Hmmm...isn't that what I pointed out when you posted this lie the other day - nobody was towed? And if nobody is towed, where is the story here? What would the OWH report? "Today, in Omaha, no "unauthorized" cars were towed from private parking lots"???

And as far as keeping his office location a secret - I beleive I saw the address listed on Nelson's official website. Real secret there.

You guys can't seem to spin youselves up enough. Keep trying, and thanks for confirming the original post was hogwash - complete with a carefully cropped photo of a tow truck.

Maybe these folks should consider getting a job?

Street Sweeper said...

Shoey,

Or...you could READ the original post:

Seems SOMEONE called the local towing company, and requested the protesters' cars be towed. Facing the impound lot prospect, the lovers of freedom moved on.

Just remember: RIF.