Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Barnstable Patriot
Barnstable, Massachusetts
HOME Browse Search List Of All Titles New! Global Image Search
Free Search  Subscribe  Sign In
August 25, 2006     Barnstable Patriot
PAGE 7     (7 of 32 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
© Publisher. All rights reserved.     Upgrade to access Premium Tools
 
PAGE 7     (7 of 32 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
August 25, 2006
 
Newspaper Archive of Barnstable Patriot produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




¦ MAhNINGTON 9Sk« FRESH IDEAS IN FLOORING" I IN STOCK I I IN STOCK I LAMINATE CARPET $019 $129 ft y m sq.ft. ¦ «l- 1 Materials Only Materials Only [INTERNATIONAL I SERIES 31/4" WOOD $419M. Materials Only IMANNINGTON I I IN STOCK I VINYL CERAMIC H89 * $149 I sq.ft. * I sq.ft. Materials Only Materials Only ^ ^¦ W C L l -It, I i ^^¦r^^r^'^^^ ri r B M B r M M H r H i r ^l ¦ ^ ^E r^-S r^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ r^ ^ ^ ^iTTMl^Sfcl M r I I^PP U £ l ;^^p, ^ MraJBAUW. ""'^ Fll>0ri '1" rt,yt I r.elrick@verizon.net Joe Lieberman's decision to run as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate from Connecticut after his monumental upset loss to anti-war chal- lenger Ned Lamont is a classic example of the kind of self-interested arrogance that characterizes so many elected officials who have been in office too long. After being in the rarified air of Wash- ington politics for 18years, Lieberman has come to believe he's entitled to remain as the junior senator from Connecticut, even though the majority of Democratic primary voters thought otherwise. By deciding, even before the votes of the Aug. 8 primary were cast, that he would run as an independent if he lost the primary, Lieberman showed crass disloyalty to the Democratic party and its voters who had supported him all these years, and demon- strated that the election, at least for him, wasn't about what's best for Connecticut and the country, but what was best for Joe Lieberman. In choosing to continue his campaign, even though rejected by voters of his own party, Lieberman showed himself to be the sorest of sore losers. While the polls clearly showed that Lieberman's blind and wrongheaded sup- port for Bush's Iraq war was the key reason he was defeated , it was also apparent by the post-election comments of his previ- ously loyal supporters that the once popu- lar former vice-presidential candidate had completely lost touch with his constituents. His positions and his values were simply no longer theirs. On a variety of issues, Lieberman has moved out ofthe mainstream of Connecti- cut politics. From his support of the Dick Cheney "no lobbyist left behind" energy bill (which no Democrat or Republican from the Northeast supported), to his endorse- ment >.f the government's intervention in the Ten Schiavo case, to his opposition to requiring hospitals to provide emergency contraceptives to rape victims, Lieberman has supported positions that have much more appeal in Alabama than they do in the very blue state of Connecticut. All the while, Bush's "favorite Democrat" claims to be a loyal and "devoted" Demo- crat. To the Democratic establishment, however, Lieberman is now perceived as anything but loyal. Howard Dean, chairman ofthe Democratic Party, has called upon Lieberman to drop out ofthe race after his primary loss. Sen. John Kerry said he was making a "huge mistake" running as an independent. Kerry was also highly critical of Lieberman's constant parroting ofthe administration's Iraq war talking points, stating, "to adopt the rhetoric of Dick Cheney, who has been wrong about almost everything he has said about Iraq shows you just exactly why he got in trouble with the Democrats there (in Connecticut)." Even Hillary and Bill Clinton, who were Lieberman supporters before the primary, are now endorsing Lamont. In describing their decision, the Clintons pointed out the obvious: Connecticut Democratic voters have spoken. To continue to support Li- eberman now that he has lost the primary would be a slap at the process, and insult- ing to all who went to the polls on primary day to choose their nominee. Republicans, on the other hand, have found their candidate. With the Republican nominee, Alan Schlesinger, receiving only 4 percent in a recent poll, the Republican hierarchy, from GW to Karl Rove, to all the Fox News talking heads, down to ju st about every Connecticut Republican of standing, has thrown their support (either explicit or implicit) to Lieberman. It has become abundantly clear that Republicans feel they can gain more by supporting Lieberman against what they like to describe as the liberal-dominated , anti-war party of those who "cut and run," than they can by back- ing their own party's nominee. Talk about cynicism. While polls right after the primary showed Lieberman leading among all likely voters, that lead has now shrunk to a mere two points, and is trending in Ned Lamont's direction. It would seem Joe Lieberman's only chance at being reelected to his fourth term is to fool the people one more time by causing them to mistakenly confuse the unjustified war in Iraq with the legitimate and important struggle against Islamist extremists. Lieberman and his Republican neo-con soul mates have used the politics of ter- ror with some effectiveness in the past. But many Democrats now believe that with Lamont's victory in Connecticut as a precursor, voters across this country . CONTINUED ON PAGE A:8 Lieberman defeat suggests major changes come November pgauvin@barnstablepatriot.com An insurance executive let loose unsolicited speculation last week about property insurance on Cape Cod. He did so in the wake of the state FAIR plan's demand for, and approval of, a 25 percent premium escalation this year and more in the next few years, which would bring average premiums around and beyond $2,000. Ouch! What he described created a collage of impressions in one's overactive imagina- tion. There was a canvas of Cape Cod reincarnated as a large log being fever- ishly gouged as a dugout in which stone- hearted insurers could es-Cape and leave premium payers in a choiceless lurch. Another was the likeness of shoeless state legislators in Appalachian coveralls whittling paddles for the dugout. As Cape homeowners are already pain- fully aware, they've been placed between a hammer and an anvil when it comes to buying home insurance. Most of the few small companies tradi- tionally offering coverage have bid adieu to the Cape market based on computer models heralding apocalyptic hurricane activity. The few insurers left are charging exor- bitant prices. It doesn't help much that Cape properties are overvalued , requir- ing larger replacement costs in the event of catastrophe. The state's FAIR plan - a misnomer if CONTINUED ON PAGE A:8 Town needs revolt to hinder higher homeowner premiums steveteftt@yahoo.com In the past few days, we've had remind- ers of two things: there are people in the world who live to kill Americans and other Westerners , and there are people in this country who don't believe it, don't care, or would rather employ a political shiv than take reasonable actions to protect our country. British intelligence , with backing from their American counterparts , broke up a plot to use liquid explosives , assembled aboard , to blow up as many as ten trans-Atlantic airline flights. The alleged plotters were - surprise - young Muslim men, most of whom attended the same London-area mosque. The plot was foiled thanks to rigorous intel- ligence work that included tapping of suspect communications and tracking of financial transactions (the old Watergate nostrum of "follow the money" takes on a new meaning these days). Thank God the Brits worry about protecting lives first and legal niceties second. The timing of the plot's exposure was exqui- site. It happened just days before Michigan Federal Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled that the National Security Administration 's ter- rorist surveillance program (the one illegally leaked several months ago to The New York Times, which gleefully published its details) is unconstitutional. Yet some of the same, NSA- style surveillance was used to thwart the plot in Britain. Taylor's 43-page opinion revealed her feel- ings not only for the surveillance program , but for the man who authorized it. "There are no hereditary kings in America ," she wrote , adding that "...it was never the intent of the framers to give the president such unfettered control... " This judge really, really doesn't like the president, and she allowed partisanship to infect her opinion-making. Her decision may be overturned , but the damage has been done. Taylor's ruling has given our enemies one more glimmer of hope that they command the sympathies - or, at least, the benignity - of certain Americans in positions of power. Naturally, Taylor was appointed to the bench by Jimmy Carter, whose affinities for CONTINUED ON PAGE A:8 The battle abroad.. .and at home COMMENTARY By Tom Sullivan opinion@barnstablepatriot.com Youreditorial,"Yarmouthdeserves a seat at the table , but no vote."and your statement that, "With regard to Yarmouth's attempts to gain a voting seat on Barnstable's airport commission, Yarmouth needs to remain outside the airport's fence," I strongly disagree with. It's the Town of Barnstable that has to remain outside the Town of Yarmouth'sfences. The Barnstable Airport enters our daily lives start- ing at 5 a.m. and leaves us at mid- night. You say, "A vote cannot fix the problems continually voiced by Yarmouth residents and officials." You might be partially right but a vote surely can speak out on the problems at the airport and try to get them resolved, something that has not been done in the past. The practice is going on today, in other words, a deaf ear by the Airport Commission. Your comment , "Flight paths are determined by the FAA, not the air- port commission or management," istotallywrong. The airport , not the FAA, determines the flight paths. The FAA enforces them. Justice Douglas from the Supreme Court said it best in the case of Griggs v. Allegheny County, 369 U.S. 84 (1962) 369 U.S. 84. Justice Douglas: "We think, however, that respondent ,whichwasthe promoter, owner, and lessor 2 of the airport , was in these circumstances the one who took the air easement in the constitutional sense. Respondent decided , subject to the approval of the C.A.A., where the airport would be built, what runways it would need,their direction and length, and what land and navigation easements CONTINUED ON PAGE A:11 Yarmouth deserves a seat at the table, and a vote What we can do for the homeless Editor 's note: The writer pre - sented this statement to the town council last week. As a resident of the Town of Barnstable, I continue to feel that the issue of homelessness has not been adequately addressed by our town. In 2002 the town council stated that leaving men and wom- en in the woods was inhumane and hence the justification of clearing the camps by the police. Now it is 2006 and the police are continuing to move the homeless from one camp to another. Although we declared it inhu- mane to leave men and women out in the camps, we have continued to leave them there. This past week another homeless man died in a camp. I find this unacceptable and am asking the town councilors to vote on whether or not this is acceptable to them. I think it is imperative to know where each councilor stands on this important issue. My immediate recommenda- tions: 1.1 am asking that the home- lessness issue be put on the agenda to be discussed and worked on by the town Council. CONTINUED ON PAGE A:13 LETTERS i ¦ ACROSS TIME 6 PLACE RETROSPECTIVES FROM THE ARCHIVES \ W k m Wm - mi K • fc L*$L 1 * ta ;§g * *• *^ • m± -m^ ^ Lfm x JL ' "" " "" ¦ JWflrfl ^^^ JmmLAmmW ^ mm r^r^rk^r^ tti mmm THE RAMBLER - LAKE WEQUAQUET,CENTERVILLE - CIRCA 1900 - Before there were Jet Skis and other personal watercraft haunting the lake,there were excursions on the steamboat launch Rambler. m» >mm)mnmmm^iml:mmmmmm 'i^ jji.iiiw.ti...ummmmmni tmid 'miVnII.I .TII JMW JII H W* .iijniiij..mi> ' ACROSS TIME 6 PLACE RETROSPECTIVES FROM THE ARCHIVES THE RAMBLER - LAKE WEQUAQUET,CENTERVILLE - CIRCA 1900 - Before there were Jet Skis and other personal watercraft haunting the lake,there were excursions on the steamboat launch Rambler.