I Like Ike

The lawn signs in Allentown's deep west end, and across the Cedar Crest Boulevard into South Whitehall, favored Romney by far. I did notice an Obama organizational house down my street. For three days no less than half a dozen cars were there, with volunteers coming and going all day. Although I was at my polling place by 7:00A.M., I was number 90 in line. The neighbor ahead of me said that he and his wife would be clicking on a different name for President. I had assumed from the yard signs that Romney would take my district, he didn't. Romney lost every district in Allentown, and the total vote in South Whitehall. The pundits say that the Republican Party is out of date with current demographics and values. Shown in the photograph is Chester Riley from The Life of Riley, a program from the 1950's. He would end each episode by saying, What a revolting development this turned out to be.

Roosevelt's Health Declines

When Republicans ask me about Jewish voting trends, I usually reply that the Jews don't know that Roosevelt died, and that he didn't particularly like them anyway. They have been genetically programmed for the Democratic Party since their great-great bubas thought Roosevelt was helping them. Jewish support for Obama slipped from 78% in 2008, to 69% on Tuesday. Although that is a significant move of the needle, considering how important Israel is to the Jewish psyche, and how little affinity Obama has for that nation, genetics still prevailed.

The Analogy Called Allentown

Not so long ago, Allentown was a giant in both industry and commerce. While Lehigh Structural Steel fulfilled orders for oversized fabrications under the Tilghman Street Bridge, Western Electric invented the tiny transistors, a few blocks beyond on Union Boulevard. During the summer months, workers and their families from both heavy and light industry would entertain themselves at the drive-in movie, Dorney Park and the Max Hess baseball stadium, out on MacArthur Road. Western Electric would evolve into Lucent, which pioneered another electronic wonder, the silicon chip. The City of Allentown did it's share by updating our water system, to fulfill the demands of these industries. We now have been reduced to thinking that a baseball stadium on the parking lot of Lucent is commerce. We are reduced to selling our water system to pay for bad decisions by the mediocre. We actually celebrate these compromises.

Photograph of better days under the Tilghman Street Bridge

The Outsiders

Julio Guridy had asked the city solicitor for an opinion about who could collect signatures. because he didn't want outsiders interfering with Allentown's water lease decision. Pawlowski had no trouble about outsiders working today to promote the water lease plan. At the mayor's request, crews from Philadelphia appeared at the two busiest polling spots to distribute literature on the advantages of private water systems, and monitor the activists collecting signatures against the lease. In addition to boots on the ground, Pawlowski has distributed a new YouTube promoting his proposal. The three gentleman shown above from Philadelphia were encouraging voters not to sign Dan Poresky's petition. Just joking about the photograph. Actually, the photograph is from the film classic, On The Waterfront. The three persuaders shown were former heavyweight boxers in real life, all of whom fought Joe Louis for the title.

UPDATE:  Emily Opilo of The Morning Call reports (an hour before me) that Pawlowski himself was at a polling site asking voters not to sign the petition.  The petition itself of course doesn't decide anything, but gives the citizens a voice on the issue in May. His energy would be better spend looking for alternatives to the lease.

Comforting The Comfortable

Never mind that Obama is comforting the owner of North Point Marina, a one percenter, this became the iconic image of the 2012 election. Never mind that as I write, the people of New Jersey are literally wrestling for gasoline. Never mind that although it was a worldwide viral photo opportunity for Obama, it became just another failed mission for FEMA. A version of the photo, with Chris Christie cut out, is featured on The White House Blog. Christie is not only cut out of the photograph, but likely out of future national Republican politics. Hopefully, there are no term limits on the New Jersey governorship.

Devastation At Cedar Creek Park

Scores of mature trees, on both sides of Ott Street, were blown over by Hurricane Sandy. A dozen or so trees around Muhlenberg Lake were lost. Mostly spruce and willow, the 75 year old trees with their large mass and shallow root systems, fell like bowling pins to the sustained wind. Another dozen or so were also lost on the rose garden side of the park. Shown above, one fallen tree destroyed the walk bridge, just west of the garden. Please join me, and donate for new trees to be planted this coming spring.