Paul's Falls

One day a florist goes to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asks about his bill and the barber replies, 'I cannot accept money from you.I'm doing community service this week.' The florist is pleased and leaves the shop.

When the barber goes to open his shop the next morning there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door

. Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The cop is happy and leaves the shop.

The next morning when the barber goes to open up there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Then, a Congressman comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The Congressman is very happy and leaves the shop.

The next morning when the barber goes to open up, there are a dozen congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut. And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the members of our Congress.

Vote carefully this year.

 are very slow, but grind exceedingly fine." 

That phrase works well if you are a dung beetle.  Eat it if you wish, but justice is hard to come by if an election is at hand and if a favorite candidate's actions might cause harm to the party that has the largest local support.

 Some days before the primary election this year, it came to my attention that Dan Knodl used my name  -  as well as several others  - in his advertising material. There were about 300 names on his flyer.  He listed me and the others as his supporters for the Assembly seat he was seeking. In fact, I and uncounted others were not his supporters.  He never asked our permission to use our names.  We complained.  Once this story came to media attention, Dan released one after another reason for how our names happened to be used without consent.  Finally after several lame excuses he admitted that it was his own fault.

That advertising was clearly in violation of rules set up for election ethics by the State of Wisconsin.  I and the others made complaints to our District Attorney.  I and others were interviewed over the phone by a detective who asked us the reason for our complaint and whether we wished to file charges.  Some of us answered that we did.

To this date no charges have been filed.  In fact, our Waukesha County DA has washed his case of the whole mess and notes that it should be prosecuted by Washington County.

So, nothing is happening to bring this to a satisfactory conclusion.  The election will come and go and the matter will be forgotten. At most Knodl will have his fingers slapped sometime after he has been seated in office and then it will all fade from memory.

I should not be so unhappy.  About a year ago I made a complaint to the State Elections Board about campaign finance violations by a former President of the Menomonee Falls Village Board. I never got as much as an acknowledgment from any State employee that they received my questions or cited examples.  At least in this recent instance someone took notice and contacted me for more information.

Nevertheless - no action - nothing.  This will all pass without notice and life will go on.  Your tax dollars at play!

 What a nice Sunday afternoon it was considering that it's mid-October.  I decided to get outside and take care of some of my tree leaves before anymore blow over to my next door neighbor.  After that I drained most of the garden hoses and stashed them away for the winter. Later, outdoor spigots were drained and I'm feeling pretty good about being ready for winter.  Next week I'll start in on the Christmas lights if the weather is good.

While I was doing that, my bride took off and went for a five-mile run which is her usual Sunday fare. Somewhere along the route she needed to stop at Rotary Park's comfort station - an oasis of sorts for those in need.

Surprise!  The ladie's room was locked up tight, but the men's room was wide open.  What on earth would cause a park employee to do only half his/her job?  Now, I'm not going to go down to Village Hall to complain.  But for the rest of you, beware!  Equal rights don't always happen.  And, guys, watch out when you need to go.  You can't be sure of who might be in there.

 Several months ago I wrote that I was so disgusted with the seemingly endless campaigning and debating during the primaries that I would no longer listen to any more campaign messages.

Not exactly true.  I could dance around the earlier statement by saying that the statement is no longer "operational".  Or perhaps that - "you are taking it out of context". 

I did the best I could to keep my promise. But, I backed off and actually listened to the VP and Presidential debates recently.  Here is my opinion for what it is worth:

  VP Debate:  Amusing.  I liked Sarah's punch and enthusiasm.  I like an energetic person to (verbally) poke a finger in the eye of an opponent.  Biden is old school in my opinion.  He could use some levity in his campaigning.

 Presidential Debate:  McCain is dull and way too understating. Kick it up a notch!  I had trouble keeping awake during this debate.  The same goes for Obama. Yada, yada, yada, -("[smurff .gg.]"as my wife elbows me to stay awake) .

I wish we had picked two better candidates. I'm having trouble deciding. My leanings are Libertarian in philosophy, but they can never get their stuff together to make any difference.

 We need a change, but I don't like any of the possibilities.

 Dear Charlene:

Sometime after dark on Saturday night you stopped by my home and left a campaign brochure at my front door for me to see.
It contained the usual yada - experience, leadership, education, family and the like.  Thank you.

Unfortunately it was dark and you didn't notice that my sidewalk entrance was blocked off.  Never mind that; you apparently walked across the grass from my neighbor's house to do your business with me.

The walkway had been blocked off for a good reason. Earlier that morning a construction crew had finished pouring a new concrete slab which was still somewhat soft when you came by.

 Just before going to bed I stuck my head out the door to admire my new investment and found your literature.  In the morning I repaired the injury as best I could.

I'll be remembering you for quite some time.  Thank goodness that you weren't wearing spike heels.

Your potential constituent,
Paul