Who/What will be the Republican Party in St. Charles County

This August we will elect the "new" Republican Central Committee for St. Charles County. We already know that it will be different than the one now as Tom Kuypers, who served ably in his position as Chairman, is not running again. Many suspect he had had his fill of ne'er-do-wells the likes of which include Brandy Pedersen and the McNabb's. That's too bad. While Kuypers was never a forceful leader he was level headed and sought to find the middle ground on issues.

From all accounts, the aforementioned ne'er-do-wells have put together a "slate" of candidates to take over the Central Committee. If they are successful, Republican politics in St. Charles County will be significantly set back. The Central Committee will become even less pertinent than it is now and new Republican groups will spring up to do what is right because a Central Committee headed by the aforementioned ne'er-do-wells certainly won't being doing what's right. They have already demonstrated that, with their assistance in getting two democrats elected to the County Council and they failed bid to get a democrat elected to the 2nd Senatorial position.

It has been reported to me a couple of times that it appears that some in our state legislative delegation will be taking an active role in the Central Committee races. This would be a good thing and I hope that it will not just be some but all of them who get involved. It would appear to be embarrassing to the delegation to have such a rag-tag group running the Central Committee. While it may not affect their duties in the legislature, it would certainly affect them in the state party operations.

The legislative delegation participation to make sure the Central Committee is not commandeered by these ne'er-do-wells should be met with additional soldiers assisting with the task. Let's help them identify the good guys versus the bad. Let's encourage all good Republicans to find out who these ne'er-do-wells really are and what they really stand for. If that happens, the ne'er-do-wells cannot possibly win the majority of the Central Committee.

We all should be committed to do all we can to insure that the ne'er-do-wells are not successful in their quest of hijacking the Central Committee to any larger degree than they already have done.

Steve Pokin - Man about Town

The Jounal's relatively new main reporter is on top of his game. He seems to be someone who comes in with an open mind, willing to do some research and then writes the story. I disagreed with him about what the outcome of the Dottie Greer recall should have been but as it turns out, he was ahead of the game and called it correctly.

In the 5/21/06 version of the Journal, Pokin does an article on Jeff Morrison (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/neighborhoods/
stories.nsf/stpetersjournal/news/story/
776231665200D5D1862571730075EBB6?OpenDocument). I thought the article was well done and in the end provided information that aside from his family, most people did not know that being "Where in the world is Jeff Morrison?".

Morrison obviously left for greener pastures and a significant advancement in his career. Pokin doesn't say whether the job Morrison has is a politcal appointment or whether it is a "career" position. Either way, you can bet Morrison will make the best of it, much to the chagrine of his enemies back here.

Jerry Hollingsworth hit the nail on the head when he said Morrison didn't leave because of the likes of Brandy Pedersen or Anything But Right. These people have little to no influence on the outcome of anything good other than being the butt of good jokes. Sure they are able to assist democrats in being elected but aside from that, they are hardly considered movers or shakers in the Republican party. In fact, they are probably held in much higher esteem by the democrats than by the majority of Republicans in St. Charles County. I am surprised Pokin hasn't hit that story line but maybe he is waiting for the right timing.

Pokin has done a pretty thorough job in the stories he has written. It will be interesting to see how long he stays around and if he can maintain his independence.

Christmas Break vs Winter Break -- What's the problem?

John Sonderegger seems to have captured most people's opinion about the issue of whether Francis Howell should call their break at the end of the year "Winter Break" or "Christmas Break". It all appears to be much ado about nothing.

Sonderegger captures the essence when he says that only the extreme ends really care about the issue. The following are the 3 most important paragraphs in his ditty:

I think this media hysteria in St. Louis plays right into the "Liberals are stealing Christmas" line of thought that Christian conservatives and Bill O'Reilly and other Fox News commentators were spreading about last winter.

OK, friends, here's a news flash: Christmas became a generic holiday a long time ago. I mean, the three most popular Christmas movies have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ.

So the Francis Howell School District will put "Christmas break" on its school calendar for next year instead of "winter break." And the usual voices on the left are crying out against this dastardly deed by the School Board while those on the right will be calling it a courageous act.

Media hysteria certainly played a part in this non-story becoming a story but Sonderegger missed the contribution of the anti-Lafata faction in raising a rucus too. One of my state friends told me there were some people travelling to Jefferson City talking against the change.

Once again Sonderegger captured the essence of the issue in his closing line: Give me a break. I think that represents the majority of us!

Senator Rupp

May 4, 2006 - Representative/Senator-Elect Rupp became Senator Rupp. Great news as the Republican Senate number became 23 (although it did reduce the House Republican number to 96). Rupp will be an excellent Senator representing St. Charles and Lincoln County.

Rupp has shown his willingness to work well with others unlike his primary opponent. His work is punctuated by the low-key, easy going style - never having to be the center of attention (unlike his primary opponent) all the while getting things done (unlike his primary opponent), Rupp's recent appearance on Lou Dobbs not withstanding.

Rupp will be able to serve in the Senate for the remainder of this year and for two complete terms. We should not forget that he does have to dispatch one primary challenger which should be no problem given that challenger's record and his already once vanquished democrat opponent.