Howard Monroe And The Morning Show

The camapign comes to town

Hillary Clinton will hold a town meeting in St. Clairsville this Wednesday. Well placed sources say the event was proposed earlier today and confirmed late this afternoon. Clinton's team has been working Ohio hard--I get a call at least once a day from some of her media folks. Her husband, of course, was in Steubenville last week. Now the candidate herself comes to town.

Politics is not an academic game or intellectual exercise. It is serious business, especially at the Presidential level.

Ralph Nader says he will enter the Presidential race as an independent because he's mad some Democrats tried to keep him off the ballot in 2004. This, of course, came after he effectively cost Al Gore the Presidency by siphoning enough votes away in Florida to send the whole election to the Supreme Court.

Nader is showing the height of arrogance and egotism. Because he wants to make some kind of point, he may end up costing the Dems the Presidency--again!

It's a disgrace.

Welcome to a new week.

We'll continue to follow the Presidential primary through Ohio.  Michigan's Governor and the chair of the National Conference of Mayors will be on the show. David Patterson is an author who writes about women and the peace movement. Our series of interviews with candidates for Belmont County commission continue with incumbent Gordie Longshaw and challengers Ginny Favede and Rick Olexo.

All coming up this week on The Morning Show.

Politics has been so dominate on the show I haven't time to talk about a couple of other items.

Sad story: man admits to abusing young children, then drives his car into a tree in an apparent suicide. I won't try to suggest we should feel "sympathy" for someone who abuses kids, but clearly this story shows us that even people who commit such terrible crimes have a conscience and sense of guilt and shame. Enough to take his own life.

Good news stories: WPHS has 4 Merit Scholar semi-finalist!  And a Wheeling man risks his life to save a man's life---and perhaps prevent a major accident--after the victim jumps from a bridge overpass. Robert Scatterday is known in Wheeling for a lot of good work he does. An example of a true hero.

As I told you over a week ago, former Congressman Bob Ney is now out of federal prison and at a half-way house.

Although he remains in federal custody until August 16th, Ney's participation in a 500 hour alcohol rehab program made him eligible for the halfway house option. I know where he is curently staying, but for now I choose note to make that public ....until it is done so by the BOP.

Ney is a long-time personal friend and remains so despite his legal problems. I have been in touch with him often during his time "inside". He will have a lot of atonement to handle when he actually comes back in the public eye, but I think you will see a very different man than the one who went in. He seems to have seriously attacked the alcohol demons which I know plagued him for years and I think he has a whole new outlook on the federal government.

Ney will likely stay silent for a while as he readjusts to life outside the prison walls,but I expect he will spend some time with us on The Morning Show somewhere down the road to tell his story.

Batte in the Buckeye State--Belmont County

Here at home, the race for Belmont County commissioner is heating up. Commissioners Mark Thomas and Gordie Longshaw each have (seperate) challengers.

Thomas is facing off againt Matt Coflfand, a man the current commissioner defeated in the last Dem primary. Both were guests on my show this week. Coffland made strong accusations against Thomas and Thomas says he happily stands on his record in office. While Coffland dismisses Thomas time in office, Thomas says he works aggressively for the county every day. And Thomas says it's easy to criticize from the outside when you don't realy understand how the county works, what the budget specifics are, and what a commisioner does on a routine basis.

The other seat --held by Gordie Longshaw--has 3 challengers in the Dem primary and a likely GOP contest in the fall as well. Longshaw as well as opponents Giny Favede and Rick Olexo will all be on my show next week. A 4th candidate--newcomer Leslie Alderman--was on The Morning Show this past Monday.

This race is hot. Lots of claims being made. It is really important that voters pay close attention. I have seen a lot of very differnt points of view made on my show just in the last 3 days. Without sounding like a preacher (or promoter) I really feel you need to hear all of the candidates in their own words.

Stay tuned.

Batte in the Buckeye State

It may be Hillary's last stand. Or at least a critical moment in the primary season. With Obama swinging the "Big Mo(mentum) and now 10 wins a row, the Clinton campaign is pulling out the stops for Ohio.

This week on The Morning Show we've heard from Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, his wife Francis, and former (Bill) Clinton staffer Mike McCurry all pushing Hillary hard.

Politico has an interesting piece comparing the current election cycle with the last season of (one of my favorite shows) The West Wing.

And even Bill Clinton is effectively calling the next big primaries (Ohio and Texas) as make-or-break events for his wife.

                          
What a great late night surprise!

Just as I was getting ready to close up shop and hit the hay, I surfed to AMC and found one of my favorite Sci-fi movies of all time showing. The Day Earth Stood Still has always been at the top of my list. At the time it seemed so "real", the robot so menacing. Of course, now the robot looks like a man in a badly made silver suit, but it was still just as fun to watch.

No super special effects. Long before the days of Lucas and Spielberg It was just a spinning saucer, guy in a silver body suit, and Michael Remy playing an alien. But it sure was fun

When I was a kid and wanted to see the sights of other cities--the Empire State Building in NYC or DC's monuments and the White House--I put a new picture disc into my Viewmaster and began to click. For those raised in a digital camera, power-point, world the platsic box that let you look at 3-D slides seems pretty quaint.

But the development agency in our area (RED) has begun a marketing campaign using the old toy. When I first hear about this, I thought it was ridiculous. Why use an old fashioned gimmick? But then I saw the sense of it.

It's a competitive world for economic development. We have a lot to offer in our area--low real estate costs, inexpensive labor, great location, good schools, culture. But to be honest, there are a dozen towns of similar size that offer the same. So how do we cut thru to be given a shot at pitching our town?

Bring on the Viewmaster.

Let's be honest. We all open a package even while we toss away an envelope that we think is just junk.

I consider myself a man of strong faith, but I usually stay away from too much religious talk on The Morning Show. But here's an interesting opinion piece from USA Today. It poses an interesting question: can you be a good Christian if you don't  go to Church on Sunday? We often talk about people who try to be Christians by only going to Sunday services (God calls us to more than that, I believe). But what about those who do it all EXCEPT sit in the pew? Personally, I think the fellowship of believers is a big part of Christianity. What do you think? Check out the op/ed piece and post a comment or 2 below.

While I'm on the subject of religion, let me remind you of an excellent religious retreat at Oglebay Park next month called Mountaintop. I've attended in the past and it's a wonderful, refreshing, spiritually uplifting weekend.