OK, my Democratic Party friends. Deal with this - like Barney Frank would not. He shouted down a Senator who dared to reveal this on the Senate floor. The hypocrisy stinks. If this is the lily-pure 100 days, then what else will the Democrats in Congress try and slip by us over the next two years? We threw the Republicans out for blindly supporting a losing war and for being the most corrupt bunch since the late 1800s.

Nancy Pelosi. In the minimum-wage increase legislation of the House of Representatives, she had a hard-to-find exemption for one company in her district - Star Kist tuna and their canning plant in American Samoa - an island in the Pacific. It reportedly employs 75% of the workers there but the company headquarters are - imagine - in her district in San Francisco. Blatant corruption. They give her campaign donations and she slips them a favor. Well - she backed off when caught and exposed. You can thank those irresponsible web blogs for that - not the upright and responsible American daily newspapers.

Then Harry Reid in the Senate tried to slip a watered-down earmarks-disclosure legislation through - and cheated by extending the vote when it did not pass. He also had to reverse himself and made high school excuses like he was too busy that one day to have noticed what he was doing.

To my Democratic Party friends who say this hardly compares with what the Republicans did - well it is how they started. I usually catch more harsh personal insults from my liberal friends when I point out Democratic and liberal shenanigans than I do from my conservative friends for jamming Republicans and Bush. Interesting isn't it. They expect me to be loyal to the "group" - and it shows what they value - loyalty over truth. At least conservatives respect a different perspective.

Paul Roley. I want to pay tribute to Paul who died Wednesday. He was a strong voice for conservative political values since the early 1970s in Whatcom politics. He believed strongly in what he wrote and spoke about and was not afraid to be out in front of others with his views. He ran for office at least once, but his real love was political analysis and commentary. He loved it and all of us who knew him know how his eyes would light up when he warmed to his chosen subject. I can hear him ... "Well John ... sniff ... let me tell you something you might not know about that."

I first met Paul when taking a lecture from him in Russian history at Western back about 1968. He was a spell-binding speaker. One of the two or three best I ever had in college. He knew his subject and was eager to fully answer student questions on the fly. His classes were exciting and educational in the best way. Over the years, I told him many times how much I loved his classes.

Our best to his wife Joan who took care of him as his health declined these past few years. A service for him will be on Friday, January 26. For more, go to [url=http://www.paulroley.blogspot.com]http://www.paulroley.blogspot.com[/url]