13 QUESTIONS
Our 13 Questions logo.
1. The local elections are coming up. Any major predictions?
Not many. You’ll see the Democrats do well in the county Council race in Luzerne County, Bill Courtright will be re-elected in Scranton as Mayor and Gene Talerico will get his first term as DA in The Lac.
2. Did you see that motley crew burning their jerseys in Mountaintop this weekend? Your reaction?
First off, they are veterans so motley they are not. However here’s my take. They have a right to destroy each other’s personal property and never, ever again watch the NFL. Same right as the players who choose to do a peaceful protest. Here’s where I draw the line on the flag issue. If you burn it, that in my mind is vandalism. But silent protest is their right. It was the right those very pissed off veterans fought for.
But when a male football fan says they will never, ever, ever watch the NFL again, I’m not buying it. All you need is something like this to break their boycott.
3. You seem to know a lot about Allentown, where’s a good place to eat there?
You have to get a Yacco’s Hot Dog and you might want to go to Carrabba’s Grille. They make the food in front of you and the chicken dishes are incredible.
4. How do you see the local election turnout this year?
Low. It might not break 30%.
Dismal.
5. You are getting criticized for really going after Donald Trump. When will you stop? Do you fear going the way of Steve Corbett like I read on your comments section?
Steve Corbett did what he did on WILK because that was his job and he had strong beliefs. Like any talk show host, if you are controversial, especially like Corbett, Fred Williams, Kevin Lynn, my buddy Tarone’s hero Bob Grant, you have a shelf life.
To this day I give credit for Steve battling the abject ignorance of all the Hillary haters, both men and women alike who thought they could outwit him. They couldn’t and I’m sure some of them, with their little itty bitty feelings hurt whined to management.
My readership since Trump has gone through the roof. But more importantly my mission since this election is to set people straight when they say something patently false. I do it in social settings, on my blog, everywhere. I don’t care if you think Trump is the greatest thing since slice bread. But when you believe his lies after sputtering about how evil his opponent was, I just ask simple questions that demand an answer. “Why?” “Do you have a reason for that belief?” Usually I get an ignorant response. One day I’ll put up the brilliant retorts from Face book.
In the meantime, when you do something like this, 11 years running now, your expectation is not to be loved but read. That’s happening and I’m fine with it.
6. In terms of health care, where do we go from here?
The Trump administration is doing everything in their power to kill it. Health Care will be nowhere. But in 2018, I’d ask people who want health care reform to NOT vote for those trying to repeal and NOT replace. Vote for a candidate that has an answer. Not bluster and nothing else.
7. Thoughts on the Indians this year?
Naw. I expected they’d choke like they always do. It’s that way when you’re an Indians fan. I didn't even watch that last game, that's how sure I was that they'd lose.
8. Are you as annoyed (maybe not because I remember you as a Humphrey guy) as I am that Richard Nixon is being compared to Donald Trump?
First off, Nixon did damage to the Paris Peace Talks and stopped Humphrey’s momentum in '68. LBJ was a lot like Obama in not blowing the whistle on this treasonous action. Obama certainly did not come out guns blazing with Russia. But I digress.
Robert Redford was interviewed by Esquire last month. He stated and I’m paraphrasing here and agree, that Nixon and Trump cannot be compared. Nixon was on the ballot more times than any other American Politician for national office. He was a Congressman, Senator, Vice President and then President. He may have cut corners and went the wrong way but he had an idea on how things worked. He had a respect for government limitations, even when he was trying to skirt them and the process.
Nixon like Trump?
Exhibit A. Nixon’s diplomacy in China. Trump’s in North Korea.
Case closed.
9. Were you ever called back to WILK Radio to sub?
Nope. I think that was a one time deal. My only regret was I had a few missed opportunities with the callers because of time constraints. Jake and Johnny L. the Board Ops were great to work with. Your average listener has no idea how much goes into going on the air for three hours. It was fun and I appreciated the opportunity. The latest I heard is that Rob was not getting the job and that they might hire former WNEP, WYOU anchor and State Representative Frank Andrews. It is what it is but I was so happy to hear kind words from people still working in the business as well as one retired legend who thought i was a natural for the job.
10. Is Karel Zubris as good looking in person as she is in her Twitter feeds?
Even more so. And her very tall, large and strong husband John would reaffirm my opinion to you if needed.
11. Your gut feeling on why Puerto Rico had less help than other disasters this year?
Logistically it was hard and the power grid was shaky to begin with. But the preparation wasn’t there. We could have used the military to get supplies there and then move them in.
The FEMA Director shaded his reputation a bit the other day by referring to the Mayor of San Juan’s comments as “white noise”. I think the slow response was due to Trump’s feeling that he did enough. I won’t play the race card here but I’m sure others will.
12. The ****** in Chief started calling Bob Corker names. Any comments?
He' s fragile. No one has ever stopped him on anything. He is a man child and quite honestly if he tweeted that he was golfing with Moses, Mohammad, Jesus and Buddah, I’d just not even give it a second thought.
But here’s a tell, when he is wrong and it’s indefensible, he resorts to calling names. Just like his hard core of supporters.
Like I said, man-child.
The funny thing is I bet he couldn’t even turn on a laptop. But we get what we get when we lower standards.
13. Do you plant tomatoes?
No, but Mrs. LuLac does and with the humidity and wonderful weather this fall, they are delicious. When I was a little kid, we had a neighbor named Bill McCawley. In late August or early September, Bill would sit on his porch and have a ripe tomato and salt shaker in his hand. I’d look at him on my bike from the street and wondered how he could eat something like that. At that time, my tastes for tomato were pretty much pedestrian.
But now, sans the salt shaker, I know eating a tomato fresh out of the garden is indeed one of life’s little treasures.