Strapped to Roof of the Station Wagon Revisited

June, 2007 --

This story is from the Boston Globe:

The white Chevy station wagon with the wood paneling was overstuffed with suitcases, supplies, and sons when Mitt Romney climbed behind the wheel to begin the annual 12-hour family trek from Boston to Ontario.

As with most ventures in his life, he had left little to chance, mapping out the route and planning each stop. The destination for this journey in the summer of 1983 was his parents' cottage on the Canadian shores of Lake Huron. Romney would be returning to the place of his most cherished childhood memories.
Before beginning the drive, Mitt Romney put Seamus, the family's hulking Irish setter, in a dog carrier and attached it to the station wagon's roof rack. He'd built a windshield for the carrier, to make the ride more comfortable for the dog.

Then Romney put his boys on notice: He would be making predetermined stops for gas, and that was it

The ride was largely what you'd expect with five brothers, ages 13 and under, packed into a wagon they called the ''white whale.''

As the oldest son, Tagg Romney commandeered the way-back of the wagon, keeping his eyes fixed out the rear window, where he glimpsed the first sign of trouble. ''Dad!'' he yelled. ''Gross!'' A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who'd been riding on the roof in the wind for hours.

As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.

Now, I am not a dog lover or hater. My wife has two dogs. I feed and water them daily, take them to the vet, buy their food and flea medicine and take them to the groomers.

When I do transport them, it is in the front seat of my pickup. I would NEVER strap a dog to the roof of a station wagon.

This is a tiny preview of a trait Romney is famous for, emotion-free crisis management?

I think it is a tiny preview of a trait of a man who is more concerned about his comfort and well-being than that of others. A preview of a trait of a man who is cold and calculating to the expense of others.

Strapping a dog to the top of a car? Telling his sons that no stopping except at pre-determined stops? I bet those trips were fun!

The author of this piece updates it with this concern... Why this reflects poorly on Romney as a guy, ..... you or I might have taken the dog after it shate all over the roof of the car, we would have washed it off and let it ride the rest of the trip inside the station wagon......

Mitt didn't do that.

Billy Long endorses Mitt Romney

Deidre Shegreen, writing for the Springfield News-Leader is reporting Long to Endorse Romney.

Mitt Romney and Matt Blunt and an unidentified person of interest relate to Matt's Dad Roy their conversation with Billy Long how they secured Long's endorsement of Mitt (Hint, $2,000 and a promised hug from the dairy queen)

Rep. Billy Long will announce his support for Mitt Romney’s presidential bid today.

Long will join former Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., on a media conference call this afternoon “to discuss their support of Mitt Romney as well as President Obama’s failed record,” according to a media advisory.

Talent has long been a key supporter of and adviser to Romney. the ex-Massachusetts governor and White House hopeful. But Long has stayed out of the GOP presidential fray until now. As recently as last month, Long said he wanted to let the race “play out” rather than making an endorsement.

But now that the Iowa and New Hampshire contests are over, with Romney winning both, Long has apparently decided to weigh in.

:In other news, Billy Long and Vickie Hartzler each got a $2,000.00 campaign contribution from Mitt Romney's PAC. So much for being "Still Fed Up"!

Even AFTER Romney gave him $2,000, Ozark Billy was reluctant to commit. In November, 2011, Long told reporters “I’m A.B.O.,” Long, always ready with a one-liner said. “Anybody but Obama."

Slick Billy is a disaster as a congressman, he misses votes, his cowboy hat and cowboy boots don't play well with the Georgetown crowd. He is not the big fish in a small pond, but a tiny fish in a big pond. He is not happy but, hey, the money's good and it's got good benefits and good health insurance. He thinks he probably throw his hand in the ring for another two years. He thinks the folks back home just love his stories and jokes. It's an easy job the way he does it, it's an easy job.

Heck, here's Billy's own words: "This job is not hard, It's not hard work. But it's long hours, and they keep you hopping all day."

And, from the same News-Leader article are these gems:

"I'm fed up (because) nobody wants to do anything up here except get re-elected. That's all they care about."

"I'm 56 years old. I'm not a young guy coming in with aspirations to be speaker in 25 years."

Long has not strayed too often from the House Republican leadership on major bills, voting with the GOP 93 percent of the time, according to a Washington Post tally of votes.

Long says he wasn't a politician when he got here and he hopes he won't be one when he leaves.

You CAN catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but DON'T lie to us Billy Long! Don't threaten us either!

Frequent bus riders will remember yesterday's post of Billy Long and the postal service meeting last night: Do you think Billy thought we wouldn't remember this or maybe HE didn't remember this?

It gets better.

Attendees at the meeting told the bus driver that Billy Long denied ever saying he wanted to privatize the postal service, saying that those who said that were lying.

Long said, "You catch a lot more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. So, when you tell stories about me through some of your representatives that I want to privatize the Postal Service, which is an out and out lie, that doesn't help you any with me or my office. So...."

Someone videotaped the meeting and here is a video of Long's statement:





On June 17, 2010, under the statement "I understand that my answers to this questionnaire will be considered public record and that CCAGWPAC* will be distributing them to its members and supporters, and the media", Billy Long signed the pledge.

"I will support legislation aimed at protecting taxpayers by privatizing government-sponsored corporations and enterprises such as the United States Postal Service, the housing government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Entities like the USPS, Fannie and Freddie are proven economic failures that operate at losses constantly. Service and profitability would be enhanced by privatization." (Italics mine, this italicized highlights are Billy's handwritten comments to question 8.



Don't lie to us, Billy Long, don't lie to us.

"You catch a lot more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. So, when you tell stories about me through some of your representatives that I want to privatize the Postal Service, which is an out and out lie, that doesn't help you any with me or my office. So...."

And that last bit, the part where you say "that doesn't help you any with me or my office. So...." --- what is that supposed to mean? Does that mean if you don't like what we say about you you won't help us?

Or maybe you'll just try to ignore us? Or don't answer questions? Or maybe even keeps an 'enemies list'?

Gee, I've been there before. "Is you is or is you ain't my constituency?"

Here is a complete screen capture of Long's complete responses to the CAGW survey: Your attention is directed to Long's answer to question 8.











Occupy 417 videotaped the meeting, including Long's comment:"You catch a lot more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. So, when you tell stories about me through some of your representatives that I want to privatize the Postal Service, which is an out and out lie, that doesn't help you any with me or my office. So....".

Long makes his 'threat' at about 1:14:00 Occupy417 USPS Center Closure Meeting

*The Council for Concerned Citizens Against Government Waste Political Action Committee
1320 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Suite 1075
Washington, DC 20004

Do you think Billy thought we wouldn't remember this or maybe HE didn't remember this?

Frequent bus riders remember well the bus chronicles of Billy Long in his quest to be a "Member of Congress" ---
note the date he signed that piece of paper.

Frequent bus riders may also remember Springfield News Leader reporter Cory DeVera (where is she?) giving us Billy's reponse to his written answers on the 'jillions of surveys' he receives:

"That's just another out-of-state survey," said Republican candidate for 7th District Billy Long. "We get a jillion of them. There are a bunch of others I don't fill out. I've got my positions listed on my website."

There was a meeting held Wednesday night on the closing of the mail processing center in Springfield.

The Joplin Globe's Wally Kennedy wrote about it: Workers challenge Postal Service.

Here's the money quote:

Long said it appeared to him that “this is pretty well a done deal. Is there anything we can do?”

Echoing what some others said, Long expressed the hope that the Postal Service would take into consideration the fact that Southwest Missouri is the fastest growing area of the state. He said the loss of the mail processing center to Kansas City, the loss of dozens of good-paying jobs, and the fact that mail would take several days to be delivered instead of arriving overnight would not help the region further its growth.

The Springfield News-Leader also has a story on the meeting: Proposal to close Springfield mail processing facility met with boos. The article, written by SN-L staff, limits its account of Long's presence to this sentence: "Even Rep. Billy Long suggested the meeting should have been held at a larger site."

The Joplin Globe story contains more salient information than the Springfield News Leader story but both missed the duplicity in Long's appearance at the meeting.

In 2010 when Long was campaigning for his seat, he filled out a survey for the Citizens Against Government Waste. Not only did he sign the survey, he also added handwritten comments.

On June 19, 2010, in his signed written responses to the Citizens Against Government Waste CAGW survey, Billy Long signed his name to the survey and agreed with this statement:

"I will support legislation aimed at protecting taxpayers by privatizing government-sponsored corporations and enterprises such as the United States Postal Service, the housing government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Tennessee Valley Authority."

Long elaborated on the statement by adding the following handwritten comment:

Entities like the USPS, Fannie and Freddie are proven economic failures that operate at losses constantly. Service and profitability would be enhanced by privatization.

Here is a facebook account of Billy Long's appearance at the meeting:

Jim Lee: Did Long have a position on this issue? I seem to recall during his campaign he was in favor of privatizing the P.O.

Midge Potts: He actually talked points which made it sound like he was against closure, but then he said an adminstrative issue, and "it is out of Congress's hands." Lol, I called him on it, specifically saying, "YOU can do something about this Congressman... Why don't you go back to DC, and submit a bill to Congress to repeal the 2006 law requiring USPS for 75 years :-D He was literally squirming in his seat!

Jim Lee: He don't like it when constituents question him, especially with questions that require more than a sound bit answer! Hot Diggity Dog!

Kathy Egli: Jim, he claimed that was all lies. Claimed he never said that. After about 4 people before him spoke and explained how repealing future retirement funds bill congress passed 6 years ago would fix the problem, he came up to the podium and passionately asked of postal management what he could do to stop this. (after he explained he had no more control over the problem than Joe citizen)

Midge Potts: ‎75 years of fullyfunded pension that has sucked 5.5 billion $$$ out of USPS coffers during the past half decade.

Jim Lee: Somewhere I got him on tape saying he wants to privatize the post office. But I got so much on him on tape. He told me he ain't afraid of nobody,,,,,except for constituents and "bloggers who are worrisome" to him.

Midge Potts: Yeah, his main talking point tonight was that he "never said" he wanted to privatize the post office ;-) Which I immediately called him on. So yeah, if you have him recorded saying the US post office should be privatized, now would be the time to dig it up, that would prove he flip-flopped his position!

Kathy Egli: ‎@Jim, Pretty certain Midge will be the next one Billy asks the FBI to investigate as she told Billy in no uncertain terms this evening to go back to Washington, write legislation and take care of the PO problem and if he didn't follow through with that she was going to run against him and beat him in the next election. It was awesome!

Midge Potts Oh :-P I did say that, I guess... It was a heat of the moment thing, lol.

Jim Lee ‎"I will support legislation aimed at protecting taxpayers by privatizing government-sponsored corporations and enterprises such as the United States Postal Service, the housing government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Entities like the USPS, Fannie and Freddie are proven economic failures that operate at losses constantly. Service and profitability would be enhanced by privatization." Billy Long

Jim Lee Billy Long, 6/17/2010 -- it was one of those jillion surveys that Billy got and signed.

Jim Lee screen capture this before it disappears. I'm not technically savvy enough to do it.










I guess when Billy Long says he gets "jillions" of surveys it is easy to forget which ones he answered and how he answered them.

After all, Billy did tell us on his website that he "is not the type of Republican who will say one thing to constituents and another to liberal lobbyists and legislators..."

Car photos for Longrooffan

Hooniverse Car of the Year--- two of my brother's posts are in the top ten

Fast post this new year's morning....

Hooniverse, a car blog, to which my brother John, aka Longrooffan, is a contributor, has listed ten cars in contention for "Hooniversal Car of the Year".

Two of the submissions are by Longrooffan:

1. Our own Longrooffan knows exactly how to play to his base. Let’s face it, if you’re going to be talking to the crowd here at Hooniverse, you have to pick a car that speaks to them. It’s hard to pick a car that’s more Hooniverse than a V8-powered station wagon with wood-grain paneling. It doesn’t have a racing pedigree, it isn’t the prettiest, and it isn’t even his. But goddammit, it’s awesome, he wants it… and now… so do I, I’m not gonna lie.

2. There aren’t a whole lot of cars that can take on the Zombee and the ‘Vair, but we have a sneaking hunch that the Zyncro might just be the one to do it. The Longrooffan stumbled across this awesome little van while grabbing a quasi-synthetic-chicken sandwich at McDonald’s, and its story was the essence of Hooniverse. Retirees Rainier and Bridgette started out in “the middle of Germany”, and decided to drive their car around the world. Without a real plan. They quite literally drove until they hit an ocean, and then caught the next transport ship to wherever it happened to be going. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Bus Riders: Please link on over to Hooniverse Nation and vote for which car most deserves the 2011 Hooniversal Car of the Year crown? You can vote at the bottom of this post: Hooniversal Car of the Year, it's time to choose the winner

Remember, little brother John is "Longrooffan" and his two entries (which were selected by the staff of Hooniverse and reader nominations) needs your votes!