Those of us who received Tony Rybak's latest character assassination attempt against Joe Brennan, his most prominent opponent in the 133rd Legislative District race, will have to have our mailboxes fumigated. The stench is overwhelming. The record is ever more distorted.
The truth is, while Joe Brennan is a man who made a mistake that made the papers (JUST one such mistake, as far as I know), Brennan also has done more for the residents of the 133rd, and obviously has more human stature, than Tony Rybak can ever dream of.
Last Sunday, on my regular day, I hypothesized that Jose Rosado, a very presentable choice, might well wind up as the winner because of Rybak's earlier descent into the political latrine. A fellow blogger points out that the result might be an unheard-of Republican win of the 133rd seat, because Rybak's political consultant is a firm noted for helping Republican candidates. So, Rybak may be paying his money, unknown to himself, to strengthen the position of the Republican candidate in the district.
One thing is for sure: We have had more than enough of the kind of politics Rybak and his consultants represent. I know how I am going to vote; I would not dream of telling YOU who to vote for. But I strongly urge you NOT to vote for Anthony Rybak. Let's show that we value fair play in politics, whatever our differences may be.

Apologies To Dennis Pearson (NOT O'Leary), candidate for the legislative seat in the 133rd district, whose name I conspicuously failed to get right in my regular fulmination yesterday. Very sorry about that, especially since I hate it when people get MY name wrong.

Again a reminder. Don't forget to check out Bernie O'Hare's blog "Lehigh Valley Ramblings," not to mention all his links--you'll have a view of the Valley that the conventional media will never give you. It's at: http://lehighvalleyramblings.blogspot.com

Until a few days ago, many political bettors might have pegged Joe Brennan, an aide to outgoing State Rep. T.J. Rooney, to take over Rooney's seat--or at least the important Democratic nomination--in the May 16 primary. There were four men in the race, but that was the way to bet.
But now one act of political sleaze seems to have altered the possible outcome of the legislative contest in this district. Call it, if you like, An Ad Too Far.
For some reason, Brennan seemed to spend little if any money; no ads from him crossed this writer's mailbox threshhold. Only one came in from his most prominent opponent, Jose Rosado; and none from the least-known candidate, who is such a low-profile person that it is only possible to write that I think his name is Dennis O'Leary, and he is from East Allentown.
The candidate who did flood voters with ads, most likely to his own undoing, was Anthony Rybak. Tony Rybak, the son of former State Rep. William Rybak, last surfaced politically when he ran against John Callahan, now Mayor of Bethlehem, and generated a presentable protest vote against Callahan.
It seemed good that he entered the race for the legislature. This wIiter also has no quarrel with receiving three or four postcard ads from him that must have cost a great deal of money, because they were "normal" ads. That is, they touted Rybak's qualifications for the job he sought. That is what political ads are supposed to do. I know a couple of people who even seemed on the verge of voting for him, on the basis of those ads.
But then, there was the OTHER ad. The attack ad against Joe Brennan. This attack was unfortunately based on a real experience of Joe, one involving loss of self-control and an encounter with the police department. Rybak's ad pretends the incident happened twice, not once--as if once were not enough.
In the not-so-old days, the voters would most likely have been forgiving, disinclined to cast the first stone when practically all of us can remember some episode in our past we are not proud of. Now the mood is different; and who knows? Perhaps the electorate will
give Brennan a rousing sympathy vote. Or--and more likely--it will not; and the wound inflicted by Rybak's ad will prove mortal to Brennan's political career.
But almost certainly Rybak will find that he himself has not benefited from the attack ad. I myself could not imagine voting for a person who would lash out on such a viciously personal level, and I know others who feel the same way.
This leaves Jose Rosado, who may be poised to take the biggest political step any Latino in the Lehigh Valley has yet taken. Rosado is an educator and a man who would be very well-prepared to take a constructive role in the state legislature should Brennan's and Rybak's mutual discomfiture give him the opportunity. And in the future he would be running on his own record.
I am not betting that this is how it will come out; but it certainly will be interesting to see.

Here is a blog for readers to check out, in case they have not run into it before. It is Bernie O'Hare's Lehigh Valley Ramblings, at http://lehighvalleyramblings.blogspot.com. Bernie casts a valley-wide net, and gives you yet more links, and can be wickedly funny. Some off-the-wall graphics there, too.

Pennsylvania's primary election is just a few days away. The outcome will have perhaps an unusually heavy impact on Bethlehem, for a number of reasons. A switch to the right could happen, due in part to last year's uproar over an unpopular--and ultimately rejected--legislative pay increase. This led to a citizen backlash which surges on, its avowed purpose being to evict all the members of the legislature and replace them by newcomers. This movement is called, appropriately, Clean Sweep.
It remains to be seen how effective Clean Sweep will be. The Lehigh and Northampton Counties area has a number of legislators who are respected for their integrity and effectiveness. These include State Representative Steve Samuelson (D) of Bethlehem, and State Representative Robert Freeman (D) of Easton. Many are hoping these distinguished public servants and others like them will be spared any coming electoral purge.
On the other hand, it may be said that the citizen insurgency has already claimed at least one victim in the Bethlehem area. He is State Representative T.J. Rooney, who has also been state chairman of the Democratic Party. Rooney voted for the legislative pay raise, and kept what might be called a premature payout. He seems to have concluded that the resulting backlash made his re-election problematical, and now his seat is up for grabs.
Four candidates are in the running for the Democratic nomination here, and the matter be will be settled in the impending primary.
Setting aside the US Senate race, which probably will be between conservative Democrat Robert Casey and ultraconservative Republican incumbent Rick Santorum, there is the gubernatorial contest. To this writer, the selection here is of the "none of the above" variety. On the one hand, there is the enigmatic incumbent, Ed Rendell, whose accomplishments are hard for the average citizen to grasp or evaluate. Then there is a retired football player who seems to have no real qualification except a desire for political power. Lynn Swann clearly is not a clown; otherwise, he might be considered Pennsylvania's answer to Minnesota's famed former wrestler-governor, Jesse "the Body" Ventura.
No matter what we may think of the candidates, they will effect our personal and community lives, probably for decades. So go and vote--and choose on the basis of careful thought. Above all, don't let anger be what drives you. The same goes for such other values as party affiliation, color, religion, and anything else except the main point.
The main point is, What kind of future do you want? For your community, yourself, your children? And who, in your opinion, best serves that vision?
Those candidates, and only those candidates, are the ones to vote
for.

The Christmas City Fair was a summer event I always looked forward to when I first came to Bethlehem. I discovered it when I still lived on the north side, in the brick house next to the Moravian cemetery known as God's Acre. To get to my job as a night proofreader at the Globe-Times I would walk down to Heckewelder Place, down the steps through Central Moravian Church's lovely, well-kept green (this was before the days when children felt free to ride their bicycles on it), and across the Hill-to-Hill Bridge to the South Side.
One summer evening, looking over the bridge ramp, I noticed that interesting activity was going on down below, in the flat and treeless space known as "the fairgrounds." Flags of many nations were strung in a line across the space, an entertainment platform had been set up in the center, and booths were being erected all around.
My curiosity was piqued, and I could hardly wait to get to the office so I could find out just what this coming event was that was being set up.
I learned that it was the Christmas City Fair, an annual event in honor of the 1918 union of Bethlehem and South Bethlehem. No matter how one felt on the subject of the unification of the city--there always were nay-sayers, and some of the time I was one myself--it was hard to say "no" to the Fair. This was especially true if, like me, you came from a place where not much happened.
The Christmas City Fair was a pageant of ethnicity, with Greek and Portuguese and Mexican (and so on) music and dancing and food. You could count on encountering 10 or a dozen of Bethlehem's many ethnic groups every year.
As to eating and entertainment,you could start with Pennsylvania Dutch funnel cake, go on to Portuguese doughnuts, and pretty much eat your way around the world. The musical and dance offerings were not quite THAT extensive, but some of the musicians and dancers were spectacularly good. This was especially true of the Portuguese, who had wonderful costumes, and whose dancing combined fire and discipline in amazing ways.
Christmas City Fair weekend also was a time for non-profit organizations ranging from the Ba'hai faith to historical societies to Boy Scout troops to call attention to their offerings and to their presence in the city or its environs.In many cases it also allowed them to raise needed funds.
Walking around the fairgrounds, I felt positively enriched to live in a place with so many resources, so many pathways to explore. It wasn't New York City--that would have been overkill as far as interesting possibilities were concerned--but it was a lot more than I had ever had or dreamed of before.
The city no longer has its Fair. Indeed, it no longer seems to have the spirit of even minimal cooperation and mutual respect that made such an event possible.
But that spirit seems worth fighting to get back, because what we have known as Bethlehem is worth fighting for.