Bombs Away Berryhill, (also known as Mike), the man who's making a run this year for Dennis Cardoza's seat in Congress, has been dipping into the stale pot that is Republican rhetoric in his recent attacks on the Atwater Blue Dog.
Berryhill has wasted no time in making the connection between his campaign for the 18th District and the recent, and far off, upset win of Scott Brown in Massachusetts Senate race.
A stunningly original statement from the prominent Ceres grower called Cardoza the one word more distasteful than liberal in the American political lexicon -- "lefty."
It probably hurt Berryhill to say such a dirty word, but he said it anyway.
"Cardoza is proud of his role in helping Nancy Pelosi push an agenda that is being rejected in all areas of the country, including solidly Democratic states like Massachusetts. Not only has Cardoza voted in favor of the extreme left-wing agenda of Nancy Pelosi, he has been one of the leaders in shepherding it through the House," said Berryhill.
Pretty strong stuff if you are impressed when someone stoops to using hackneyed ad hominem attacks like "extreme left-wing."
Lips wonders why Berryhill doesn't just say what he means: Cardoza the communist. Now that feels more natural than saying "extreme left," doesn't it, Mr. Berryhill?
If you want to use a blanket generalization in your attacks, you might as well use a classic. Otherwise, you'll risk looking like another reactionary Republican who doesn't believe in global warming, thinks the United Nations is a conspiracy to take away our sovereign rights and that health care reform includes death panels.
Too late -- you already do.
The sheriff's new toys
Call it CSI Merced.
The Merced County Sheriff's Department recently asked for bids on a new mobile crime scene trailer to replace its crime scene van. According to the department they are planning to use $34,000 of a federal block grant for the purchase.
But Lips wonders if that money could have been spent more wisely.
It's not as if the deputies don't need things like computers in their cars. The Merced Police Department and many other jurisdictions have such computers but most deputies don't.
But such trifles matter little when it comes to this sheriff. Sheriff Mark Pazin likes the big toys that he can roll out in Fourth of July parades.
No matter that the technology for in-car computers has been around, oh, a couple decades.
When Lips called the Stanislaus County's Sheriff's Department, we were told it has had in-car computers for at least 20 years. "Larger agencies went to the technology years ago just because it really enhances the officer's or deputy's abilities to respond to calls and be armed with as much information as possible," said Tim David, a captain with the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department.
To be fair, Merced Sheriff's spokesman Tom Mackenzie said equipping and paying for the upkeep of such computers for all their patrol cars would be mighty expensive.
That may be so, but keeping up patrol cars isn't cheap either. Why not just return to deputies on horseback and save a buck? They could even hitch up to the crime scene trailer. No batteries necessary.
Posse, saddle up!
