Tag Archives: Midtown

Obamacare’s Bad Medicine

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Yesterday at a doctor’s appointment for Mr. Midtown Republican, his doctor was just entering the room when a nurse called out to him. She yelled out some numbers and asked if they were correct. He replied in numbers and then turned to explain to us.

The government decided that every kind of procedure be given a number, Dr. X said. Doctors already had a system in place, but in 2011, as a precursor to Obamacare, the government mandated that they be changed. It has been difficult, he said.

“Now there are 25 different numbers for just a femur fracture, for example,” he said. No one had yet mastered them all as the government keeps changing numbers.

“They were supposed to come out with the requirements in the summer,” he said. “Then it was October, then the end of the year. Now it’s 2014. Who knows what will happen?”

“I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and hope for the best,” he said. “I don’t want to stop doing what I’m doing.”

This doctor is a highly specialized surgeon whose dedication, hard work and sacrifice has made life better for thousands of people. It is sad to think the government wants to shackle him.

Justice Roberts, none of us has forgotten how you betrayed your country and the Constitution. Millions like Dr. X and like us will be punished by the restrictions of our own government. I don’t know how you sleep at night. You have put a dysfunctional government in charge of our daily lives.

Thanks to Veterans

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Mr. Midtown Republican recently became interested in family genealogy. He looked up info on his family and mine and came up with some very interesting info.

For instance, he found this picture of my grandfather, uncle, dad and grandmother. It’s dated 1943.

George Vagen (second from right)

My father is second from right.


My dad was just 17 and he had joined the Merchant Marines. He did not want to go in the army and did not see well enough for the Navy. Maybe it was a Greek thing. His father was an immigrant from there and being from an island reflected their love affair with the sea. Perhaps that prompted him to join the Merchant Marines. It was not an easy branch of the service. Plying the Atlantic to transport goods made Merchant Marine ships the number one target of German subs.

This picture was taken before he left. The family probably wanted a family photo in case the unthinkable happened. They all look pretty grim. Afterwards my grandfather suffered a heart attack from the stress of it.

I had not seen this picture before. It was found on an Australian website of a long lost relative. What a shock to see my dad and his family pop up on my laptop as out of nowhere almost 70 years since it was taken.

Dad survived and lived to be 77.

In doing this research my husband commented on how difficult life was for our forebears. They survived the American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War, First World War, World War II. They survived the death of children, epidemics, economic depressions, loss of parents.

They fought hard to build this country and sacrificed, as our veterans did, heroically and willingly to build this country.

Now we have let them down. We as a nation have wanted to live comfortably. We haven’t wanted to believe that threats to our existence and evil exist. In fact, the greatest evil we see is that someone might take away the right to an abortion, trim our welfare checks, make us pay for contraceptives, deny gay people the right to do what no other civilization has ever acknowledged – marry.

These are what we have decided matter. Not freedom. Not excellence. Not sovereignty. Our ancestors would have walked away from a society like this and they did.

Our young people have lost touch with the immigrant experience. They didn’t grow up hearing stories about grandpa only knowing two words in English: work and yes. They assume they will get complete orthodontic care. They expect a college education at the best your money can buy. They feel entitled to a car as a teenager. They expect a job waiting for them when they graduate. They expect the United States does not need any protecting and scoff at the idea it does. They don’t understand how to handle money. A credit card will take care of your needs, won’t it?

No wonder we find ourselves stuck with a terrible president like Barack Obama.

Our ancestors knew true intolerance, true oppression, true poverty. They knew everything can be taken away quickly and a country can unravel in a frighteningly fast way. They knew we must be vigilant and they were willing to be.

Will we return to those days? Can the minority of us who understand this turn the tide?

We’re about to find out.

New Cabinets

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With the second term of Obama come new Cabinet appointments. Already AG Eric Holder has indicated he will retire his post (yeah, before the Fast and Furious doo doo comes down on him).

Hillary Clinton has also indicated she will step down from State. With whatever deal Bill worked out with O to campaign for him in exchange, perhaps, for immunization from blame for Hill over Libya, she might be a Supreme Court nominee. That led to speculation that Bill could be one, too!

Mr. Midtown Republican added he could see the cover of Parade magazine now. They could be the first couple on the Supreme Court. Wouldn’t that be special?

The Big Day!

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Some random thoughts about the day we’ve all anticipated for the past four years.

My polling place at Central Christian Church in Midtown had a line out the door at 7:30. The line wrapped into the building, down a hall before coming to the registrars’ desks. It took about half an hour to vote, but this was admittedly at one of the busiest hours of the day – before work.

Not much on the ballot. President and senator, of course, but for our precinct and the tax questions, but the only local representative we could vote for was Democrat John Deberry for state house district 90 and he was unopposed.

Today I will not watch any news outlets until the evening. In the afternoon they will want to bombard us with exit polling information. If you believe that is worthwhile, how did you like the President Kerry years? There is no point in speculation. Anything they tell us now is dubious because it is too early to know facts yet. I am saving myself a lot of stress by ignoring exit polls and pundits.

Once the vote begins to come in, there is danger there, too. In Ohio, it is expected that the Democrat counties will come in at first and discourage Republicans. Don’t fall for it. You have to wait til the end for the truth.

There is also a rumor that this afternoon the Obama people will try to declare victory. It’s a typical Democrat trick to suppress the vote. Again, don’t fall for it. They had some success with this in Florida in 2000, remember? Many people in counties on Central time just gave up and turned from the polls. They nearly got what they wanted in Florida by doing this.

I have to interject that I think Mitt Romney ran a great campaign. He refused to get in the mud when Obama tried to drag him down with Bain capital nonsense, accusations of responsibility in a woman’s death and even Big Bird. Romney showed a lot of character by skirting all that and focusing on the economy.

I’m surprised Obama didn’t use the Mormon card, especially as his numbers declined this fall. I don’t credit him with high standards, however. He probably didn’t want to touch that lest the Reverent Wright and his black salvation theology got tossed back at him. I’m glad we were spared having to hear stories about Mormon underwear.

Since the debates began I have been struck by the optics, as they say, have been so profound. Romney looked and looks presidential in every campaign stop. He dresses the part, carries himself well and seems optimistic. Week by week Obama looked diminished. He never looked happy, made smart aleck quips, wore his jacket and open shirt. You could almost watch him fading.

We’ll see later how this all turns out. Someone is going to be surprised. I hope it is not us.

Memphis Kid Invited to White House

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Ten year old Logan Guleff of Memphis will be the Volunteer State’s representative at the first ever White House Kids’ State Dinner.Logan entered a contest that challenged children to come up with a recipe using the new federal nutritional standards. Logan made a creation he called a “Tuna Schooner” inspired by his Aunt CeCe. Logan’s dad, Tom Guleff, is a conservative from Midtown.

Dem at the Door

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Friday night the doorbell rang. I got up to answer it, looked through the window in the door and saw a young woman with a blue T shirt and a clip board.

I opened it, going outside to prevent two insistent dogs from joining me; one my own and one a guest. The young woman introduced herself as being with the Tennessee Democrat Party. The “enemy” at the door, so to speak! I was quite surprised that she had the nerve, insensitivity or lack of intelligence to knock on the door of someone with three Republican candidates’ signs in the yard.

I told her we were Republicans and to take a look at the garage which sports a sign “Republican Parking Only.” She nodded and left.

I then regretted that I had not let her give me her spiel. That’s a problem with us Republicans. We are not devious or conniving enough to listen to the opposition. They are trained in guerrilla warfare and deception. Frankly, we are not.

I also wondered if any of our candidates have been going door to door in Midtown. Rick Rout at one of our meetings said he intended to, but he did not attend our Midtown Fourth of July neighborhood event and I haven’t seen any evidence that anyone has door knocked.

Looking at the last election’s results in Midtown showed that the turnout was half Democrat and half Republican. Yet many give up on us. We’re in the game! Former Shelby GOP executive director Don Johnson has said that we have the votes in Shelby County. It’s largely a matter of turnout. He was proved correct in 2010.

Voter records indicate that there are roughly 60,000 registered Republicans in Shelby County, vs. about 45,000 registered Democrats. We could – and certainly should – win every election.

Our people have to be made painfully aware that every single office is important to them and to their future. They need to know how important they are. Midtown is especially important since it is a swing district. Win Midtown and you win Shelby County.

The Democrats even here can be beaten.

Rout Asks for Votes

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Rick Rout began his address to the Midtown Republican Club last night with a call for unity.

“Now that the primary is over, we have to make sure we all vote for Mitt Romney,” urged Rout, who is seeking the post of General Sessions Court Clerk. “But before that I’d like to be in office for two months,” he said. “September 1st is inauguration day for the winners of the Aug. 2 election. We need a clean sweep: Amy Weirich, Tim Walton, Steve Basar and me. We can’t trust Democrats to be in office. We know how to run the county. We have to run it as a business and work within a budget.”

Rout said, “The first thing I’ll do is to call for an audit,” he said, citing the recent indictment of a former clerk. He outline his other goals: to restore honesty, integrity and accountability to the office; balance the budget and ensure the office is self-sufficient; establish random audits within the office for quality control; and continue programs to combat domestic violence including the elderly, children and pets.

In the meantime, Rout stressed the importance of the Midtown vote. “Midtown will make or break my, Amy and Tim’s candidacy. So I want to ask you to walk a neighborhood with me and to get signs up July 1st.”

For more information his website is www.RickRout.com and facebook is ElectRickRout. Any donations can be sent to Friends of Rick Rout, P.O. Box 381853, Germantown, TN 38183-1853.

A Peek at 1940

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Since most homes in Midtown were constructed prior to 1940, it is interesting to search the 1940 Census records for your house.

It tells the name of the owner, their family members, level of education, employment information and ages of occupants. Indicative of the time, coming off of the Great Depression, is that even small homes had boarders. The house next door to us now occupied by a couple, was home to mother, father, three children and four boarders. On the other side lived a couple with their three children and her parents. The house has one bathroom and three small bedrooms. Today such an arrangement would seem inconceivable, yet that’s how they made it through the Depression.

Here’s the website: http://1940census.archives.gov/search/?search.page=1&search.result_type=image&search.state=TN#searchby=location&searchmode=browse&year=1940

Yes, CA, There Are Republicans in Midtown

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It was surprising to find the Midtown Republican Club mentioned in an article in yesterday’s Commercial Appeal. Twice. Albeit it was in one of the stories they call “PolitiFact Tennessee” that purports to find the truth in politicians’ statements.

“Flinn not the ‘chicken’ Bergmann claims him to be” was the headline. Incidentally, has their Politifact “truth-o-meter” ever found a Republican in the state to be truthful? If there was one, I missed it, as they tend to be hit pieces parading as journalism.

This one concerned whether Charlotte Bergmann was correct that Dr. George Flinn dodges debates with her. We were mentioned because of our March 27 candidates forum where neither candidate showed. Both sent substitutes. What the Commercial Appeal failed to report was that another candidate, Wilson Stooksberry, did show up. He did address our group and won over supporters.

You would think that they might report on all candidates. Seems like what we get today is selective journalism.

Still, liberals could not have been too happy to find out that there actually are Republicans in Midtown, living amongst them. Midtown is supposed to be a liberal bastion that stops the contagion of East Memphis conservatism from spreading too far.

I hope more conservative Midtowners realize that they are not alone and that they have a great asset in our club. Anyone interested in joining should know that we welcome all. Our focus is to help voters meet the candidates, get informed on their platforms so that they can vote knowledgeably and let their neighbors know, too. Nowhere else can you get to meet a gubernatorial candidate, congressional and even Senate candidate and ask him or her questions personally.

And, get to meet neighbors who think like you do.

It’s also a great resource to promote your favorite to whatever degree you like – making phone calls, donating to campaigns or just spreading the word.

The next time you see an Obama sign pop up in a neighbor’s yard, don’t get mad. Look into the Midtown Republican Club and find a great outlet for change.

Stooksberry Raises Hopes

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Wilson Stooksberry

Wilson Stooksberry, center, speaks with Robin Spielberger while Ron Spielberger looks on.

“We’ve lost our identity,” said Wilson Stooksberry at a fund raiser last night. The candidate running against Charlotte Bergmann and George Flynn in the primary to later face Steve Cohen for Tennessee’s Ninth Congressional seat elaborated.

“It’s like walking into an ER and seeing a buddy of yours who’s been in a crash. You see him there but you can hardly recognize him,” he said of his current assessment of the United States.

When he looked around at the leadership possibilities of those running for office, Stooksberry “looked at the opposition and said we can do better than that.” A packed room at Flight restaurant downtown agreed.

“Here’s why I’m in front of you today. When 9/11 happened I was 21 and more into Ole Miss football and chasing Southern belles than paying attention to history. I began a new quest. I dove into books to find out everything America stood for. I realized how precious this country is. It was made by men and women who hated tyranny and reversed human history by making the people important. The words ‘freedom’ and ‘America’ really meant something.”

Although he didn’t dwell on his accomplishments, the owner of Flight introduced him and told about Stooksberry’s joining Special Forces as a first responder in Afghanistan. He referred to his many acts of valor on the frontline. “He understands the importance of national security and also small business and jobs.”

Courage, a quality he saw in Stooksberry’s actions, is something we don’t have in DC. Stooksberry agreed. “We need major courage to say what needs to be said and more courage in our politicians in Washington.”

The courage of his brother, Wade, has been inspirational too. Three weeks ago Wade had a terrible headache. It persisted and he went to the emergency room. Shortly after, he was told he had a brain tumor of the kind that had killed his mother. The doctors removed a golf ball size tumor from his head.

Wilson recounted, “The first time I saw him the morning after surgery, Wade said, ‘Wilson, they took out a large part of my brain and I can still make better decisions than Steve Cohen.’ Wade was one of the first who wanted me to run.”

Stooksberry thanked everyone for their prayers for Wade. He also said that the experience for him “showcased Obamacare deficiencies.” It would be unlikely for him to have such treatment if the Affordable Care Act prevails.

For Shelby County, our advocate in Washington against all this is Cohen who Stooksberry called “one of the most anti American persons in D.C.” He characterized the election as not one of “right vs. left, but right vs. wrong.” For him, as for most of us, 2012 is the most important election of our life times.

Stooksberry will be opening his campaign headquarters next week in Midtown in the shopping center off Poplar that houses Ronnie Grisanti’s. He feels optomistic about his chances. “We’ve been overwhelmed at the support that has come forward. We have a lot of volunteers and a lot of prayers. I intend to canvass intently.” In the redistricting he cites the addition of Millington and hopes to get the military vote there. The addition of parts of Cordova signal hopefulness for that area, too.

If the mood last night was any indication, he has a lot of enthusiastic people willing to work for him.