Quick link dump ...

It's been a while since I have put together a link dump. Here are some things going on:

First, I want to give a kudos out to colorful Manch state Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, a Republican who, many months ago, predicted that there would be a Republican sweep at the N.H. State House on Nov. 2. He guessed that Democrats would lose 74 seats. Some snickered after his email was passed around Concord. He was off though ... on the low side ... The GOP gained at least 122 seats, with some recounts still to be settled.
Wow.
Vaillancourt, who was great for a quote when I was working in radio news in Concord and made a point to attend Election Committee meetings where I liked to camp out, also has a cable show, "More Politically Alert." Here is the embed code to the show where he meticulously goes through all the Manch Ward and some state results:

MPA 111010 from TV Guy on Vimeo.

I'm in the process of gathering some turnout data from Concord, to compare some of the results from previous years, especially the Democrat tsunami years of 2006 and 2008. The clerk would have the breakouts I'm looking for from 2010 for another couple of weeks. But I already know from looking at the results that while Democrats lost the support of independents, they also stayed home in droves. I'm guessing that Concord Democrats staying home costs Annie Kuster a Congressional seat. And, I suspect that this will reverse itself next year and there will be Democrat gains in 2012. I'm not going to make a sweeping prediction just yet. But I suspect that after Americans get a taste of the GOP during the next 18 months, they aren't going to be happy with what they see.

Here's a great piece on the history of WMFO, the Tufts community radio station where I got my start in radio so many years ago: ["Goooooood Morning, Medford"]. I wish someone could do some research into old newspapers and see if the train track legend is true or not. I suspect it is.

Should President Obama skip a re-election bid? Democrat pollsters and FoxNews commentators Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen think so: ["One and done: To be a great president, Obama should not seek reelection in 2012"]. The cynic in me can't help but think that somehow Roger Ailes is behind this oped. We're seen some of the Republican presidential field. In a word, they can be described as "yuck" (with the exception of Sarah Palin who is, obviously, not a knuckle-dragging, old, fat, white guy). But, seriously, wow, squared ... what a column. At the same time, who would the Democrats run? Most potential candidates are also-rans at this point. The new blood is being suffocated by old, Baby Boomer pols who just won't get out of the way.

Put this in the One Good Thing about the Republicans taking over Congress Category ... Rep. Ron Paul going after the Fed: ["Bernanke's worst nightmare: Ron Paul"]. Yes, finally, can we have some oversight of the private bank that controls our country's monetary system? Say it with me folks ... Yes, we can! ... Can we finally audit the Fed? ... Yes, we can! ... Expect very good things from this next year. And why is this important? Because, at least at Walmart, inflation is already here: ["Secret Walmart Survey Shows Inflation Already Here"]. So while a slew of people are out of work, and millions on food stamps, many businesses are cashing in. Note: This is why it is important to realize that even though Wall Street might be OK, Main Street clearly isn't. Stock prices rise while people get creamed.