Massachusetts GOP running scared!

In the wake of the PPP poll showing Elizabeth Warren leading Republican Senator (Douchebag) Scott Brown R-Koch, the Massachusetts Republican Party has tried a new approach. They must be scared shitless! From The Daily Kos:

MA-Sen: Ah, nothing like a scary poll to make the Mass. GOP start to sh*t itself. What a bunch of d-bags:

The Massachusetts Republican Party is asking Harvard University to reconsider paying Elizabeth Warren a salary while the law school professor runs for US Senate. “By restoring her to the faculty, even though she has now formed a federal election committee and is actively campaigning, the university is establishing a bad precedent for academic appointments,” Nate Little, executive director of the GOP, wrote in a letter to Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust.
“Of equal concern is that Harvard runs the risk of jeopardizing its tax-exempt status. As a non-profit charitable institution, Harvard is prohibited from taking a position on behalf of or in opposition to a candidate. Your payment of a salary to Professor Warren causes reasonable-minded people to conclude that Harvard is supportive of her candidacy,” Little wrote.

I liked this deadpan zinger from the Globe's Glen Johnson, though:

During the special election campaign, Brown continued to accept his taxpayer financed salary as a state senator. He also has not expressed any plans to give up his federal salary while running for reelection.

The way the Republicans treated Ms. Warren in Congressional hearings was atrocious. She has only tried to be the voice of working people in the US and they treated her like dirt. I hope she mops up the floor with that Scott Brown.

Crybaby Rick Santorum wants Google to redefine his name

If anyone deserved to be ridiculed and declared pariah it is Rick Santorum. He has said the most revolting things about gays and lesbian citizens that you can imagine. If you don't know about Santorum click here and it will be explained. 

Here's a story from RawStory.com that will explain the headline. 

Once again, NEVER eat in public when the cameras are rolling

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum no doubt dislikes that he isn't topping any recent polls of the 2012 field, but he may dislike the thing that tops search results of his name even more. And now, he's asking search giant Google to do something about it.

Sex columnist Dan Savage famously campaigned to redefine the then-senator's name in 2003. Nearly a decade later, the effects of Savage's prank remain: the top Google result for "santorum" is spreadingsantorum.com, which defines "santorum" as "the frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex. 2. Senator Rick Santorum."

In a Tuesday interview with Politico, Santorum revealed that he had asked Google to fix the persistent Google bomb, and theorized that the company harbored an agenda against him.

“I suspect if something was up there like that about Joe Biden, they’d get rid of it,” Santorum said. “If you're a responsible business, you don't let things like that happen in your business that have an impact on the country.”

“To have a business allow that type of filth to be purveyed through their website or through their system is something that they say they can't handle but I suspect that's not true.”

However, Danny Sullivan, editor of search engine news site SearchEngineLand, told Talking Points Memo that there was nothing Google could do about the search result. Because Savage and his cohorts actually created a new definition for "santorum" and put it into use, as opposed to merely tricking an algorithm to confuse search results, Savage's prank counts as a true result.

“At his point there’s nobody who could not argue [Savage’s definition of santorum] is not a definition in a lot of quarters,” Sullivan said. “So for him to say Google could get rid of it would be like him saying, ‘I don’t like the word unicorn and I think that that definition should go away.’”

“They’d have to go in and de-rank [the Savage] website, which would be saying that website is not relevant — which of course it is.”

In July, Savage threatened to also redefine Santorum's first name, Rick, if he used his presidential campaign to again promote discrimination against gay people.

In a June interview with MSNBC's Chuck Todd, Santorum said that things like the Google bomb "come with the territory."

He didn't mention contacting Google prior to today.

“There are foul people out there who do horrible things," Santorum said. "It’s unfortunate some people thought it would be a big joke to make fun of my name. But that comes with the territory.”

Memo to Rick Santorum: Swim with the sharks and you're gonna get a few bites. 

Scott Brown's Elizabeth Warren Meltdown

Senator Scott Brown R-Koch, of Massachusetts was overheard "discussing" the latest PPP Poll numbers that showed Consumer Advocate Elizabeth Warren's overtaking of Brown in the next election. Here is how it was reported at RawStory.com:

Sen. Scott Brown apparently didn't only lose his lead in the polls for the Massachusetts Senate race Tuesday — he also lost his cool.
A tipster told Talking Points Memo that he was walking on the Senate side of the Capitol and caught a very interesting scene.
“Just walked passed Senator Brown’s office and in the hallway was the man himself, lamenting into his cell phone, ‘I don’t understand how she can be down 20 points one week and is now up two. What is going on?’," the tipster wrote.
The tipster goes on to say that Brown then looked over his shoulder and saw the tipster and hurried back into his office.
A poll released Tuesday by Democratic-affiliated Public Policy Polling showed new Democrat challenger Elizabeth Warren holding a very narrow 46-44 lead over Brown.
Warren officially entered the race last week, on Sept. 14, after testing the waters with a listening tour around the state.
Brown, a Republican who won a special election for the seat vacated by the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), campaigned specifically against Warren even before she entered the race, painting her as an elitist who had no idea how to solve Massachusetts issues.
Brown spokesman Colin Reed underplayed Warren's bump in polling numbers.
“We have always known that Scott would be the underdog against whichever candidate wins the Democratic primary next September,” Reed told Talking Points Memo. “But Scott has been an underdog his entire life, and has always come back to win against all odds. This campaign will be no different.”

Sounds like Elizabeth has made Scotty a little worried. Let's home that he's a lot more worried in the future. You can donate to Elizabeth Warren's campaign here. 

Rick Perry's Jobs Plan

Courtesy (I hope) of Pab Sungenis'  hilarious "The New Adventures of Queen Victoria" comic strip.

Rob Reiner: Champion of Equal Rights!

I have liked Rob Reiner ever since he came on to the little screen as Michael "Meathead" Stivik on the CBS sitcom "All in the Family". He portrayed an ultra-liberal "hippie"-type who married the quintessential white bigot's daughter. He has since become among other things a huge supporter of marriage equality for the Gay and Lesbian community. I saw him on "Morning Joe" yesterday and he was talking about his support for marriage equality and "8", the play by Dustin Lance Black about the Proposition 8 legal proceedings in California. Rob should be celebrated not only for his role in this project but for his work as a founding member and Board member of American Foundation for Equal Rights.

Watch a truly good man argue for our side. Mr. Rob Reiner, the winner of the first ever Frenchy's House Party "Good Citizen" Award.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Guest Appearance Alert!

I will be appearing on The Anne at Night Show on WOMR this evening. You can get more information about the show and hear a podcast of the show (it's on at midnight) when it is posted subsequently. Anne and I will be discussing a couple of restaurants I have been to recently as well as the approach of the holidays and a bit more. So tune in or catch it later here.

A note about restaurant reviews

I started writing these reviews in response to a request from Karen Ellery Jones who is the publisher of a web site called "Cape Cod For Couples". She had read some of the notes I had posted here and thought I would be a good fit for their site. I really like the idea of their web site and decided to give it a try. I was told that when I go out for a meal that I could write a review and it would be published on their site and cross-posted on Frenchy's House Party. 

After reading the reviews I have posted so far I noticed that most of the places I have reviewed have been hit-or-miss in their overall dining experience. I would like to make it clear that I am not doing this to be a wise-ass in my reviews. Some may think that it is great fun to be "dishy" in reviewing restaurants but having been in the business for a long time I know how troubling a negative or even an indifferent review can be for an establishment. I pay for my own meals and I relate my experiences as though I were relating it to one of my friends, nothing more or less. If I were to experience a perfectly great meal I would post it in the same manner as I would a not-so-good review. 

So please do not think that because of the tenor of my latest couple of reviews that I am just a nuisance with a keyboard. I simply want to educate people who like myself enjoy eating out but would rather be told that a place is perhaps not as good as one may have heard or that it is much better. Please feel free to comment below. 

Thank you!

Frenchy, Editor

A quick restaurant review: The Summer Shanty, West Dennis, MA

I had gotten a coupon out of the Cape Cod Times this week for a place that I had seen but had never tried: The Summer Shanty at the West Dennis Marina. I am a big fan of this type of place being typically a bar where boaters can drop in after boating for the day. They usually serve "rough food", meaning no frills food served on paper with plastic utensils. One such place is the Sesuit Harbor Cafe which has one of the best Lobster Rolls on the Cape in my humble opinion. I decided to call up Sally Tomatoes and go to the Summer Shanty for lunch and grab a "Buy one, Get one free" Lobster Roll described on the coupon and on their menu as voted "Best on Cape Cod" by viewers of New England Cable News.

We got there at 1:00pm and were seated out on the enclosed deck overlooking a lovely view of the marina. It was, as expected, plastic flatware and paper plates but I don't mind that in this type of place. We both ordered the same thing: a cup of chowder ($4.99) and the large lobster roll ($24.99). The chowder was pretty tasty with a smooth velvety texture but not a lot of clams. It also had a delicious brininess that I do like in a chowder. Plus it was a very small cup of chowder for the price, perhaps 5 ounces.

The Lobster Roll was a disappointment. It was served on a very buttery toasted roll that was delicious and was accompanied by a slaw of cabbage, cucumbers, peppers and carrots dressed with a sweet vinegar dressing that was very yummy. Also on the plate were very crispy and piping hot French fries. The lobster in the roll was obviously frozen lobster meat. The texture of the meat was mealy and the huge pieces of meat literally shredded under my plastic fork. The dressing on the salad had a slightly vinegary flavor that made me wonder if this was "old" lobster salad. There was also way too much black pepper in the dressing.

I will, perhaps, go back for another try at this place so that I can try the fried seafood but if you are looking for a really great Lobster Roll, this is not the place. Try the Sesuit Harbor Cafe. It is miles above this place.