Individualist Extreme Sports enthusiast receives 10-days plus fine

From Eric Dondero:

Remember "Super" Dell Schanze, the mid-2000s TV ad computer pitch man? He ran as a Republican for Salt Lake City Mayor. In 2008, he ran for Utah Governor on the Libertarian Party ticket. He even accused moderate GOPer Jon Huntsman, and now Obama administration ambassador to China of being a closeted "Socialist." He received 3% of the vote in a 3-way race.

Schanze is a well-known eccentric and controversial extreme sports enthusiast. His chosen sport is experimental para-gliding.

In August of 2009 the thrill seeking Schanze was convicted of "reckless driving and three seat-belt violations." He was fined $670.00 and received a 10 day sentence in the Utah County Jail.

According to the Salt Lake City Tribune, March 16:

The charges stemmed from an August 2008 incident on Redwood Road. Officer Michael Paletta, an investigator with the state Division of Motor Vehicles, testified at trial that he saw Schanze jerking his car back and forth in the lane, causing Paletta to fear that Schanze was going to hit him. Paletta pulled Schanze over, and discovered that two of his children were sharing a seat belt, a violation of state law, and that Schanze was unbuckled.

Harold W. Stone III, Schanze's attorney, argued the traffic stop was unwarranted. He said Schanze was rocking the car back and forth within his own travel lane, which does not meet the definition of reckless driving.

Schanze and his new lawyer are now appealing the conviction on the grounds that he was improperly stopped by police. Part of the original arrest involved Schanze not having a properly registered concealed carry sidearm.

Schanze is now making serious noises of another run for Governor. He plans to highlight these issues of Nanny-state government and over-restrictive gun laws to light.

The Super Dell philosophy is grounded in eccenstrism and extreme individualism which has rubbed many the wrong way, including local politicians and media. In fact, Schanze has long maintained that he's a special target for police harrassment for his libertarian outspokeness and criticisms of local politicians.

The Super Dell philosophy from a 2006 interview with KSL:

"Just because I think I'm a superhero and I love me and I think I'm great doesn't mean I think anybody is beneath me. All I'm trying to do is say, 'Hey, everybody should be the center of their own universe. Everybody should be happy with the way they are. It's not an arrogant thing; you only take it wrong if you have a low self esteem and don't really comprehend where it's coming from."

Dell lives on a compound in the mountains with his wife and four boys. He enjoys his privacy when not campaigning or paragliding. It's described as a "cozy mountain home, complete with a six foot electric fence topped with razor wire."

As for his Governor's run it's all about personal freedom, no nanny-state rules, gun rights and keeping taxes extremely low. Continuing:

"And now I might have go up and file for governor. You have one chance where you can vote for 'Super' Dell and lower taxes," he said.

No word if he's planning to run on the Republican or Libertarian ticket?

You can visit Schanze's blog which features extreme sports videos at dellschanze.blogspot.com

Photos of Schanze paragliding in Utah, his computer store, and him being arrested.

by Ron Hart

From Fox News, "Pelosi's Office Sat on Massa Mess?" March 12:

Lots of drama surrounded the allegations against former New York Congressman Eric Massa who is accused of sexually harassing his aides, but these grave charges were not news to some top Democrats.

It turns out that the San Francisco speaker's office got wind of the allegations in October. That's when Massa's chief of staff told Pelosi's office that the former congressman was living with his aides and behaving in ways that made them uncomfortable. But the speaker's office didn't do a thing about it.

Rep. Michele Bachmann quoted in Politico:

"The real story about Massa is that it appears Speaker Pelosi’s office may have known about the sexual harassment between him and his employees as of last October, but they laid on that story... this is what it looks like. It looks like they laid on that story until they couldn’t get Massa’s vote; then, suddenly, these charges got out and this guy was forced to resign. This is how dirty it’s getting."

Eric Massa became the New York Democratic Party’s biggest political embarrassment in weeks. Even in our TMZ-era of politics, Massa lowered the awkwardness threshold. This latest scandal follows on the heels of Gov. David Paterson’s forced step-aside after rumors his office was rife with graft, corruption, drug use and interoffice casual sex. On the positive side, Paterson’s staffers were never late for work.

Remember, Paterson himself followed Eliot Spitzer, who resigned after it was revealed that he was a hooker enthusiast. That bastion of liberal Democrats, New York, which is Obama’s vision for us, is on a roll.

Eric Massa’s bumbling replies to accusations that he groped male staffers, whom he lived with, achieved a CNN first: he made Larry King appear the most lucid one in an interview.

In fairness to Massa (and as he is quick to point out), the alleged groping took place on his 50th birthday. For all you frugal male friends of Massa who don’t know what to get him for his 51st birthday, you can’t go wrong with letting him tickle you for an hour.

Massa also told the media, while dodging the question himself, to “ask his wife if he was gay.” I am no political strategist, but I would imagine after years of marriage she is probably in on this gig. I did some rare research and determined that Eric Massa has fathered two children with his wife: one right after the Burt Reynolds semi-nude centerfold came out in Cosmo magazine, and the other shortly after Scott Brown’s magazine photo appeared in1982. It was then that Massa got interested in politics, with particular attention to polling his constituents.

Per interviews, Massa spent several vividly memorable years “on a ship with 10,000 men.” Massa probably left the Navy after his dream of being a rear admiral was crushed; he learned that it was an actual high-ranking command position.

Nanny “Swamp Boss” Pelosi was slow to react to the Massa situation, citing an ethics investigation. The Democrats have had ongoing “ethics investigations” into both Massa and Charlie “Weekend at Benefactors” Rangel. Pelosi found it hard to act on the ethics investigations, since not a trace of actual ethics has been uncovered.

Maybe Pelosi can use Massa to tickle terrorists for information instead of the method she abhors, water-boarding. It would fit right in to her oh-so cute stance on national defense.

Ron Hart is a southern libertarian humorist and writer living on the northwest coast of Florida. RonaldHart.com