I went down to Blues Alley last night to see my favorite jazz artist, Arturo Sandoval. Arturo is one of the greatest musicians alive and has an amazing life story. I mean, how many people can say that Dizzy Gillespie helped them escape from communist Cuba? (Check out the movie about his life starring Andy Garcia: For Love or Country)

Arturo is a Twitter user and as usual social media played a role in my adventures. Enter Jimmie Bise of The Sundries Shack and The Delivery fame.

@sandovalarturo1 Sir, my friend @anthropocon (a huge fan) is at your DC show tonight. If you have time, would you say hello to him after?

— Jimmie (@jimmiebjr) May 17, 2013

@jimmiebjr @anthropocon Absolutely Just come up the dressing room after showIt’ll be my pleasure

— Arturo Sandoval (@sandovalarturo1) May 17, 2013

@sandovalarturo1 Thank you! I’ll have him bring this tweet. You’ll make his day. @anthropocon

— Jimmie (@jimmiebjr) May 17, 2013

Awesome, right? Except for one thing: being a polite music lover, I had turned off my phone for the show and didn’t see this exchange (or the text message Jimmie sent me about it) until after I was already out on the street and people were filing in for the second show.

@sandovalarturo1 @jimmiebjr Argh! I had my phone turned off for the show and didn’t see this until after we left!

— Jim J (@anthropocon) May 18, 2013

@sandovalarturo1 It was an excellent show as always though. I was right in front of Ed. You guys are all amazing players. @jimmiebjr

— Jim J (@anthropocon) May 18, 2013

@anthropocon @jimmiebjr thank u very much

— Arturo Sandoval (@sandovalarturo1) May 18, 2013

Social media is so cool.

Buy Arturo’s new album Dear Diz. Go see him play when he comes to your town. You won’t regret it. He’s still got two more nights at Blues Alley this time so if you’re near DC see if you can still get tickets. A great performer and a really good guy. Support live jazz.

If you can’t do any of that at least check him out on YouTube.

This sort of attitude seems typical for members of the Maryland Democrat machine, whether it’s a county executive building a school or a U.S. Senator forcing Obamacare down people’s throats. Delegate Justin Ready apparently concurs.

@anthropocon That pretty much sums up #MDDems attitude. Need voters to rise up & change that & #GOP candidates to show that they’ll listen

— Justin Ready (@JustinReady) April 28, 2013

In the run up to the party convention, Wafer cast a lot of online aspersions against bloggers (acting as the party’s “Pit Yorkie“ ), accusing them of posting false information and the like. When asked to provide specific examples though he failed to deliver. To me he just appeared to be annoyed that rank and file Republicans have a forum to discuss why they are dissatisfied with the dysfunctional Maryland GOP.

During the campaign, Diana Waterman talked about reaching out to new media and conservative groups in the state. Immediately thereafter the party issued rules denying bloggers media credentials to cover the party convention. Now less than a day after the election, the party secretary is continuing his anti-new media rants. Alienating the only ideologically friendly media in the state is not a wise move.

In a state party that got crushed in the 2012 elections and has consistently failed to even slow down the Democrat machine, no one deserves to be so cocksure about narrowly winning a three-way internal election. The ship is still sinking. The crew shouldn’t be celebrating.

The new party chair should stick to her promises about “campaigning in the  twenty first century.” A good first step would be to rein in the arrogant rhetoric of old fossils like John Wafer.

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Tune in to a special RedMaryland Radio broadcast about the MD GOP convention and John Wafer’s genius new media outreach strategy.

[As always, full disclosure:  I am supporting Greg Kline for MD GOP chairman and he has my official endorsement for whatever that is worth. One reason is that Greg, having helped found a successful blog and internet radio network, understands that new media is important in winning political campaigns.]

Interim Chair Diana Waterman seemed to have bought into the notion herself with her April 15 email entitled “Campaigning in the 21st Century.” The email extolled the virtues of digital technology and social media. That this mailing came out after Greg Kline began emphasizing the need for new media outreach made it seem like this was coming from a defensive position, but as I’ve stated before, I’m not a party insider, this really could be something Waterman is passionate about. I don’t really know, but I am admittedly a cynic.

In the last few weeks, the Growth and Opportunity Project from the Republican National Committee made some very sobering recommendations. According to the report, “We also need to communicate with young voters where they get their information. We can’t use old communication tools for young voters. Technology is second nature to young voters.”

Technology and grassroots organization go hand-in-hand. There are nearly 1.5 million voters in Maryland between the ages of 18 and 40 who should not be ignored. I believe this effort to broaden our efforts will lead to a group of younger volunteers, activists, and candidates. This means the Maryland Republican Party must improve MDGOP social media and grow our audience. We should maximize the use of Facebook, Twitter, Vine, YouTube, and other social media outlets to spread the Republican message to our active online communities.

However, as the MD GOP prepares for it’s convention this weekend, this article showed up in the Baltimore Sun.

MD GOP lays down the law on bloggers

The article includes the text of the the MD GOP’s rules for obtaining media credentials to cover the convention including the following:

In order to attend MARYLAND REPUBLICAN PARTY’s meeting and events, or obtain free copies of publications as a journalist, you must be a credentialed member of the media.

MARYLAND REPUBLICAN PARTY retains the right to grant media passes to print journalist (newspapers, magazine), broadcast journalism (radio or television), wire and news services for redistribution to other news organizations, or online new services (electronic dissemination rather than conventional print and broadcast distribution).

MARYLAND REPUBLICAN PARTY will recognize journalists who have obtained credentials from a capitol press corps, official press organization or the U.S. Congress.

MARYLAND REPUBLICAN PARTY will not allow journalists to register as “media” for the purpose of writing a personal online blog, or for persons whose news outlet is funded by a corporation; trade association; think-tank; public relations or marketing company/firm; individual; political candidate/party; or activist/lobbying organization. These individuals may still attend MARYLAND REPUBLICAN PARTY’s meetings, but must register as an association, lobbying group or individual and pay the corresponding registration fees.

It seems curious that an organization that struggles to get media attention in a Democratic-dominated state would try to limit coverage in any way, but, hey, those bloggers are in some cases renegade Republicans who have the temerity to think the party could be run a bit better.

We have an important decision to make. During next Saturday’s MDGOP Spring Convention, the Party will be selecting a new Chairman. I believe the best choice to turn this Party around and put us on a path to future electoral successes is Greg Kline. Attached is the link to Greg’s Facebook page Greg Kline for MD GOP Chair.

Greg’s plan for Maryland is detailed, visionary, strategic and avoids repeating the mistakes of the past. Greg will not forfeit any election, will cede no ground and will create an environment where all candidates and potential candidates will find a welcome home in our state GOP.

Be sure to read Greg’s detailed plan for jumpstarting the moribund Maryland GOP.

Getting more Hollywood exposure certainly wouldn’t hurt Marty Owe’Malley’s presidential ambitions, therefore:

Maryland triples film tax incentive to woo Hollywood production

Maryland’s House of Delegates passed the bill increasing the film tax credit program from $7.5 million for fiscal year 2014 to $25 million. The bill only awaits Gov. Martin O’Malley‘s signature, he reportedly could sign as early as Tuesday. The bill intends to attract out-of-state production to Maryland and extends the program for another two years. The current program was to expire in July of this year.

As you might expect not every delegate was in favor of this.

“Once the film production is finished, they leave the state and there’s no lasting benefit from this tax credit,” said Del. Mark Fisher, R-Calvert County. “A tax credit is when you take a suitcase around to Maryland taxpayers … and they all have to put money in it. … And then the governor gets to decide who gets that cash.”

There was also some crony love for beltway bandit Lockheed Martin in this latest general assembly session. (Maybe LM was hinting about a move to Virginia?)

Report: House Passes Lockheed Hotel Tax Exemption Bill

If the measure is approved, Lockheed would be exempted from about $450,000 a year in taxes, The Washington Post reported.

The version of the legislation that passed the Senate last month dropped language that would have required Montgomery County to pay Lockheed a $1.8 million refund, Maryland Juice reported.

The bill would apply to Maryland companies that operate lodging facilities used only to support training or conference centers – a description Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Montgomery) said currently applied only to Lockheed Martin, The Post reported.

When are we going to have some grown up leadership in Maryland to make this state friendly for all businesses, not just the well connected? Central planning doesn’t even work when the central planners are smart. It certainly isn’t going to work here in Maryland.

Did last summer’s heat, Hurricane Sandy, or the derecho have you thinking about climate change and its impacts on the world around you?  Do you see news articles in your local paper about climate change and wonder about the science behind them?  Do you wonder how to teach such a complex topic and what our choices are to solve this problem?

The “MADE CLEAR” (Maryland Delaware Climate Education Assessment and Research) Climate Academy will allow teachers to “explore the science of climate change through activities, inquiry, and small group work on curriculum.” Oh boy.

No word on whether Al Gore’s alarmist screeds will be part of the program.

If you have kids in public school in Maryland, you may want to seek more information on what this is all about before they start asking you why you hate the polar bears.

Full disclosure, I hated the TPP video. My first online reaction to it was to say it was a “kernel of a good idea wrapped in layer upon layer of suck.” I have no animosity toward TPP. I consider myself a Tea Party guy. I just didn’t like what they did with that video artistically. It was in a word “cheesy.” I love stories of dystopian futures. I hate to see them done badly. (Ask me what I think about NBC’s “Revolution” sometime.)

I’ve worked with Howe on video projects and I happened to be sitting next to him in the media filing center at CPAC during one of the umpteen zillion times the TPP video was played on the big screen. Without really needing to, I asked him, “What do you think of that?” Not surprisingly his one word response was “Horrible.” He was not alone in offering that opinion.

Today the controversy over the critique and it’s venue has really gone too far and there are now ridiculous suggestions that there is some sort of conspiracy involved. Apparently the people at the once great Breitbart.com now want you to believe Ben Howe has sinister ulterior motives for writing about THAT particular crappy piece of conservative art instead of all the other crappy pieces of conservative art available to choose from. This is even more ridiculous than Nolte’s earlier “come at me, bro” piece.

I mean, seriously.

The site that took down ACORN and Anthony Weiner is now angling to take down a guy who posted a review of a bad video on a site they don’t like? John Nolte is even reveling in it as if he’s doing work of real significance by doing so.

It’s just sad. The “media” is one blogger /video entrepreneur and the “fledgling con-artist movement” is a national organization with a large enough mountain of cash to have it’s cheesy video played ad nauseum at CPAC. It’s embarrassing. I’ve often enjoyed reading Nolte’s posts in the past. This lunacy truly blindsided me.

I didn’t know Andrew Breitbart personally. I only had the pleasure of meeting him briefly a couple of times. He did inspire me though. I find it difficult to imagine the man–who told us to engage the pop culture–endorsing the nonsense being published under his name this week.

While the Maryland Democrat machine in Annapolis was conspiring to violate citizens’ second amendment rights in the name of “reducing violence,” one Maryland Democrat was trying to incite some. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) – the self-proclaimed “tax tax, spend spend” Democrat – was 3000 miles away from his state and district goading union workers into “raising hell” in the streets over the sequestration cuts President Obama demanded.

Hoyer told Bremerton naval shipyard union bosses to “get mad.”

“My message to all of you is be angry at Congress, the people who are creating the policy,” Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer said of across-the-board federal budget cuts known as sequestration. “You ought to raise hell. You ought to be out on the streets.”

Imagine the bed wetting that would be occurring on MSNBC right now if, say, Michelle Bachman (R-MN) had said the same words to a Tea Party group. The double standard is obvious to everyone and anyone with a brain knows the majority of the media is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democrat party. They will let Hoyer slide even though stoking angry union mobs is not a simple metaphor in Obama’s America.

Hoyer is certainly aware of what happens when union thugs get angry and raise hell in the streets.

• September 2010: AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka praises Nancy Pelosi for taking Obamacare and driving “it down the Republicans’ throats and out their backsides.”
• August 2011: Striking Communications Workers of America declare “open season” on Verizon. Dozens of cases of sabotaged cable lines are reported.
• September 2011: ILWU bosses lead a “Days of Rage” protest at Port of Longview, Wash., taking a half-dozen guards hostage, sabotaging railroad cars, dumping grain, smashing windows, cutting brake lines, threatening a local TV station and blocking trains in violation of a judicial restraining order.
• September 2011: Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa screams: “President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let’s take these son of bitches out…”

And let’s not forget Fox News’ Stephen Crowder getting punched in the face by a union thug in Michigan. For more see Michelle Malkin’s TownHall.com column from December 12, 2012.

Astonishingly, Hoyer then had the gall to complain about the “new style” in Washington DC:

“The new style is to incite, inflame the public to have enmity to the other side,” he said. “When you incite one segment against the other, you should not be surprised you’ve got a polarized country.”

Hello, pot? This is Kettle…