Looks like princess Caroline wasn’t given the royal treatment during her upstate pandering yesterday.

Caroline Kennedy took a page from Hillary Clinton’s playbook and began an upstate listening tour On Wednesday.

The road trip included stops in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo to help convince Gov. David Paterson and voters she’s the one to replace Clinton in the U.S. Senate.

But it was a tough crowd.

The black SUV pulled up to Syracuse city hall Wednesday morning. It was stop one on Kennedy’s upstate tour. 

But after meeting with Mayor Matt Driscoll, she ran into a buzz saw — angry reporters who wanted her to do more talking and less listening.

“But you’ve never held public office so what experience [do you have]?” one reporter asked.

Actually, she did speak briefly in Syracuse.

“I wanted to come upstate and meet with Mayor Driscoll and others to tell them about my experience and also learn more about how Washington can help these communities,” Kennedy said.

Her quick remarks fell flat. Reporters seemed to feel brushed off and they pursued her out.

“You’re not going to answer questions at all?” one asked.

“Where you headed next?” another demanded.

To the car.

Perhaps Caroline will realize she can do a lot for public image by staying out of politics and we can put this silliness behind us.

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I reported on the rumor last week… the latest is still somewhat ambiguous:

The rumor that State Senator Jim Alesi, who just won his seventh term, will desert the Republicans to join a new Democratic majority in the state senate remains a rumor.

But not one Alesi is eager to tamp down. Calls to his Rochester office Friday and this morning seeking a comment on the rumor were not returned.

Out of a majority for the first time in 40 years, there’s suddenly an incentive for Republicans senators to think about changing teams. The reward for the first one to pledge loyalty to a Democratic leader — particularly to Senator Malcolm Smith, who has not yet secured his status as the leader of the Majority Conference ahead of a January vote - could be considerable: they could be looked upon favorably with choice committee assignments or leadership stipends known as lulus. 

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Perhaps more disturbing than Barack Obama’s connections to terrorist Bill Ayers and his lying about it is the fact that nearly 4000 so-called educators have signed a statement in support of Bill Ayers.

The statement, amongst other ridiculous things, says the following:

The current characterizations of Professor Ayers—“unrepentant terrorist,” “lunatic leftist”—are unrecognizable to those who know or work with him. It’s true that Professor Ayers participated passionately in the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s, as did hundreds of thousands of Americans. His participation in political activity 40 years ago is history; what is most relevant now is his continued engagement in progressive causes, and his exemplary contribution—including publishing 16 books— to the field of education.

So, according to these educators, bombing the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon is no different from non-violent and peaceful protest. These educators have voiced their support for a man who belonged to a domestic terrorist group that not only carried out bombings. but planned Nazi-esque re-education camps and genocide had they succeeded in taking over the government.

So which Western New York professors signed their names in support of Bill Ayers? I cross checked this  list of WNY colleges and universities with the pro-Ayers signatories. A large number of those who signed did not specify which school they teach at, so the list below only includes those who indicated their school.

Alfred University (2)

1. Thomas V. Peterson
2. Emrys Westacott

Brockport SUNY (2)

1. Sue Novinger
2. Marsha Ducey

Canisius College (0)

Daemen College (2)

1. Laura Watts Sommer
2. Christian Brandjes

D’Youville College (0)

Empire State College (3)

1. Nancy Berggren
2. Jill Hamberg
3. Alan Mandell

Erie Community College (0)

Fredonia State College (4)

1. Mira Tetkowski Berkley
2. Amy Chavez
3. Clara Beier
4. Kathleen Magiera

Genesee Community College (0)

Hilbert College (0)

Houghton College (1)

1. Mark LaCelle-Peterson

ITT Technical Institute (0)

Jamestown Business College (0)

Jamestown Community College (0)

Medialle College (0)

Nazareth College - Rochester (0)

Niagara County Community College (0)

Niagara University (1)

1. Carmen Montgomery

Rochester Institute of Technology (1)

1. Jean A. Douthwright Ph.D.

St. Bonaventure University (0)

State University of New York at Buffalo (10)

1. Lee Albert
2. P. Rudy Mattai
3. Susan Vivian Mangold
4. Bruce Jackson
5. Katherine Hart LaVail
6. George A. Barnett
7. Jim Holstun
8. Nathan J. Claes
9. James G. Milles
10. Fenice B. Boyd

State University of New York at Geneseo (2)

1. Leigh M. O’Brien, D. Ed.
2. David A. Granger

Trocaire College (0)

University of Rochester (0)

Villa Maria College (0)

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I just got a campaign email from Alice Kryzan. I found the following part of it interesting:

On Monday, Jon Powers and I will be hitting the pavement and talking to voters in Rochester, Geneseo, Batavia and Williamsville about importance of this election to the working families of Western New York.

Oh really? Is Jon Powers in town campaigning with Alice? I thought he moved to Virginia for a job? It must be tough starting a new job in Virginia when you are campaigning in Western New York.

If Jon Powers really did move to Virginia for a job (which is the Kryzan campaign’s whole case for giving her the Working Families Party line) then what is he doing in Western New York? Has he really moved yet? Shouldn’t he be in Virginia, starting that new job or unpacking his belongings?

Perhaps he is only in Virginia in his mind.

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Looks like Rochester is the latest city to waste money on a program that will do nothing to reduce gun related crime.

Rochester police say they collected 133 guns and more than 300 rounds of ammunition over the weekend during a “no questions asked” gun drop-off.

Police spokeswoman Officer Deidre Taccone says each person who turned in one or more shotguns or long rifles received $50 Wegmans grocery-store gift cards, while those who turned in handguns, assault rifles or fully automatic weapons received $100 gift cards.

Police say they collected 159 guns during a similar drop-off program last month.

The gun buyback program in Boston, MA didn’t work, I don’t understand why cities continue to hold similar programs when they do nothing to decrease gun related crimes.

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