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Having Fun With MojoHey kids! Mojo here! Geesh, where were all the reporters? There I was in Ripley on the Fourth of July, and nobody seemed to notice! Me and John Unger were both there, although I stayed as far away from him as I could get! Just because President Bush came to Martinsburg, I didn't get any statewide coverage at all! I won't let this happen again! If the President comes back to West Virginia on Independence Day next year, I'm going to find some way to upstage him! I might launch myself on a bottle rocket or something! That would be fun! Better yet, maybe I could launch Unger! That would be funner! 
State Sen. John Unger has been dropped by WEPM as a co-host of the "Panhandle Live" radio program, according to several sources. The move came after Unger announced his candidacy for Congress, but some speculated the station has been hoping to remove him from the air for quite some time. Unger was reportedly not happy with WEPM's decision.Unger often co-hosted the program from his state Senate office in Charleston, where he had broadcasting equipment installed. Unger skipped President Bush's visit in his home district to attend a July 4th celebration in Ripley.
President Bush once again received a warm West Virginia welcome during his fourth Independence Day visit to the state, with even most Democrats expressing their gratitude for more attention from the White House.But some Democrats, led by state Chairman Nick Casey, refused to put aside their partisanship for even a day -- even the Fourth of July -- to go on the attack. Casey and the state Democrat Party bought a full-page in The (Martinsburg) Journal that appeared Wednesday blasting the President and Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, claiming that money spent in Iraq could have been spent to complete roads and other projects in the Eastern Panhandle.But as one observer pointed out, the ad could well have been directed at Gov. Joe Manchin, who sits on hundreds of millions in "rainy day" and "contingency" funds made up of money largely from the Panhandle which could also be used for such projects.Despite the efforts by Casey to inject partisanship into a day clearly not meant for politics, a large and enthusiastic crowd was on hand at the 167th Airlift wing to greet the President. Many Democrats put aside their party loyalty to welcome the Commander-In-Chief, including Mayor George Karos of Martinsburg, Berkeley Springs Mayor Susan Webster, and several Democrat council members and former officeholders.Gov. Joe Manchin skipped the chance to share Fourth of July festitivies with the President, as did state Sen. John Unger, in spite of the fact the Bush visit came in his own Senate district. Republican legislators on hand included Delegates Craig Blair, John Overington, Walter Duke and Jonathan Miller, as well as state Sen. John Yoder.State GOP Chairman Doug McKinney and his wife, Sue, were on hand, as was GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Adams, his wife, Allison, and their daughter.Many other local GOP officeholders were part of the 2,000 in attendance, although the crowd was comprised mainly of military personnel and their families.As McKinney said later, the President is amazingly effective in person when he defends his Iraq policy and talks about the overall War on Terror, as opposed to how his message comes across when filtered through the liberal national media. 
