Being his own man

Mike Diven: Being his own man - PittsburghLIVE.com: "Diven's critics will say the switch is about opportunism and ambition.

Not quite. Diven gave a hint what it's about last week.

First the headline. Bing his own man. Well, I'm all in favor of boys growing up to be men. I'm also in favor of people being themselves and not morphing into your manhood or being someone else's man. Slave trades stink.

But Diven ran away from one party and figured out he couldn't stay on his own as an independent and ran himself into the cozy confines of another party. Diven ran from a straw house to one built with sticks much like the little pig did when the big bad wolf came huffing and puffing.

If he was his own man, he'd handle the thug on his own turf.

Brad also misses the point when it comes to generous, overboard hype. Diven can give a "HINT" at a point and have it turn up in some manifesto.

Diven's career has been like a string of pearls -- all hinted together. Hints are not hard hitting to me.

Finally, being his own man is really not the goal that one should aspire to in the represenative form. He was elected.

As Diven was ejected by the dems, he ran away from accountability. And Diven ran to exploit an opportunity.

If Wagner's seat wasn't open, Diven would still be a Dem.

Diven could and should switch to the R's side and not run for the Senate.

Lost his phone lines

Brookline Democrat Diven switches to GOP: "Harrisburg Bureau chief Tom Barnes can be reached at tbarnes@post-gazette.com or 1-717-787-4254.)

Note to Tom Barnes of the PG: Please make a mention of the one who is IN the race. Duty calls. Friends, please give Tom Barnes a call and ask him to be an objective reporter and always mention all the participants in the race when talking about the 42nd race. Barnes (with the PG) has an message machine at: 717-787-4254.

To reach Diven, now that his phone lines were cut off and he didn't make other avenues available, use his cell phone: 412-418-6691.

To reach me, Mark Rauterkus, use my cell phone too: 412-298-3432.

County Council's phone, for good measure, so as to leave a message for Wayne F, 412-350-6490.

Listing the numbers is healthy as we have a lot to talk about in order to get this city and region healthy.

What's Jayson's phone contact? Is there a political office with a phone for the row office guy too?