Trump Administration Legalizing Indentured Servitude for Foreign Farm Workers

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

Once upon a time conservatives supported mass immigration, because they wanted cheap labor. Democrats were actually more hawkish on immigration than Republicans in my childhood. The issue was largely a fight over cheap labor vs. good wages. That was largely before Donald Trump, in fact the change started late in George W. Bush’s term. The Republicans adopted hardline views on immigration, and even want to stop legal immigration now in some circles. Of course the United States does need some legal immigration to deal with labor needs, so Trump’s hardline immigration positions are causing serious problems in some labor markets. One of them is agriculture, where the work is frankly hard for the pay and most Americans won’t do it. Since they now lack immigrants and Americans don’t want to do it, we’re getting the worst of every world now.

So now the plan is to quietly let some migrants back into the country to work, but to pay them way less and basically give them less freedom while here. Great.

Nothing like returning to the policies of the Jim Crow South.

Crooksy’s Really Problematic, Antisemitic Endorser

/ Rich Wilkins / 2 Comments

Way back on September 12th, 2025, Congressman Ro Khanna of California endorsed Bob “Crooksy” Brooks for Congress. Crooksy was very proud of himself. He said of Khanna’s endorsement, “My friend (and PA native) Ro Khanna has been a champion for working class people. Grateful to have him on board.” Ro said a bunch of nice things about Crooksy too. None of this is shocking, Ro endorsed Bernie Sanders for President and Bernard endorsed Crooksy on day one. It’s all one little corrupt crew of bros.

I wonder if Crooksy was still proud yesterday. Ro went on a bender of antisemitism and just outright lunacy. He defended left-wing freaks. He defended outright right-wing fascists. It was rather remarkable and stands right up there next to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point NBA basketball game as one of the most amazing feats of human achievement in history. Let’s take a look at Ro’s big day.

Defending Pat Buchanan

Ok, this is amazing by any standard.

Pat Buchanan is a fucking lunatic, pardon my French. First off, he argues World War II. wasn’t necessary and that Winston Churchill caused the war by pledging to defend Poland. He also says the Treaty of Versailles after World War I was too harsh. He thinks that Hitler was actually a pragmatist, at least in 1933. He literally wrote a book outlining all of this stuff. Buchanan once said that the Congress of the United States was under Israeli occupation. Buchanan once had to remove a forum for Shoah deniers from his website. He once wrote a piece for “The American Free Press,” a publication ran by a Holocaust denier. He called AIDS a “retribution” against “homosexuals.” He questioned “Did Hitler Want War?” in an article. The guy said a lot of crazy shit. Look, some bad statements and acts don’t disqualify every last idea you speak for the rest of your life. Was Buchanan occasionally right about singular issues? Sure. The guy also defended Hitler, wanted to basically stop non-white immigration, and trafficked in homophobia. Given all of that, no normal person should feel the need to defend him on a specific instance. Hell, Donald Trump once opposed this guy and called him a “Hitler Lover.” Ro isn’t normal though.

Ro Copies Gretchen Whitmer’s Statement on Michigan Synagogue Attack

This is just embarrassingly bad work.

This is terrible staff work. If it mattered to him though, he would have required actual work.

Ro Expresses Pride in his Antisemitic Friends

When you’re a United States Congressman, sometimes you just let some things go. Not everyone gets a response. A younger staffer at Third Way is probably not someone you should choose to go after.

Now, there’s the whole issue of whether he should have engaged anyway, but this post comes out around the time today of the synagogue attack in Michigan. Necessary? Definitely not. Let’s go deeper though. He defended three specific people. Let’s look at them.

Hasan Piker is an asshole, again, pardon the French. I’m not sure why he got famous, but some people listen to him. Not shocking, people vote for Donald Trump. Not that long ago though, saying you supported Hamas, a terrorist organization that kills Palestinians and hasn’t held an election in Gaza in like 20 years was a deal breaker. Saying the same for Hezbollah, a terrorist organization that occupies Lebanese sovereign territory, was also a dealbreaker. And the Houthis? They’re newer to the public debate, but they’re literally shooting at foreign ships coming into their region. No thanks. As for Graham Platner, how about we just don’t add to that. The guy had a Nazi tattoo for decades, goes on Nazi podcasts, and retweets Nazis. Look, whatever good ideas he may have, he’s a Nazi, and I was always taught that’s bad. As for Mamdani, I’ve made it clear how I feel. He’s probably the least offensive of these three, and he’s still awful. I’m not embracing the Intifada, even if I think Israel’s war in Gaza is awful at this point.

To be clear here, we’re not going to claim that all of Ro Khanna’s nonsense is Crooksy’s responsibility- besides, he doesn’t pay up on his responsibilities. The bigger point here is that a lot of the same people end up showing up in all of this antisemitic bigotry. Ro Khanna, Ruben Gallego, and Bernie Sanders are all endorsers of Graham Platner and his Nazi tattoo in Maine, and they’re all endorsers of Obama-hating Bob “Crooksy” Brooks here in PA-7. Hey, at least Crooksy only takes his mother-in-law’s money, that’s a helluva lot better than getting a Nazi tattoo, right? Once Martin Heinrich joins they can get the whole band together. These folks want to effectively U-Turn the Democratic Party from where it’s been post-Barack Obama and take it to some sort of pre-LBJ version where we “prioritize” the “working class again,” which is really just code word with them for white guys (Kamala won every other “working class” demographic in 2024). They’re readily willing to toss aside Jewish voters, who are probably the second most consistently Democratic voting group in the electorate, to appease voters they can’t appease anyway. I don’t know why anyone would want to follow the strategy of a guy who lost two primaries for President by millions and millions of votes and has passed like three bills in thirty years in the Congress, but here we are. On the dumbest timeline. With the dumbest endorsers, endorsing a guy who pulled his shirt over his face when he was asked about funding Israel at a Lehigh Valley 4 All meeting (the video has since been made private by the group). We’re going to pretend there is some sort of morality here, some sort of strategic vision here, quite frankly some sort of brain waves here. Meanwhile this snake oil salesman is being endorsed by a Congressman defending Pat Buchanan. Great times.

The New Democratic Establishment’s Loser Values

/ Rich Wilkins / 1 Comment

Two things happened yesterday that are only sort of unrelated. Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico endorsed modern Nazi sympathizer Graham Platner for the Senate race in Maine. Look folks, on this, I’m not “vote blue no matter who.” This guy has Nazi tattoos, he is pals with Nazis, was a Blackwater mercenary, and posts horribly racist shit on the internet. All of his behavior screams Nazi. If we nominate this piece of human sludge, we should lose the race. Heinrich isn’t alone though. Ruben Gallego recently endorsed him too. Ro Khanna has also endorsed Mr. Nazi Tattoo. Not to be left behind, Bernard Sanders had to be involved as an endorser. In case you’re wondering, all of them but Heinrich (to my knowledge) have endorsed Bob “Crooksy” Brooks, a man who stiffed his mother-in-law for $55k, said President Obama “sucks,” stated his hate for Colin Kaepernick very loudly, and spouts off fanatical stuff about guns and religion. Kind of fits, right? We went through this before with John Fetterman, and people ignored the obvious. Fetterman was a degenerate nut-job, and now we’re going to arm an army of him in Congress, if these bros have their ways.

Now, as I said, there was a second thing that happened. Last night Muhammad “Sef” Casim lost a special election for the Prince William County Supervisor race in the Woodbridge, VA district. Dems had held it for 38 years. “Sef” was a problematic candidate, not unlike Platner. He says really racist shit. Casim was also an outright antisemite. Republican Jeannie LeCroix beat him by 6% and almost 20% wrote in another candidate. After winning a primary running as a far left nut, Casim blew a lay up race, failing to even reach 40%. Much like Mamdani, the general electorate was less impressed with his left-wing populism and looked for literally any other option but to vote for this bigot. Northern Virginia, much like New York City, is very Democratic. Once you got beyond the primary, most Democrats don’t want this kind of vile shit.

The “new” Democratic Establishment, built of consultants and operatives from the Bernie and Fetterman world, are building a Democratic establishment that will cement MAGA control of the White House for years to come. It’s a road to nowhere. Here in PA-7 they are promising jobs to young candidates and electeds who endorse them, and painting a rosy picture of a future that looks very much like a Bernie rally. It’s fools gold. Bernie Sanders lost cleanly twice when he ran for President, because he couldn’t build a coalition of people who were bought in enough to vote for him against the “boring old” establishment figures that he and Mr. Nazi Tattoo want to create. Regular, real people who live in this country don’t want this shit. Most people want to be normal. Our party does not want a revolution:

Analysis of the data suggests the Democratic coalition can be broken into three distinct blocs. Moderates—voters who identify as moderate Democrats, independents, or anti-Trump Republicans—account for 47 percent. They are demographically diverse, older on average, and the most electorally flexible—only 45 percent say they have never voted for a non-Democratic presidential candidate.

A second bloc, Progressive Liberals, make up 37 percent. They are reliably left-leaning, whiter than the other blocs, and disproportionately concentrated in suburbs and on the West Coast.

Last comes the Woke Fringe—voters who identify as democratic socialists or Communist. These add up to just 11 percent of the coalition. The Woke Fringe is the youngest of the three groups, the most conspiratorial, the most likely to report poor mental health, and—not incidentally—the most likely to spend excessive sums of time on the internet. Notably, previous quantitative and qualitative Manhattan Institute research on the GOP coalition shows that the youngest and most hyper-online Republicans also skew hardest toward ideological wackiness.

So why the hell are we listening to a bunch of lefty white guys who want to expel Jews and welcome Chairman Mao to the party? It’s somewhat the fault of donors. It’s somewhat the fault of podcasters. It’s largely the fault of “the bubble children” in DC that manage the interest groups in between their stays at the party committees. What they are building is a party that isn’t likable. They are building a party that is weird, fake, and harmful in the eyes of most Americans. They’re building a freak show. We need to reject them. A fake “working class hero” movement lead by an 80 something year old that used his campaigns to make money isn’t useful.

The Fields are Set in the Lehigh Valley

/ Rich Wilkins / 1 Comment

Well, petitions are over. We know who is on the ballot now here in the Lehigh Valley. Let’s take a look at what our options are on the ballot.

Governor and Lt. Governor

So, there’s no surprises at all. No gadfly candidates who made the ballot, no freak shows, no party dissidents. Governor Josh Shapiro is the only Democrat for Governor. State Treasurer Stacy Garrity is the only Republican. Lt. Governor Austin Davis is the only Democrat in that race too. Republicans Jason Richey (Allegheny) and John Ventre (Westmoreland) are the only Republicans. I’m voting for Shapiro and Davis. Simply put, Garrity and whichever of these folks wins are simply too dangerous to essential public needs, such as health care, public education, infrastructure, and the environment. I have my disagreements with the Governor’s judgment on several issues, but this isn’t the time to deal with those.

Congress- PA-7

Only four of the gaggle of announced candidates made it to the starting line. Bob “Crooksy” Brooks is a total fraud. Carol Obando-Derstine seems like a solid person and Democrat, I’d have nothing bad to say if she got nominated in this race, and I’d vote for her in November. Ryan Crosswell is a Republican and a union buster. I’m voting for Lamont McClure. I will keep this as simple as can be. In eight years as County Executive he expanded farmland preservation, kept Gracedale County owned, didn’t cut services to the public, and didn’t raise taxes. In the aftermath of the “Big Beautiful Bullshit Bill,” we’re going to need members in Congress who understand the way cuts to Medicaid, the ACA, infrastructure spending, and all the other government programs that were cut are actually hitting us locally. Additionally, he’s been an advocate against new warehouse proliferation and for passenger rail from Amtrak. I think we have two pretty good candidates, I am just going to vote for him.

State Senate- 14th

Only two folks filed. Democratic incumbent Nick Miller and Republican Omy Juriel Maldonado. Nick has done a good job in his first term. While not making waves, he’s made his way into Democratic leadership and is delivering for the people of Valley. I don’t have a vote in this district, but I’m for Nick Miller.

16th

So only three of the four Democrats made it to the starting line. Richlandtown Mayor Wayne Codner, Pennridge School Board Member Bradley D. Merkl-Gump, and Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley. The Bucks Dems tried to herd everyone into backing Merkl-Gump, whom I’m guessing will be the best fundraiser in this race. Pinsley has the name recognition here from losing in 2022 by 9%. Codner is relatively unknown, but his profile as a veteran, a Black man, and the Mayor of a very red town is pretty impressive. I think if we’re truly trying to win this seat and nominate an authentic candidate, Codner is the strongest to me. But I think we should let them all campaign a bit and see.

18th

Senator Lisa Boscola has a challenger from both sides. My guess is that will mean she did something right to Lehigh Valley voters. Apparently losing for the State House by over 50% to Bob Freeman has not soured Taiba Sultana on the idea of this quixotic primary on the Democratic side. I don’t know who tells her this is a good idea, but she’s going to lose her home precinct in Easton in this race. If Taiba wanted to run a primary where she could get 20% and be competitive while ranting about ICE and genocide, she should have run for Congress. This is a sideshow. Republican Scott Janney is their sacrificial lamb this time, and he’ll do way better than Taiba. But he’ll lose by at least 15%. I’m for Lisa Boscola. Again, she’s delivering the things our local governments are asking for. You may wish she was more of a leftist, but be honest with yourself, then she’d lose. That’s not who lives in Northampton County.

State House- 137th

Since I live in this seat, I’ll start here. County Councilman Jeff Warren is challenging Joe Emrick. I’m voting for Jeff Warren. Simply put, Joe Emrick is not there for our schools, our seniors, our infrastructure, or our environment. He’s a no vote on legalizing recreational cannabis, thereby denying our students and seniors the tax dollars that are going across the river into Phillipsburg, NJ, from our customers. He’s an ex-teacher who really doesn’t want to solve property taxes or fund the schools, so the worst of all worlds. Simply put, he’s a road block.

131st

Milou who? Ryan’s Mommy is back, running to be the self-proclaimed most Conservative state elected in the Lehigh Valley. Meriam Sabih is running against her. Look, by default I’m for Meriam Sabih. With that said, I thought her last campaign was very energetic, practical, and impressive. She ran as a serious person with thought out policies, and that makes her better than Milou Mackenzie.

135th

Steve Samuelson is being challenged by Republican Joseph Poplawski. I know nothing about this guy, other than he will lose in the general. I’m with Steve Samuelson.

136th

Bob Freeman is being challenged by… oh, it doesn’t matter what his name is. Bob is the best legislator in our region, and at least to me, in the state. In 40 years the guy has never, not once, embarrassed us in his service. I’m with Bob Freeman.

138th

Up in the northern tier of Northampton County, Jared Bitting is challenging Ann Flood for this seat. This is really tough terrain for a Democrat, but I’m for Jared Bitting.

183rd

Zack Mako is being opposed by Deirdre Kamber. I don’t know her at all. Friends of mine say very nice things about her. I’m for her I think, but let’s see her campaign.

132nd

Mike Schlossberg is being opposed by Republican Caren Lowrey. I know nothing about her. Mike might make some poor endorsements, but Mike is a very, very good state representative. For every reason I stated that we need to re-elect the Governor, Senator Miller, and Senator Boscola, and every reason I stated we need to remove Joe Emrick, we need Mike re-elected to the House. As Whip, he is one of those ultimately responsible for moving progress forward.

134th

Pete Schweyer is being opposed by Miriam Alicia Maldonado. Again, I know nothing about her. Basically everything I wrote about Mike basically applies here too.

187th

After a two year break, Gary Day is back roaming the halls of the State Capitol aimlessly. Bless his heart. He’s being challenged by two Democrats, Rachel Guynn-Cuevas and Geoffrey Whitcomb. I know nothing about either right now.

22nd

Fresh off of her win, Ana Tiburcio is being challenged from all sides. Ce-Ce Gerlach is challenging her on the Democratic side. Bob Smith must not have lost bad enough in the special election, because him and his 200 and some votes (I think?) are back. I’m for Ce-Ce Gerlach. Look, I watched that debate. I may think Ce-Ce is further to the left than I like, but she knows the issues and she’s going to vote on the right side because those are her values, not because other legislators tell her what to think on the issue. Allentown can do better, and it should.

NOTE- I somehow left Jeanne McNeill out of here. Feel free to laugh at me, I’ve literally done work for her. She’s a great Representative and deserves another term.