I struggle with this every day- am I still supporting the same party I have grown up supporting. The answer is yes, from the standpoint that Democrats are still the party protecting labor unions, the environment, access to health care, protection of the environment, and Civil Rights, to name some things. That doesn’t mean it’s the same party, and I think the image above nails how it’s changed. Did we support Native Americans in 2012? Yes. But what the hell is this? Rather than being for concrete things that help people, we’re now very into virtue signaling and appeasing activists and organizations. People like Graham Platner, Bob Brooks, AOC, Bernie Sanders, John Fetterman, and even Zohran Mamdani, may marginally agree with some parts of the Democratic platform, but they want a more extreme version that represents something totally different than Obama or Bill Clinton’s America. I prefer Obama and Clinton to this. So did America.
Back in the Spring, the PA House of Representatives passed House Bill 1200. It passed on a 102-101, party line vote. The PA Senate Law and Justice Committee then voted the bill down 3-7, with one member absent. Reportedly there is a new bill though that might just pass. Senate Chairman Daniel Laughlin is reportedly on board and has the support of all four Democrats on his committee. Reportedly there is a mirror bill sitting in the House that has bi-partisan sponsorship. If Senator Laughlin’s bill moves out of the committee and makes it to the State Senate floor, there is at least a decent chance that it will pass there. Then the House could consider the mirror bill and possibly advance this to either the Governor’s desk or a conference committee to iron out any differences.
An Act providing for the regulation and treatment of cannabis, for exemption from criminal or civil penalties, for effect on cannabis convictions and expungements and for membership and duties of the Liquor Control Board; establishing Pennsylvania Cannabis Stores; providing for social and economic equity, for license, permit or other authorization, for packaging, labeling, advertising and testing, for recordkeeping and inspection, for prohibitions and penalties and for tax and tax administration; establishing the Cannabis Revenue Fund, the Communities Reimagined and Reinvestment Restricted Account and the Substance Use Disorder Prevention, Treatment and Education Restricted Account; providing for the issuance of bonds; imposing duties on the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Revenue; and making repeals.
We are long, long past time to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana. Everyone from high school kids to retirees uses marijuana. New Jersey and New York legalized it and have stores literally sitting on our borders. Our citizens are going into their states and buying marijuana, and the tax dollars on the sale are going to their public education systems, to help their senior citizens, and to replace their roads and bridges. We should be getting a piece of that pie for ourselves.
Reportedly, Mike Tyson is out in Harrisburg lobbying the State Senate for the bill. It could pass the State Senate as soon as this week. Governor Shapiro has been supportive of legalization and the things we could do with that money. It’s time for Harrisburg to act.
Alright, we’re getting close to halfway. Some teams have seven games, some have eight. Do I believe in my own frankings yet? No. However, Indy and Green Bay have been the best so far, albeit I’m far from convinced. I think our eventual Super Bowl Champion is somewhere between three and twelve. With that said, no one believes in you until you do it.
How bad is the NFC East? Seriously, Dallas are frauds. Washington, well that’s just unfortunate. New York? Meh, their most exciting guy is done now. The Eagles can start building up some room on these teams now. They aren’t good.
Ok, I felt like torturing myself above with the game 1 NLDS box score. That’s about the extent of this week’s news. Oh, and I guess I’m basically making my prediction for the World Series, as the series is tied 1-1, and it should be over by this time next week.
I hate it, but the Dodgers are going to repeat. Whether it was wisdom or luck that they kept three of their top four arms all relatively fresh for the postseason, it doesn’t matter. It worked. Their starting pitching, and the starters they moved into the bullpen, are going to pitch them to another World Series. They played it perfectly and brilliantly. This is a really good Blue Jays team, but they are now going to rely on two formerly really good pitchers who have a lot of mileage on their arms, against a red-hot Glasnow and Ohtani. This is the point in the series where the Dodgers take the advantage, and eventually win.
I’ve been around long enough to remember the Bush Republican Party. It was an awful institution, an institution that ruined our standing in the world with their post-9/11 foreign policy, created permanent deficits with their tax cuts, wars, and unfunded mandates, wrecked public education, put the architects of repealing Roe v. Wade on the bench, ran a Presidential campaign in 2004 based on gay baiting and homophobia, weakened environmental laws, and deregulated housing and Wall Street to the point of an economic collapse in 2008. In short, the reason I am a Democrat today is that the Bush Republican Party was an incredibly damaging group of people and was full of completely repugnant people, from Dennis Hastert to Dick Cheney. We should not opine the moral superiority of “those good ole’ days.” There was nothing good about them.
What followed the Bush Republican Party was not an improvement. Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, and the rise of people like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul was not some return of moral leadership to the Party of Lincoln. Those folks gave rise to Trumpism, and Trump has been the revolution. Our government is largely no longer functional, and that’s what many folks who supported him want. “Norms” are no longer normal, there is no discussion of common ground. The current pathway is simply a regression to the desired conservative mean, a natural outcome of the algorithm billionaires and conservative culture warriors wanted. The destruction of this moment cannot be understated.
The problem of course is that as dumb as Trump truly is, there was a decent argument that a 20th century government and political culture was no longer working for America. The large, bulky government we had put together after World War II, and it’s technocratic wonkiness, had become a hinderance to the desires of the public. Our society was not, and by the way is still not, meeting our needs.
I won’t draw a comparison between the party of Obama/Clinton/Biden and the Bush GOP, because let’s be honest, they gave us things like Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, and an infrastructure bill. If you want to argue they didn’t go far enough, fine, but they were good things. However, the Democratic Party had become the defenders of systems and institutions that were not, and are not, popular. We were arguing the economy was fine because of market growth and job numbers, while housing and costs in general were rising. We were arguing that Israel was right to attack Hamas, because they were, but were giving ourselves no room to criticize Netanyahu’s incompetence and total disinterest in getting to a sustainable outcome, even as he criticized and attacked us. We were right to bail out Wall Street, the auto industry, and the health care industry after 2008, but also not only didn’t make them pay for their bad choices, we sort of got stuck defending why America “needed” them. Basically, we got stuck keeping our systems working, because it was the best thing for society, and then also got stuck defending the institutions on which we had always been the only check. We started to look like the kids serving as hall monitors in high school, the wet blankets.
The correct response to this is not to start yielding to anti-semitism and white men with Nazi tattoos, that much I know. Globalizing the Intifada is still a very, very bad idea, even if you think Netanyahu is an abject criminal. Sure, Democrats should never have conceded to the data nerds and embraced a “base only” approach to politics, but the answer to that is not to embrace the very worst human beings one can find. The 2010 Republican Party conceded power to the Tea Party, and within a few years they were embracing Pizza Gate, Charlottesville, chem trail theorists, and “white replacement theory.” So much for Milton Friedman economics and “real politic” foreign policy. They were overrun with an unmanageable caucus in both houses of Congress and a Presidential candidate who was completely self motivated and transactional. What could go wrong? Well, everything. And now it’s the Democrats turn. We are on the verge of accepting anti-semitism, grifters, and crackpot conspiracy theorists. They are defending political violence against Jews. And before you say, it’s just one of them, no it’s the whole Alt-Left movement. As DSA calls murder okay, they organize for Mamdani. That would be Zohran Mamdani, who last year was a part of the uncommitted movement over, yes, Gaza. Up on stage at their DSA rally he had AOC, a proponent of the “defund the police” movement. Seriously. She didn’t just want changes to policing, she wanted it defunded. She meant it too. And then there was Bernie up there with them. Bernie, who ran and lost for President twice, the second time much worse, who never misses a chance to attack Democrats. Not on stage with them was Bernie’s heart throb in Maine, Graham Platner, a loud progressive who also thinks the Democratic Party sucks, and also has Nazi tattoos. Of course, the Alt-Left loves him and thinks they “might have found our Trump.” They also didn’t bring their old buddy John Fetterman around, because he’s sort of problematic right now, but he was Mamdani and Platner before they were.
There are Democratic leaders, from Martin Heinrich to Chris Murphy, maybe to even Hakeem Jeffries and Kathy Hochul, ready to concede to these folks. They are ready to concede the Democratic Party to self avowed socialists, conspiracy theories, and nuts. It’s about to happen here in the Lehigh Valley too. Bernie Sanders has endorsed Bob “Crooksy” Brooks in the 7th Congressional district primary. Just like he did for Fetterman. That would be Crooksy who stiffed his mother-in-law, but lives in a state of denial that people won’t care about stealing $55k, defending political violence, sharing racist memes, and being a religious radical. Of course Bernie is for this, he was for Fetterman too. And like Bernie and Fetterman, Crooksy lectures the Democrats about “not supporting the working class,” which for Crooksy just means they let the Black lady talk to Black people, which he definitely hates. Sadly, it sounds like Governor Shapiro is going to join the PA Dems in conceding the Democratic Party to the most vile, terrible elements of the left for political expediency. This is no profile in courage moment. Our leaders are letting us down. They are allowing anti-semites, conspiracy theorists, and socialists to be our future. This is our Tea Party Moment. We are failing it.
I get that Philly is a drama queen town with our teams. That’s fine. You want to scream and yell at A.J. Brown, and fine, whatever. You’ll love him in a few weeks when he’s cooking.
But really, are we debating Bryce Harper? Yes, we’re at 7 years into his deal. Yes, it’s been 4 years since his last MVP, and 3 years since his NLCS MVP. Sure. I might agree he’s not quite elite anymore. He’s still really good.
Look, a 13 year deal is always ugly at the end. I expect us to get three or four more very good seasons from Bryce Harper. The problem with this team is *not* it’s stars though, even if Harper/Schwarber/Turner struggled a bit in the playoffs.
The Phillies didn’t have Wheeler, or Alvarado for the playoff series. They also didn’t see noticeable jumps forward by Bohm, Stott, or Marsh. Also, Castellanos, who I generally like, wasn’t good. All of that explains losing to a really good Dodgers team more than blaming the guys who are elite. Great pitchers will get out great hitters. It’s baseball. We hit our best series right away this year.
What the hell do you think you’re getting for Bryce Harper? You aren’t moving his money and getting great prospects right now. He’s very good. He’s also owed over $150 million against the luxury tax yet. You won’t get an even trade now. He still makes plenty of money, even if not a crazy number. Hoping he plays more next year and continues at his current per game rate (which is still likely at 33) is the best case scenario for the Phillies. Trading him is a losing proposition. Dave Dombrowski was right to shoot it down. No one should have pushed it to begin with. I mean really, you think Ben Rice is a game changer?
The question hit like a ton of bricks. The person asking me it was one of several people that have been accused of leaking me stuff to put on here. Like usual, the accusations were wrong. There are some people upset about things I find out and print here, things like Governor Shapiro getting ready to endorse the man known as Crooksy or that the State Democratic Party is helping Crooksy’s campaign. The thing is, they don’t deny these things, because they’re true. They just don’t want them talked about. So they want to know who is leaking me the info. They want to stop the leaks. Never mind that they are getting ready to nominate a deadbeat. That’s not the problem for them. They’re ok with that. They’re living in denial.
Look, I’m a political dinosaur at this point. I’ve been around campaigns long enough to remember who managed the Governor’s first campaign and what happened to them. It shouldn’t be a shock that there are a few people who will tell me what the state party is doing, or what the governor is doing, or what Crooksy shot his mouth off about in a room of people he thinks won’t tell. I have friends in this business who literally came to see me at the hospital, but I also have tons of acquaintances, and I know the difference. They’d stick a knife in me if convenient. Apparently the folks around Crooksy and Harrisburg don’t think that happens to them. They don’t get that the calls come from within their own house.
None of this really matters though. The truth is, all I write about Crooksy, or Crosswell, or anyone else, is quite literally things that are verifiable facts. Crosswell doesn’t deny that he was a Republican registrant and primary voter in at least four separate states and districts, or that he worked at a union busting firm, he just claims somehow that he “wasn’t partisan” while he was voting in Trump’s elections, even as he consciously re-registered as a Republican and voted in Republican primaries that featured Trump. Crooksy doesn’t deny that he failed to pay his mother-in-law back one cent of the $55k they had loaned him and his ex-wife for over 15 years, or that he lost twice in court, he just tries to deflect by saying it only was an issue because of a messy divorce. He doesn’t even bother to make up a spin for his racist social media posts or his lax attitude on political violence, or for that matter his belief in school prayer. He knows he posted this stuff. He just hopes you don’t care.
Look, whether it’s a Nazi tattoo in Maine, a Hamas supporter in New York City, a Republican union-buster from Pottsville, or a deadbeat right-winger from Nazareth, I am not going to be okay with crooks, lunatics, liars, and terrible people taking over the Democratic Party in some vain hope of “taking back” young male voters. This stuff is unacceptable. I get that there are staff people in the Harrisburg establishment who don’t want people to get to read about these people and what they did. They hope you never learn about it. I’m not going to oblige them. I’m going to make sure it’s out there for everyone. There are downsides to this, of course. I know that several staff members from Congressman Mackenzie, and many other Republicans also read my blog, and they will use this stuff against these folks. So be it. These are not good people.
I think it goes without saying, voters get to make the last call. If voters don’t care that Crooksy is untrustworthy, if they don’t care about the things he did, so be it. Same for Crosswell. If Democratic Primary voters in Maine don’t care that a self-professed history buff claims he didn’t know he had a Nazi tattoo, when he clearly did, then so be it. As long as they know, because the truth is that they will find out, either from us, or from the other side. You can’t hide it as a candidate.
One of my favorite things the internet does well is bully Ben Shapiro. The jokes about him being unable to make his wife wet are fucking gold. Look, you might say bullying is bad, but I don’t always agree. When you are trying to make some contrarian, bullshit argument for why some 70 year old grandma should have to go get a job, I’m fine with literally everyone bullying you into the ether. Ben Shapiro is another bullshit right-wing millennial white boy that is very impressed with himself. I like that he gets picked on by the internet as a group.
The East Wing of the White House is a good metaphor for American right now. It’s being torn down and torn apart, and it has been for a while. It was frustrating to lay in a hospital bed and watch the Democratic Party implode itself in 2024, and it’s been frustrating as I’ve healed to be sidelined and out of the fight. I’d venture a guess that nobody won more elections in the Lehigh Valley over the last 15 years as a campaign operative than me (there are other good ones), and probably not many won as many as me beyond the Valley’s borders, and I was basically rendered helpless, and forgotten by some. I’m a competitive person, and that plays into the frustration, but the bigger point is that when bad people of all political stripes win elections, people get hurt. Not usually powerful people, but people who can’t afford to get hurt. The shutdowns in Washington and Harrisburg, over genuinely dumb policy positions, are no way to run a society. Ripping health care from tens of millions of people is no way to run a society. Pushing junk public health policy is no way to run a society. But that’s what we’ve got.
So anyway, I joined a federal super pac this week. I’ll say more about it later, but the purpose is to push old fashioned Democratic values, supporting the hard working people who made and make this country great. We’ll take on all enemies, from any political angle, who want to plunge this country into chaos and division.
Last year in Easton, State Representative Bob Freeman beat City Councilwoman Taiba Sultana by such a wide margin that if it were any worse, he’d be winning by numbers on par with Saddam Hussein, Vladimir Putin, and other famous autocratic leaders. For full disclosure, I did work on his campaign, but also, I am not why he won. Bob won by so much because virtually everyone in Easton likes him, and for that matter in the other communities he represents. He’s been effective at legislating, and more importantly he has not one time in his career embarrassed his community. He’s a decent human being in a time when politics lack that.
Sultana’s campaign wasn’t going to be successful, but she probably didn’t help herself making every Easton City Council meeting a referendum on Gaza. Look, neither the State Representative or Easton City Council are for the destruction and death happening in Gaza. It’s a complicated, ugly issue, but they’re not the issue. I guess aiming at the wrong culprit is still her MO though. The Councilwoman wanted to put forward an ordinance protecting undocumented immigrants in Easton. For a variety of reasons, Easton really has no part in enforcing immigration. It’s out of their jurisdiction and they don’t allow their police to really be involved. It’s simply not an issue the Easton City Council can legally do much about.
So instead of the ordinance, the council decided to bring forth Councilman Ruggles’ 2017 resolution supporting the immigrant community in Easton, with additions based on Sultana’s proposal. You know what, I support that. A resolution stating the opinion of the city government, in particular on people being taken into custody without a warrant or any due process, is a good thing. The councilwoman’s proposed additions to the resolution dealt with what should be done with people at the border, which is somewhat of a different question, but even there I’m not saying they couldn’t say that. Of course, once Sultana started squaring off with Councilman Frank Pintabone about the language in the resolution, things went totally off the rails. Pintabone suggested her language watered down the message of the resolution. Then things went nuts:
Pintabone responded by stating the resolution does not offer protection of the federal government even if it calls out issues between the city and federal officials.
Sultana eventually said Pintabone was making such points because “undocumented immigrants cannot vote for you.”
Pintabone described Sultana’s commentary as “great talking points for your next campaign.”
She later said, “you want to make sure you have the vote of all the racists, all the white people.”
Huh? All the white people? all the racists? What in the actual blue hell is that? Yes, there are plenty of white racists in this world. No, not every white person is racist. This is probably more true in Easton than most other places. Easton is a mixed racial community. There are significant White, Black, and Latino populations in the city. There is a history of Asians in the community and particularly a vibrant Lebanese history in the city. Easton’s schools, even in the townships, are pretty well integrated. I know damn well there are some racists in the community. Saying all the white people are racist is insane.
Last I checked, Easton was just over 50% white (in the city, the surrounding townships are whiter). If you think that a group of people that large in your community are sworn racists, why in the hell do you want to represent them? Even better question yet, if you think the majority population in your community are all racists, and you’re the one standing against racism, how do you think you’re actually going to win? I have good friends in the NAACP and other community groups that are like minded, and not one of them would say all the white people in the community are racists. They might say we can do more to fight racism, but they would never make such a blanket statement as this. It’s reckless and it’s dumb politics. It kind of explains why just about 4 out of every 5 voters in the State House race didn’t vote for her. This kind of naked identity based attack is dying a painful death in American politics, and that’s a good thing. Easton deserves better than this.
Apocalypse Vibes 