Author: Rich Wilkins

Rumor Mill- Crooksy Rakes in the Cash, Union Buster Crosswell Fades

/ Rich Wilkins / 2 Comments

The DCCC rumor mill is loud these days. As they try to prop up candidates they like and penalize candidates they don’t, they tell folks things in hope that they put it out there. I’m more than happy to oblige. In PA-7, they want you to back Bob “Crooksy” Brooks, a deadbeat who stiffed his mother-in-law, and will be torn to shreds over it by Ryan Mackenzie and the GOP. The guy is DOA in the general election, and probably wouldn’t be good if he did win, but he makes money for their chosen consultants, who happen to also be Senator Fetterman’s team, and he’s the head of a union. Sure, he’s a bad candidate, but he furthers some folks careers. So they want you to know that “Crooksy” is going to blow away the other four Democrats in fundraising, as this guy did last reporting period. They are telling people that Bob “Crooksy” Brooks will raise $400k in the third quarter.

Crooksy’s number, if he actually reaches it (a month ago they were saying $200k, so read into it what you will), is pretty decent. It’s not shocking though, nor is it a number that makes him a prohibitive favorite. “Crooksy” Brooks hired folks who helped build Bernie Sanders and John Fetterman’s mythological campaigns, and also raised a bunch of money when people believed they were working class heroes. In Fetterman’s case he raised a bunch of money online and basically drowned his primary opponents, before going on to basically vote with the Republican Party in the United States Senate. Crooksy is just their new grift to get paid. With three full quarters of fundraising, and reasonable depreciation built into it after his launch, Crooksy would be on pace to reasonably raise about $1 million for this race. The problem for Crooksy is he starts way behind, and people don’t really like him more once they’re told about him. He’ll need to spend most of his million introducing himself and making people like him, and that’s assuming no one comes in and tells the voters he’s a gun nut racist, who stiffs his mother-in-law, to the cost of a few hundred thousand dollars. He’ll need a lot more.

Then there’s Union-Busting Ryan Crosswell, who was at one point the darling of the Washington types, but then the DCCC got some flack for running a Republican and backed away. The truth is that they’d still be fine with Crosswell as their nominee, but they know they can’t say that out loud, and now they got some static from the district, so they have to pretend they don’t like him. The truth? He’s probably actually better than Crooksy, provided that you don’t care at all what your Congressman actually believes, or if they actually have any grassroots support in the district they aren’t even from, or really if you just don’t care about anything. Since they know Crosswell is a bad look, they have to at least go through the motions of shitting on him. They are putting out there that he will not hit his $300k goal for the third quarter, as donors back away from him as they learn more. If Crooksy wasn’t better for business for the Beltway types, I’d predict him getting this same treatment next quarter.

Then there’s poor Carol Obando-Derstine, an actual Democrat from the Lehigh Valley who doesn’t hate Colin Kaepernick. Sure, Carol’s pretty corporate in her career choices, but she at least has business running in this race. So of course, the Beltway crowd wanted her to drop out, thereby pushing any women candidates out of the race. Then, when she got endorsements from some Latino Groups and Emily’s List, Bernie’s DSA goons made sure to deny her the SEIU endorsement that the local members wanted to give her. Crooksy needed that endorsement, stealing from his mother-in-law wasn’t going to finance this campaign on it’s own! Honestly, this kind of treatment of a former Democratic staffer is a really bad look, but she’s in the way of the fat cats getting paid. The Beltway elites want you to know that her entire campaign staff is fleeing her in droves, and she’s refusing to raise money. They’re predicting she’ll raise “under $100k.” She might. They want you to know that though so you back their chosen candidate though.

Then there’s Lamont McClure, Northampton County’s two-term Executive, who isn’t raising cash fast enough for their liking. To hear these Beltway warlords tell it, McClure might not report any money at all this quarter. Dude can’t even rub together two nickels for heat. What’s the guy even doing in the race? We know he gave himself $200k this quarter, so I assume he’ll raise that much at least. They assume though that the one candidate to win a major local office in this race is dead at this point. In fact, that’s their excuse for why the Governor didn’t tell him to drop out. To date, my math says he’s raised at least $430k for this race, which is less than Crosswell for sure, and maybe Crooksy, but probably enough for him to stay in. Basically though, the Beltway Chieftains want you to know that while local voters, elected officials, and unions always like him, he’s dead.

Then there’s Mark Pinsley. The rumor here is he’s still on Planet Earth. Poor Dude won a couple of elections and these folks act like he doesn’t even exist. They didn’t even take time to shit on him in their rumors. Hell, they didn’t even let lunatic Bernie endorse him, and he’s trying to run like him. I guess they hope he just goes off and runs for State Senate, again.

Part of the reason the Democratic Party loses is voters see right through our astroturf narratives. Republicans put up authentic lunatics, we put up Crooksy. It seems that in the case of PA-7, the Beltway Elites are desperate to find literally anyone to be their candidate besides a Democrat from the Lehigh Valley. I’m sure voters will love that.

Are My Supposed to Feel a Sad for James Comey? #LockHimUp

/ Rich Wilkins / 1 Comment

James Comey might be the dumbest mother fucker in America. He literally influenced the 2016 Election to help Donald Trump win- any other excuse he gives about complying with Congress is silly, he gave them info they already had. His memo about Hillary Clinton was likely the 1,000th cut that bled her dry, and I’m sure he was quite smugly proud after that. Trump took office, realized that he couldn’t trust Comey, and fired his ass. Comey than ran his mouth off about him for a few years. Trump got back into office for a second, non-consecutive term, and fired Comey’s daughter and indicted his ass. Listen, I’m still not a Trump fan, but this is hilarious.

Trump’s read on Comey’s inability to be loyal to anyone but his own ego is a pretty good read. I might have called his efforts to stop illegal surveillance by the Bush Administration admirable, in a silo. Then he sent the famous “Comey memo” to Congress two weeks before the 2016 Election, costing his then-boss, President Obama’s chosen successor the Presidency. Comey likes attention. In both cases he failed to actually achieve anything- the illegal surveillance programs of the Bush Administration continued with Comey’s blessing after he got a White House meeting with President Bush and he never even indicted, much less convicted Clinton of even a minor crime. Since leaving office, Comey wastes no opportunity to write a book or get on TV. Comey’s loyalty is to Comey’s own ego. He did not serve his country well at all in office.

Obviously this is Lord of the Flies level shit, no responsible Republic lets their President order indictments against his enemies and then goes and finds a case to bring. This is basic lawlessness and Pam Bondi is just the latest useless goon to serve as hired help. With all of that said, I guess oh well? James Comey put himself ahead of the country when he plunged us into this mess by helping Donald Trump win in the closing weeks of the 2016 Presidential Election. Given the suffering some people are enduring from that, I’m totally fine that he has to suffer too. In fact, I don’t feel bad when Trump turns on any of these idiots who decided they’d be his personal ass kisser. You created this mess, James Comey. Sure, it’s ridiculous. It was ridiculous when he fired you, or for that matter your daughter, but you caused it. I don’t care, do you?

It’s Time for Governor Shapiro to Figuratively Punch the Pennsylvania Senate in the Face

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

In theory, the law is that the General Assembly shall pass a budget, and the Governor shall sign it by June 30th. That almost never happens cleanly. Usually though, the legislature stays in session and at least pretends they’re working/negotiating. Like you at least have some level of shame when you don’t do your job, right? That’s natural. In 2025, that’s no longer a thing. The State Senate left town in June and just decided to not come back to work ever again, basically.

Now, I’m going to be fair for a second. I actually agreed with them back in May and June- how the hell do you pass a budget when you have no idea how much the Federal Government is going to give you? Between DOGE and the “Big Beautiful Bill” it was fair to say there was too much uncertainty. Based on the lack of actual partisan noise at the time, I think even the House Democratic Majority realized this. It was close to impossible to plan a year’s worth of spending when there was so much chaos. Granted, most of the State Senate Republican Majority were vocal supporters of Trump, so their complaints here are ironic. Just because they were hypocrites didn’t make them wrong though.

That time has passed. Governor Shapiro gave everyone time to figure out what was going on. Republicans passed their “Big Beautiful” pile of shit in Washington. Sure, some things can change at the margins going forward, but not so badly that you don’t move forward. Given that we’re now a quarter of the way into the budget year, the legislature could fund the last nine months with basic certainty. They just won’t.

So here’s the thing, the Governor and local officials of both parties did a nice job across Pennsylvania preventing the pain from hitting the general public. Schools opened, road projects continued, the hospitals received their Medicaid money, and so on. Counties continued providing services. You can only bleed so much blood from a stone. If you only have $100, all the magic tricks in the world don’t turn that into $110. The Feds are sending less money to counties, schools, and municipalities. The state is running out of legal authority to send any money to them either, because there’s no budget. Why should you give a shit? Safe Harbor in Easton, who cares for a large chunk of our local homeless population, announced the county is out of money to provide them to provide the services. Northampton County announced they would furlough human services employees at the end of the month. They’re out of money. If that doesn’t hit home enough for you, I think Bernie O’Hare explained it fairly plainly:

NorCo’s Human Services Department investigates allegations of abuse and neglect aimed at our children and elderly, the most vulnerable members of society. It provides a wide variety of services to individuals who have mental health issues. It provides services, usually through vendors, aimed at the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug abuse. It also helps veterans and their dependents. 

The state funds between 80-90% of the salaries of these workers. But since the state budget impasse on June 30, the county has been paying these salaries on its own. McClure estimates that the county has spent $8-12 million so far and estimates that figure might be as high as $20 million by the end of October.

So basically, everybody who desperately needs help will stop getting it. Kids, old people, and mentally unhealthy people will be left to fend for themselves. The State Senate’s response? Take a long Summer vacation. This is serious stuff, but they’re treating it like nothing. Meanwhile, their ally running for Lehigh County Executive just thinks he’ll “get his money,” but honestly he’s just too stupid to handle this stuff. We’re heading towards a societal disaster in Pennsylvania. I realize some people like to say they’d rather live in Mississippi or Iowa than California, but are you really ready to put that to practice?

It’s time to punch back. This irresponsibility is going to cost lives. As someone who now lives about a half step from ruin, this hits home to me. People often ask what Democrats do for them- this is a good time to show them. I actually think he went a bit mild here, but McClure did get this right:

“Republicans in the State Senate have failed the people of Pennsylvania by refusing to pass a budget,” said McClure. “For three months, their dysfunction has left counties like Northampton footing the bill, costing us millions of dollars just to keep essential services going. … This is unacceptable. They must do their job, pass a budget, and stop punishing taxpayers and seniors alike.”

While I appreciate McClure and any other Democrat making this case, let’s be honest, County Executives and Congressional candidates are not the loudest voices in the room. All they can do is make their case the best they can. Those voices would be Governor Shapiro and Senator Fetterman, and we already know Senator Fetterman will let us down. Governor Shapiro is doing a great job running the government of Pennsylvania and deserves to be re-elected for that. We now need him to raise his voice though and maybe take an unsafe political stand. Him barnstorming the state and even national media and making the case that the State Senate Republicans are literally going to get people killed to have their extra long vacation would put the pressure needed in the very small number of swing districts left in the Senate. People who want to be national politicians need to know how to fight when it’s time. For Governor Shapiro, it is time. He has certainly made the case against the Senate GOP so far, but he needs to scorch the earth. The time has come.

I Guess His Mother-In-Law’s Money Wasn’t Enough, Bob “Crooksy” Brooks Needs Your Money

/ Rich Wilkins / 1 Comment

Make sure you hold your wallets, Crooksy needs your cash! I guess the $55k he stiffed his ex-mother-in-law for wasn’t enough to finance Crooksy’s campaign. I get it though, campaigns are hard. It’s hard to get elected when the only people who like you don’t live in your district. Everybody who knows Crooksy best won’t support him. He blows them off, and they know he’s inauthentic with all of his talk about supporting “working people.” At least Vermont Senator and Democrat hating lunatic Bernie Sanders has his back though.

Look, I do have some empathy for Crooksy’s team though, lying is really hard. The truth is, we all know he isn’t a Democrat (more on that later). Crooksy posts pro-gun, religious fanatic, lunatic shit on his Facebook when he’s advocating for political violence. Crooksy even puts up pro-segregationist/slavery shit ripping on Colin Kaepernick. This guy really thinks we’re going to believe he’s a Democrat. I honestly think Crooksy knows in his heart that he’s in over his head here, but I guess his handlers who created John Fetterman think they can pull off the con-job again. They pulled SEIU in on the con. They even did so over local objections. They are going to need an astronomical amount of money to convince people to elect a deadbeat that sides with Republicans on social issues, in a Democratic Primary. Even if they survive that, do you really think Ryan Mackenzie and national Republicans aren’t going to use the same information I gathered on Bobby “Crooksy” Brooks to destroy him in the Fall? Stealing from his Mother-in-Law alone is enough to sink him in the Lehigh Valley.

So yeah, watch your wallet. Crooksy needs your money in a bad way. If 877-338-2472 shows up on your phone, mark it spam and junk. It’s a waste of your time.

What in the Delusional Hell?

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

Look, I’ve found some of what Kamala Harris has had to say so far in her book to be hilariously funny. When I read the excerpt about why she didn’t pick Pete Buttigieg as her running mate, I definitely found her logic to be sad and maybe even cynical, but also probably correct from a purely strategical manner. Her “criticisms” of Biden for staying in as long as he did basically miss reality for me, but I think from her perspective are almost a necessary rationalization of why things went how they did.

Then there’s the screenshots above about her book, which are basically a good enough reason for me to not read it. Look, I voted for Kamala Harris, and I would again. She’s got tons of good qualities. The fact is though, if they weren’t prepared for her to lose by election night, she and her team are the most delusional people I’ve ever seen. Yes, I knew we were going to win for Biden/Harris in 2020, because Joe Biden was not only consistently ahead in state and national polls, but was usually over 50% in most polls, regardless of his margin. At no point was Kamala Harris ever really there. She was behind in the polling averages in almost all of the swing states, well within the margin of error, but behind. Her numbers in the polls looked eerily similar to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Election Results, and they basically finished exactly there. Many Democratic donors, activists, and even operatives have spent years getting excited at every “gotcha” moment for Donald Trump, every bad debate performance or speech, and every new scandal that arises around the guy, and every time they get excited and proclaim “this is the time” people finally turn on him. They never do. The only campaign that ever put forward a viable alternative that a broad enough cross section of the country might vote for instead of Trump, was Biden’s 2020 campaign. Hillary and Kamala both sort of relied on the country finally decided Trump was too stupid, evil, corrupt, or wrong to vote for. That was never, ever going to happen.

There’s a really ugly truth that maybe Vice-President Harris didn’t want to write about, or maybe it was cut from the book, or whatever- Kamala Harris was never going to win the 2024 Election. The country had soured on the Democratic Party as a whole. Inflation had put them in a bad mood. They had soured on Biden, in part because of inflation, in part because he was old, and very largely because they felt he had governed less moderately than they hoped he would when they elected him. Harris was his Vice-President, in a party where really no one had made a move to stand against Biden’s Presidency, making her the most vulnerable to his negatives of a party full of people who were vulnerable to his negatives. Then there is the simple fact that Harris herself was viewed even more negatively than Biden through virtually his entire Presidency until Democrats ran away from him (like cowards) after his debate performance. And yes, since I named every other reason, let’s just state the obvious demographic reasons. Hillary Clinton was possibly the most qualified, most universally known nominee the party ever put forward in 2016, and Barack Obama was still very popular, not to mention she was the first female nominee in the history of the country. Just read everything after that last comma and get the point, because none of the stuff before it mattered. Hillary Clinton lost, as about the best woman nominee anyone could have come up with at that time. The country is very, very resistant to electing a woman. That’s a bad thing, but it’s a thing that isn’t changing on it’s own. Kamala Harris was not only the next woman to run for President, she was also a Black woman. This country’s history of racism is well chronicled. It’s a large reason why one of our first forty-seven Presidents wasn’t white. Harris, with an avalanche of things already against her, was asking the country to elect a Black woman. I don’t know if it was impossible for her to win in a neutral environment, but the odds were pretty high against her. Stack all of the other negative things I mentioned here on top of that, and Kamala Harris was basically trying to swim up Niagra Falls in this race. She never had a chance.

The 2024 Election was decided when party elders like Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama decided to be influenced by the politically blind, such as George Clooney and other wealthy donors, and basically pushed Joe Biden out of the race. No one but Biden had a prayer in hell of beating Donald Trump. Biden knew that, that was why he had continued running for President well after his 80th birthday. Biden also knew that if he didn’t run, the only way to avoid a complete Civil War level meltdown within the Democratic Party was to coronate Kamala Harris and hope for the best. He had much better instincts than any of the other “elders” in the Democratic Party. All of this is what bothers me about what Harris is saying here. She’s criticizing Biden for being the adult in the room. She also wants us to believe she really had no idea she was going to lose. The day Biden dropped out, I knew she was going to lose. I know she was smart enough to know that too. I am willing to bet a donut to anyone that if you could get a candid answer out of anyone senior on the analytics team, they would tell you their numbers showed they were losing. As cynical as I am about analytics, even I would be stunned if they were so bad that they actually believed anything else.

Josh Siegel’s Path Forward for Lehigh County

/ Rich Wilkins / 4 Comments

Josh Siegel is running to move Lehigh County forward. Phil Armstrong did a great job the last eight years. Now it’s time to look forward. Unfortunately, Siegel has to run against Roger Maclean, a failed police chief who has no idea what government does, or how to do it. In their recent debate, Maclean’s solution to lost money from the federal government was “we’ll get our money.” Maclean lead a police department that raped and robbed people they arrested, now he downplays the death of Capitol Police on January 6th. He’s a disaster and he would end up either raising taxes or cutting all services he possibly could.

I’ll show their debate at the bottom of this post, but more immediately, Siegel has put forward his plan to move Lehigh County forward. From his Facebook:

We’re 41 days out from Election Day. Here’s what our One Lehigh platform is about. Pete Buttigieg has said “our salvation will really come from the local”.

I believe that! I believe in these dark and divisive times, local government is the building block for showing a better way, our chance to show what a better world can and should be in our own backyard:

Here’s what One Lehigh means:

✅A robust and strong local democracy where every resident has as many legal and lawful ways to cast a ballot and make their voice heard, no matter who you vote for or what party you are, it’s your civic duty and most basic right. I want you to exercise it. We need to protect the ballot box from efforts to undermine it.

✅Attainable housing for seniors, first-time homebuyers and working class families. We have a housing shortage, we need to build more of it, and everyone is a partner in that. Public, private and non-profit, it’s an all of the above approach. It’s the only way to lower costs.

✅Investing in and expanding public safety services from regional police and fire to prevention strategies like focused deterrence to ensure that every neighborhood and community is safe and secure. Public safety requires comprehensive, collaborative strategies.

✅Protecitng and preserving Cedarbrook for future generations of Lehigh County seniors and ensuring that our county keeps our promise that patients and residents come first-not profits. Federal funding cuts put these services in jeopardy and we need a county that’s prepared to step up to maintain that commitment.

✅Smart, sustainable and strategic local development that protects farmland and open space and builds the walkable, dense and mixed-use communities people want. We have to accommodate future growth and find a way to house folks who come here for good jobs and schools.

✅Standing up for our public employees and the critical services they provide, county government provides vital human services, mental health and addiction services, children and youth, courts and corrections. It’s a safety net for our most vulnerable and it’ll be under tremendous pressure in light of the disaster federal funding cuts. We need to protect and defend these services and have the backs of the men and women who provide them.

✅Investing in our quality of life from county assets like the Velodrome and Coca-Cola Park to our parks and trails. We need to make Lehigh County a place families want to stay for generations and continue to choose. Amenities and attractions are vital, it’s what anchors and keeps people here in the valley.

✅Tackling the epidemic of isolation and silos on the internet. We’ve never been more connected and disconnected at the same time. We need to get people back outside and build community, talk to our neighbors and build relationships. We have to rediscover our common identity and purpose.

Whether it’s protecting Cedar Brook, defending voting rights, funding the government, or protecting the safety net, Josh Siegel is easily the right choice. We don’t need to DOGE Lehigh County.

But you can watch the debate and make up your mind below.

https://www.wfmz.com/business/business-matters—lehigh-county-executive-debate/video_68d4b0aa-7047-5fd2-a943-2cac0da45fe7.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawNBSdxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHtM64sjxWPq5C4suMvHWf3jGXBxeFodYQK3bt-fouxAeCFJQiCD-RDFUTBTf_aem_7ip1F-pB7mVeO2cGAjqypw

NFL Power Rankings, 9/24

/ Rich Wilkins / 17 Comments

Last week’s rankings.

The tough thing early in the season with trying to rank the NFL’s teams in order is how much to weigh your gut takes on each team against their records. Do I think that there are 2-1 teams better than 3-0 teams, or even 1-2 teams better than 3-0 teams? Yeah, I do. Do I think beating the Giants 22-9 is a sign your team might not be good? Yes. Sorry, but some things just have to be quantified by your gut instinct. On the other hand, your record is who you are. Sure, there are still some frauds going into week four, but a few weeks down the road, those things will take care of themselves. For now, record is the #1 criteria. Then it’s opinion. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s personnel decisions that dictate order, like the Giants putting Jaxson Dart in to start the rest of the season. That feels to me like a team who is done already for the year.

  1. Philadelphia Eagles
  2. Buffalo Bills
  3. Los Angeles Chargers
  4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  5. Indianapolis Colts
  6. San Francisco 49’ers
  7. Los Angeles Rams
  8. Green Bay Packers
  9. Detroit Lions
  10. Washington Commanders
  11. Seattle Seahawks
  12. Minnesota Vikings
  13. Jacksonville Jaguars
  14. Arizona Cardinals
  15. Cincinnati Bengals
  16. Pittsburgh Steelers
  17. Kansas City Chiefs
  18. Atlanta Falcons
  19. Denver Broncos
  20. Baltimore Ravens
  21. Las Vegas Raiders
  22. Chicago Bears
  23. New England Patriots
  24. Dallas Cowboys
  25. Carolina Panthers
  26. Cleveland Browns
  27. Houston Texans
  28. Tennessee Titans
  29. New Orleans Saints
  30. New York Jets
  31. Miami Dolphins
  32. New York Giants

Charlie Kirk, the Weaponized Martyr

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

Last week I wrote about Charlie Kirk at length. My message was simple- this was a horrible tragedy, this is not a right-left political violence problem, and we’re being over force-fed “us vs. them” info. I went on to talk about how Kirk’s death and the hyper-partisan reactions were playing out locally, and how Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about Kirk fit into the larger war on liberal comedy. For those of you who read me regularly, you know this is a lot of typing for me about Charlie Kirk, who had never once been mentioned on my blog before his death. I don’t talk about really any of the MAGA podcast/influencer folks- not Laura Loomer, Nick Fuentes, not even Tucker Carlson. It’s not so much that they are insignificant to me, I acknowledge they have large audiences and a good deal of influence with MAGA leaders all the way up to Donald Trump. I think talking about them is complicated and takes a lot of nuance that you can’t really have in every post. They are not elected officials or government officials who have direct powers to help or hurt us as a society or individuals. I don’t listen to or read any of them, other than when I come across their tweets and other posts, most of which I don’t agree with (occasionally I do, but even a broken clock is right twice a day). On the other hand, and definitely in part because they are not empowered government officials, I absolutely support their first amendment right to speak whatever they wish, free from any government censorship. On the other hand, if they lie or defame people, they should have to deal with their employers, funders, and civil lawsuits from individuals for their actions. I just kind of think their world is largely none of my business, I’m not one of their consumers.

So all the writing about Kirk does kind of prove a right-wing talking point- Kirk is larger in death than he ever was in life. I didn’t give a shit about him a month ago. Now I’m writing about him. But are my writing about the actual person Charlie Kirk, or whitewashed character that has only marginal ties to the actual person? David A. Graham of the Atlantic writes about this, and concludes that this is literally an affront to the actual person Charlie Kirk was. He writes beautifully about the irony in this mythological version of Charlie Kirk:

Kirk’s commitment to debate was inextricable from his political views; he wasn’t a value-neutral advocate for free speech. Kirk arose as a countercultural figure and deployed the First Amendment as a crucial tool for spreading his ideas: In an environment where they were not welcome, he pointed out that they were protected. Now that Kirk’s political allies hold power, however, many appear eager to suppress ideas they dislike. The Trump administration is vowing to use Kirk’s death as an excuse to crack down on dissent even as it lionizes him for defending it.

Kirk began his career planting Turning Point USA chapters on college campuses. As many conservatives were writing off academia, Kirk was evangelizing, creating a beachhead for right-wing views in traditionally liberal environments. Free speech was an important shield for him, because some of his ideas were bigoted, or articulated abrasively.

Some people now praising Kirk are conflating a commitment to argument with a devotion to civility. Kirk succeeded, in part, by eschewing civility in favor of conflict. He said, for example, that “Joe Biden is a bumbling, dementia-filled—Alzheimer’s—corrupt tyrant who should honestly be put in prison and/or given the death penalty for his crimes against America.” (In the same radio show, he questioned whether Kamala Harris is Black.) He bused supporters to Washington on January 6, 2021; invoked the Fifth Amendment rather than answer questions about the insurrection; and campaigned for pardons for the perpetrators.

Kirk railed against transgender and gay rights. He called George Floyd a “scumbag,” declared the Civil Rights Act of 1964 a “mistake,” and claimed that many influential Black figures were in their roles only because of affirmative action. “If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified,’” he said. He said that if Donald Trump lost in 2024, hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants would be brought to Alabama, where they would “become your masters.” Comparisons to King are especially ironic because King, Kirk said, was “awful. He’s not a good person.”

I hold some inconvenient beliefs sometimes, but central to them is authenticity. Charlie Kirk said exactly what he said, and simply replaying or reprinting his words is not an attack on him, it is an honest rendering. I don’t agree with virtually any of Kirk’s beliefs about civil rights, Joe Biden, women voting, LGBTQIA rights, “DEI,” George Floyd, January 6th, Donald Trump, the 2020 Election, or really anything I can think of, besides his belief that he had a right to say it. I don’t think that people I deem as bad should be shot, ever. I don’t believe the government should try to cancel a television show, ever. Hell, I’ll just be honest and say I don’t think employers should have any absolute right to view your social media, or censor it, even as I acknowledge that isn’t covered by the First Amendment. I think people should have the ability to be their authentic selves, and in fact I think morally it is an imperative. Yes, if you are out in public (I at least on some level don’t consider social media public, particularly if you are protecting your posts from the entire public), saying something really crazy can get you fired. I typically do not think it should.

The truth of the matter is that even dangerously stupid and ignorant speech should be policed through the court of public opinion, and if your response is that this is failing in our current society, my response to that is this is who we actually, truly are. Trying to censor who we are because this “Trump era” makes you uncomfortable, or because you thought these kinds of opinions were supposed to be gone by 2025, is UnAmerican and morally reprehensible. If it bothers you that Charlie Kirk was amassing followers saying the Civil Rights Act was a mistake, or that he hated Barack Obama and Joe Biden, or that he thinks Kamala Harris is a moron, or that Martin Luther King Jr. was a bad man, or that women didn’t vote, or whatever it is you think- just understand that the people listening and agreeing with Kirk also agreed with what he was saying before he had a job saying it. These opinions and thoughts, they always existed in the world, and it’s not society’s formal job to silence people for saying them. You silence these opinions by not listening and not buying from the advertisers. Charlie Kirk should be able to speak to the audience that believes these things, just as Jimmy Kimmel should be allowed to do the same. There is a market of millions of people who agree with them. As long as that exists, they should exist, and we should make authentic judgments about how we feel about them. It’s pretty simple.

Of course, there is only one logical conclusion to this though- I didn’t like Charlie Kirk. I did not listen to him when he was alive, and I wouldn’t now. He told us how he feels about the role of women in our society, how he feels about Civil Rights in our society, that he thinks most Black Americans in the work place are of lower quality and that they are there because of DEI, that he thinks Donald Trump is a good man and Joe Biden is not, that LGBTQIA people are predators, and lots of other things. Charlie Kirk lived authentically and told us who he is. I did not approve of it. While I would not describe myself as a “Jasmine Crockett Stan,” but I think she’s right to question why any Democrats were voting to honor Kirk in the Congress. Do these Democrats agree with him on his beliefs? Did they agree when he was live? Or are they being inauthentic and cowardly, in hopes that this conversation will go away?

Charlie Kirk’s death has been weaponized to do things that some conservatives wanted to do anyway, like cancel Jimmy Kimmel. The conservatives doing it are being as dishonest as the Democrats in Congress voting to honor Kirk. This is all mythology. It’s creating a martyr of a person who was just a person. It’s gross and antithetical to being a health nation with a vibrant First Amendment. It’s creating a false narrative about who we actually are and who we actually want to be as a society.

“Crooksy” Adds More Endorsements From People Who Can’t Find Allentown on a Map

/ Rich Wilkins / 2 Comments

The less you know about Bob “Crooksy” Brooks, the more you like him. If you don’t know that he stiffed his ex-mother-in-law for $55k, you might think he’s working class. If you don’t know that he shares propaganda from groups that advocate political violence, you think maybe he’s a Democrat. If you don’t read what “Crooksy” says about Kaepernick, you think maybe he’s not a bigot. The more you know though, the less you like him.

“Crooksy” is running the Fetterman handbook for how to campaign though. He’s collecting endorsements, just none of them are from here. Democrat hating lunatic Bernie Sanders enthusiastically supports “Crooksy.” I doubt any local unions will support him after he had better things to do than come see them though. The truth is, the guy is awful and shouldn’t have run, and everyone around here knows it. If you don’t live in the Lehigh Valley though, there’s not too much harm in endorsing a guy that Ryan Mackenzie would crush. This is why state legislators from other parts of Pennsylvania love Crooksy. He’s probably not taking money from their constituents.

“Crooksy” is racking up the endorsements from leftists from other parts of the country though. In addition to the geriatric socialist from Vermont, he got the guy who got to be Bernie’s warm up act when he came to the Valley back in the Spring. I guess he figures no one in Pittsburgh will ever know. In case that’s not enough, he got the endorsement of California “Bernie Bro” Ro Khanna, who he wants you to know is a Pennsylvania native. He lives in Silicon Valley now, because you know, Bobby is a real working class icon here. Crooksy has lots of support from California and Vermont politicians. He has none from any working folks here.

Bob “Crooksy” Brooks looks great if you get to stay ten thousand feet away from him. If the Democratic Party is stupid enough to nominate this clown, Ryan Mackenzie won’t let any voters in the Lehigh Valley stay ten thousand feet away though. The racism, the violent political rhetoric, the stealing from his mother-in-law- Mackenzie will put it on our televisions, on our computer screens, and in our mailboxes. To be honest, we kind of deserve it if we’re dumb enough to allow it. None of the people who know Crooksy all that well want anything to do with him.