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| This is who General Lee Snover has picked to replace Charlie Dent in Congress. |
I interrupt my weekly reading of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals for a special Thank You to Congressman wannabe Justin Simmons and his good buddy, NorCo GOP Chair Gloria "General" Lee Snover. Thanks to their combined efforts on our behalf, Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District will finally be returning to us for the first time since 1999. That's right, folks, the 15th is going blue. We would never have done it without the help of Justin Simmons and Lee Snover.
Thanks to Simmons and Snover, there's a new purity test for Republicans. You either support Trump or you don't.
Pre-Trump, there were all kinds of litmus tests. One group believed you had to be pro-life and opposed to all forms of abortion, even if that meant the mother would go tets up. For the NRA wing, it was the right to carry rocket launchers wherever and whenever the hell they wanted. Another faction believed that the rich should either pay no taxes at all or pay lower taxes than you. Most favored deporting anyone whose name ends in a vowel. And though some of their best friends are black, some party members could never warp their heads around the idea of a black president, even though he was only half black. They never learned to just love the white half.
Now things are much simpler. You either support Authoritarian Donald Trump or you don't. If you support Donald Trump, you could open an abortion clinic tomorrow and General Lee Snover would kiss you. But if you subscribe to all kinds of Republican theories but detest Donald Trump, you're no good.
Every year, the county Republican parties host a Lincoln Day's breakfast in honor of the man who said we should act with malice towards none and charity for all. Traditionally, Democrats were invited because we all are, after all, Americans.
But General Lee stopped that practice. It was Republicans only. And not just any Republican. Charlie Dent, the most powerful and popular Republican in the Lehigh Valley, was snubbed.
Under General Lee's strict rules, Lincoln himself would have been cast aside.
A party that once met in ballrooms now meets in a phone booth, if you can find one.
The persons left include extremists like flamethrower Tricia Mezzacappa, who actually penned a letter to the editor supporting mass murderer Rockne Newell.
But that's OK because she supports Donald Trump.
She got a major award.
It was not enough to just snub Dent. General Lee Snover, the Republican party chair, actually took to the stage at a Trump cult rally that was only open to about 200 people with tickets, and bashed Charlie Dent, accusing the centrist Republican of being part of the establishment elite.
That's because Dent, who has principles and morals, stood up to Trump, who has neither.
Another person lacking principles and morals is Justin Simmons. Last year, he took campaign money from Dent. He sought and received an endorsement. Dent even put him in touch with some of his own contributors. And Simmons asked Dent what they could do to get Trump off the ballot.
But now with Trump elected and Charlie Dent being subjected to daily attacks by General Lee and others who should be ashamed of themselves, Justin Simmons sensed an opportunity. So this summer, he made trips to the swamp in Washington (that he pretends to detest) to line up support for his own Congressional bid.
Now he is suddenly pro-Trump and is challenging Dent.
General Lee loves him because he is on the Trump train. Never mind his shitty attendance record, his missed votes in the House.
Simmons and Lee are both busily bashing any Republican who gets in their way, including South Whitehall's Ryan MacKenzie.
But it does not stop there.
When Charlie Dent announced his retirement from public life, he asked Lehigh County GOP Chair Jessica Banotai and Exec Director Trevor Waldron for their help in putting the event together. As they prepared, someone in the Simmons camp posted a very ugly and vulgar personal attack (since deleted) aimed at Banotai in PoliticsPA. It shook her up. Banotai and Waldron fired off a number of unflattering text messages about Simmons in reaction to this attack. Simmons, who had no problem with General Lee Snover's bias against Charlie Dent, is now demanding the heads of Banotai and Waldron for their bias against him.
Thanks to General Lee and Simmons, Lehigh Valley Republicans are eating their own.
The result is that next November, conservative Democrat John Morganell will be elected to represent the 15th Congressional District in Congress.
It would never have happened without you, Lee and Justin. Even your pal Vladimir Putin would be impressed.
Thanks.
21 comments:
Thanks to the 2010 Gerrymander, the 15th will stay in Republican hands. I like John Morganelli (and would have voted for him against Dent as I did many other Democrats) but he'll lose if he runs just like every other time he's run outside of NorCo.
Simmons may or may not be the nominee. At the moment, thanks to Nothstein and Browning splitting Mackenzie's establishment support, he's probably the favorite.
His voting record in Harrisburg is more moderate than Mackenzie's.
He can win.
(I post anonymously for a very good reason. My name would only make the threads more of a circus. From my writing style, I'd guess Bernie recognizes my real ID. I am not Spartacus...or Justin Simmons.)
We Democrats would want to face Simmons. He'll be easier to beat. I'm surprised you could even find his voting record. I can guarantee you Simmons will lose and am willing to bet you a bologna sandwich. The seat will go blue with a conservative Democrat who can shed a few R votes. The best Democrat to do that is John Morganelli.
Make it a liverwurst on rye and you've got a deal...obviously this is null and void if anyone but Simmons is the nominee.
Agreed.
Sounds good buddy. Haven't actually seen you in years. Sitting down to a sandwich sounds like fun, regardless of the winner (my prognostication record is a bit better than yours, though ;) ).
I'm not going to say "lay off Simmons", but stop having your blinders on with regards to Dent, Jess B. etc. They are the "Mean Girls" clique of the LCRC. Be as critical of them as you are of Justin. He's not the opportunist you're painting him to be. They're not the saints your bias is leading you to portray them as.
You seemed to recognize a bit of this in the previous post. Keep it up. You're a good journalist.
Bernie O'Hare this is why Simmons will win. You are not in the mainstream of the Republican party anymore. Donald Trump has given voice to the great majority of people that are disgusted by the middle. This is why Northampton County has turned Red. You are for McClure but face facts Brown and the revived Republican Party will win it all this November as they will in Lehigh County.
The future is bright for the new Republican Party that has a voice with Donald Trump.
It seems that 3:42 is either totally irrational, an honors grad of TrumpU or both.
Little justin can't carry Charlie Dent's jockstrap. He has small hands like the orange baboon. We real Republicans will have a great candidate and it won't be #littlejustin.
"It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant, it's just that they know so many things that aren't true."
President Ronald W. Reagan
Obviously bias for Morganelli, and bias against Simmons, these rah-rah chants by you Bernie are getting tiring. Granted, this blog is yours and therefore your left leaning diatribes are showing your propensity to support anything left of center. Charlie Dent became an establishment republican for his own welfare; not for the people. His failure to support a populist agenda, mandated by the voters in 2016, was his complete downfall from the republican elite. Viewed as a traitor to the cause by most republicans, he sealed his own fate! If Justin Simmons becomes the republican candidate, he must succeed to the populist cause, which will guarantee him victory in 2018.
Let's sum up all of Bernie's post on this subject, everyone to the right of Charlie Dent is a racist authoritarian, NAZI, hating bigot....and so on.
Everything Charlie Dent does or says
and anything his staff does is good and is just how politics should be.
8:35. Stop kidding yourself this Justin Simmons is a piece of crap and doesn't deserve to even be a state legislator. What job has he ever done besides run for office from his moms basement? What is he contributed to the state while he has been there? Has he done one piece of legislation that Real legislators didn't laugh at?
Really enjoyed the razor-sharp wit in this piece, Bernie.
Have to agree with Not-Spartacus, though. The GOP could nominate a bologna sandwich and it would still win, thanks to the gerrymander.
The right Democrat wins that district. It has to be a conservative Dem from the Lehigh Valley. In this district, the votes that John got in the AG race, where he had two opponents, were actually much higher than Trump. He is known very well in NC and LC, and thanks to WFMZ, is known in Berks, too. John would face a problem similar to Dent. Dem party purists would want to run a Muslim transgender who belongs to Antifa. But the country and this district is center and center-right. John is the best candidate and I think the only R who could beat him would be Pat Browne.
My little crystal ball is telling me Sam Bennett is rethinking her "retirement" from elected politics. Why not? It is a good way for her to shake big donors down for lots of money to pay off her debts.
Get serious. Pat Browne?? A guy with 3 DUI's, who can't pass a balanced budget on time? Godfather of the crony capitalist NIZ? Master manipulator of the Fiscal Code? No thanks.
Agree that John Morganelli would be good candidate for the Dems, but does he actually want the job?
The more gerrymandering that keeps the GOP in office and democrats outside, the better it is for all of us.
So Mr. O'Hare you find Muslim transgender people funny? Why is that? Do they amuse you. You should apologize.
Justin has really shaken you up.
I haven't seen Bernie campaign this hard against a guy since he helped Callahan become Exec.
How about Don Flad for the Democratic nomination? He's a great guy and could be a real dark horse...
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