Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick Talks to Eagle Scouts, But Not His Voters
Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, who fears to face his constituents in live town halls, is excellent at conducting photo-ops in his district. Often he poses with Eagle Scouts. I often wonder what he says to them about the MAGA GOP accomplishments.
Does he tell them to follow in the footsteps of the GOP presidential candidate and sexually assault women?
Does he tell them to set up phony charities and universities to steal money from unsuspecting citizens?
Does he tell them to call veterans and soldiers who died in combat losers and suckers?
Does he tell them to call neo-Nazis very fine people?
Does he tell them to, like Trump, accuse undocumented immigrants of poisoning the blood of our country and say that some are “not people?”
Does he tell them to be proud that Trump took away women’s reproductive freedom, an idea Congressman Fitzpatrick himself agrees with? Now some women may die during complicated pregnancies and some must carry the baby of their rapist!
Does he tell them to learn tricks from the first criminal trial of a president in United State history involving hush money to a porn star and falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election?
Does he tell them when they lose a basketball or baseball game to deny that they lost, to insult the umpires and referees, and to insist the games were rigged?
As Co-Chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, does he proudly tell them that at the urging of Trump, the GOP Congress had blocked for months the Senate bill that would have provided desperately needed military aid to the brave freedom-fighting Ukranians? (The delay needlessly caused Ukranians to die.)
Does he tell them he voted for Trump in 2020 even after witnessing his horrific presidency?
I wonder if any of the Eagle Scouts, schooled in fundamental American values, ask the Congressman why he voted for such a man of poor judgment and character in 2020 and why he isn’t speaking out forcefully against such a flawed candidate.
We don’t know because our Congressman is so often strangely silent about the MAGA GOP menace to our democracy and values. As we learned from history, silence is complicity in the face of fascist ascendancy.
Steve Cickay, Newtown
Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson Fails the Honesty Test
Month after month, Representative Glenn Thompson’s “newsletter” parrots false and misleading claims propagated by today’s Republican Party. Thompson, who betrayed his oath of office when he voted to overturn Pennsylvania’s results in the 2020 election, now employs a kind of empty, circular reasoning designed to inflame rather than inform his readers.
It’s natural, and expected, for politicians to criticize the opposing party, but Thompson’s assertions fail the honesty test. Thompson claims that “Americans are worse off today than they were four years ago.” To support his claim, he cites results from an unscientific Fox News poll—of its viewership.
Was America really better off under Donald Trump?
Four years ago, the economy was in free-fall due to Trump’s mishandling of Covid. Today, unemployment is at a fifty-year low. Four years ago, America’s standing in the world was at a low point; today, the world’s traditional respect for us has been restored. Four years ago, American manufacturing was in a recession; today it’s making a comeback. While Republicans claim that crime has skyrocketed under President Biden, official data show that crime, especially murder, has dropped significantly under Biden’s watch!
Today, Trump stands credibly charged or convicted of sexual assault, business fraud, mishandling of classified documents, election interference in both the Stormy Daniels “Hush Money” case and in Georgia for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
It’s no wonder Thompson encourages Americans to forget, deny or ignore just how dangerous and dysfunctional life was for Americans under Donald Trump!
Julie Gittings, State College
Trump Is a Modern Svengali
In the 1894 novel Trilby, by George du Maurier, the character Svengali seduces and then dominates a naive young girl. Today the term Svengali refers to any person who, with evil intent, manipulates, dominates, and controls others, influencing their thoughts and decisions. Those easily captivated by a Svengali tend to be persons without deeply-held convictions. They believe they have arrived at their positions via their own analysis, unaware they have been so thoroughly manipulated.
Donald Trump is a present-day Svengali. With his bombastic oratory and forceful personality, he easily persuades otherwise rational people to embrace total nonsense.
Consider the evidence:
He has convinced millions that he is a financial genius, despite his long record of business failures and bankruptcies. He has influenced weak-minded, but otherwise decent, people to threaten the lives of judges, district attorneys, and election officials. He mesmerized thousands, many of whom are now in jail, into attacking the U.S. Capitol on 1/6/21. He convinced millions that he actually received the most votes in the 2020 election, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. He has lured previously principled Republicans, like Elise Stefanik and Tim Scott, to forfeit their honor and integrity. Even those Republicans who don’t agree with him have been manipulated into silence. Many are so controlled they will vote for him this fall even if he is a convicted felon.
Vulnerable minds, combined with powerful, but evil, powers of persuasion, create a very frightening future for us all.
Richard L. London, State College
Shameful FISA Reauthorization Vote
Shame on the fear-mongering politicians of both parties who voted to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. As it stands, the law allows the FBI to access and collect communications by Americans – including members of Congress – both at home and abroad when they communicate with targeted foreigners. Despite a history of mistakes and abuses by the FBI, efforts to require a warrant before Americans’ private communications could be accessed failed, with its opponents crying “national security.” Rejection of these amendments is particularly odious and ironic in the case of Republicans, like my representative, Brian Fitzpatrick, the party of opposition to big government and official intrusions into the privacy rights of citizens.
Secret courts, secret evidence, warrantless searches.
Unfortunately, depending on the courts to find warrantless intrusions into Americans’ private communications unconstitutional is a chimerical dream these days. In Benjamin Franklin’s oft-quoted phrase, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
Roy Zipris, Doylestown
