Remember back in the spring when the Chesco Dems were acting like it was a bad Phoenixville Country Club board meeting? Shall we consider that it is still that way?
So I have been thinking about this again. What does it mean to be a Democrat in Chester County if they attack you for being independent minded? Doesn’t that make them everything they said they wouldn’t be when they took majority in Chester County?
I point you back to JudgeGate from the spring 2023 primaries…
So in addition, a few months ago all of a sudden this new to me Chesco Dem was following me and leaving super too friendly too soon comments on Twitter. So I kept an eye peeled. I thought to myself then hmmm she wants something or is planning on running for something. And she is indeed now running for State Rep. She is a Democrat. She has had headshots out there for a few months and then there are her Twitter handles and her friends were announcing on message boards months ago that she is running for State Rep. That would put her in Legislative District 155, or Danielle Friel Otten’s district. Oh and recently taking pot shots at Otten as well. Hope Deuso knows Taylor Swift’s song Karma? (Just sayin’)
Grandma Charlotte says she doesn’t let incumbents get primaried yet…. Isn’t it really liar -liar -pants -on -fire- Charlotte-Valyo which is why she needs to go go go?
Deuso wants to be a trendy kind of candidate vs a woman of substance who has earned her spot, and she couldn’t even make it to Borough Council in Downingtown so why does she think Otten’s seat should be hers?
Deuso also seems to have the run for something /anything disease like Republican David Sommers and talks sound bytes on social media and this is who oh Grandma please thinks is better than Danielle Friel Otten? I would ask if this was a joke, but the joke is Grandma Charlotte and her flying monkeys do this every time election season is nigh don’t they?
Now Deuso, who has also been made over and groomed a bit since her unsuccessful 2015 race, is also part of those Mid ChesCo Democrats which contain the filing 5 who were part and parcel of JudgeGate spring 2023, correct?
So the filing five 12 year old Kieran was out shilling for Deuso on Giving Tuesday and that Rachel who is also a Mid ChesCo Dems and of the filing 5 is Deuso’s campaign manager? And Kieran was seen swanning about recently in Harrisburg with Grandma Charlotte? As the Church Lady from Saturday Night Live would say, isn’t that special?
Do you believe in political coincidence? I do not.
Now while Charlotte Valyo and her flying monkeys have been flying around places like Harrisburg do they seriously think no one is paying attention?
However larger questions include asking Pennsylvania House Democrats and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party if they are really falling for Grandma Charlotte’s schtick ?
The flying monkeys are running their mouths at Grandmas’s behest talking smack about Rep. Danielle Friel Otten and Grandma Charlotte wants us to believe she supports all Democrats and doesn’t want incumbents primaried yet like magic she is seeing that Otten is primaried…yet again? Will there be a platform again for what was it ? Running CBD oil through pipelines?
We’ve got your number Charlotte and it’s time for you to go….
And the thing about Danielle Otten is she works equally for ALL of her constituents. That is why she is so loved. And good at her job. I have written about Danielle many times before because she is the real deal.
I am all for women making history, but for the right reasons. And I am sick and tired of the current woman leading the Chester County Democratic Committee and her version of “leadership” which is no better than consistently being a petty bitch who is terrified of anyone independent, especially other women. And Grandma Charlotte and her flying monkeys don’t seem to get that the reason Democrats in Chester County held onto their somewhat slim majority and county row for the 2023 elections wasn’t the quality of candidates and campaigning, but because of the various and assorted extremism groups who were trying to mess with our elections and school districts – people correctly didn’t want to let them in, so they voted blue not red. But they didn’t vote blue again because the candidates were all so fabulous.
Anyway, here we are at the end of 2023. And Charlotte Valyo is still undermining Democratic women in Chester County unless you are part of her flying monkey squad and hey now it’s not high school student council or the middle school popular girl lunch tables, so why are Chester County Democrats as a whole tolerating this? Aren’t we worth more as voters? Or does party leadership in fact not give a good god damn about what we may think? I think the Chester County Democratic Committee should not be run like Phoenixville Country Club.
Democrats in Chester County deserve better. We deserve open primaries without meddling behind the proverbial curtain and the flying monkey squad. I don’t know about you all but I tire of Grandma Charlotte’s reindeer games and country club mentality.
And in case you were wondering, even if I can’t vote for her, I am still #TeamDanielle because I believe in people who get into public service for the right reasons.
Also important to note is I am not saying Deuso shouldn’t run for elected office. And I am waiting for the daggers to come out from the flying monkey squad (because one thing you can count on from Grandma Charlotte is she doesn’t ever do her own work) that I am anti-Trans. I am not. But Deuso like others in the past including Rose Danese are just being used.
Deuso and her over inflated ego are just a bigger pawn in a game that will undoubtedly contain a sprinkling of dark money again, so watch those campaign finance reports, and what is “dark” money? Allow me to provide a refresher:
Tracing the funding is almost impossible, as the nonprofits behind it are not required to disclose donors. The spending underscores the influence of “dark money” in seemingly low-profile races, as well as the stakes associated with the controversial pipeline project.
By Andrew Seidman Published Jul. 20, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET
Conservative nonprofit groups that have advocated for the natural gas industry funded hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of attack ads in last month’s primary election in two state House races in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Outside political groups spent at least $517,000 on Democratic primary races in Chester County, according to newly disclosed campaign records and data compiled by the ad tracking firm Advertising Analytics.
The targets of the attack ads were first-term state Rep. Danielle Friel Otten and Ginny Kerslake, both Democrats and outspoken opponents of Sunoco’s Mariner East pipeline project, which carries natural gas liquids from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations to the company’s terminal in Marcus Hook.
Otten won her primary. Kerslake lost to incumbent Democratic Rep. Kristine Howard.
Tracing the funding is almost impossible, as the nonprofits behind it are not required to disclose donors. The spending underscores the influence of “dark money” in seemingly low-profile races, as well as the stakes associated with the controversial pipeline project, a political and legal flash-point in the debate over energy and the environment.
“ It just was insanity to me that one legislator can be that powerful that they would spend a quarter of a million dollars to try to take me out in the primary,” Otten said in an interview.
She said she suspected the oil and gas industry was involved and wanted to “make an example of me, because I have been very outspoken about the egregiousness of what that industry is doing.”
Of course it also remains to be seen if Grandma Charlotte will see if the Democrat in the neighboring 167th District gets primaried. Why would I say that? Because State Rep Kristine Howard didn’t mind her place and ran for judge last spring in the primary and Grandma Charlotte and her flying monkeys and others did not want her to do that. They may still want to punish her for that, right? Howard is a terrible State Representative and I didn’t think she was qualified to be a judge, so if there is new blood for that race out of the Democrat side, it just depends who it is. But it will be interesting to see what happens there.
But I digress, although it is connected. Why? Because Kristine Howard used to be a flying monkey after a fashion, didn’t she?
It seems every time there’s an election cycle coming up in Chester County and if there is someone currently in elected office who is independent and there for the right reasons Charlotte Valyo talks out of both sides of her mouth and has to try to get rid of whomever it is. Last time it was Magisterial District Justice Paige Simmons, and this time and again it’s Danielle Friel Otten. And this time the pawn is Erica Deuso. One would think Deuso would be intelligent enough to figure this out, but apparently she’s not. But she is actually part of the flying monkeys squad, isn’t she? But hey Erica Deuso, remember that once flying monkeys no longer have a use, they are discarded aren’t they?
Also whatever happened to those magical 2023 bylaws? Remember that issue?
Why are the bylaws still not on their website? Where are they and shouldn’t they be readily available? Or did I miss them on the website? Also interesting? CCDC is seeking a paid monkey as of November 29th:
The Executive Director is to assist the Chair and Executive Committee in support of the political, fundraising, communications, and administrative operations of the Chester County Democratic Committee. This ideal candidate will have multiple cycles of leadership roles on political campaigns, a sense of professionalism around politically sensitive matters including donor calls and meetings, extensive training, and the ability to multi-task. The ideal candidate is a collaborative self-starter who is flexible in their day-to-day responsibilities while requiring little oversight. An understanding of Chester County politics, elected officials, and major local political issues is an asset.
It seems to me that they are advertising for a brain for Charlotte Valyo doesn’t it? Why not just get rid of her instead? The root of this problem is Grandma Charlotte and those others who can’t ever leave the proverbial party. The Chester County Democratic Committee needs fumigation and a makeover.
Until then, Happy Holidays dear Charlotte, we are all watching….and exercising our First Amendment rights.
A woman I never met. Yet like many others in Chester County, Anna Maciejewska is someone we think of often. It has essentially been four years minus a few weeks.
Her parents are old, and have been in poor health.
Her beloved son is growing up with limited memories of his mother, probably only photographs and doesn’t that break your heart?
The case started with a different Chester County District Attorney than who is in office now, Tom Hogan. Now the Chester County District Attorney is Deb Ryan. I really wish she would light a fire under the Pennsylvania State Police.
And how about our state elected officials? State Senator Carolyn Comitta and State Rep Kristine Howard and State Rep Dianne Herrin and State Rep Melissa Shusterman you are ALL mothers and ALL someone else’s daughters so how about having some interest in justice here?
#FindingAnna needs to take place.
Anna, we haven’t forgotten you. Hopefully some day there will be #JusticeForAnna.
As if the Trumpublican convention wasn’t troubling enough comes an email circulating:
So he’s not meaning to diss Lani Frank and others, but he is? Did I miss some memo or Daily Local or Inquirer article about who his guy is? Does he date State Rep Kristine Howard or does she just pay him for ummm campaign services? Why is some rando-man from Pittsburgh so concerned about people in Chester County?
I mean I don’t really know much about him other than he blocks me on Twitter 🤣
So according to this political pretzel logic, if you are against the Mariner II pipeline and think State Rep. Kristine Howard is doing a crap job and is some kind of odd political puppet with no voice of her own, you are a radical? Is he saying I am a radical? Is he saying moms worried about their kids drinking pipeline tainted well water are also radicals? Is it just me or does this guy actually sound like a Trumpublican???
So the point of this email is what exactly? Attacking people who actually live and vote in Chester County? Attacking anyone who opposes Kristine Howard? Did Kristine Howard have on her magic cloak of invisibility when people like State Rep. Greg Vitali visited Marsh Creek August 14th to see the plume of pollution in the water? So is her “friend” or employee saying people like Vitali or any other elected official who are questioning the pipelines being here are also radicals?
So Chester County Democrat Committee why are you letting some guy from Pittsburgh try and influence your committee people? And why is this guy and by association Kristine Howard so afraid of people like Lani Frank? Because these more independent voices might be right?
I just don’t get it. And it’s all a little sleazy, isn’t it?
Kristine Howard has lit drop flooded our mailbox today. Especially loved the giant glossy mailer that says she’s “earned” her reelection. Sorry not sorry, the balls on that woman! Or her campaign.
In all my years of voting, and watching local, regional, state, and federal politics I am astounded that someone who has literally done nothing is even still a viable candidateIn all my years of voting, and watching local, regional, state, and federal politics, I am gob smacked astounded that someone who has literally done nothing is even a candidate.
If she is such a real “environmentalist“ why has she killed so many trees this election season?
She is not visible, she is not available to her constituents, she is solely available to Tom Wolf and his agenda. And whomever else her puppeteers are.
I gave her a chance two years ago and the only thing she has earned to date is my distain.
I don’t care if you vote for a purple people eater tomorrow don’t vote for Kristine Howard.
Sigh. I knew Incumbent and Invisible State Rep. Kristine Howard (D-167) was feeling threatened, but I had no idea that she would stoop to such lows (or allow her campaign to.) Especially as a female candidate and current elected official. But she has. She is coloring outside the lines, waaaay outside the lines to the point of wondering what she gets by doing this or allowing it to be done? And she is always when anything ever comes out, a pathetic apologist. Case in point is this latest missive to the Democratic Committee and whomever wrote this needs a lesson in writing in general:
What is that smell? Ahh yes political puffery and bull twaddle. Why? Because she and her campaign are TERRIFIED of my friend Ginny Kerslake who is running for her State Rep seat as a BETTER Democrat. She’s too silly to realize that she should actually be terrified of my other friend who is running as the Republican candidate, Wendy Graham Leland. (But I digress.)
Everything that comes out targets Ginny Kerslake because well, that is ALL Kristine Howard has done. Other than that she is invisible. She started doing newsletters I think to prop up her sagging campaign. And her campaign deserves to sag. But her campaign is behaving more and more like a Bravo Real Housewives franchise they are so pathetic. We might watch the Housewives shows for entertainment value, but we certainly wouldn’t elect them to public office, would we?
Her opportunistic boyfriend sidles up to husbands of former county commissioners and others who don’t even live in Chester County to slam and attempt to denigrate anyone who isn’t high stepping like a Rockette alongside them, Tom Wolf, or who is NOT pro-pipeline, correct? They have multiple fake social media news pages up and that’s how they are running this campaign: lies, innuendo, harassment, fake news. You know the political campaign equivalent of sex, lies, and videotape.
And at the heart of the matter are the pipelines, aren’t they? That is why Ginny Kerslake and Danielle Friel Otten are so feared. They aren’t them, they are us. Being normal and hard working is the world’s oldest and biggest threat to political chicanery.
Rep. Kristine Howard allows these things to continue, turns a blind eye and is mute, so why would anyone want her in Harrisburg? Doesn’t she know right from wrong? Is allowing political crap like this to persist outside the bounds of being ethical? Or just being devoid of a strong moral compass?
Rep. Howard remains mute while others speak and write for her. Just like with the last election when she was also invisible and mute to the point that even door knockers campaigning on her behalf knew nothing about her or what she even looked like. And she used a couple of photos then that were like a decade or better out of date so when you did finally see a photo of her today most of us had no idea who it was.
Rep. Kristine Howard is also a Tom Wolf marionette. Whatever Govie man says, she swoons. Swoons. How high can she jump for him? Very high. Take last summer when her constituents adversely affected by pipelines quite literally begged her in tears to tour their neighborhoods with them. She ignored them but later showed up for a photo op with Governor Tom Wolf….and Rep Carolyn Comitta.
Back to her missive to Democrat committee members. Why is she targeting Ginny Kerslake and Ginny Kerslake alone over lawn signs? Other Chester County candidates have lawn signs out? Take Don Vymazal, for example. His signs are out. Other signs are out. But no, all she targets is ONE person, Ginny Kerslake.
Rep. Kristine Howard also has her angry gal pals. Like West Whiteland Supervisor Theresa Hogan Santalucia. But they share a common dislike for Ginny Kerslake, don’t they? When the good supervisor isn’t shilling for Howard she is the mouthpiece of her sister Rose Hogan Danese, who is running (or trying to run) against Rep Danielle Friel Otten. Danielle is another target in general of these people. And a friend of Ginny’s. (See the pattern?)
So back to this whole #SignGate. Ginny Kerslake is not breaking any laws and quite frankly contactless delivery is contactless delivery. Rep. Kristine Howard should have better things to do. But she and her campaign and her camp followers apparently do nothave anything better to do.
It’s like the rumors they have been spreading about another friend of mine who was campaigning for Ginny before all the #COVIDmadness ensued. Accusing her of having the virus and spreading it. Have you heard of anything so hateful in the time of a global pandemic? And a little fact checking is in order because Ginny’s team hasn’t been canvassing since we were all told to stay the hell home.
And other things they made a mountain out of a molehill on was they claim Ginny Kerslake voted for Duane Milne in 2018. Ummm, who cares if it’s true? I mean really? Aren’t we allowed to chose whom we wish to vote for regardless of political affiliation? And does that mean they know who every resident of Chester County has voted for? Are they in fact violating the supposed sanctity of the voting booth?
So every few days it is something else. But the signs thing is just so pathetic it was time to speak out about it. I am sure they will attack me next. And State Rep. Kristine Howard will stand mute when that happens, won’t she? After all where is her moral compass if she thinks this is the way to win a primary, right? Maybe she should stand on her record, but then that makes you wonder what has she actually done since taking office? The answer is photo ops with Wolf and other Wolfettes and not much else.
I ask you primary voters in the 167th to vote Rep. Kristine Howard OUT of office on June 2nd. Any woman that stands by and allows her campaign soldiers to behave the way they have does not deserve votes. She does not have her own voice. She is a political puppet, a marionette. I find that equally sad and pathetic. I don’t think this is what State Rep. Kristine Howard set out to become, but it’s too late, she’s there and it’s done.
In general, the Chester County Democratic Party needs to get it together. They say power corrupts and I have to marvel at how it hasn’t taken that long for them to start acting stupid? And they criticize the Republicans? Come on now.
People always ask “Who is State Rep Kristine Howard?”
Good question because really nobody knows. She has been the singularly most INVISIBLE state representative I’ve ever heard of since I first had the right to vote. Considering I’m in my 50s, I have been voting quite a while.
I literally remember when the committee people were coming around when Kristine Howard was running the first time.
I had not seen anything about her, hadn’t seen her physically anywhere, had not even seen photos of her anywhere at that point. NOTHING. She was just a name. The response I got was stunning and it was from her own party “No one really knows. No one has really seen her.” (and that message was delivered with an apologetic shrug.)
The sole image anyone had seen of her at that point is the photo on the left at the opening of this post. Only as we later found out she looks more like the photo on the right.
Even candidates I have not liked over the years got out there to shake hands and meet people and go to one bad chicken dinner after the other.
Last time we were supposed to vote for Kristine Howard just because she wasn’t Duane Milne. This time because she’s not Ginny Kerslake or Wendy Graham Leland. (I will note both of these ladies are out there, involved in the community, and care and have been that way long before deciding to run for office.)
Yet NO ONE knows Kristine Howard still. Is she the most closely guarded secret in Harrisburg or what? Kristine Howard seems to send out the occasional puff piece to let people know she’s around or she voted as she was told, only she’s not around is she? Try being one of her constituents and getting her to respond to you. Try getting anyone in her office to respond to you.
In my humble opinion, Kristine Howard does not show up for residents and constituents. This summer residents affected detrimentally and dangerously by pipelines begged her to come tour their neighborhoods with them. They got no response.
But when Governor Tom Wolf showed up for an insider’s tour basically with the pipeline company inside the fences of the pipeline that have eaten up people’s properties and lives and neighborhoods this summer, there she was for photo ops posing with Wolf and Carolyn Comitta only like magic those photos have all seemed to have disappeared as bad optics are wont to do? (if anyone has copies of those photos that DID exist I would love to see one again wouldn’t you?)
There was also in the summer of 2019 a very important public meeting held at Immaculata that affected her constituents in East Whiteland Township. The issue? Traffic circles, eminent domain, and PennDOT. She sent a staffer who stayed maybe half an hour, and the meeting was more than two hours long. Kristine Howard shouldhave been there herself, could have been there herself, chose NOT to be there.
The residents of the 167th Legislative District deserve someone who shows up for them, interacts with them, responds to their concerns. Kristine Howard is sort of being seen now because she’s being primaried. That is so insulting to constituents.
Think of politics in terms of fashion. Kristine Howard and Harrisburg need a makeover. I think the Harrisburg makeover is time better spent.
I can’t tell you who to vote for, but I will tell you who I think you SHOULDNOT vote for, and that’s Kristine Howard. She’s a fashion trend as tragic as hobble skirts, which literally impeded a woman’s ability to walk in the early 20th century.
Sometimes you just have to grin from ear to ear. Michael Noone, the current First Assistant DA in Chester County PA has announced intent to bring a civil public nuisance action against #suNOco / #EnergyTransfer regarding the construction and operation of the Mariner East pipeline project.
Sunoco has 60 days to take corrective action and if the nuisance has not been corrected, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office will bring a civil action in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas alleging actions both past and present that create a public nuisance and which should be abated, restrained, or such other relief granted.
But hey you know, these pipelines and pipeline companies are just misunderstood, right? But no worries, certain state reps will just take more tours with pipeline companies and ignore their constituents, right?
Thank goodness for people who care enough to stick their necks out for what is right.
I am starting with P.K. Ditty’s video of today. It captures everything. And everything includes the fact that in my opinion today was just a photo op for Governor Tom Wolf and some of his lady supporters in Harrisburg who ummm, shall we say aren’t so beloved by their Chester County and Delaware County constituents at present over pipelines? Come on now ladies, you know who you are and I even like two of you personally (the third I do not respect at all) but I think all three of you (Democrats incidentally) are doing a crap job of representing residents on pipelines, alrighty? Don’t be like Tom Wolf’s Political Andrews Sisters (sorry not sorry, feeling politically sarcastic today.)
This was total BS what this event became. We all know it did not start that way correct?
Here is what went out August 22 from two local state reps which did NOT announce today, but I think sets a stage of political puffery:
Translation? GIANT PUBLICITY STUNT. I am hearing they are great at dodge ball with residents? Because this is really about what? Perhaps it is really about Governor Tom Wolf getting them re-elected so they can support the fakakta thing called Restore PA, AKA another hall pass for pipelines at the expense of residents?
Fakakta means something silly or ridiculous and a a word used to describe something that is not working well or is really crap. (It’s also a great description to apply to pipelines.)
State Senators Andy Dinniman and Daylin Leach listen to the residents on pipelines and they care. State Representatives Carolyn Committa and Kristine Howard showed up and I don’t quite no what else to say except I am massively disappointed in both of them over this. People are asking if Katie Muth actually showed up? And some other State Senator was there apparently. His name is Tim Kearney. Daylin Leach was there so one would have thought State Senator Katie Muth would have at least shown up to say how awful he is or something? (She’s good at that, right?)
Today in my opinion was yet another GIANT PUBLICITY STUNT. (And I am not pointing fingers at the State Senators who were there, to be clear.) Affected residents wanted to sit down and talk to our Governor. OUR GOVERNOR. AS IN IS SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT PENNSYLVANIANS EQUALLY. BUT DOES HE? HA! THAT WILL BE THE DAY….
Residents didn’t ask to stand in the heat and basically do the whole Oliver Twist “Please sir, I want some more” and beg for freaking gruel, did they?
With regard to the timing and planning of today’s political gymnastics or mini-circus, I found out this morning Wolf would be at the Giant parking lot on Boot Road in West Chester at 2 pm today. I heard certain media were informed by the Governor personally at some other appearance in Horsham this morning. But other media weren’t told? How does that work exactly? Word of mouth? No real press release? Top secret public location? Spy vs. Spy? I had a LOT of friends there. Friends who are directly affected by Energy Transfer/SuNOco/Mariner East Pipelines every. damn. day.
I don’t need to do a complete recitation of the problems with this pipeline, they are well known and well documented at this point, aren’t they? As human beings, we are at RISK. Our families are at RISK. Our wells are at RISK. Our properties are at RISK. Our elected officials and public officials and agencies know this and yet….MOST DO NOTHING, correct?
Today was a scripted appearance. Is it true that even media were restricted on questions or they weren’t supposed to ask questions? Were babies kissed? Did Lot’s wife turn into a pillar of salt? Oy vey so many questions I have and my political sarcasm cup runneth over today….but I digress.
My friend Ginny Kerslake, a pipeline affected resident speaking with Governor Wolf
I spoke with my friend Ginny after and this is what she said:
“Several residents had the chance to tell their stories of how Mariner East construction has impacted them and their neighbors and share their concerns for the safety of their families and communities, asking Governor Wolf to halt Mariner East.”
I also touched base with my friend Tom Casey who had this to say about this afternoon:
“I expected nothing less than what happened today. The Governor listened to impacted residents, but didn’t hear them. I have also never met a politician where you literally have to negotiate the terms of a handshake.”
I wonder what that certain East Goshen Supervisor was doing there? He is certainly not halting the march of Adelphia Gateway is he? BUT he sure do love his sound bytes right? Dude, if you wish to be a man of the people then you have to actually be a man of the people, ok?
And speaking of East Goshen what is with the two mass mailing a couple of days apart of Dear Occupant letters coming from SuNOco but says it is from East Goshen? It has to do with the 24 hour continual drilling and they will apparently pay for people to leave their homes while they do it? Sounds like quite the offer so what happens when no residents are around to bear witness?
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
I find today’s event to be a study in confusion and contradiction. So was it just supposed to be a lovey dovey photo op that went bad?
The first media article I am sharing is by Bill Rettew from The Daily Local with Pete Bannan photos. (And yes, I do pay for online subscriptions to the Daily Local, Philadelphia Inquirer, and The New York Times.)
Gov. Tom Wolf smiled often during a recent walking tour of West Chester Borough. On that tour he told pipeline foes that he would soon tour the pipeline construction site.
Wolf kept to his word, Thursday, and met about 100 residents and fellow elected officials within feet of the Sunoco/Energy Transfer Mariner East pipeline route.
The governor received some applause when he stopped to listen and talk. He was surrounded five deep and sometimes talked in little more than a whisper.
That trademark smile was gone. The governor did not give those impacted by pipelines much to smile about either when he definitively said several times that he would not halt construction.
The press and media were not notified about the event.
Ginny Kerslake, of West Whiteland Township, nailed the governor down about the visit. She had personally asked him three times to come and see for himself….
Wolf asked Kerslake how he could change. She said living near a pipeline was like playing Russian roulette.
Kerslake said after the visit that Wolf “finally” showed up.
The governor said he agrees with several pipeline bills, but they would not impact the Mariner East.
“This is not what we were asking for,” Kerslake said. “We want to talk about what’s going to happen to this pipeline.”
The second article is from Jon Hurdle at State Impact PA:
Gov. Tom Wolf told anti-pipeline activists on Thursday that he is not going to stop construction or operation of Sunoco’s Mariner East pipelines.
At a rare face-to-face meeting with opponents at a pipeline construction site in East Goshen Township, Chester County, Wolf was repeatedly urged to shut down the pipeline until public safety can be assured.
But he disappointed activists by stating clearly that he would not do so.
Eve Miari, an organizer of the event, said Wolf’s statement was the first time he had gone on the record saying clearly that he would not shut down the line because of safety concerns…..Six people who live near the cross-state pipeline, plus a supervisor for East Goshen Township, took turns pressing that case to Wolf….“My question to you now, Governor Wolf, is will you halt Mariner East now?” Kerslake said. “We do not have a credible and practical plan to protect us in the event of a leak.”….Rosemary Fuller, a resident of nearby Middletown Township, said her private well has been contaminated with fecal coliform and e-coli as a result of the recent horizontal directional drilling near her house.
Fuller tearfully told Wolf that the contaminated water creates more problems for her husband, who has cancer, and her son, who has a compromised immune system.
Pennsylvania Politics is in full flower again. At the expense of residents. Bottom line? ANY politician that supports pipelines over people needs to GO and that includes the ones who never answer directly, don’t really return phone calls and play possum, and who act all supportive when it is most self-serving.
Of course Tom Wolf won’t shut down the pipelines.
Yes I am disgusted. Today at the end of the day was COMPLETE B.S.
(WHY I won’t be voting Republican in the PA6 Congressional race this fall.)
Until the last Presidential Election, I was a life-long Republican. I had always been an inveterate ticket splitter, but I remained a Republican…until this last presidential race.
But I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t pretend this was the political party that once made me believe. When I was a Media Relations Volunteer at the RNC2000, I never, ever would have thought they would boil down to this hot party mess they have devolved to.
But they have.
I know I am not a true Democrat, anymore than I am a current-style Republican. So I went Independent. Yes, I lost my primary voting rights because it’s Pennsylvania, but I felt I had taken something back for myself by freeing myself from political rhetoric I could not get behind.
I have never voted Democrat in the PA 6th Congressional District. And I have been in this district seemingly forever. First in Lower Merion Township, and now even after a couple rounds of redistricting, here in Chester County. I voted gladly for Jim Gerlach every time he ran, and I also voted for Ryan Costello.
I did not really know who I would vote for until September 1st. There seemed to be mass confusion for a while, namely with regard to Costello bailing out and the redistricting and the redistricting court battles. Like many, I wasn’t actually sure for a while who would be running.
If we had somehow magically gotten redistricted to the PA 7th Congressional District which now has kind of sort of become the new PA 5th Congressional District, I would have chosen Pearl Kim. (I do not even know who is running in the now PA 7th at this point.)
To an extent, I am so turned off by American politics and the nouveau Republican party, I kind of just literally closed my ears for months and months. No easy feat for a political junkie.
I had heard about Greg McCauley and would have actually considered him because of his Philadelphia area familial and legal profession lineage. Until that September 1st tweet. I realize it was probably some campaign minion, but it doesn’t matter. As a candidate he let it go forward, right?
Chester County needs Republicans they can count on, not #TrumpLite . This is why Chester County continues to veer away from it’s Republican roots and history and will soon be another county in PA with a Democratic majority.
I found this position VERY interesting.
Chrissy Houlahan has served her country proudly in the US Armed Forces and deserves what the Brits call worthy opposition. A Republican man demeaning his female opposition is not someone voters today will find worthy.
This kind of behavior in PA 6 is nothing new, but it IS old and used.
Today as a candidate (in my humble opinion), you need to run a campaign based on what YOU would bring to the table not tired sexist rhetoric that the “party” wants. We don’t want #TrumpLite in PA. Jim Gerlach was always his own man. McCauley needed to be THAT guy for his own sake as well as voters.
My Democratic door knocker said to tell all of you he was tall and dashingly handsome. He made me laugh and was super pleasant to deal with.
Today, a little while ago, a very nice man came knocking on my door. Wanting to speak to my husband. Poor man he got me.
He was a door knocker for the Democrats. ( I will admit I handed him back his Tom Wolf palm card and told him why : PIPELINES AND BROKEN PROMISES FROM THE LAST CAMPAIGN. But I digress….)
Chrissy and her campaign like to tell you what she believes in. She doesn’t waste the voters’ time just slamming and denigrating her opponent, does she?
These days Republicans seem to take a lot of us voters in Chester County for granted. I have not seen anyone from the Republicans door knock in a couple of years, and even then it was merely committee people, not actual candidates.
So this afternoon this Democratic door knocker told me a little bit more about Chrissy Houlahan, and I in turn told him about what made me look at her again the other day. And decide.
Yes, all it took was one sexist, rude, misogynistic tweet.
“is known in suburban Philadelphia as a political activist who spent most of the last decade working for progressive Democratic candidates and serving diligently as a member of the Chester County Democratic Committee from Malvern while balancing the responsibilities of work and single-mother parenting…. After law school she planned to pursue a career in public interest law but her career plans took a detour after getting married and having two babies while in law school. After law school, she spent five years in New Mexico, where she ran a small legal and social services organization while her family grew. When she came back to Pennsylvania, she devoted the next many years focused on raising her three boys and four girls. It was not easy to combine a “real” career with raising a large family but she always found something to do to stay engaged in her civic interests and social activism. She worked for Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and was a child advocate for children in foster care in Philadelphia. Her keen interest in children and child welfare opened the door to her current position, working for the County investigating child abuse cases. As a caseworker, she has come to see a darker side of the wealthy and beautiful Chester County communities where she has raised her family. Her experiences as a social worker, mother and political activist have come together in her decision…”
Honestly, I never heard of her. But that is a lot of the problem about Chester County politics. You do not hear about some candidates at all. Especially, I am learning, if you are an Independent.
But this post is not about THAT race. This post is about the 6th Congressional District Race.
It’s a relatively simple concept that has more to do with us as Pennsylvanians than anything else. We need someone with a spine. A backbone. A strong moral compass. This race, it seems more and more that Chrissie Houlahan is the woman for the job.
Check out this September 2nd piece in the New York Times.
Please note these are only my opinions and I was not asked to write this nor compensated in any way to write this. I am writing this post because it’s time to say something. We have to be the change we want.
I want change. Not more tired rhetoric. It’s time for more women in Congress and I would like to start with my very own district. If that makes me a potential “enemy of the state” by some of my Republican friends, I am sorry you feel that way. I think Chrissy is the best choice for me at this time in my life. If Chrissy Houlahan came knocking on my door personally, I would be very please to chat with her. As a woman, I like what I hear. Now more than ever, that matters to me.
People always ask “Who is State Rep Kristine Howard?”
