Democracy Has Prevailed.

May 5, 2024

Mastriano's Prayer Meeting On May 1

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Let's start here, at LancasterOnline:

Two Republican state lawmakers and several faith leaders were among those who met Wednesday with a controversial Christian activist to discuss promoting a prayer rally in Harrisburg ahead of the general election.

Sean Feucht, an evangelical musician who has become increasingly active in politics, told several dozen people at the Capitol media center in Harrisburg that his organization, Let Us Worship, will host a prayer rally on the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol in October to “prophesize over” the fall election.

Feucht promotes Christian dominionism, which teaches that Christians are mandated by God to take control of all aspects of government and culture.

Which two lawmakers?  Glad you asked:

Present at Wednesday’s meeting were state Sen. Doug Mastriano, the failed 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee, and state Rep. Dave Zimmerman, of East Earl Township.

Ah, it was Doug. 

But while Doug's people did not respond to any questions from Lancaster Online, we can see that the interaction between Mastriano and Feucht was a tad more complicated that simply "met...with."

For example, here's Sean playing guitar from behind Doug's desk:

This image is from Feucht's own FB page and he captions the photo with:

The harp of David drives out demons of Saul (that live inside this Capitol).  My friend Senator Doug Mastriano Senator loves worship.

BTW, it's a reference to the 1 Samuel 16:23:

Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. 

While I am sure this is completely coincidental, it is so interesting to note that the very next chapter of the 1 Samuel contains this:

David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.
The "Philistine" here is, of course, Goliath.  I wonder if Doug still has the sword of David given to him at that QAnon rally a few years ago.  That was the rally where Doug assured the crowd that "my God would make it so" he'd win.  

BTW, He lost that race by 800,000 votes. Doug has never explained what happened.  Did God change his mind?

Anyway, take a look at the brochure just behind Doug's desk name plate:


Across the top it reads:

Remnant Alliance is the toolkit to expand the Kingdom of God in communities.

You're probably asking about "Remnant Alliance" - what it is, what they stand for etc. 

From Citizens Defending Freedom we find this pdf regarding Remnant Alliance.

Welcome to the Remnant Alliance program. The Remnant Alliance is a team of faith-based organizations and churches, who have chosen to be part of God’s faithful, who actively uphold His will on earth and oppose evil in our land. We have a clear plan of action and are standing in the gap. 

Since the beginning of human history, the battle for the souls of men and women has been waged. This battle is between two kingdoms. On one side are the forces of evil lead by Lucifer himself. On the other is Almighty God with His forces of truth and light. This battle is not just played out in individual lives, but also in the governance of our land which either promotes God’s soul saving kingdom or opposes it. In fact, the evil we are witnessing in our streets and government today is not some short-term political movement, but rather a manifestation of this very conflict that won’t end until we meet our Lord face-to-face. (pg 2 of the 7 pg pdf)

And then RA's "Mission" and "Vision" statements:

Mission statement: To educate, motivate and equip the body of Christ so they have the tools to influence culture and governance, and lead America back to God’s moral values as our standard for living. 

Vision statement: To see the body of Christ awaken across our republic, exercise their leadership role to influence others for God, and in turn, restore the Judeo-Christian foundations that brought America’s great blessings and welfare.

And a few pages later we read a familiar passage in the pdf:

Remnant Alliance is the toolkit to expand the Kingdom of God.

So we know we're in the right place.

And a brochure from Remnant Alliance was on Doug Mastriano's desk while Christian Nationalist Sean Feucht sat there, playing his guitar - reenacting David playing the harp for Saul to drive out the evil demons.

At the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg a few days ago.

Did best buds Sean and Doug discuss Remnant Alliance?  Is there a political reporter in Harrisburg that can ask?

One last thing.  This is video from Doug's Mastriano for Freedom FB page.

I am pretty sure that's Doug's voice at the end agreeing with Sean Feucht when he says:

We're not appealing to a government authority. We're appealing to the king of all kings.

At the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg a few days ago.

This is what Kira Resistance is warning us about. 


 



 








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May 4, 2024

CT Resident Dave McCormick On Abortion

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From our friends at Wegner's: 

Transcript:

Of course you don't have much to run on, so they're certainly going to run on a very negative message on abortion.

And my view on this is, listen, I think this is a states' rights issue. I believe this should be decided by the people of Pennsylvania. The people of Pennsylvania have decided. We have a legislation that's supported by Democrats and Republicans alike. Signed into law by a guy named Casey. Then-governor Casey, Bob Casey Jr's father. 

And I'm someone who doesn't support bans. I don't support federal legislation. I believe we can find common ground around widely available contraception and around support for adoption services and I believe we should have restrictions on late-term abortions and that the Democratic Party and Bob Casey's got to step on this.  Listen, Bob Casey - no senator has moved more on abortion than Bob Casey. He's pro-life Senator and then in 2018 he flipped to being pro-choice and then most recently he signed legislation that would have allowed abortions up until the due date.

So I think what I'll be able to do is to stand on the debate stage and say, "Senator, listen I stand with Pennsylvanians and the law they put in place. I stand with your father and you, sir, are the extremist.

And that's true.

Except that it's McCormick who's the extremist.

But let's start at the end and work our way up.  Nutmegger Dave says he "stand(s) with the people of Pennsylvania" on the issue.

So where do Pennsylvanians stand on choice?

Pew Research:

  • 51% - Legal in all/most cases.
  • 44% - Illegal in all/most cases.

So he stands with (let's face it) the slight majority that believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, right?

However, when we dig into what McCormick's actual limits are, we see a flip-flop:

When asked directly at a candidate forum in April 2022 — two months before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision — whether he supported exceptions for abortion, McCormick answered, “I believe in the very rare instances there should be exceptions for the life of the mother.” On his campaign website at the time, he wrote that he is “staunchly pro-life and believes that life begins at conception.” 

Following that candidate forum, it was widely reported by national and local media outlets that McCormick supported only exceptions for the life of the mother in “very rare instances.” 

Now running for Pennsylvania’s other Senate seat, McCormick says he supports exceptions in the cases of rape, incest and health of the mother. 

And there's some journalistic back up for this as well.  From Business Insider:

As Dave McCormick mounts a second campaign for the GOP nomination for Senate in Pennsylvania, he has removed an old "Issues" page from his website that touted his "staunchly pro-life" bona fides.

"Dave is staunchly pro-life and believes that life begins at conception," read the old "Issues" pages, according to the Internet Archive. "Dave has attended the March for Life rally in Washington, DC and will continue to advocate for the rights of the unborn."

While this may seem like a distinction without a difference, once you fully grok the phrase "life begins at conception" you'll see that it's completely at odds with any "exception" - rape, incest or life of the mother included.

In an opinion piece in the Seattle Times titled "Either all life begins at conception, or it doesn’t. Simple, right?" has a good explanation as to why:

In the current Congress, a Life at Conception Act has 125 Republican sponsors in the House, including Speaker Mike Johnson and U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane. Its stated goal is “To implement equal protection for the right to life of each born and preborn human person” and defines the term “human person” to include “each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.”

There’s no wiggle room there, folks. No exceptions for rape, incest, health of the mother... 

There it is. Dave is looking to have it both ways; declare on the record his "acceptance" of exceptions and still have the forced-birthers (whose votes he's courting) believe he's one of them: one who believes that life begins from the moment the head of daddy’s little wiggler fused with the wall of mummy’s little bubble - end of story.

Can't have it both ways. The flip-flop is seen in his attempt.

One last point. When McCormick misleads on  Casey's support of abortion rights.

The Pennsylvania Capital Star has an explanation:

“Bob Casey has repeatedly voted to allow abortion up until the moment of birth, an extreme position that is totally out of touch with the people of Pennsylvania,” a McCormick spokeswoman wrote in an email to the Capital-Star.

The comment appears to be in reference to the Women’s Health Protection Act, which many Republicans have interpreted as allowing abortions late in pregnancy. Democrats have argued that’s not the intent of the legislation, which would provide a federal right to abortion care, and stop state bans and restrictions on abortion. 

The text of the bill states that abortion cannot be prohibited “at any point or points in time prior to fetal viability.” It also states abortion can’t be prohibited “after fetal viability when, in the good-faith medical judgment of the treating health care provider, continuation of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the pregnant patient’s life or health.”

So, a lie.

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May 3, 2024

President Biden On The Campus Protests

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You can read the transcript here.

He started by pointing out two fundamental principles of this republic:

The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard.  The second is the rule of law.  Both must be upheld. 
 
We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent.  The American people are heard.  In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. 
 
But — but neither are we a lawless country.  We are a civil society, and order must prevail. 
 
Throughout our history, we’ve often faced moments like this because we are a big, diverse, free-thinking, and freedom-loving nation. 
 
In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points.  But this isn’t a moment for politics.  It’s a moment for clarity. 
 
So, let me be clear.  Peaceful protest in America — violent protest is not protected; peaceful protest is.  It’s against the law when violence occurs. 
 
Destroying property is not a peaceful protest.  It’s against the law.

Adding, a little bit later:

There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students.  There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans.
 
It’s simply wrong.  There is no place for racism in America.  It’s all wrong.  It’s un-American. 

True.

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May 1, 2024

Trump On Abortion - Via Time Magazine

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Two sources at Time.

The full transcript of the interview.

Time's reporting on the interview.

Let me just start with one off-hand remark that the orange vulgarity tossed off in one of his many non-answers on abortion. The reporter was (vainly, as it turns out) trying to pin Trump down on committing to a veto on any national ban on a woman's right to choose when he said:

And you know what? That’s taken tremendous pressure off everybody. But we—it was ill-defined. And to be honest, the Republicans, a lot of Republicans, didn't know how to talk about the issue. That issue never affected me. 

Ok - now we know he's BS-ing.  Why? Because of this:

Donald Trump has been called out on social media for giving a speech at Friday's annual March For Life despite reportedly suggesting he asked his second wife Marla Maples to get an abortion when she became pregnant with Tiffany. 

Trump criticized US abortion laws as among the most permissive in the world in a speech to anti-abortion activists at the rally in Washington, DC, and pledged his administration would always defend the 'right to life.' 

But he was quickly skewered on social media as people reminded him of an interview he gave with Howard Stern in 2004, in which he can be heard telling the talk-show host that he suggested Maples have an abortion, according to tapes leaked to Newsweek from the Howard Stern Show.    

Uh-oh. You mean Donald Trump told a fib?  On record?  To a reporter??

But let's move on. Remember this paraphrase of Maya Angelou:

When people show you who they are, believe them.

Here's how Trump succeeds in not answering the question about a federal ban:

I understand, sir. Your allies in the Republican Study Committee, which makes up about 80% of the GOP caucus, have included the Life of Conception act in their 2025 budget proposal. The measure would grant full legal rights to embryos. Is that your position as well? 

Trump: Say it again. What? 

The Life at Conception Act would grant full legal rights to embryos, included in their 2025 budget proposal. Is that your position?

Trump: I'm leaving everything up to the states. The states are going to be different. Some will say yes. Some will say no. Texas is different than Ohio.

Would you veto that bill? 

Trump: I don't have to do anything about vetoes, because we now have it back in the states.

If taken a face-value, Trump doesn't seem to understand the purpose of an executive branch veto is.

You can read the text here. The act effectively moves the issue back into the Federal Government. Perhaps Trump doesn't understand that as well.

When asked whether states "Do you think states should monitor women's pregnancies so they can know if they've gotten an abortion after the ban" he answers:

I think they might do that. Again, you'll have to speak to the individual states. 

A win for states' rights, I suppose but a loss for individual liberty. 

What a Trump future looks like.

 


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April 30, 2024

PA State Sen Mastriano Does It Again

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And by "it" I mean he's bragging about accomplishing something that, had the GOP in Congress had their way, would never have been funded.

Take a look.

We start at Doug's "Government Official" FB page where he posted this:

 

If you were you to click on the link, you'd make it here. This is the first sentence of the piece:

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano on Friday announced that nearly $735,000 in funding has been awarded for a pedestrian and bicycle route project in the Franklin County borough of Chambersburg.

And this is the last:

Funding for the project is provided through the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside, Mastriano said. 

Ok. So what's the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside? 

Well, let's go to PennDOT and see:

The federal Transpo​rtation Alternatives Set-Aside (TASA) provides funding for projects and activities defined as transportation alternatives, including on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, and environmental mitigation, trails that serve a transportation purpose, and safe routes to school projects.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), continues to fund the TA Set-Aside through 2026. 
Ok, so now let's take a look at that Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
 
It was introduced as HR 3684 and sponsored by Oregon Democrat Pete Defazio in June of 2021. It made it out of the house with two GOP votes - otherwise all the Democrats voted for it and all the other Republicans voted against. In the Senate it passed (with an amendment) with only 30 GOP votes.  The House voted on the amended bill with only 13 GOP votes.
 
Had the GOP gotten its way on this, there'd be no bill. Plain and simple. And with no bill, there'd be no funding to the TASA. And with no funding to the TASA, PA State Sen Doug Mastriano would not have been able to make his announcement regarding the bike and pedestrian route project.

Plain and simple.  If he were an honest man, Doug Mastriano would be thanking US House and Senate Democrats (and President Joe Biden) for making this all possible.
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April 29, 2024

GOP On A Woman's Reproductive Choice

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The text ends this way:

No matter where you stand on abortion, no one wants women to die. So why do republicans act like that's exactly what they want?

Because the cruelty is the point.

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April 26, 2024

Some Notes From X (Formerly Known as Twitter) About Nutmegger Dave McCormmick

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Well, there's this:

And this:

This is Dave McCormick.
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