Fetterman Friday

Another in an ongoing series 

Dear Senator;

I am a resident of Pennsylvania and a constituent of yours and I'd like you to answer a question or two.

I'd like to ask you again about Gaza - specifically this from The Hill:

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) rejected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s claim of a “genocide” in Gaza and also called the Georgia Republican “crazy pants.”

“Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene referred to what’s happening as effectively a genocide. I mean, Republicans seem to start —” a reporter with Scripps News said when talking to Fetterman in a clip posted to the social platform X Wednesday.

“I [honestly] don’t care what crazy pants thinks,” Fetterman replied. “And why is that news and her views on that right now?” 

“It’s not a genocide, you know, that’s just not the case. And she’s entitled to her opinion, but I’m entitled to not really care what her views on that is,” he added later.

Of course I completely agree, Senator, with your characterization of Representative Greene as "crazy pants" but I have to ask you about your characterization of Gaza.

Amnesty International, in December of 2024 concluded:

Amnesty International’s research has found sufficient basis to conclude that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, the organization said in a landmark new report published today.  

The report, ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza, documents how, during its military offensive launched in the wake of the deadly Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, Israel has unleashed hell and destruction on Palestinians in Gaza brazenly, continuously and with total impunity.  

According to The Guardian:

Two leading human rights organisations based in Israel, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, say Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the country’s western allies have a legal and moral duty to stop it.

In reports published on Monday, the two groups said Israel had targeted civilians in Gaza only because of their identity as Palestinians over nearly two years of war, causing severe and in some cases irreparable damage to Palestinian society.

The University Network of Human Rights has concluded:

After reviewing the facts established by independent human rights monitors, journalists, and United Nations agencies, we conclude that Israel’s actions in and regarding Gaza since October 7, 2023, violate the Genocide Convention. Specifically, Israel has committed genocidal acts of killing, causing serious harm to, and inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, a protected group that forms a substantial part of the Palestinian people. 

Given all the death and destruction and famine visited on Gaza by Israel, if this isn't genocide, then what is it? How do you justify it? Or defend it?

I'll await your answer, Senator.

As always, I'll post here whatever you send as a response.

McCormick Reaches Out!

I got a new letter from the office of US Senator Dave McCormick recently.

Here is the text:

Thank you for contacting me and sharing your thoughts on issues important to you. Your feedback is important to me as we work together to shape policies that benefit Pennsylvania and our country. 

As the 54th U.S. Senator elected from Pennsylvania, I am honored to represent more than 13 million of our fellow citizens. I am committed to working with my Senate colleagues to reduce the cost of living, secure the border, unleash our nation’s energy resources, restore American strength on the global stage, and protect the American Dream for future generations. To do my job, I rely on input from constituents. 

Since I was sworn in, I have worked diligently to respond to all the letters and calls from my constituents. 

In addition, I host regular telephone town halls, where constituents can hear directly from me and ask questions. My next tele-town hall is scheduled for July 30 at 7:00 PM. You can click here to reserve your spot.

Whenever the Senate is not in session, I prioritize being in Pennsylvania to meet with community leaders, tour small businesses, and engage with constituents. My team is also out in the field every day talking to Pennsylvanians.

To visit or connect with one of my seven Pennsylvania-based offices or to stay updated on future town halls, please visit my website at www.mccormick.senate.gov . It is a privilege to serve our great Commonwealth in the United States Senate. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments. 

Obviously, he's not responding to a particular blogpost/letter of mine. He's just advertising his next "telephone town hall" as you can see in his 4th paragraph.

Be sure to click the link to "reserve your spot."

And that the thing with these telephone town halls. My understanding is that the questions are screened before the host hears them. It's not like a real town hall where constituents show up and wait on line at a microphone to ask the host a question. 

There's simply no way of knowing whether your question will be screened out during the meeting.

It's not as valuable as a face to face discussion. Don't think it will ever be.

It's not a real discussion of the issues. It's a PR stunt. 

The letter:

 

 

 

McCormick Monday

Another in an ongoing series:

Dear Senator;

I am a resident of Pennsylvania and a constituent of yours and I'd like you to answer a question or two. 

Recently the DOJ interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell, now imprisoned on charges of sex trafficking, regarding what she knew about the financier Jeffrey Epstein.

She was interviewed by deputy AG Todd Blanche. 

In an analysis piece, CNN reported:

Critics have cried foul that the DOJ official interviewing Maxwell was Blanche, rather than a non-political prosecutor who has been involved in the case who would have much more expertise. Not only is Blanche a top political appointee of Trump’s; he’s also his formal personal lawyer. 

“The conflict of interest is glaring,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Thursday on X. “It stinks of high corruption.”

What’s more, Blanche appeared on a podcast last year with [Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar] Markus and labeled him a “friend.”

 On the other hand, The New York Times reported:

At the meeting, [Blanche] will have to walk a careful line, balancing his current responsibility to pursue the public good by getting what he can out of Ms. Maxwell against his erstwhile responsibility to defend Mr. Trump against any possibly embarrassing information that she might eventually provide.

Legal ethics experts said that Mr. Blanche was likely not affected by a formal conflict of interest by negotiating with Ms. Maxwell as both a top official of the Justice Department and the former lawyer of someone who, in theory, could be implicated by her statements. Still, they said, his involvement in the talks created a murky situation rife with potential pitfalls and complexities.

“This ought to be handled by someone who is disinterested in the results because if they are not, then they can’t be trusted to do what’s in the public’s interest,” said Bruce Green, who teaches legal ethics at Fordham Law School in New York. “The problem with Blanche is that he is likely not disinterested not only because he used to be Trump’s lawyer, but because Trump put him in his high office in the Justice Department.”

Does any of this concern you, Senator?  Wouldn't it all be solved by releasing all the Epstein files?

I'll await your answer, Senator.

As always, whatever answer I get from the Senator (more likely, his office) I'll post here.

[UPDATED to include a link and to identify Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus.]

Wait For It.

To CBS/Paramount/Skydance: 

Go Fuck Yourselves.

Yes, This Is Real

Yes, this is real.

And, of course, all of it is true.

• Trump was convicted of 34 felonies
• Trump was found liable for sexual assault 
• Trump is in Scotland  

 

In Case You Missed It.

 

He Trumped Us.

 

Or you can go here to see the NSFW AI generated video.

Fetterman Friday

Another in an ongoing series 

Dear Senator;

I am a resident of Pennsylvania and a constituent of yours and I'd like you to answer a question or two.

I'd like to ask you about Gaza. First let me say that the events of October 7, 2023 were horrific and that the State of Israel has every right to defend itself.

However earlier this week, The New York Times reported:

More than 100 aid agencies and rights groups, including Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders, warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation” was spreading across Gaza, adding to calls for Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave.

The joint statement is the latest attempt to draw attention to a growing hunger crisis in Gaza. It was released after the European Union and at least 28 governments, including Israeli allies like Britain, France and Canada, on Monday condemned the “drip feeding of aid” and said that civilian suffering had “reached new depths.”

Doctors Without Borders in Gaza has reported a “sharp and unprecedented rise in acute malnutrition.” Adults frequently collapse from hunger, the aid groups said in their statement, adding that stockpiles of food and other supplies warehoused outside the territory were being prevented from reaching people in need.

And then there's this from the BBC:

[K]ey facts are clear. Hamas committed a series of war crimes in the attacks it launched on 7 October, killing 1,200 people, mainly Israeli civilians. Hamas took 251 hostages, of which perhaps 20 who are still being held inside Gaza are believed to be alive.

And there is clear evidence that Israel has committed a series of war crimes since then.

Israel's list includes the starvation of Gaza's civilians, the failure to protect them during military operations in which Israeli forces killed tens of thousands of innocents, and the wanton destruction of entire towns in a manner that is not proportionate to the military risk Israel faces.

Senator, do you think that Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza in its response to the attacks of October 2023? What should be done about the mass starvation there?

I'll await your answer, Senator.

As always, I'll post here whatever response I get.

In Case You Missed It: Trump Is In The Epstein Files

McCormick Responds!

With another email. I guess the video messages are not his usual MO.

Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted.

Anyway, this is what was in the letter:

Dear David,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts regarding budget reconciliation. Your feedback is essential as we work together to shape policies that benefit Pennsylvania and our country. 
 
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), a budget reconciliation bill focused on tax policy, national security, and energy production. The bill makes permanent key provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), including the lowering individual tax rates, an enhanced and doubled Child Tax Credit, and the increased standard deduction claimed by more than 90 percent of taxpayers. It also eliminates taxes on tips and overtime pay for millions of workers, eliminates taxes on auto loan interest for new cars made in the United States, provides a $6,000 bonus exemption for seniors, and strengthens the employer-provided childcare tax credit. In addition, the bill includes a number of other measures aimed at delivering tax relief for families and small businesses.  
 
The OBBB also includes investments in border security, resources for state and local law enforcement, modernization of the U.S. industrial base, improvements to service members’ quality of life, and domestic energy development. 
 
I supported this bill because it delivers meaningful tax relief to millions of Pennsylvania families and prevents what would have been the largest tax increase in American history—over $4 trillion. It fulfills key promises that both President Trump and I have made to secure our border, strengthen our national defense, unleash American energy, and lower costs for consumers. I believe these provisions will make a real difference for working families and small businesses across the Commonwealth.  
 
It is an honor and a privilege to serve our great Commonwealth in the United States Senate. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this important matter. I am always grateful to hear from my constituents. 

Given the contents, it's safe to assume that Senator McCormick is responding to this blog post from June 30. 

In that letter, I asked about how many of the estimated 10.9 million people who would lose their health insurance and how many of the estimated 2.4 million people who would loose medicare were from Pennsylvania. It's also been estimated that as many as 51,000 people would die due to the One Big Beautiful Bill.

I asked the Senator:

How many of your constituents will have to lose their medical benefits (or their lives) just to order to pay for this upward distribution of wealth, Senator?

Senator Dave McCormick answered none of these questions. 

He did say that the bill "delivers meaningful tax relief to millions of Pennsylvania families and prevents what would have been the largest tax increase in American history" when in reality, as the Congressional Budget Office said:

Higher-income households would benefit the most by receiving a larger tax cut because they earn more money. The agency said the lowest 10 percent of earners would see a $1,600 or 3.9 percent reduction in their available income and benefits per year, adjusted for inflation, mainly due to cuts in Medicaid and SNAP. 

 So this is a "response" of sorts. If you wanna accept gaslighting as a response.

Which I don't. 

The letter: