In support of rational and compassionate public policy at all levels of government which affect the residents of Newtown Township and Bucks County
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” ~ John Adams
What the FAR LEFT has to say about me and my writing
"You are anti-semitic!"
"You are a Zionist!"
"We don't give single fuck what your privileged ignorant ass has to say."
"Think, you pudding headed fuck."
What the FAR RIGHT has to say about me and my writing
"What an arrogant fool you are."
"YOU are pushing that racist bullshit."
"Dmb fk."
"You're a groomer, and are a danger to society."
I encourage you to explore this site and see what the fuss is about. Apologies in advance if you aren't as excited by measured, evidence-based reasoning as my "fans" in social media.
I had some concerns at the outset. But Bob Harvie has grown as a candidate. His platform sits squarely within mainstream Democratic values and right on top of this cycle's voter concerns.
Amid the fractures in the Democratic Party opened by the rise of DSA candidates, it's easy to forget that the vast majority of Democrats agree on what the US should look like politically and economically, and disagree only on the exact methods to get there:
A robust private economy supporting a vibrant, prosperous middle class,
A blended private/public economy with an effective, efficient safety net,
Expanded access to healthcare—no one goes broke when they get sick,
Taxation in which billionaires pay their fair share,
A strong military,
A secure border,
An end to dark money, outsized billionaire influence, and corruption in our politics,
Promoting democracy abroad through a combination of soft and hard power,
Working with allies and against enemies rather than the other way around,
Clean energy with support for legacy systems as they wind down,
A scientific approach to public crises, from gun violence to communicable disease outbreaks,
Access to abortion in early pregnancy,
Equal rights for disadvantaged groups.
From DSA to Blue Dog, Democrats want these things, and no doubt others I haven't listed.
Bob Harvie's platform checks most of the boxes. I do wish he had spent more time connecting the dots between his governance of Bucks County and what he intends to do in Washington. I could have done without the silly social media videos, which aimed to humanize Harvie but just made him look unserious. As Election Day has approached, Harvie has sharpened his focus, speaking in plain language about core issues in professional-looking videos, and driving those points home in brief, lightly styled social media posts.
Harvie's TV commercials, a calibrated mix of negativity toward Fitzpatrick and hopeful visions of the future, have outclassed Fitzpatrick's dishonest attacks and his claims of independence, which his voting record doesn't support. Fitzpatrick has been put back on his heels. One ad, in which Fitzpatrick cloyingly memorializes his late brother Mike and declares that he "never liked politics," feels more like a retrospective by someone about to lose his seat than a closing argument by someone trying to keep it.
Nonetheless, I think Fitzpatrick is going to eke out a win. Mainstream Bucks voters are notoriously immune to campaign ads. Their voting patterns align with party and with known quantities. Folks have grown comfortable with Brian Fitzpatrick's name and brand. They will be reluctant to link Trump's unbridled excesses and gross incompetence to Fitzpatrick's enabling behaviors: voting with Trump when it counts, and remaining silent as the chaos and corruption have escalated.
Vote Harvie tomorrow. Nothing would make me happier than for this prediction to be wrong.
The controversy over the death of a newborn in Lancaster County has revealed the extent to which our politics and our public health are broken.
Check out the full blog:
Fact: Climate change is real. Promoting clean energy is an urgent matter of national security.
Fact: Transgender persons exist, and cannot be legislated out of existence.
Fact: Students need a factual account of our history, including slavery and its residual effects on the rights and freedoms of all Americans.
Me Imperturbe
Me imperturbe, standing at ease in Nature, Master of all, or mistress of all—aplomb in the midst of irrational things, Imbued as they—passive, receptive, silent as they, Finding my occupation, poverty, notoriety, foibles, crimes, less important than I thought;
Me private, or public, or menial, or solitary—all these subordinate, (I am eternally equal with the best—I am not subordinate;) Me toward the Mexican Sea, or in the Mannahatta, or the Tennessee, or far north, or inland, A river-man, or a man of the woods, or of any farm-life of These States, or of the coast, or the lakes, or Kanada,
Me, wherever my life is lived, O to be self-balanced for contingencies!
O to confront night, storms, hunger, ridicule, accidents, rebuffs, as the trees and animals do.
~ Walt Whitman
Tired
I am so tired of waiting, Aren’t you, For the world to become good And beautiful and kind? Let us take a knife And cut the world in two – And see what worms are eating At the rind.
