The LuLac Edition #4,712, April 7th, 2022

  EDITOR'S NOTE: The opinions posted in all LuLac editions are those of the LuLac editor and assigned partners associated only with The LuLac Political Letter and no other business, government or social entity.

CONFIRMED 

 Senate confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic nomination to Supreme Court. Jackson brings to the Court real life experience as well as well rounded Judicial experience significantly in the Public Defender's office.

 

LUZERNE COUNTY COUNCIL & THE MANAGER DECISION PART 2

Right now the people on Luzerne County Council who voted for Romilda Crocomo, (Perry, Radle, McGinley,, Lombardo and Schnee have not endorsed Randy Robertson because they fear he will just use the county as a notch in his belt of jobs since 2006.

Robert Schnee’s seat will be open because he won election as State Representative in the 116^th Tuesday. Watch who gets Schnee’s position. That person, coming in cold will be the deciding vote. This routine matter of filling a vacancy has become a big deal.

 

OPENING DAY AND CHRISTOPHER JEMIO

 

Chris Jemio (Photo: Citizens' Voice)

(by John O'Donnell)

Today is Opening Day for baseball and I always think of my former coworker Chris Jemio who died on Christmas Day in 2005. Chris loved baseball, the Yankees and in particular Johnny Damon.

He was taken from  us way too soon at a young age.  I can’t help but think, if God is good, Chris is watching from a vantage point with all the Yankee greats on this day. 

 

JIM DOONER

James Dooner was a guy I went to high school with. He followed politics in his hometown of Avoca as well as in the Lu and Lac.

We’d collect signs from various campaigns in both areas and trade them.

Jim McNulty, Jim Walsh and Gene Peters signs were ones we both had around our homes.

Rest in peace my fellow political nerd. 

 

NAACP WILKES-BARRE BRANCH SOCIAL MEDIA CONTACTS 

The NAACP Wilkes-Barre branch has updated their website and provided information on other social media links. 

 Website- 

https://wb-naacp.com/

- TikTok -  https://www.tiktok.com/@wilkesbarrenaacp?

- Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wilkesbarrenaacp/

- Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DiamondCityNAACP

- LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/naacp-wilkes-barre-branch-2306/

 

 GAETZ JUSTIFIES 'NO' VOTE ON INSULIN CAP BILL BY SAYING DIABETICS SHOULD LOSE WEIGHT

 Rep. Matt Gaetz justified his vote against a bill that would cap insulin at $35 a month for most Americans by suggesting people with diabetes should first lose weight before Congress steps in to help. 

The Florida Republican claimed on Twitter on Thursday and in his newsletter a day later that obese people, not pharmaceutical companies, are running up the drug's price, writing that insulin's cost "increases as waistlines increase."

"While Democrat posturing of H.R. 6833 victimizes insulin payees as people with an uncontrollable disease that are being taken advantage of and need Big Brother to throw them a raft, lifestyle changes en masse would expeditiously lower demand and the subsequent prices of insulin,” Gaetz wrote.

This is your Republican party at work. They vote for tax cuts for the rich, stir up the worst instincts in people  but when it comes to the health and welfare of everyday Americans they never, ever deliver. (LuLac, aol news).

 

GREENE REVIVES QANON SMEAR IN ATTACK ON GOP SENATORS BACKING JACKSON'S SCOTUS NOMINATION

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Monday launched an outlandish attack against three Republican senators who support Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, accusing them of somehow being “pro-pedophile.”

The line of attack echoes Greene’s past support for the QAnon conspiracy theory that alleged former President Donald Trump was working to take down a powerful cabal of child traffickers typically portrayed as the Democratic elite. Believers in the debunked belief frequently allege that their political opponents support pedophiles.

Earlier on Monday, Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said they would be joining fellow Republican Susan Collins of Maine in supporting President Biden’s nominee to the Supreme Court in a final vote expected later this week.

The accusation that Jackson had been light in her sentencing of child porn offenders originated with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and was a running theme throughout her confirmation hearings despite repeated analyses showing that Jackson’s rulings were within the mainstream of her fellow judges. Even the conservative National Review magazine called the allegation against Jackson “meritless to the point of demagoguery.”

“As a mother and a judge who has had to deal with these cases, I was thinking that nothing could be further from the truth,” Jackson said when first responding to the accusations.

Greene’s charge that lawmakers who vote to confirm Jackson are “pro-pedophile” takes that wild accusation to a new level, but she’s not alone in promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory. A recent survey from the Public Religion Research Institute found that 16% of Americans believed that “the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking operation.” Republicans across the country have played into those fears in recent months with a series of bills targeting the LGBTQ community, with those opposing the legislation being labeled as “groomers.”

Whether Greene faces any internal discipline for labeling three fellow Republicans as pedophile-friendly remains to be seen.

Greene continues her campaign of weirdness and crazed accusations, I wonder why there is a focus on sex with these Republicans.  Are they getting too much, not enough? 

Greene and her cohorts bring to mind this song by The Doors. (USA Today, LuLac) 

CASEY, COLLEAGUES INTRODUCE BILL TO EXTEND SCHOOL AND SUMMER MEAL FLEXIBILITIES TO FEED CHILDREN

Senator Bob Casey (Photo: LuLac archives)

U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) joined U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and 49 of their Senate colleagues in introducing the Support Kids Not Red Tape Act to ensure children throughout the Nation have access to healthy meals through school nutrition waivers.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, waiver flexibilities have been crucial to keeping children fed, as they allow many families to receive free meals over the summer, help sponsors provide meals to children in rural locations, make meal pick-up easier for parents and ease administrative burden on school staff. This bill would extend U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) school meal flexibilities from June 30, 2022 to September 30, 2023. USDA requested this authority be extended in the fiscal year 2023 spending bill.

 “For many families across Pennsylvania, access to school meals is vital to prevent children from going hungry. Ensuring all kids across the country have reliable access to nutritious meals is one of the most important things we can do to invest in the future of our Nation’s leaders and workers—when children have a healthy start in life, they are better able to learn and grow. I urge my colleagues to support passage of the Support Kids Not Red Tape Act to give school and summer feeding sites the flexibility they need to serve millions of children who need access to meals,” said Senator Casey.

 School food providers are struggling due to supply chain shortages and price spikes, as well as more expensive program costs over the last two years. Failure to extend the waiver would  impact Pennsylvania’s food and agricultural industry, as it would mean fewer dollars spent with PA growers and vendors companies who produce and process foods used in school meal programs.

A broad spectrum of groups sent in letters to Congress to extend the child nutrition waiver authority. Letters included:

Nearly 2,000 anti-hunger, nutrition, education, children’s, school, preschool, and out of school providers, faith groups and industry groups, among others, from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, which includes representatives from 47 towns;

General Mills, and

23 groups, including the School Nutrition Association, School Superintendents Association, National Education Association, National PTA, and American Commodity Distribution Alliance, among others.

 

GOVERNOR WOLF COMMENDS LEGISLATION TO SUPPORT UKRAINIAN REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT IN PENNSYLVANIA

Governor Tom Wolf (LuLac archives)

Governor Tom Wolf commended the introductions of Senate Bill 1176, sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Williams, and House Bill 2380, sponsored by Reps. Rob Matzie and Kevin Boyle, to appropriate $2 million in state funds to aid Ukrainian refugee resettlement efforts in Pennsylvania. This proposed legislation follows Gov. Wolf’s call to the General Assembly to continue supportive actions and efforts to sever financial ties with Russia.

“Pennsylvania was founded on the ideals of peace, tolerance, and safety for all people, and we will continue to model these ideals and be a welcoming home for any who seek safe refuge in the United States,” Gov. Wolf said. “I am pleased to see the introduction of this legislation in our General Assembly to support necessary efforts in resettling Ukrainian refugees. This proposed funding will allow the commonwealth the flexibility to invest in refugee services quickly and efficiently, and ultimately provide a safe haven for these individuals.”

In the proposed legislation, the $2 million state funds will be awarded to the Department of Human Services Refugee Resettlement Program’s contracted providers. The funding will be used to supplement existing federal investments and create faster and more flexible ways to deliver expanded services that will help refugee populations find and retain employment, achieve self-sufficiency, and fully integrate into their communities including:

Securing short and long-term housing, or other housing coordination initiatives;

Targeted English-as-Second-Language education and support;

Occupational skills and training to prepare individuals for in-demand jobs in Pennsylvania; and

(Re)certification courses for arrivals with degrees oversees that are not transferrable to the United States.

“The first Ukrainian refugees are beginning to arrive in Pennsylvania this week, and the agencies ready to receive them need our support,” said Senator Williams. “Over 4 million people have fled Ukraine, leaving behind almost everything as they escaped Russia’s unprovoked attack on their homes and way of life. The New Neighbors Fund created by SB 1176 will allow our agencies on the ground to serve these refugees and meet their immediate needs as they arrive here in Pennsylvania and begin to heal and rebuild from the trauma they’ve experienced.”

“This is not some crisis affecting strangers on the nightly news,” said Rep. Matzie. “These are our neighbors’ families. This is local. This is real. This is touching our communities. It is time to again open our communities’ doors and hearts to welcome newcomers to our commonwealth.”

“Pennsylvania has a legacy of welcoming people fleeing oppression, and the same holds true now. I’m proud to support a plan to help Ukrainians who resettle in our communities,” said Rep. Boyle.

Today, Pennsylvania is home to more than 122,000 Ukrainians, the second most of any U.S. state.

“Pennsylvania stands ready to support Ukrainians fleeing their country and would welcome them here in the commonwealth,” said Gov. Wolf. “Thank you to the members of the General Assembly for proposing this critical legislation that I look forward signing into law when it lands on my desk.”

From day one, Gov. Wolf has stood with Ukraine and will continue to do everything in his power to support ​the country and its people. Most recently, the Wolf Administration has partnered with the Pennsylvania State Police and Capitol Police to  donate body armor for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Additionally, Pennsylvania is one of the largest purchasers of liquor in the United States, ​and Gov. Wolf ​was one of the first governors to urge a stop on the sale of Russian-made liquor in state stores, which was quickly acted upon, as well as successfully calling on the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System and the Public School Employees’ Retirement System to divest from Russia.

 

MEDIA MATTERS 

 

ATTENTION DEMOCRATS, INDEPENDENTS AND MODERATE REPUBICANS

WARNING

WILK DOESN’T WANT YOU!

I have been engaged in and following all forms of media since I was 5.

True story.

When I was a small child, my dad was laid off from the Lehigh Valley Railroad. My mom worked. My dad watched me and did the chores around the house. When President Eisenhower was on TV doing his press conferences, he wanted to watch and hear what the President had to say. That was tough when there was a little kid like me yammering away. So my father would shush me. I’d ask why and after repeated responses that were unheard by my little ears, he one day in frustration said, “Keep quiet! Your grandfather is on TV!” That shut me up.

Now my paternal grandfather Yonki lived down the street from us and was always around in the flesh. My other grandfather died in 1944 but wasn’t around. I was smart enough to know that there were two grandmas and two grandfathers. I knew that they appeared to be much older than my parents. So it was perfectly logical for my 4 year old brain to think that good old Ike was my grandfather.

When I got to grade school we had this Weekly Reader with President Eisenhower on the cover. The nun asked us who he was. My hand shot up and I said, “That’s my grandfather!” This was my second strike with Sister Anastasia because I was also left handed. A phone call ensued from Father Super to my father on this issue of brazenness. .

“Jake” he said to my father. “Where did David get the idea that Eisenhower was his grandfather?” My father told him, “That was me” and explained why.

My point in telling you this story is I am a child of electronic and all media. I have been part of it all my life and in all aspects of it. But like most folks my primary focus is as a participant, a reader, watcher or listener. Coupling that with my experience in broadcast sales you can say that I’ve always concluded that all successful broadcast entities become that way by increasing their share of watchers, readers or listeners.

My core belief has always been that broadcasters welcome inclusion, not exclusion.

But like all norms in my life, this appears to be incorrect.

WILK Radio is the perfect example of an entity that has lost its way. It pains me to say that since LuLac has always been graciously welcomed by station management. For me, it is very hard to listen between 9am and 6pm. At first I thought it was just me. But I have heard from various quarters that the station is off the rails in terms of only allowing one point of view to be held.

I get that.

If you listened to the late Rush Limbaugh, you had an expectation that you’d hear a Conservative slant. Same thing with other Conservative hosts like Hugh Hewitt.

However what you have is vitriol and an almost hostile atmosphere if you as a caller don’t join in lockstep with Bob Corado or Frank Andrews. 

It really came to a head for me the other day when a caller attempted to disagree with Bob Cordaro. The former Democratic turned Republican County Commissioner went nuts screaming "shut up" and accusing the caller of trying to justify his argument by spouting off a liberal philosophy. All the guy was trying to do was give comparisons to a previous set of opinions. He was hung up on and shut right down. Donald from Pittston who has called the morning shows was giving an opinion but Cordaro was threatened  by it and started a rant about how President Biden and the Democrats were trying to harm “his” country. Cordao needs to know it is not just HIS country.

But I digress.

He then read text  messages that were critical of the way he broadcasts. Some of them took personal shots at him about his time away. I give him credit for owning that. (My shot was about a mutual friend of ours who was a brave  Vietnam veteran. I always felt that my late friend  Jim would be happy with Cardaro’s  dedication to veterans in his show. His politics now, not so much).  

But after reading the texts, he then proceeded to say that something was somehow lacking in our lives since we were believers in Democratic policies. He claimed something was amiss in our lives if we were to think that affordable health care, a solution to immigration (which has been blocked by his party for years now) and the issue of climate change is something dangerous to the U.S. 

All I can say about that is: Last I looked our lives were fine. And we weren’t wearing an ankle brace. This projection that somehow our lives were pathetic because we didn’t think like him is interesting to say the least.

 ACCUSATION IS CONFESSION #1. 

He says he can’t understand how Democrats can live with themselves.

Democrats are living with themselves just fine because after hearing a couple of minutes of his nonsense and that of his callers, there is always Sirius, NPR, music or ESPN.

Cordaro Is not alone in his rudeness to people with an opposite view.

Frank Andrews had a call about Immigration from Dave from Kingston who is left leaning. Unlike Nikki Stone, who may not agree with Dave but at least gives him a forum, Andrews in his best snark said he’d send illegals to the caller’s house so he can take care of them. Then he hung up good Christian man that he is.

Hey this is their prerogative, it’s their show. But in my estimation it is not a way to build an audience.

The hatred for President Biden is troubling too. I disdained and disliked President Trump (still do) for the way he personally conducted himself in office. Look at any past edition and you’ll see that. But I did have some good things to say about him once in a while. For example his Space Force and the way he single-handedly reshaped the Judiciary in this country are things I gave him credit for. (I might not have agreed with the Judges but respected the political machinations of it)

But both Cordaro and Andrew have NOTHING good to say about President Biden.

They say Biden is a tottering old fool but the guy is on TV every day articulating issues that neither of his GOP predecessors could do. He may not be a great speaker but he can give specifics on what he knows and how he wants to get there. No "aw shucks" like you got from Bush 43 or convulated word salad that you got from Mr. Trump.

Both say Biden is ruining the country but use red meat to stir up some of their ignorant and racist callers. I do not think that as an American you believe that ANY President gets up every morning and thinks to himself, “How am I going to fuck over this country!" As  self-serving as Donald Trump was, I don’t even think that was in his mind. Until January 6^th.

Then there is the Hunter Biden situation. Might be serious, might not. But Andrews still clings to the Hillary e mails and says “Lock Her Up”. This is something both latch on to like dogs with a bone. Both get in a lather about this but say nothing about the corruption and convictions under the previous administration. 

ACCUSATION IS CONFESSION #2.

Where does the hatred to Biden come from? Not just from  these guys but the callers. The envy about a sign on a highway where this region has a person elected President of the United  States is something not good? This is NEPA history that will be written in books long after we're all gone. 

Both Cordaro and Amdews were once high flying public officials but were rejected by circumstances and voters.  Could there be a little bit of envy and jealously on their part? I don’t know, I’m looking to understand the unbridled hatred. It reminds me of what the John Birch Society used to say about John Kennedy.

The callers I understand because the majority of WILK callers live by the adage my dad used to use about some people in this region.

“Most people would rather see hearse in your driveway than a Cadillac!”

If you took a survey of the callers, most are  seniors, on social security, Medicare and pensions, some get veteran’s benefits, some on disability  but hate the "god damn government". Some callers claim they are not racists will open a call with, “Now I’m not a racist or anything but…… “

Some callers have proven by their own words their ignorance of how government works. But Cordaro and Andrews are educated and accomplished residents of Lackawanna County. It seems to me they’d rather rail against Biden, Harris and Pelosi, those evil Democrats who gave the city of Scranton, their county seat, millions of dollars for improvements. Yet they say THEIR America is being destroyed. I wonder if they cashed their stimulus checks. To me, as broadcasters by decrying the Democratic policies as evil and not even mentioning that money brought into their home town is both hypocritical and incendiary. 

The bottom line here is WILK is violating the basic tenants of business and  broadcasting. They are limiting their audience to like minded very conservative right wing apologists.

They believe Trump is God, Biden is the devil.  

Everyone who gets a government benefit except themselves is undeserving and lazy. 

 COVID was a hoax except for when they lost a loved one. 

They are instant experts about everything. Their facts come from Fox News or worse yet conspiracy sites.

On immigration, they are afraid of the color not the character of the people they see as threats to their neighborhood.  

Most live by the creed, “I got mine, now I’m going to see you DON’T get yours because it’ll hurt mine."

I know that doesn’t make sense but if you listen to what they are really saying, you’ll agree.

They’ll take a tiny bit of a story and turn it into something salacious.

An example of someone taking a germ of a debate point on childhood education regarding the Florida law, was when some guy extrapolated that into someone discussing  anal sex with  a second grader. I have to wonder  where the mind of that caller was to even bring that up. Of course there was no blow back from the host.

I find myself quoting my old boss Tom Joseph again who said, “This is a middle of the road country. We don’t go to extremes.”

WILK has gone to extremes in the way their hosts conduct themselves. The only people who can engage are the uninformed ignorant  minority.  That’s  a business decision and it may work.

But I wonder how many callers  are buying high end eye wear that cost hundreds of dollars,  contacting a trucking company for business services,  going to a high end bistro for dinner or contacting  a law firm.

I also wonder how many Democratic , moderate GOPers or Independents just shake their heads at the “same old, same old” and never hear a lively give and take that used to be the norm on WILK.

No one wants to hear that their contrasting beliefs are going to ruin their country.

Np one wants to be belittled and screamed at if they deviate from the biases of their talk show hosts. Talk show hosts used to be neutral and get consensus from callers. Not anymore. It's about ego, not information based in facts presented fully.

Subtraction is never a good thing. But we are told between 9am and 6 every day on  WILK that there is only one way to think. Do not think like the Democrats because they will ruin you and the country.

Those who try to shut down different opinions under the guise that only they can save the country and know what’s best are the real danger to free thought.

For everything that Trump did, they say Biden is doing.

For everything they accuse Democrats and “the left” are doing, they are by their very actions telegraphing what the Republicans stand fr now. Not every Democratic is "the far left". Not every Republican goes in lockstep with the "far right": Not every Independent is "indecisive". 

The more they scream and whine like spoiled children that the Democrats are 100% united in harming this country, destroying it even, you have to wonder why when confronted with facts that they retreat into tirades (Cordaro) or gleeful indifference (Andrews).

Cordaro mentioned that people who texted him and called him out can’t defend what the Democrats are doing.

Yet his defense of the GOP as it stands today,( this current GOP would  never have elected him in 1999 and 2003) is shoddy treatment and belittlement of those who wish to disagree.

“Fired up”  is one thing (L.A. Tarone lived his life in that condition) but acting like a petulant bully is quite another.

The more they say a war, a press conference, a proposal to fund future COVID issues, a bill to lower the cost of insulin, when they say all that is a distraction, well that’s 

ACCUSATION IS CONFESSION #3.

WILK is known as a news/talk station. The news is there for sure with a dedicated news team and network.

The talk has turned into at least in three day parts, a conversation with each other.Everyone enjoys a good fight, but when you talk in an ench chamber you fight with yourselves.

When that happens, facts be damned, entertainment is dispatched to the garbage pail and all you get  is radio reduced to a  narrow, self serving and just plain sad element. In the end, One day, the sound of people changing the station will be louder than the cacophony of noise coming through that speaker. 

And that will not make radio, those involved or the different views we have of America great at all.

  

WALN TV 

 

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM 

 Welcome back!

This week's guest is Erin McLaughlin discussing Ideological Diversity.  You'll hear the program Sunday at 6 on 94.3 The Talker, 6:30 on The Mothe1400 am, and 7:30 on 105 The River.

 

 

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SUNDAY NIGHT SOCK HOP

 

1975

Our 1975 logo.

Frank Robinson became the first African-American to manage a Major League Baseball team. Robinson, who was both manager and a player for the Cleveland Indians, placed himself into the lineup as a designated hitter, and hit a home run in his first at-bat, to hlp the Indians beat the Yankees 5–3…..  

At the Academy Awards, Art Carney won Best Actor for Harry and Tonto, Ellen Burstyn won Best Actress for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and The Godfather Part II became the first sequel to win an Oscar for Best Picture……In an interview on the CBS Morning News, U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater said that the Vietnam War "would have been over in a month" if he had been elected president in 1964…..Josephine Baker danced before a crowd of celebrities at the Bobino Theatre in Paris. Days later, the African-American dancer who had become a beloved citizen of France, had a cerebral hemorrhage and died on April 12 at the age of 68……Operation Eagle Pull started as the United States closed its embassy in Cambodia, and began the evacuation of all American citizens. American military helicopters from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock, and 180 U.S. Marines from the amphibious assault ship USS Okinawa, arrived at Phnom Penh. There was no interference from the Khmer Rouge during the rescue. ARVN General Staff sends numbers of South Vietnamese fighter-bombers to slow down or halt PAVN units to attempt major ambushes and attacks at the highway and at Xuan Loc. South Vietnamese fighter bombers uses 80-120 sorties per day to stiff strong resistance…The National Association of Broadcasters voted 12–3 to designate the first hour of weeknight network television as "Family Viewing Hour, starting with the 1975–76 season…..and this week in 1975 the number one song in LuLac land and America was one of my all time favorites, (it’s in my top 5) Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom”.