The LuLac Edition #5, 308, April 24th, 2025

 

FINALLY, SOMEBODY OF STATURE SAID IT…

AL GORE COMPARES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO NAZIS

I always thought Al Gore was a great leader. Under Bill Clinton, he saved the country billions of dollars by being the point person of government restructuring.  There was no slash and burning, no disgruntled employees, no one being demonized by a billionaire Wack job who’s populating the world with kids because he wants them to populate Mars.

Gore who was screwed out of the election by the Supreme Court finally said what a majority of critical thinking people who read history know. Former Vice President Al Gore compared the Trump administration to the Third Reich in Germany on Monday while giving remarks at a kickoff event for San Francisco’s Climate Week.

“I understand very well why it is wrong to compare Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich to any other movement. It was uniquely evil, full stop. I get it. But there are important lessons from the history of that emergent evil,” Gore, a Nobel Peace Prize awardee, told attendees.

“It was [Jürgen] Habermas’s mentor, Theodor Adorno, who wrote that the first step in that nation’s descent into hell was, and I quote, ‘the conversion of all questions of truth into questions of power,”’ Gore said, quoting the famed German philosopher and social theorist.

“He described how the Nazis, and I quote again, ‘attacked the very heart of the distinction between true and false.’ End quote. The Trump administration is insisting on trying to create their own preferred version of reality,” he added.

Gore’s comments echo those made months earlier by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee who compared President Trump’s 2024 campaign rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden to a 1939 pro-Nazi event at the same venue.

Gore, who spent eight years as former President Clinton’s vice president before losing a historically close election to former President George W. Bush, has spent years championing environmental sustainability in presentations and lectures across the globe. His work became the subject of the 2006 documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” about Gore’s efforts to educate the public about global warming.

The second Trump administration has rapidly sought to deregulate the manufacturing and production industries, and roll back policies that combat environmental pollution and global warming.

Gore’s criticism at Monday’s climate event went well beyond environmental concerns, touching on Trump’s immigration and deportation actions, which are testing the constitutional powers of the presidency.

“We’ve already seen, by the way, how populist authoritarian leaders have used migrants as scapegoats and have fanned the fires of xenophobia to fuel their own rise of power,” he said.

“And power-seeking is what this is all about. Our constitution, written by our founders, is intended to protect us against a threat identical to Donald Trump,” Gore added.

 

COUNCIL DEMOCRATS TO HOLD MEET AND GREETS

 

May 5th 

May 12th

Take a look at these first two Mondays in May and take an opportunity to meet and greet Luzerne County Democratic candidates for County Council. 

 

 

 

THE MAGA MESS

IN LUZERNE COUNTY POLITICS

Our contributors  always seems to have a bead on the ongoing variety comedy called The Luzerne County (formerly Republican) comedy show.  The local MAGAs are not far from the chaos exhibited by their lord and savior Donald Trump in Washington.  But at least they are keeping up.

Remember that THESE GUYS are responsible for embracing and enabling the policies designed to hurt middle class residents of Luzerne County.

Here’s a look.

"Chaos in the GOP: Baseball Bats, Backroom Deals, and Book Bans"

It’s been a wild, dysfunctional week in Luzerne County politics. Buckle up — here’s your latest update on the imploding state of the local Republican Party.

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🏏 Urban Legend: GOP Candidate’s Backroom Deal

The NEPA Republicans released a video interview featuring Luzerne County Council candidate Steve Urban — yes, the same guy who chased a kid with a baseball bat and then lied to the police about it. Urban claims GOP leadership privately asked him to step down, promising future support if he cleared the way for incumbent Republicans to retain a majority on the Council.

Frank Scavo and Urban aren’t buying it. They allege that Luzerne GOP Chair Gene Ziemba is making backroom deals and misleading the public about official party endorsements.

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🔥 GOP Civil War: Scavo vs. Luzerne County GOP

In another now-deleted video, the NEPA Republicans claimed that GOP County Chairwoman Lee Anne McDermott was ousted simply for attending one of their events at the Wilkes-Barre Township Firehall — alongside Rob Bresnahan and Congressman Dan Meuser. That’s right, folks: Republicans are canceling each other over guest lists.

The Luzerne GOP and NEPA Republicans are currently in an all-out civil war, complete with competing videos, accusations, and smear campaigns.

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🔥 GOP Civil War: Herring vs. Fitzgerald

Benny Herring, president of the anti-mask, anti-LGBTQ group Citizens Advisory of Pennsylvania, jumped into the fray on Facebook. He slammed TJ Fitzgerald, head of the NEPA Republicans, accusing him of running a political grift by collecting donations at events.

It’s worth noting that Herring also sits on the Luzerne County Ethics Commission — and many are questioning whether his partisan activity violates his ethical responsibilities or threatens the non-profit status of his organization, which regularly endorses MAGA candidates on Facebook. Watch the back-and-forth here.

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🧨 Dombroski, Trump, and the Loaded Question

In another video, Fitzgerald and Scavo take the county GOP to task for ambushing County Council candidate Tom Dombroski — the lone Republican not backing Trump — with a loaded question at a candidate forum hosted by Luzerne County Community College. You can probably guess what the question was about.

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🎤 Meuser’s Meltdowns: Minority Report Edition

Congressman Dan Meuser managed to go full Minority Report this week, defending the false imprisonment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father and union member, labeling him a “potential” terrorist — without due process. You can catch the shocking statements here on X and here on Instagram.

So, Dan… are we locking people up now based on potential crimes? Or should we start calling you a potentially unemployed Congressman?

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🧯 Firebombing, Victim Blaming, and WILK

Meuser wasn’t done. He went on WILK’s Rob Cordaro Show — a favorite for NEPA misinformation — to victim-blame Governor Josh Shapiro after the firebombing of his family’s home. His comments were widely condemned. Full article here →

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📚 Dave Argall: From Book Bans to Bizarre Questions

Finally, State Senator Dave Argall, well-known for pushing book bans, had to issue an apology after asking a 12-year-old at a Chamber of Commerce civics bee whether she thinks it’s appropriate to give "pornographic magazines to kindergarteners."

Yes, you read that right.

The student was understandably confused, and her mother called the question “wildly inappropriate and ridiculous.” Argall later admitted he crossed a line. Read the full story on Skook News.

We’ll be back with more dysfunction, drama, and dumpster fires from Luzerne County’s GOP chaos circus.

 

SCRANTON CITY HALL REVITALIZED

 

(Photo: Scranton Times)

The historic Scranton City Hall building was restored to its former glory and splendor. This is a project the city has been working on for years. Finally the scaffolding was taken down. Mayor Paige Cognetti advised that this was funded by the American Rescue Plan . That money was provided by a forward thinking administration. Given the chaos and selfishness of the current administration, you won’t see anything like this for a long time.

Here's the Mayor cutting the ribbon.

 

 

VOCAL CONGRESSMAN GETS YELLED AT IN TOWN HALL

Byron Donalds may have been the headliner, but the crowd put on the show at the Naples Congressman’s ton hall Tuesday.

Some gave him standing ovations; others stormed out. They yelled at him. They yelled at each other. And they seemed fairly evenly divided between pro-Donalds MAGAs and those criticizing the three-term representative’s work, some so raucously Lee County deputies fast-walked them from the 840-seat auditorium, which was maybe two-thirds full. There were no arrests. By the end of the night, the walk-outs had thinned the crowd considerably.

When I tuned in on C-SPAN he was talking some gibberish about LeBron James and his son. This big mouth defender of all things MAGA plowed through like he always does but the crowd wasn’t buying his crap.

 

 

SUPREME COURT AFTER YOUR HEALTH

Amid the Trump administration’s scorched earth approach to governing — which includes threatening hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid funding — a serious threat to health care has gone under the radar. It could undo years of progress toward preventing disease and making Americans healthier and more secure. 

In Kennedy v. Braidwood, a case being heard today at the Supreme Court, a lawyer with a long history of attacking fundamental rights has taken aim at the Affordable Care Act’s no-cost preventive health care guarantee. The plaintiffs include an employer and several individuals who challenge the constitutionality of the guarantee. 

Their case has been moving through the courts for five years and finally has reached the Supreme Court on one of their most crucial claims: that coverage recommendations made by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are unconstitutional. Should plaintiffs prevail, over 150 million Americans ultimately could lose all free preventive health care benefits since the Affordable Care Act’s 2010 passage.    

On the line in the immediate appeal is cost-free coverage for essential care like screening for diabetes, cancer, hepatitis and mental health issues. Insurance companies won’t have to cover new preventative care innovations that are better at identifying and preventing deadly diseases. A win for plaintiffs could encourage them to pursue their additional claims aimed at eliminating coverage for women’s health, child health and immunizations. Care from birth control to breastfeeding support is also under threat. 

The Affordable Care Act requires free coverage of women’s preventive health care and properly gave experts the responsibility for defining the scope of this coverage. I was fortunate to be invited to join the Institute of Medicine’s (now the National Academy of Medicine) committee that proposed these recommendations to give full force to the law’s promise of expanding access across the whole continuum of care, starting with prevention and continuing through treatment. 

 

GOVERNOR JOSH SHAPIRO AND FIRST LADY LORI SHAPIRO WELCOME GUESTS BACK TO THE GOVERNOR'S RESIDENCE TO CELEBRATE ANNUAL EASTER EGG HUNT

 

Governor Hosh Shapiro (Photo: LuLac archives)

Governor Josh Shapiro, First Lady Lori Shapiro, Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis, and Second Lady Blayre Holmes Davis will welcome pre-K students from across the Commonwealth to Pennsylvania's 2025 Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Governor's Residence. This event comes after Governor Shapiro made clear that he and the First Lady would be opening the Residence's doors as quickly as possible.

The Governor's 2025-26 budget proposal makes significant investments in child care - including $55 million to give child care workers in Pennsylvania at least $1,000 in recruitment or retention bonuses and an additional $10 million to increase Early Intervention (EI) provider rates, to ensure every Pennsylvania child has the support and resources needed to succeed, regardless of family income. This budget also proposes an additional $15 million for the Pre-K Counts program to help providers raise wages and stabilize the early educator workforce.

 

BRESNAHAN SENDS LETTER TO HOUSE LEADERSHIP AFFIRMING COMMITMENT TO MEDICAID

Congressman Rob Bresnehan (Photo: LuLac archives)

U.S. Representative Rob Bresnahan, Jr. (PA-08) announced he and 11 of his Republican colleagues sent a letter sent to House Republican Leadership on the signers’ commitment to protecting Medicaid. The letter was sent to Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, and Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie.

 

 

MEDIA MATTERS

WALN

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

You'll hear the program Sunday at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400 am The Mothership and 7:30 am on 105 The River.

 

THE LAURIE CADDEN SHOW

Tune in every Saturday morning at 9am for The Laurie Cadden Show on WILK FM 103.1 and AM 980 and 910. Laurie’s program has been a northeastern Pennsylvania mainstay every Saturday. Tune in to hear her insights and take on local issues as well as entertaining and informative interviews.

 

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SUNDAY NIGHT SOCK HOP

 

BEATLE EDD’S FAB FOUR MUSIC HOUR

Tune in every week to the Home of Rock and Roll for a jam packed, unpredictable hour starting at 9am Sundays. Host Edd Raineri gives you facts and great music from the immortal Fab Four on ROCK 107.

 

THE LULAC TIME MACHINE

April 1970

Hitler and crews remains scattered and burned

The disposal of the remains of Adolf Hitler was carried out at the Soviet Union's military base in Magdeburg, East Germany. Only the commander of the base was aware that the burnt skeletons of Hitler, Eva Braun, General Hans Krebs, Joseph Goebbels, Magda Goebbels and the Goebbels children, had been interred there.

After months of negotiations, Russia’s FSB secret service and the Russian state archives gave the researchers permission to examine a skull fragment and bits of his teeth. The piece of skull had a hole on its left side, consistent with a bullet wound, with black charring around the edges. Though scientists weren’t allowed to take samples from the skull, they noted in the study, its shape seemed “totally comparable” to radiographies of Hitler’s skull taken a year before his death.

Hitler's skull had been sent to Moscow in 1945, where it was placed in the State Archives in Moscow.In that the base was scheduled to be relinquished to East Germany, the commander consulted KGB Director Yuri Andropov for instructions. To prevent the site from becoming a shrine for neo-Nazis, Andropov ordered that the grave's contents be crushed, burned and scattered. The process was completed the next day at Schönebeck, and what was left over was dumped into the Elbe River. In 1995, the long secret story would be revealed in the book The Death of Hitler: The Full Story with New Evidence from Secret Russian Archives, by Ada Petrova and Peter Watson.

After months of negotiations, Russia’s FSB secret service and the Russian state archives gave the researchers permission to examine a skull fragment and bits of his teeth. The piece of skull had a hole on its left side, consistent with a bullet wound, with black charring around the edges. Though scientists weren’t allowed to take samples from the skull, they noted in the study, its shape seemed “totally comparable” to radiographies of Hitler’s skull taken a year before his death and I 1970 the number one song in LuLac land and America was “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel.