The LuLac Edition #5, 347, June 6th, 2025

 

LUZERNE COUNTY

MAGAs CAN’T

TELL A CANDY 

BAG FROM A 

PRIDE FLAG

Oh man, ya gotta get a load of this one. Again the MAGAs have such an interest in the sexual inclinations of others that they ruined a Veteran’s Day celebration. But what should have been a moment of unity quickly turned sour. A leader in the Luzerne County Republican Party saw the photo and took offense at what they thought was a PRIDE flag. It was actually just a grocery bag used to hand out candy to children. Still, they posted an angry message online, asking, “Memorial Day Parade and the Democratic County Council members feel the need to bring a PRIDE flag???”

Things escalated when the Citizens Advisory of PA—a group with leaders who hold public positions across Luzerne County—shared the post and added their own outrage:

“On such a sacred day like today, why would Luzerne County Democrat council members and candidates push their social agenda? Politics and social issues should be LEFT OFF the list for just one day, right? Can’t we respect our veterans at least that much?”. Then, individuals reposted claiming “On Memorial Day, they have no morals”.

Let’s be clear: this group’s president sits on the Luzerne County Ethics Commission. One of its vice presidents is on the Northwest Area School Board. The other VP just won a seat on Forty Fort Borough Council. Their views and actions matter—and they reflect the values they bring into public service. This group is a local echo of Moms for Liberty, an extremist anti-government organization pushing hate under the guise of patriotism.

It’s shocking that grown adults—community leaders, no less—can act with such ignorance and hostility. They saw what they wanted to see, twisted the facts, and stirred up division and fear. There was no PRIDE flag. There was only a candy bag. This is representation from the top of the local Republican Party.

Worse still, silence from others in their party allows this behavior to thrive. It’s not just the loud bigots who damage our community—it's also those who stand by and say nothing. If you’re not willing to stand up against injustice, then you’re helping it spread. Even complicit County Controller Walter Griffith chimes in on the hateful post to ask for votes.

And this seems to be the new normal. Donald Trump’s “Happy Memorial Day” post this year didn’t honor the fallen—it insulted his critics, calling them “scum.” This is what too many now accept as leadership. I remember when people like Senator John McCain had the courage to defend others—like when he corrected a voter who falsely called Barack Obama a Muslim during his campaign. We’ve lost that kind of dignity and integrity.

I miss those days—before Trump, before the rage, before the division. We were a better country. Luzerne County deserves better, too.

Why bring this up now? Well next week we’re closing in on the day that the Pride Flag is being flown, June 13^th. The next day is June 14^th which is American flag day. Let’s hope the MAGAs in Luzerne County don’t get a candy bag mixed up with either of them.

 

NAVY SHIP BEING

RENAMED IN

VINDICTIVE PETTY PURGE

Pete Hedgehog, the drunk Secretary of Defense, has begun his own petty bullshit purge. He gave orders to rename e an oil ship named after gay rights activist Harvey Milk, a move that pointedly comes at the start of Pride Month.  USNS Harvey Milk was officially named at an August 2016 ceremony in San Francisco, where Milk, an American politician, became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California in 1977 as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He was assassinated in 1978 while serving on the board and posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.

A defense official also confirmed to the outlet that Hedgehog  had ordered Navy Secretary John Phelanete Hedgehog, the drunk Secretary of Defense, has begun his own petty bullshit purge. He gave orders to rename e an oil ship named after gay rights activist Harvey Milk, a move that pointedly comes at the start of Pride Month.  U to undertake the renaming, with the announcement intentionally set to occur on June 13 during Pride.

Wow! The GOP has a thing about gay people and their sex lives. Hmmmm…wonder why they care so much about a gay person’s personal goings on (I mean how pathetic is this, Milk has been dead for 47 years NOW) that it is concerning this is all they have on their plate. A war in Ukraine and Isreal kicking the shit out of Gaza….that’s not on their radar) is les important than this.

But nothing new here from Hedgehog. Since becoming Pentagon chief has set out to dismantle any military program or reading material dealing with or referencing diversity, anti-racism or gender issues.

That effort, which he has argued is meant to return the armed forces to a “warrior ethos,” also included attempts to remove anything deemed as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) content from Defense Department websites and social media pages. That resulted in the temporary removal of webpages dedicated to baseball legend Jackie Robinson, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, the Navajo Code Talkers and Japanese Americans.

Hedgehog has even targeted Vessels christened to honor Ruth Bader Ginbsurg, Harriet Tubman and Cesar Chavez. A Jewish woman, a black woman and a Hispanic man of labor.

Coincidence? Nope just plain old-fashioned racism from a bully drunken pig who can’t even hold on to a marriage or two or three.

 

BABY TRUMP TANTRUM

EXPLODES ALL

OVER

FEDERALIST SOCIETY

If the Federalist Society who essentially rebuilt the Supreme Court from among their ranks thinks they are going to get a thank you note from President Trump, “IT AIN’T HAPPENING”. Trump like the spoiled man child he is now has turned his ire on the body that aided him in naming Judges. The issue here is that Judges, no matter how conservative, have to uphold the law and not the whims of a tyrannical bully with the self-control of a two year old.

Trump and his allies are waging war with the Society as he sees parts of his second-term agenda blocked by some of his own judicial appointees. Simmering tensions broke into full public view after Trump called longtime Federalist leader Leonard Leo a “sleazebag” after a court blocked the bulk of Trump’s tariffs. 

The boiling point has unleashed a rebellion pitting the Make America Great Again movement against the conservative legal stronghold that helped Trump reshape the courts during his first term by offering up conservative judges as suggestions to fill benches across the country.

As the president embarks on choosing his next set of judicial nominees in his second-term, his decisions are now being shaped by a new, MAGA-branded team. The new group of vetting staff are going to be less concerned with conservative principles than people who are totally loyal to Trump.

 

JOE WALSH

BECOMING A DEMOCRAT

Most political experts are wondering when some GOP and Independents will break with the MAGAs in the GOP. One such person is Joe Walsh. Joe Walsh, a former Republican member of Congress, said Tuesday he is becoming a Democrat, marking the end of his five-year streak as a political independent after leaving the GOP in 2020.

Walsh announced his formal affiliation with the Democratic Party in a Tuesday Substack post, saying he made the decision because he views the Republican Party as a threat to democracy and the rule of law and thinks defeating the GOP requires “a broad coalition of moderates, progressives, and, yes, even conservatives.”

“Three words I never thought I’d ever utter: I’m a Democrat. This former Republican Congressman, former Republican candidate for President, this former TEA Party champion is formally joining the Democratic Party. The stakes are simply too high to NOT become a Democrat,” Walsh wrote in his Substack post, before outlining his reasoning.

“Let’s start with the obvious—a tyrant sits in the White House. The very thing our Founders feared most is here. Throw in the fact that one of our two major political parties is a real and direct threat to democracy and the rule of law. These are unprecedented, dangerous times in America. I know it. You know it. There are even Republicans who know it,” he continued.

Walsh acknowledged some issues with the Democratic Party but said “for democracy and the rule of law to persevere, Democrats must succeed” — which necessitates becoming a “big tent” party and learning how to fight against Trump’s GOP.

“Take it from a former Republican fighter,” he wrote. “Republicans fight to the death to win politically, and they’ve always believed Democrats won’t. I’ve been a fighter my whole life, and if there’s ever been a moment when Americans are crying out for a Democratic Party with some fight, it’s now.”

He added: “And look, here’s the thing. We’re gonna need a HUGE tent to defeat this Republican Party. … We’re gonna need a Democratic tent big enough to hold both a conservative like Joe Walsh and a progressive like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. I want to help build that big tent because I want to win, and … Trump’s Republican Party must lose.”   (The Hill, LuLac)

 

BRESNAHAN ANNOUNCES

JUNE TELEPHONE

TOWN HALL

Congressman Rob Bresnehan (Photo: LuLac archives)

U.S. Representative Rob Bresnahan, Jr. (PA-08) announced the details of his next telephone town hall, which will be held on Tuesday, June 10, at 6:30 PM. Rep. Bresnahan held his first town hall on March 25; it was the first Congressional town hall held in Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District in over four years.

“I came to Congress to make a difference and fight for my home, and the best way to effectively do that is by hearing directly from the people I represent,” said Rep. Bresnahan. “This telephone town hall will give me a chance to hear directly from the people who matter most. At the end of the day, it’s Northeastern Pennsylvania – my home – that put me in Congress, not Washington, D.C., and I look forward to hearing how I can continue to best serve them next week.”

Rep. Bresnahan’s first telephone town hall drew more than 9,000 constituents to join over the phone and an estimated additional 1,000 tuned in on Facebook. During the town hall, he answered questions on topics including but not limited to Medicaid, the Tobyhanna Army Depot, the Rain Tax, inflation, the housing market, veterans, and more.

The telephone town hall will be sent widely across the district through telephone lines and simultaneously broadcast on Facebook. Constituents interested in tuning in can sign up at the link on Rep. Bresnahan’s website here.

 

SHAPIRO ADMINISTRATION HIGHLIGHTS VITAL ROLE SNAP PLAYS IN SUPPORTING OUR ECONOMY, FIGHTING HUNGER AS CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS PROPOSE CUTS TO FOOD ASSISTANCE FOR 140,000 OF PENNSYLVANIANS

Governor Josh Shapiro (Photo: LuLac archives)

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh and Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding joined leadership from Feeding Pennsylvania and the Westmoreland Food Bank to discuss the importance of the Supplemental Nutrition Access Program (SNAP) amid federal proposals that would take food assistance away from thousands of Pennsylvanians and significantly alter the program, costing the state over $1 billion more annually.

SNAP helps nearly two million people in all communities of our Commonwealth purchase food for themselves and their families. Children and older adults represent more than half of Pennsylvanians helped by the SNAP program, and the program also allows lower income, working families and people with disabilities to keep food on their tables.

"SNAP helps people meet one of our most essential needs - allowing them to participate fully in work and school and live healthier. But now, Congress is currently considering changes to the SNAP program that would threaten food assistance for nearly 140,000 Pennsylvanians," said Secretary Arkoosh. "Should these proposals to change SNAP become law, vulnerable children, people with disabilities, older Pennsylvanians, and many others would see their access to food at risk and will further destabilize our agricultural economy and workforce during a tumultuous time."

 

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

June 1944

D-Day

The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day (after the military term), it is the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France, and the rest of Western Europe, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.

Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on the day selected for D-Day was not ideal, and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and time of day, that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable. Adolf Hitler placed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion. US president Franklin D. Roosevelt placed Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower in command of Allied forces.

The invasion began shortly after midnight on the morning of 6 June with extensive aerial and naval bombardment as well as an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops. The early morning aerial assault was soon followed by Allied amphibious landings on the coast of France c. 06:30. The target 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha.

The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous. The highest number of casualties was at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialized tanks.

The Allies were able to establish beachheads at each of the five landing sites on the first day, but Carentan, Saint-Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands. Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads were not connected until 12 June. German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead and in LuLac land and America this week the number 1 song was “I’ll Get By” by the Harry James Orchestra with Dick Haymes Orchestra.