{"id":30244,"date":"2019-10-27T09:35:10","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T13:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=30244"},"modified":"2019-10-28T15:32:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T19:32:00","slug":"setting-the-record-straight-on-blame-for-the-pipeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=30244","title":{"rendered":"Setting the record straight on blame for the pipeline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note:<\/strong> Corrected the source of the mailers, which is Conservation Voters of PA<\/em><\/p>\n

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A popular trope on the Internet is \u201cvote blue, no matter who.\u201d As we\u2019ve seen with the likes of Tulsi Gabbard (not to mention so many GOP examples it is impossible to list them all), blind party loyalty is a massive disservice to our country \u2014 and how too many elected officials and candidates avoid accountability.<\/span><\/p>\n

A case in point: maybe you\u2019ve seen the mailers from Democrat-leaning group blaming County Commissioners Terence Farrell and Michelle Kichline for the pipeline (I\u2019ll note a similar underground strategy played out to cost Democratic Commissioner Kathi Cozzone her renomination), a piece that avoids the inconvenient truth that a number of Democrats from Gov. Tom Wolf on down are far more complicit in the pipeline, the stonewalling and general weasel behavior around the project than county Republicans.<\/span><\/p>\n

While county officials have a very limited scope in what they can and cannot do in terms of a state pipeline project, Gov. Wolf and his Department of Environmental Protection have aggressively protected the misbegotten project for nearly five years \u2014 to the extent that the DEP paid for the legal defense of a pair of state constables who are alleged to have acted like mob thugs with local residents and media members.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wolf and the Democrats have had the power to stop \u2014 or at least better manage \u2014 the pipeline for the entire time since taking office in 2015. Beyond state Sen. Andy Dinniman, I\u2019m at a loss to find a Democratic elected official who vocally opposed the project (yes, I\u2019m aware of subsequent elections and \u201cdeathbed\u201d conversions) before 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is true too, that union powers have pushed cash and influence \u2014 including the currently under indictment John Dougherty \u2014 to quell Democratic opposition to the pipeline, with Building Trades Council money funneled to now former party officials. (As an aside, you know that the GOP is struggling locally when they fail to make the argument: Corrupt Philly Machine pols are trying to take over our well-run county government.)<\/span><\/p>\n

So, if anything, Democrats (and their allies — in this case, Conservation Voters of PA) are more responsible \u2014 not less \u2014 for the pipeline. Sending out disingenuous (and poorly designed) mailers to blame Farrell and Kichline for their own handiwork is something that has to be pointed out.<\/span><\/p>\n

To be sure, Republicans share the blame: the project was green-lit and strongly supported by former Gov. Tom Corbett and continues to have strong industry group support. But they haven\u2019t had control for nearly five years, Democrats have.<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats need to be called to account for this \u2014 both their conduct in protecting the pipeline and this deceptive attempt to place the blame elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

While I am and remain generally sympathetic to Democrats, I cannot and will not abide this level of dishonesty.<\/span><\/p>\n

How can a party fight the corruption and dishonesty of the Trump Administration when it condones the same behavior within its own ranks?<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

This used to be the time of year where the staff of The Times<\/em> would bat around endorsements, via email, phone or over coffee, with a wide-range of opinions (I\u2019ll allow, as the boss, my vote counted a bit more, but I could be persuaded, as noted by the numerous GOP candidates we endorsed over the years).<\/span><\/p>\n

As the media landscape changed \u2014 and as needed, The Times<\/em> evolved to a user-submission model for content, we no longer have the staff around to argue endorsements. So, as a publication, we don\u2019t make them any more.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, as an individual (and granted, one as full of crap as the next guy, so your mileage may vary), I can share my own preferences \u2014 how I plan to vote on Nov. 5 in our county elections.<\/span><\/p>\n

First off, I can\u2019t at this time support any of the Republican candidates. None \u2014 none \u2014 have called out the criminal behavior of President Donald Trump (granted very few elected GOP officials beyond Mitt Romney seem to have done so), a sign of a total lack of moral courage (and short-sighted political vision).<\/span><\/p>\n

If Republicans lack the courage to stand up for what they know is right, how can we trust them moving forward to have the courage to battle special interests or the powerful on behalf of the people of Chester County? The answer, obviously, is that we cannot.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the most part, I feel somewhat confident voting for much of the Democratic ticket \u2014 but as noted above, I\u2019m deeply troubled by the mail ads Conservation Voters of PA, a long-time ally of the state Democratic Party has sent out on behalf of Commissioner candidates Marian Moskowitz and Josh Maxwell. Suggesting that Republicans are to blame for the pipeline is deeply disingenuous \u2014 Democrats from Gov. Tom Wolf to some local party members are at least equally to blame for the pipeline fiasco, and should be held to account.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, I\u2019ll be voting for all but two of the Democratic candidates.<\/span><\/p>\n

While I have no issue with supporting Marian Moskowitz, at the end of the day, I just can\u2019t punch the ticket for Josh Maxwell.<\/span><\/p>\n

I like Josh personally \u2014 I\u2019ve known him for more than a decade. While I\u2019m a little troubled by some of the issues in his past, I\u2019m more bothered, frankly, by his lack of managerial experience. As Mayor of Downingtown, he\u2019s had a very limited portfolio under his direct management (mayors have very limited powers under Pennsylvania\u2019s borough structure). I\u2019d feel a lot more comfortable supporting him for one of the Row Office seats, as a more logical step forward. <\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, for reasons beyond me, the Democratic voters of the county set aside their most capable and experienced candidate: Commissioner Kathi Cozzone.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am aware that there is now an organized write-in campaign for Cozzone and I will be supporting it. Kathi is ethical, honest and experienced \u2014 and by far the best option to continue as a County Commissioner.<\/span><\/p>\n

The other race I will be using a write in is Register of Wills.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t support Michele Vaughn, for a plethora of reasons based on both personal and professional experience, some of which are listed above. I honestly feel that anyone railing about corruption in the Trump Administration yet still supporting this candidate is a hypocrite \u2014 her history and financial entanglements (documented, mind you, look it up) with the likes of Rob McCord and John Dougherty should give anyone pause.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, I will be writing myself in \u2014 I originally sought the position for one reason: to help people. I don\u2019t need a job, I don\u2019t need to fill the gaping emptiness of my life with electoral office \u2014 I thought I could run the office effectively, honestly and do some good. I withdrew from the race when it became deeply evident I would need to run a divisive, nasty race that would cause long term damage to local Democratic Party. Despite that, it\u2019s become evident that divide happened anyway, sadly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Should you decide to support me, I\u2019d be honored. I have no expectation beyond single-digit number support (there\u2019s no organized effort on my behalf) but I offer myself as an option for voters of conscience. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, I expect blow back, especially the argument that such voting will hand the race to the Republicans.<\/span><\/p>\n

To be honest, I don\u2019t feel like the Democrats are going to win, regardless of my vote.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are atmospheric reasons: GOP turnout will be off the charts as many Republicans feel threatened by the ongoing impeachment process, while I suspect Democrats are already distracted by the 2020 Presidential primary and some remain angry about the pipeline issue (not to mention the split in the county party that reemerged this summer).<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, from here it looks like the GOP has done a better job in terms of communication and marketing, especially on the digital front. As someone who lives and works on the Internet, the Republicans have a much stronger presence there. Also, the mailer ads the Democrats sent out \u2013 from the notoriously bad shops the Pennsylvania State Democratic Party uses \u2014 are very weak, and only serve to remind voters of both parties shared weaknesses on special interest money and the pipeline (on the latter, Democrats have a much bigger exposure on that issue in Chester County, as noted above).<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, just my two cents \u2013 whether you agree or disagree, make sure you vote Nov. 5.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: Corrected the source of the mailers, which is Conservation Voters of PA By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times A popular trope on the Internet is \u201cvote blue, no matter who.\u201d As we\u2019ve seen with the likes of Tulsi Gabbard (not to mention so many GOP examples it is impossible to list them all), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[11142,6269,5775],"class_list":["post-30244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-election-2019","tag-featured","tag-pipeline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30244"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30252,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30244\/revisions\/30252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}