Former Congress Member Susan Wild Blasts Brooks Over His Refusal to Have a Sit Down With Lehigh Valley News

Recently, Lehigh Valley News conducted a series of one-on-one interviews with three of the four candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to Pa.'s 7th Congressional District. Ryan Crossell, Lamont McClure and Carol Obando-Derstine all participated. A fourth candidate, Bob Brooks, declined. I believe this is likely because he's ill-informed and is unwilling to answer uncomfortable questions about his fleecing of a family member, his refusal to pay an outstanding $130,000 judgment (first reported here) as well as his possible involvement in an alleged fraudulent scheme to convey real estate to his current wife to avoid paying off that judgment (first reported here).

This has the Lehigh Valley's former member of Congress, Susan Wild, who now is calling herself Suzy Ellis for some strange reason, really ticked off. Here's what she said on Facebook: "Bob Brooks decided to just not show up, and I have it on good authority that he ghosted Tom at the last minute. This is disqualifying, IMHO. One, the voters deserve every bit of information that they can get on these candidates. Two, who does Bob Brooks think he is? This smacks of ENTITLEMENT. Third, and just as important in my view, DON’T DISS JOURNALISTS. We in the Lehigh Valley are fortunate that LVNews stepped up and filled a void in news for us. I’m appalled by this behavior."

While I'd hardly rely on Wild or her identity politics, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Brooks would have to answer questions, not only about that judgment and his attempts to dodge it, but would need to explain his questionable financial disclosure. He'd need to explain some of his bizarre social media posts claiming that Obama "sucks" and supporting positions normally associated with MAGAs. He'd also have to explain why he was raising money for Lamont McClure before stabbing him in the back and running himself. 

As I've noted before, he's shady. 

Taiba Sultana Will Run For Easton Mayor

In November, NorCo President Judge Craig Dally tossed a defamation lawsuit brought by Taiba Sultana against PA CITIZENS PAC, a political action committee formed by immigration attorney Ray Lahoud. The lawsuit was filed in response to campaign signs that called her "CRAZY CHAOTIC CRIMINAL." The court also rejected defamation claims based on Facebooks statements that called her antisemitic and a "complete nutcase," among other things. She appealed but has apparently been too busy shooting Facebook videos to file a brief. In a one-sentence ruling, the Pennsylvania Superior Court rejected her appeal on April 10. 

On April Fool's Day, Commonwealth Court Judge Anne Covey rejected Taiba Sultana's nomination petition for the Pa. State Senate because, though she claimed to be self-employed, she never bothered to state precisely how she was self-employed. As Judge Covey reasoned, allowing her to get away with such a bald assertion would mean that other candidates could simply claim they are employed, without saying where or how. She appealed, but shooting all those Facebook videos must have really taken its toll. The Supreme Court, on April 9, rejected her appeal. They did give her three sentences. 

So what does this mean? Next year, her political vanity and self-importance will induce her to run for Easton Mayor ... again. This time she'll propose opening an embassy in Iran. 

Politics PA: Independents Are on the Rise

PoliticsPA reports that independent voters are on the rise. Of the 67,000 residents who registered to vote since September, 70% of them chose no political affiliation. This is in no doubt due to disenchantment with both political parties. I'd be registered independent myself if I could vote in primaries. 

In the Pa. 7th Congressional district, 3,300 new voters are independents. Democrats have picked up 1,431, while Republicans only attracted 849. Independents currently make up 16.91% of the district's total voters. 

This increase in the number of independent voters is precisely why they should be included in local election boards, as Lehigh County has proposed. 

Jesus Trump and Cognitive Dissonance

Above you can see the AI-created image of President Donald Trump as Jesus Christ, something he himself posted and later deleted on his own Truth Social account. He posted it to antagonize the Pope for daring to criticize him. He now claims that he thought the deleted post showed him as a doctor, which is obvious horseshit to me. I don't know anyone can excuse it, unless you're a member of the cult. 

Every time someone writes about something even mildly critical about Trump, his minions begin to scream and holler, "TDS! TDS!" But I want to describe something else called cognitive dissonance. 

Cognitive dissonance is the mental unease we all feel when people hold two conflicting beliefs or their actions go against their own beliefs. What we do is simply change our beliefs. We rationalize our bad behavior, be it smoking, unhealthy eating, booze or whatever. 

Deep down, I believe we all know something is wrong with Trump. His latest portrayal of himself as Jesus is just the latest in a long line of bizarre and unhinged actions that actually preceded his entry into politics. 

Three studies between 2019 and 2022 explain why Trump's followers remain loyal.  A majority actually deny there's anything amiss. Others say his achievements outweigh his behavior. Still others will claim that Trump is just doing what other politicians or rich people do. This is classic cognitive dissonance in which someone adjusts his thinking when the facts are contrary to what he wants to believe. 

While these studies focused on Trump, cognitive dissonance exists among rabid supporters of those on the left as well. 

Data Center Developers Face Tough Crowd in Lower Mount Bethel Tp

Late Thursday afternoon, I barreled up Rte. 611 through Lower Mount Bethel to meet Ron Angle and his son to attend a town hall meeting at Bangor Middle School for a proposed data center next to the PPL power plant. Whenever I approach Angle country, the skies usually turn dark and forbidding. As I get closer to his estate, hailstones start pounding my car and lightening streaks across the sky. Not this time. The weather was unusually balmy, and I was actually able to see the road. I passed no less than six "NO DATA CENTERS ON OUR FARMS" signs along the way, and one of them was actually on a farm. The rest were located at small residences or along public rights of way. I wondered to myself just how many people could possibly feel that strongly. Would they be willing to give up their Thursday evening to attend a meeting during which the developer would outline the proposal? The answer is Yes. There were well over 300 angry people jammed into the school's auditorium, and it quickly became apparent that they would rather see no development at all. They like things the way they are, and I doubt very much that any developer could do anything about it. 

Those developers, by the way, are two of the classiest developers in this area - Mike Perrucci and JG Petrucci. They both have proven records of responsible residential and industrial development, particularly in the Bethlehem area. They brought a team of people from Talen Energy, PPL, to answer questions. They included a former EPA lawyer and even had Slate Belt's very own Lenny Zito, who has represented or sentenced nearly everyone in that area, sitting there as a "legal consultant." Occasionally, when a member of the public would say he or she knew him, Zito would look down from the stage with a knowing smile. 

Governor Ed Rendell's former press secretary acted as facilitator. While she did a fairly good job of making sure everyone could be heard, she did commit a rather serious blunder at the onset. She started the meeting without a pledge of allegiance, which really riled Angle. That's no biggie to me, but I see enough American (and Trump) flags throughout that neck of the county to know he was likely one of several people in an already hostile crowd who got even more upset. 

There's things you just don't do in the slate belt. You don't say professional wrestling is fake. You don't turn down Little Debbie snack cakes. You don't refer to farmland as "underutilized." And you sure as hell don't skip the pledge. If the developers wanted to get on the good side of these people, they should have brought pork rinds or at least a few rolls of duct tape.

John Callahan, Bethlehem's former Mayor, was the pitchman. And don't let him fool you. He's smart as shit. He and Don Cunningham, another of Bethlehem's former Mayors, miraculously prevented Bethlehem from going tets up when Bethlehem Steel suddenly closed. Cunningham gave Bethlehem hope. Callahan gave Bethlehem a casino. (They both were smart enough to rely on Tony Hanna to completely revitalize the city's south side with one of the only TIFs that even I would support.)

Callahan started off by complimenting his audience for being there, saying that they obviously care. Things got ugly for awhile when the mike stopped working, but it was eventually fixed. 

Peter Polt, one of JG Petrucci's top lieutenants, told the audience that they are only in a "very early part of the process," which I'd translate to mean that they're willing to make changes to address public concerns. 

He's proposing a 1.2-gigawatt data center "campus" (meaning more than one) that is sustainable. He said there would be no manufacturing, no warehouses, no heavy traffic, no light pollution, buffering against noise and minimal use of water. He said stories about noisy data centers that gobble up water and power are older facilities and that new technology has greatly reduced both water and power needs.

Another speaker from Talen Energy stated that the average golf course uses about 80 million gallons of water a year, but the data center proposed will use only 60% of that, about 50 million gallons.

Importantly, no groundwater will be used, as Lower Mount Bethel residents rely on ground water for their own needs. Instead, the date center will be cooled by leveraging the existing water infrastructure around the power plant, which uses water from the Delaware River for cooling. The data center will also recycle nonpotable and storm water. He added that water b=pulled in from the river is regulated by the Delaware River Basin Comm'n as well as the DEP..

The power would come from the existing power plant and would in no way reduce power available to local consumers. 

When Polt showed a map of the data center, it became apparent that there likely will be more than one. This seemed to make people angry. When he referred to those lands as "underutilized," people got even more worked up.

The very first public of several dozen speakers from the audience saud that "two companies and developers cannot be trusted to tell the truth about all these details of their builds, how much power, water, etc., they can use, nor the noise levels nor the environmental violations that the center is capable of accomplishing ... .She referred to "what monstrosities have been built in Tatamy, East Allen, Macungie, Nazareth, I could keep going. They are all ugly, no matter how many arbor vitae you plant. ... You say that our land is underutilized. It's farmland. And you guys are just consuming. The only thing you care about is utilizing our land for your profit and your unnamed end user. 

And so it continued.

There was strong community opposition, with many residents expressing concerns about the environmental, social, and economic impacts of the project. Several speakers emphasized their deep connection to the area, noting its rural, agricultural character and the reasons they chose to live there, including peace, natural beauty, and wildlife.

A primary concern raised was the potential environmental impact of the data center. Residents cited worries about excessive electricity usage, water consumption, noise pollution, and harm to local ecosystems, including wildlife such as bald eagles. There is a bald eagle nest on one of the sites being considered, where the developer has proposed a 600" radius around the nest. 

There was also skepticism and distrust toward the developers. They even objected to the way developers were dressed, most with sports jackets. 

In Lower Mount Bethel, the appropriate attire for men is a sports hat or Carhart, preferably both. Women seem to like stretch pants. 

"We don't want to be Bethlehem, we don't want to be Forks Tp," said one resident who prefers driving a little more each day to her job so she can enjoy living near farms. Residents expressed fears that the project would permanently alter the quiet, rural environment they value. Noise from cooling systems, potential industrial expansion, and visual impacts were all cited as threats. Some residents stated clearly that no level of mitigation would be acceptable if it changed the character of the township.

Developers and representatives responded by emphasizing that the project is still in early stages and that no final designs have been determined. They highlighted potential economic benefits, including increased tax revenue and investment, and stated that regulatory processes would govern water usage, environmental protection, and noise standards. They also noted that infrastructure such as the nearby power plant makes the site attractive for development. When they noted the tax benefit, they were accused of bribing residents.

Additional concerns included:

- Lack of early community engagement and communication

- Potential rezoning of agricultural land

- Impacts on neighboring communities and shared natural resources

- Long-term expansion beyond the initially proposed footprint

- Accountability if negative outcomes occur

Several speakers called on local officials to prioritize residents’ voices, uphold environmental protections, and ensure transparency throughout the decision-making process. One key question posed to the developers was whether they would withdraw the project if it is ultimately rejected by local governing bodies, to which the developers responded that they would not pursue a project that is formally denied.

Lehigh County Considers Adding Independent to Elections Board

Every Pennsylvania county has a board of elections or elections commission, whose job is to administer elections each year. In NorCo, the elections commission consists of three members of the majority party and two members of the minority party. In Lehigh, the elections board consists of the county executive or his designee, one member of the majority party and one member of the minority party. If he is up for re-election or running for another office, the President Judge appoints someone to replace him, but that person must be from the same party as the executive. 

In both counties, the elections board is designed to give the majority party the deciding vote. This bothered Sarah Fevig, a newly elected Lehigh County Commissioner. So she went to work, drafting and researching a proposed change to Lehigh County's Home Rule Charter that will add an independent voter to the board. That way, the ability of the major parties to politicize the elections process will be minimized. A measure like this, which requires the assent of voters in a county-wide referendum, could also help restore faith in the integrity of our elections.  

Fevig gave a detailed explanation of her rationale at a committee meeting on Wednesday. She proposes  modernizing the county’s election governance structure to better reflect current demographic, political, and institutional realities. Lehigh's Home Rule Charter, established in 1978 and last updated in 1986, provides for a three-member board: the county executive and one representative from each major political party. She believes this results in a partisan majority and presents potential conflicts of interest, particularly when the executive must recuse himself as a candidate.

She added that there's been significant changes over time—including substantial population growth, an increase in independent voters, and evolving national concerns about election integrity. She suggests that her proposal establishes a more balanced and representative system.

Under her proposal, the election board would expand from three to five members. It would include two representatives from each of the two largest political parties, but importantly, would add one representative from the third-largest affiliation. Currently, this would result in two Democrats, two Republicans, and one independent member. It would eliminate any single-party majority and introduce a broader range of perspectives.

The independent member would have to be someone who has been registered as an independent for two years.

Current elected officials and candidates would be unable to serve on the board, aiming to reduce political influence and conflicts of interest. Political parties could still nominate candidates, but residents would also be able to apply and participate in interviews for board positions.

The Board of Commissioners to remove members for cause if they fail to properly fulfill their duties. Furthermore, the county executive (or designee) would continue to participate as a non-voting, ex officio member, ensuring coordination between the election board and the county administration without exerting direct control.

Lehigh County is indisputably blue, so as a political matter, why would Democrats support this change? Fevig, several Democratic Commissioners like Dan Hartzell and Geoff Brace, offered their support. It was even supported by Exec Josh Siegel. They argue this reform will strengthen public trust in elections by ensuring fairness, transparency, and shared responsibility across political lines. Particular attention was given to the growing number of independent voters and the importance of including their representation in election oversight.

The next step is to present this proposal as a ballot measure for voters to consider in November, allowing the public to directly decide whether to adopt the new system.

This is perhaps the best piece of legislation I've seen in county government in recent years. Northampton County should consider a similar measure.