Lorraine M. Pasquali is one of five Democratic candidates for an at-large seat on Northampton County Council. Unemployed, you'd think she might have an hour or two to drop in on a few council meetings and learn about county government. But as she told The Express Times Voter Guide, she's picking up her pointers elsewhere. "I have relied on media reporting and ballot questions to keep me informed of the Council's activities." Ms. Pasquali is actually relying on the Long Dems. They tell her what to think, and she's "feelin' the love."Pasquali is one of the Long Dems who rolled into a meeting of Bethlehem City Dems last week. She's miffed at the "under-handed" and "undemocratic" behavior of some Bethlehem Democrats and ... moi. Joe Long's machine politics, backroom endorsements and anonymous smear campaigns must be simply wonderful.
After I told you about Monday's meeting of Bethlehem City Dems, Pasquali began grousing about it on her Facebook account. Being the "under-handed" bastard that I am, I managed to get a copy of her exchanges and hugs with all the Joe Long Dems. My favorite is her exchange with Easton City Council candidate Mike Fleck, who now claims to have a degree from Notre Dame High School. Honest!
Enjoy!
Lorraine M. Pasquali is finding out who my friends really are... with surprising results.
Jacob Bruce Oberholtzer at 5:26pm June 11: Saw you made Bernie's blog again. Those Northampton Dems...should learn to stop eating their own.
Lorraine M. Pasquali at 5:28pm June 11: It all goes back to what I said a few weeks ago ... We're being played. I'm so disappointed. This behavior is so under-handed and sooo undemocratic.
Jacob Bruce Oberholtzer at 5:31pm June 11: If people are too stupid to realize a guy who hangs out with Ron Angle is not on their side...not much sense anyone can talk into them.
Lorraine M. Pasquali at 5:36pm June 11: It goes far beyond the Village Idiot blog ... And it is really disheartening.
Jacob Bruce Oberhoitzer at 6:17pm June 11: sorry, you know I got your back.
Lorraine M. Pasquali at 7:22pm June 11: Thanks Jake. Much appreciated :-)
Naomi Winch at 8:26pm June 11: I hope I am included in that ... I Love You!
Lorraine M. Pasquali at 8:37pm June 11: Big hug to you, my friend. :-)
Sally Anne Stahl at 8:48pm June 11: I said I'd listen to you!
Lorraine M. Pasquali at 8:55pm June 11: Big hug to you too!!!
Michael Fleck at 9:04pm June 11: You will be fine. Bernie is crazy and you will be a great councilwoman
Lorraine M. Pasquali at 9:07pm June 11: Thanks Mike... And Easton will be lucky to have you on City Council!
Lisa Hunter Nanakorn at 10:08pm June 11: snding huge hugs!!!
Lorraine M. Pasquali at 10:llpm June 11: Feelin' the love...
Do I get a hug, too?
Great, now there are maybe seven LongDems in total, and they finally got one that can spell above a 6th grade level. Ain't nothin' stoppin' 'em now.
ReplyDeleteLorraine is getting the squeeze.
ReplyDeleteShe spent most of her primary election effort with NO help from Joe Long, and she was very vocal about promises of support that were made and her disappointment when, of course, those promises were broken.
Once she made it through the primary, Joe and the gang demand loyalty from her, but the anti-Joe Dems want to hear that independent voice she claims to have.
You're right that she should be attending NorCo Council meetings. Maybe then she'd change her mind about wanting to cozy up to Charles. She needs to establish her independence now, or she will be sucked into the machine.
I also want to know how I'm a Joe Long democrat. I've met Joe twice in my life and I think he's a nice guy. If anything locally I guess you could call me an Ed Pawlowski democrat because I volunteer for the Mayor. Rick Daugherty is a friend of mine to. Am I Rick Daugherty Democrat as well?
ReplyDeleteSeriously friends offering other friends on Facebook support now is the subject of Lehigh Valley Ramblings?
I wonder if your going to do a post on the work Lorraine is doing this week for the South Side Film Festival in Bethlehem coordinating the volunteers for a great event for the city of Bethlehem or all the other volunteer work she does.
ReplyDeleteThis is the second hit job you've done on a personal friend of mine, whose friendship extends past politics. She loves the community she's involved in and is passionate about progressive politics.
I just find it amusing I'm now one of the "Joe Long" dems when I don't even live in Northampton neither does 2-3 of the other people in that post.
They are just friends supporting a friend.
Facebook post...Are you Serious?
Bernie's Circle of friends include Mr. Hand, and himself. And even Mr. hand is getting tired of Bernie!
ReplyDeleteTo Anon 5:39,
ReplyDeleteWhen you graduate from third grade, come on back to the blog and contribute something useful. Your infantile comment suggests you can't independently formulate contributory opinions or statements. Your mommy must be proud.
Yeeee what is it! don't these people have anything better to do. three hours on this. not like me who is here writing.
ReplyDeleteAs strange as it may seem that 1) a woman 2) a college educated woman 3) a liberal with interest in national politics would be a LongDem, she did seem woefully uninterested and uninformed about local politics at the debate, weak, passive, spewing out trite recycled broad comments, most of which had nothing to do with county politics and were more appropriate had she been running for Dent's job. It does make sense that she would shack up with the losing LongDems then because of that. Joe will tell her how to think, how to act, how to vote (against whatever Stoffa wants), and how to be. I'm sure if she's elected she'll be texting him during Council meetings for permission to use the toilet.
ReplyDeleteWhy would an unemployed person running for County Council not attending meetings? Those must be instrutctions from LongDem central command in the bunker. No need to go herself and learn anything or form her own opinion, the Longdems will tell her how to think. Just stay home and do Facebook quizzes.
ReplyDeleteHey, Dertinger is unemployed and he doesn't attend meeting either so not attending meetings can lead to success.
ReplyDeleteIf Jake doesn't want politician's Facebook comments to figure into decision making, perhaps he and his friends shouldn't make them.
ReplyDeleteI have this vision of Jake and Joe and Lorraine pretending they're in Maxwell Smart's "cone of silence."
Running from one's own words as expressed in a certain, very public forum to be off limits from scrutiny is juvenile at best - and cowardly at worst.
Can someone explain to me the "picking up pointers from ballot questions" remark? I don't understand.
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain to me the "picking up pointers from ballot questions" remark? I don't understand.
ReplyDeleteIf Bernie actually wants to do any good, then maybe he should stop spending his time and effort going after decent people trying to do the right thing, and spend his time looking into and exposing the people who are only looking out for their own personal anmbitions.
ReplyDeleteI am a personal friend of Lorraine and she is one of the smartest, most honorable people I know. SHE IS NOT OWNED BY ANYONE.
As Jake has said, several of Lorraine's friends who's comments are posted on this blog by Bernie do not have anything to do with Northampton or it's politics, yet Bernie sees no issue with
1) Lumping them into his generalization
2) Most expecially, putting their personal comments to a friend onto his public blog.
the 2nd opens up a whole other issue. PERSONAL Facebook accounts are supposed to be just that. You are not supposed to be able to see them unless you are listed as a friend of that person.
This begs the question of what kind of an unethical person is Bernie? How did he come by access to Lorraine's personal facebook page, when he is not listed as one of the people having access to it?
Bernie, Clean up your own act before you continue your mud slinging at decent people.
Can someone explain to me the "picking up pointers from ballot questions" remark? I don't understand.
ReplyDeleteI love Lorraine's South Side Festival. I love the movies they show. Of course, I don't actually see the movies, "I have relied on media reporting and the listing of the movies in the paper to keep me informed of the South Side Film Festival's activities."
ReplyDeleteThe Little Rascal Longdems have a Darla now, since they already have Mrs. Crabtree McHale. I don't think they're going to let any more women into their HEMAN WOMAN HATERS CLUB though. Two is enough. It's bad enough they have the vote.
ReplyDelete"the 2nd opens up a whole other issue. PERSONAL Facebook accounts are supposed to be just that. You are not supposed to be able to see them unless you are listed as a friend of that person.
ReplyDeleteThis begs the question of what kind of an unethical person is Bernie? How did he come by access to Lorraine's personal facebook page, when he is not listed as one of the people having access to it?"
Her Facebook profile is not private. Anyone may view it per the privacy settings she set up. If she didn't know this, she lacks the intellect to serve the public.
Jacob,
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty cvlear what you are. A Joe Long Dem and Pawlopwski Dem are pretty much the same thing. You're a lever-pulling, machine sympathizer who trashes someone simply bc he likes a Republican.
Anon 9:15, I make reference to that because that's how Pasquali claims to inform herself about county government.
ReplyDelete"This is the second hit job you've done on a personal friend of mine, whose friendship extends past politics." -
ReplyDeletePoor Jacob. Tell me Jacob, what's the difference between a "personal friend" and a friend who is not?
When a county council candidate provides her take on the current dispute among local Dems and sides with the Long Dems while claiming that the revolt extends far beyond "the Village Idiot" blog, it's worth pointing out.
"friends offering other friends on Facebook support now is the subject of Lehigh Valley Ramblings?"
But you got Lorraine's back.
Hugs!
Feelin' the love.
Sergeant Obvious YOU ARE WRONG or lying. I checked her setting are set as private. I had someone NOT on her friends list access her PERSONAL page and guess what? THEY COULD NOT...
ReplyDeleteGeez, if you're going to lie, at least check to see if you can be proven wrong.
How about a hug?
ReplyDeleteBernie, c'mon, do you really not know the difference between types of friends? Really?
ReplyDeleteNow your responses are just petty and silly to say the least...
"do you really not know the difference between types of friends?"
ReplyDeleteActually, this is my point. A friend is by definition personal. Calling someone a "personal friend" dilutes the meaning of the word "friend." It has always annoyed me to hear someone refer to another as his "personal" friend. It is redundant, which might be fine in engineering but is not so hot in other areas. It also indicates that most people throw that "friend" term around just a little too loosely.
Are you feelin' the love? How 'bout a hug?
And Responsible, I got that exchange because one of Lorraine's Facebook "friends" leaked it to me. Not all of them were thrilled by what they were reading.
ReplyDeleteMay I have a hug?
Bernie, There are many levels of friends, There are work friends, there are neighbor friends, there are political friends and there are personal friends.
ReplyDeleteNo, Bernie, you cannot have a hug and i'm not feelin the love with you.
I think you have violated someone's personal interaction with friends, for your own personal fodder.
To me this means your behavior is are trustworthy.
Whatever happened to "Do no harm" ?
I think you owe an apology for this one Bernie, not just to Lorraine for violation of her privacy, but to all the others who's comments you posted on your PUBLIC blog.
I am not saying this to poke at you, I am simply being completely honest with regard to this specific blog piece.
Responsible,
ReplyDeleteYou are either someone's friend or you are not. Your categories dilute the meaning of that word. So, for that matter, does Facebook.
I am happy for the opportunity to have posted the Facebook exchanges from all those Long Dems feelin' the love. It reveals quite a bit about Lorraine the candidate. It demonstrates that she believes that those who exercise their rights to address the Bethlehem Dem committee to complain are "under-handed" and "undemocratic."
It also reveals her alliance w/ Pawlowski sycophant Jacob Oberholtzer.
It reveals her alliance with Michael Fleck, who represents the absolute worst in local politics. This is the guy who most Lehigh County Dems detest for what he did in a state house race, where he soaked a good candidate and did nothing. This is a guy who thought nothing of plastering Easton with Fleck signs all over the place, and then dumped a bunch in an Autozone trash can, along with some used gym trunks. This is a dude who, on this very blog, started taking shots at mayor Sal Panto.
It also provides some comic relief with all the phony hugs and "feelin' the love" remarks.
I think it was the right thing to do and would do it again in a heartbeat.
The public v. private argumnet is interesting. However, it is like I tell people, if it is something you don't want someone to see, don't publish it on the internet. Once it is out there, it is out there. There is no privacy in public.
ReplyDeleteResponsible Citizen, if you click on the Facebook link, her profile is available for all to see. Mine can't be seen that way, as I've set the privacy settings to what you claim Lorraine did - but apparently did not.
ReplyDeleteCitizens are generally not considered "responsible" if they lie for their friends and can't assimilate basic technology.
Oh the poor Longdems, how they suffer undemocratic and underhanded behavior against them. What's that about? I think Stalin felt persecuted too, but was he?
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteI can't decide what made me laugh more the cone of silence or the sycophant alliance.
Bernie big Hugs to you! You've given me a good laugh.
Facebook is not a private place. Employers use it now too, to screen applicants. This is a good lesson for anyone who seeks public office to heed.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how the focus is on whether this information is private or not. Does that mean she's embarrassed by being associated with Long? Did she not want people to know?
ReplyDeleteResponsible citizen spells "whose" wrong. It's got to be a Longdem.
ReplyDeleteOMG I totally found this awesome Facebook quiz, check it out. LMAO, your BFF
ReplyDeleteQUIZ: ARE YOU A LONGDEM?
1) Do you find registered voters a nuisance that get in the way of you choosing who is to rule?
2) Do you think that only homeowners should have a say in govt. but then call the people elitists who point out that you have no college education or job?
3) Are you the only people left on the planet who endorse in primaries?
4) Are you homophobic?
5) Does every candidate you endorse lose?
6) Were you illegally elected to your position as Party Boss or do you know someone who was illegally elected as a Party Boss?
7) Do you create havoc, discord, mayhem and chaos every time you appear uninvited to a municipal Democratic meeting?
8) Have you ever stolen an opponents' campaign sign in the middle of the night or paid and ex-con to?
9) When you hear politics, are money signs the first things that pops into your head?
10) Do you or someone you know use political consultants who get indicted on a periodic basis for breaking the law?
OMG I'm totally. 100% LongDem. Send me your score and click here to share with five friends. TTYL, your BFF.
Jacob, Don't worry, buddy. The Long Dems have your back. When you condemn someone merely because he happens to like an R or two, you definitely fall in with those lever pullers who exalt party over good government.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind when you support a good Democrat who supports transparency, open government, who listens and who takes the time to think. But you support ALL of them, even those whose official actions betray the ideals of the Democratic party.
Here you are, massaging the ego of someone who can't even be bothered to go to a council meeting. Stroking another who believes he has no obligation to listen to someone who owns no real estate.
Fortunatley, LC has more able leadership than you provide.
Hugs and kisses!
Anon 2:34,
ReplyDeleteLMAO.
Lorraine is as adept at the private/public facebook page as Ann is at the challenge of ...buying ...a camera and ....attaching it to the ceiling...and plugging it in.
ReplyDeleteThe saddest thing reading all these comments is that all her Facebook says is that she supports the LongDems. No one, including her or Jacob has said "So what? We do." Why don't they own up to it if they are? Instead there is all this inflammatory commentary about whether Facebook privacy was violated as though some horrible illicit affair was reported on, or a crime. When will we have a Party Boss who people are not ashamed to be associated with? For a group so anti-gay, they certainly know what it's like to be "In the closet" because apparently if you are a LongDem, it's supposed to be a secret that no one is to know and anyone who exposes that relationship is to be attacked for "outing".
ReplyDeleteGeneral. The facebook page lin on this article is for her CANDIATE page NOT her personal page. Clearly, you are the one who cannot assimilate basic technology.
ReplyDeleteBernie,
ReplyDeleteLike I said this is amusing.
I'm laughing at this.
I was ticked ealier because you were insulting a friend. Your insults on me make me laugh.
For everyone who would now like to correct my spelling. I was typing quickly and talking on the phone. My deepest apologies for the mis-spelling in my last post. The mistakes were as follows:
ReplyDeleteLink & Candidate
She's got that slutty flight attendant look!
ReplyDeleteWatching Scat porn, looking for campaign ideas.
ReplyDeleteConsidering hiring the "Two girls & a cup", for election ads. Some of my best ideas are what they are known for!
ReplyDeleteBernie O'Hare is crazy! And I do have a degree in Bull Shit from Moravian.
ReplyDeleteNeeds a hug.
ReplyDeleteIs Jim Hickey still pushing Fleck. He was a big supporter of his in the Mayor race and I think he still is.
ReplyDeletePickle
Hey Mike! Is that you? The same Mike Fleck from my PhD program at NDHS? Hope so! TTYL.
ReplyDeleteThis Fleck character doesn't have his GED? He's perfect for the Longdems and the open seat until we can find someone raised by wolves who eats with their hands.
ReplyDeleteBest.
ReplyDeleteComment
Thread
EVER!
LMFAO!
Boonie O'Hair hit piece inspired by Rong Angle. Anti-woman. What these guys do best.
ReplyDeleteDude & Dudettes,
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, I don't think some of you understand the true meaning of the word friend. A good part of my semester was spent on this idelogy as it pertains to Saint Thomas Aquinas' "The Summa Theologica."
The word "friend" is a term that designates a certain relationship between the human acts chiefly of one person and that person's habits and virtues. The term relies a great deal on a person's knowledge of their previous experiences (agent intellect) and good (God - the one sole good that everything good orginates and points back to) and evil.
A person always chooses a good in an act. Even if a person chooses to do something evil; that person is choosing to evil because of the better good that he/she will receive out of it.
Thus in choosing to make a relationship with another person, termed a 'friend'ship, the person is choosing that person for many reasons because the good that he/she will receive from that union.
Even though, the terms and the reasoning behind a friendship are quite simple, this definition relys on a complex understanding of previous knowledge (agent intellect) of many difficult experiences.
There is a lot more to this definition. St. Thomas wrote in very great detail of this specific matter. (No pun intended with the metaphysical terms.)
But in the end, there is nothing that can specifically distinguish one friend from another friend. Not even the descriptive term, "best" friend. A friend is a friend is a friend.
As an aside, in choosing our friends, we just prefer one person over another. But they are still classified, a friend.
Now if a person is mistakenly labeling people as friends, but merely usurping them to better their position; that is an entirely different matter.
Maybe that clarifies somethings???
Peace, ~~Alex
"A conservative is a liberal that was mugged yesterday."
- Frank Rizzo
Drink me, Lorraine, drink me. Aren't I good?
ReplyDeleteHey Bernie,
ReplyDeleteWhy no post on the Hot Dog guy in Betlum?
I thought the newspaper already did a great job w/ that story. There's really nothing I could add.
ReplyDeleteYou are very anti-woman. You attacked the battered women in one thread. This is really awful. You have invadeed her privacy like some kind of pervert. Angle hates women and everyone knows that.
ReplyDeleteStoffa enjoys them as sexual objects but doesn't respect them. Does he have any real women in his cabinet?This is really very mean of you O'Hair
I'm feeling very lucky that this blog was mostly disinterested in me during my first run for council, because I did not attend regular council meetings until after my primary. What was I thinking? I should have attended, no doubt. And, I said a lot of dumb stuff in debates and to the press because I just wasn't sure of myself.
ReplyDeleteOf course, first-time candidates must be scrutinized, but, if they are smart and alligned for the most part with Party ideals, they should be given the opportunity to rise; rather than crushing them down with severe intrusions like posting their Facebook exchanges onto a popular blog. I believe this is going too far.
It is so hard to run for office.
And Lorraine, I would like to see NorCo council in action sometime. We should car-pool.
Thou shalt do no harm.
How is that an intrusion? As a voter, I am glad to be informed about such a thing. When it really matters, maybe she might do something similiar about something she is privy to?
ReplyDeleteAnd seeing that she and other politicans are not savy enough to know what they post on Facebook is going on a medium that the whole world can see, I armed better to vote because of that information.
Perception of character goes a long way in today's society. They should be trying to be as open as possibly so people do not perceive their actions wrongly.
Oh, I agree. Do no harm. But I'd be doing harm to remain silent.
ReplyDeleteKaren, if you really did attend no meetings and made a lot of stupid statements during debates, I doubt you would have been elected. I recall reading your comments during your first run and you were quite well spoken.
Meeting attendance was probably no issue in your race, but it is in this one bc the ET asked the candidates about it. Pasquali's answer, to be honest, is poor.
As far as privacy is concerned, she should never post a word on the Internet that she does not expect to see in the NYTimes. She called those who were complaining about state and county endorsements underhanded and undemocratic. I think that bears directly on exactly what we could expect from her in office. I am very comfortable posting what she wrote.
I do not use her Facebook thread to go after her on any personal matters, but stick to the issues. The primary issue in your race was the election of council members who can work with Callahan while maintaining some degree of independence. That is the primary issue in the county race as well. Are we going to elect more Joe Long Dems who will impede john Stoffa at every turn? Isn't it time to elect people who are willing to work w/ Stoffa, instead of castigating him at every turn?
I do not want people on county council who orchestrate whisper campaigns against people like you, just because you show a little independence.
So actually, I think this post was important to those interested in county politics.
But do take her to a county meeting.
I used to go County Council all the time during the Green Future days, but haven't in, I'm guessing, four or five years.
ReplyDeleteEventually, Angle drove me to distraction, partly because, if I was in the audience, he would draw undue attention to my presence, and partly because he would try to get me into a public fight.
I am not at all afraid of fighting over policy or ethics, but I have to feel the fight is real, that there are at least two different, honestly presented sides. The fight can't just be political, territorial. I hope the city and county Dems can work out their practical differences and get on with being Dems.
Bernie,
ReplyDeleteComments from Anon 11:53 and Anon 11:55 are really sexist and offensive. Please consider removing them.
Sincerely,
A female fan of this blog
Female Fan,
ReplyDeleteI've deleted the anonymous comments and apologize that you found them offensive and sexist. While I don't think they were sexist, I lack your perspective. They were anonymous personal attacks that went to someone's appearance.
Karen Dolan didnot need to go to Bethlehem Council meetings. When Lou Pector is there elections are as easy as showing up.
ReplyDeleteOh here we go, now anonymous attacks on Lou... Mr. Pektor must have angered someone now too.
ReplyDeleteI'm tired and meant to leave my name, but I guess being a political whore is what is being suggested, so I'll tackle that.
ReplyDeleteIn politics, if your goal is NOT to make money or some other kind of illegal gain, than being independent and free of political influence is easy.
If my friends want to give me money, and those friends are politicians or really good developers, like Lou Pector, who has the ethics and power to improve inner cities, than I'm proud to have their support.
But, I'm still independent.
Ms. Dolan,
ReplyDeleteYou bring this on yourself when you enter the O-Hate-o-sphere. Wise up and stay away.
That's what the Long Dems tell everyone, and then they attack them if they don't.
ReplyDeleteI have deleted some anonymous, sexist slams at Karen, who is being punished for telling people what she thinks. Ironically, she defended Lorraine Pasquali last night.
Actually Bernie, the Dolan-Pector connection has been cited by some of the Dem's who ran with her when she first ran.
ReplyDeleteThey thought her relationship with the developer was an unfair advantage.
Anon 12:23,
ReplyDeleteYes, but how is Lou Pektor's involvement bad? He's a successful man, from what I can tell he's law abiding, and he does a lot of business in the city, so he has preferences of candidates. I don't like that people use that as some sort of innuendo for corruption or something.
Maybe it's the "or something", ask some Bethlehem pol insiders about that.
ReplyDeleteThis is coming from Bethlehem Dem candidates.
Lou Pektor did a nice job with Pomeroy's. It's one of Easton's largest embarrassments. Thanks Lou. Nice friends, Karen.
ReplyDeleteNo, it's not coming from Bethlehem Dem candidates. It's coming from you, Anon 4:07 and 9:38. You wrote it. You're the spreader of rumor and innuendo "or something." That makes you the one who cannot be trusted. That makes you the dishonorable person.
ReplyDeleteThe "or something" is simply people who can't dare say he's corrupt, since he's not, but want to shoot their mouths off anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe real victim is Lorraine.
ReplyDelete