But Northampton County's Hayden Phillips, like Lehigh County's Scott Ott, scares the shit out of me.
Hayden Phillips, a Republican, is one of ten candidates seeking five seats on Northampton County Council. He's campaigning hard, and finished second in the primary. His amiable style and hard work is wining him support. So is his name. Many people mistakenly believe he is part of the Phillips Feed Company, a well-respected family business in Northampton County. He's not. Make no mistake. He is an extremist. What's worse, he's surrounded by other extremists.
You can see him pictured with former Norco GOP Chair Bob Kerr, who was forced to resign when his dictatorial style got him in trouble with party regulars like Lee Snover, Dottie Niklos, Peg Ferraro and even Ron Angle.
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| Andy the Clown for Phillips |
So Phillips gets the carnie vote.
In addition to the Jesus clown, Phillips' Facebook page lists supporters which include all the tea party extremists who are aligned with Kerr. These include Tony Simao, Tom Carroll, Bryan Eichfeld and pistol-packin' Tricia Mezzacappa.
OK, so the nuts support him, so what? Well, his views are nutty, too. A YouTube campaign speech, filmed by tea party nut Wayne Schissler before the primary race, makes that abundantly clear, Phillips stated that people "on welfare" can put together $68,000 in benefits. This is obviously untrue, but certainly salves the conscience of those who want to cut the safety net that has existed since the days of FDR. Phillips actually spoke in opposition to regionalism, favoring two smaller messes over one big mess. I guess we should forget about 911, emergency management and combined first responders. Phillips makes clear he will push "individual gun rights" and examine UN Agenda 21. He's fighting against "the swell of liberalism" and the "press, propping them up."
Now comes word that Super Conservative Sam Rohrer is hosting a campaign dinner for Phillips this Friday for $75 a pop. A former gubernatorial candidate, Rohrer is the lunatic who actually told a judge, in writing, that she had no authority to suspend a driver license because the state Vehicle Code has no application to an individual.
"Within an individual's right to liberty is the inherent right to travel. If one's movement can be restrained, such restraint is intrinsically a restraint on his liberty. {My constituent's] use of an automobile is simply an extension of his personal liberty to move about as he wishes."
Individual rights.
In June. Phillips spoke glowingly of an "informative" Rohrer speech to the LV Tea Party on "limited government and individual rights." Phillips actually introduced this wing nut, calling him a "man of principle." Rohrer said he was there at Phillips' invitation.
Is that Rohrer the same lunatic that for years fought to eliminate the school property tax that forces so many people out of their homes?
ReplyDeleteWow, what a jerk!
we should be allowed to hunt clowns for sport
ReplyDeletegun nut crap and UN proclamations....gosh what a grasp of local issues Mr. Phillips has.....
ReplyDeleteAt least he is out in the open. A couple of the other R's believe the same thing but are hiding their more wild views.
ReplyDeleteHe gets the carnie vote. That's funny Bernie.
ReplyDelete"Is that Rohrer the same lunatic that for years fought to eliminate the school property tax that forces so many people out of their homes?
ReplyDeleteWow, what a jerk!"
Actually, he is. I have seen several of his condescending, obnoxious speeches. In his years as a state rep, he achieved nothing. Actually, if you come right down to it, Lisa Boscola has probably made a bigger effort at reforming property tax than Rohrer.
"we should be allowed to hunt clowns for sport"
ReplyDeleteI agree. Right after deer season. They give me the creeps.
Bernie
ReplyDeleteI am happy to call Hayden Phillips a friend. I have been at Tea Party meetings with Hayden and his wonderful wife. We are friends and my wife and I will make calls for him in this election
I want to give you some information on one of those find old Republican conservatives. A while back I had occassion to speak with Dottie Nichols. I worked with her on the Oakes campaign. I asked her recently what the NCRC is doing to get young people into the Republican camp. I told her that I believed that some of the old timers, Lee, Dottie, Peg and Ron needed to step down. When I asked Dottie if she would give up her position of 38 years she said no.Getting new blood into the Republican party is extremely important. We did this during the Reagan campaign and it worked. Now the old timers are unwilling to turn over the positions. Lee and Peggy have all but become Democrats. So along comes Hayden, Matt and Glenn, some new and younger blood to attract more new and younger blood. As of this time the NCRC is sitting on its hands getting little to nothing done. They want to keep the same old same old in place. As to the Tea Party, they have done more to educate the public on issues then the NCRC has done. Let me remind you that in the past two presidential election several millions of Republicans stayed home and will do so again. As for Sam Rohrer and speaking as a former History teacher Sam gave one hell of a speech and lesson that would have served everyone well. You should have been there you migt have learned something.
Chris, I watched the video. I learned nothing except what I already knew - Rohrer is a pompous, dumbish, condescending twit.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I had no idea Lee Snover was almost a Democrat. On what planet has that occurred?
And Dottie Niklos, who works her ass off, should let uncompromising bullies take over bc it's their turn? Is that in the Constitution?
What you have managed to do is lump Mat Benol and Glenn Geissinger in with Hayden Phillips. Those guys might be conservatives, but they are consensus builders, not like Ronnie Del Wacko, MezzaKKKappa and Dictator Kerr.
Phillips has chosen to embrace the firebrands.
Bernie-your comment/reply to Miller is totally correct....also going back to another theme, that picture of Andy the Gay Religious Clown is truly scary. NO way he shows up at children's parties without the kids screaming in terror.
ReplyDeleteFunny because Peg and Seth seem like the only republicans worth voting for. Since Mr. Miller left them out they must be.
ReplyDeleteThe only repo getting my vote is Peg. That doesnt mean Im voting the rest demo. I can't pick 5 GOOD candidates, and 1 GOOD county exec.
ReplyDeleteMy prediction: There will be many write-ins. Exec=Angle Council=Dowd, Dertinger, McHale The last council (2009) did much better than this group, And the cast changed twice.
Bernie, just as in the case of Steve Barron, you often lead with your emotion only to be disappointed. Mr. Miller made it clear and it is very clear to those in the knmow. Benol and Geissinger are not the consensus builders you make them out to be, especially Geissinger. They are in the same camp as Phillips.
ReplyDeleteI give Phillips's points for being honest. The other two like to fudge the lines to make themselves "appear" to be less than what they are. It is part of a well thought out strategy to get elected.
Hell, at a candidates function Geissinger stated he wants the county to invest in high risk/high yield investments. Claiming the market will save the county. As well as just stop doing certain things and let the state react. How nuts is that?
You can keep focusing on one guy but there are three rabid tea partiers running for county office and they are all clueless on county issues and think it is just another way to topple Obama and the progressives. You need to do more research. In all fairness a couple of the Dem's running are not that clued into county responsibilities either, they just claim to be.
Ben is being straight with you, even if you disagree.
Who the hell is Ben?
ReplyDeleteYes, I was wrong about Barron. I tend to go by my own observations, not what others tell me I must think. My experience with Benol is that he is very conservative, but is a consensus builder. My experience with Glenn is more limited, but he has never failed to return a message.
If Mat and Glenn subscribe to Hayden's thinking, I will be unable to support either. But I do think they stay away from the vitriolic elements in their own party, unlike Phillips.
Bernie
ReplyDeleteThose folks who have been in the party since God was a baby need to start recruiting young people to replace them. One of the major reasons for doing this is that the Demos are and they are picking up volunteers and voters among the youth like no tomorrow. Republicans are no long hip among the young. Dottie, Lee and a host of others worked hard but I see few young people in the party today. One of the guys doing this is Ronnie Delbaco. I have seen him doing this. As for Peggy who primarily cares about Peggy and cannot make a decision on any topic. Back in the early 80's I worked on Jim Oaks campaign and we brought in a ton of young volunteers as well as young voters in a democratic are. Jim lost by 3 votes. The Republican party increased their voting base and lots of Republicans would win races. Now they fight among themselves and it is pathetic.
OK, is it just me or is that clown the most scary and insane thing you have ever seen. Saw it yesterday and had nightmares. God, I pity the children.
ReplyDeleteChris if you want to start early in your recruitment, can the psycho clown spouting Christian verse, and try not to give the kids nightmares. The tea party predictions of their future are more than enough to scare the crap out of them without this "clown" coming at them looking like a banshee from the depths of Hell. You do know about those gingers don't you?
Anonymous 1:46Pm
ReplyDeleteHayden is an honest man. He is not shy and I guarantee you that you will know where he stands on an issue in a moment. Some prefer hemming and hawing about a topic. I prefer someone who speaks up and Hayden will do that.
That must explain why he has not even acknowledged receipt of my questionnaire. Very transparent of him.
DeleteIf Sam Rohrer is supporting Mr. Phillips than he is a good man. Can you imagine supporting a candidate that actually believes in the constitution?
ReplyDeleteBernie - on another note, I am waiting for a column on the victory Trish won at the Commonwealth Court last week. She is a loon, but in her right to know case she was right on. How would you like to get a reply to a right to know request that said we can't provide that to you because we are just a part time staff?? What is right is right.
JOHN M
Bernie, you go after Mr. Phillips but he is just as informed or even better than either Democrats O'Donnell or Borzo. Those two Dem's are real clunkers compared to Phillips, Benol and Geissinger.
ReplyDelete7:48, It is not my intention to go after Hayden Phillips. He seems like a decent and amiable fellow, much more so than I. But I consider his views way too extreme, even by the standards of his own party. That's evidence by Chris Miller's endorsement, along with his demand that party regulars step aside for the Del Wackos. I love Chris on a personal level, but politically, we rarely agree.
ReplyDeleteAs for O'Donnell, I agree with you and have posted two blogs about him that make that clear. If the choice were between him and Phillips, I would pick Phillips.
I reject your shot at Borso. It is completely wrong. She attends nearly every meeting and has done so for over a year. I question whether your disdain for her is prompted by the fact she is a woman. If so, shame on you.
Bernie, in fairness to the poster, I doubt it is anti-woman. As a Democratic voter I asked around both men and women who work the D Party. They had praise for Deb Hunter and even Peg Ferraro, so I doubt anyone is attacking anyone over gender
ReplyDelete.
One troubling thing kept coming up and that is that this Borzo woman is shallow in substance and really just pushed to run to bolster the McClure/Kraft faction of county council.
Don't know if that is accurate but you know insider Dem's and pol's, you should ask around.
As to the O'Donnell guy, don't really know much about him.
Do know that the tea party dudes are scary. However, I don't think we need to strengthen the McClure faction anymore than it is.
The anonymous commenter did not praise Ferraro or Hunter. Had that happened, I would not have wondered about the sexism.
ReplyDeleteMcClure does not belong on Council, I agree. It is also true that Ken Kraft often sides with him, but just as often, he does not. As for Christen Borso, your objection as i understand it is that she is too close to McClure and Kraft, not that she lacks intelligence. I have specifically asked her about this, especially during the primary, when she obviously sided with McClure. She assures me she is her own person, and whenever I have spoken to her about county issues, nobody was telling her what to say. My impression is that she is a good candidate. It is fair to question her ties to McClure. It us unfair to question her competence, call her a clunker or put her in the same boat with O'Donnell.
I do think that McClure was very helpful to her when she first started out, but she has learned that if she wants to be on Council, it will have to be on her own merit.
O'Donnell is probably the worst candidate of the lot. He deserves his own boat.
O'Donnell and Borzo are working together on a joint campaign. Check it out.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to also see who got her money and where it came from.
She may not be bought but certainly appears to be leased.
I agree that Phillips is up front and honest, however you have some other hidden agenda's being played out.
The fact that their signs are next to each other does not mean a joint campaign. They never sit near each other when going to Council. I did not say Phillips is up front. He has not responded to my questionnaire, not even to acknowledge he has it. That does not strike me as up front. But I don't hold that against him as he must know I consider him an extremist and I will get my answers during the debates of he won't give them to me.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of debates, are any scheduled? Also, why have only a couple candidates answered your questionnaire?
ReplyDeleteI am sure there will be debates. I told the candidates i would not press for answers until this month. There are 13 questions. i know 3 others are working on them.
ReplyDeleteHow many have you received?
ReplyDelete