Remember the Big News that Republican Kevin Mahoney, president of the school board, and Democratic candidate Art Post had endorsed each other for School Board, to the exclusion of the other Republican candidate, Debbie Bookstaber? If you're reading this, you almost certainly already knew. The TTDems issued a press release which they published on their web site, and I wrote about it here on my blog.

But if you aren't one of the tens of readers of this blog (note, I said "readers", not "fans") you probably didn't hear about it. You see, in their infinite wisdom, the local papers sat on that press release for a couple weeks. Apparently it just wasn't newsy enough for them? I was a little miffed about that.

Buried Treasure

Then, last week, Dan Kristie pulled together a front-page article effectively burying the big news, and then smoothed it over with explanations and quotes from the candidate that found herself on the outs. If you read his piece very carefully, you get the impression that the author was trying to be balanced in his reporting of the story. But trying wasn't enough. I held off on the vitriol last week only because I was so incredibly critical of the local papers in the week before, and didn't want to come off as too... partisan? ...snarky? ...crotchety? Whatever. I thought they needed a rest.

But now I've got to summarize a few of the more glaring mistakes in Mr. Kristie's effort.

Fact Check

First off, there won't be any names listed twice on the ballots on November 6th. A couple of Republican candidates for School Board will have "DEMOCRAT/REPUBLICAN" listed after their names because of cross-filing and the fact that the Democrats fielded only one candidate in the primary last Spring. All the ballots are available online at the Chester County Voter Services web site to help educate voters and newspaper writers about this. I'd recommend checking it out.

Second, the Democratic candidate Karen's last name is Cruickshank, not Kruickshank. Karen Cruickshank is the Democratic candidate for Tredyffrin School Board, Region 1.

Next, you characterize Mahoney's primary as disappointing. He won the Republican primary! Sure, Debbie eeked out Kevin in the Democratic primary by a mere 36 votes. But there are lots of reasons that might have happened, not the least of which is just blind luck of placement on the ballot. And, hey, if you add up all the votes in both primaries for those two, Mahoney still beat Debbie.

Then the timeline was mixed up. Art Post and Kevin Mahoney endorsed each other. They then informed their respective local party leaders about their decision. The TTGOP weren't happy campers - more on that below. But the TTDems embraced the gesture by voting at their next full meeting to support this mutual endorsement. And, to be clear, sir: the TTDems voted to support the Post/Mahoney decision, not to endorse Kevin Mahoney. That's a big difference. The press release was very clear about the timing and semantics of the TTDems reaction.

And finally, the story pointedly avoided speculation into the deeper reasons behind Mahoney endorsement of Post over his fellow Republican. Sure, they're friends. That's how Mahoney knew just how good Art Post is for the job. But how did he know that Art was better than Debbie? That's the interesting question avoided altogether, and instead the piece closed with rah-rah Debbie language. Old boys club? Give me a break. It wasn't too long ago that the board was almost all female. There is no danger here. Debbie has no qualifications for the job and exhibits extreme views that are counter to the majority of Tredyffrin residents. Might those facts have weighed in Mahoney's decision making?

Alright, maybe that wasn't as brief as I wanted it to be. I got carried away, again. Sorry about that. Thankfully, the editors of the Main Line Life and the Suburban and Wayne Times saw fit to address this miscarriage of journalism by publishing letters from readers who saw the problem, too. Before I get to those, though, let me tell you about a couple other recent development.

The Scream Heard All 'Round Tredyffrin

The reaction of the Tredyffrin Republican Committee was the complete opposite of the TTDems. Rather than listen to the careful and considered opinion of one of their most prominent public officials, the TTGOP leadership bound themselves still tighter to their partisan ways. On paper, in person, in every way, it is clear that Art Post is hugely more qualified for the supposedly "non-partisan" school board seat than is Debbie Bookstaber. But that doesn't matter to the Republican rank and file. And it's not like they don't already have a solid track record of these kinds of blatant partisan decisions.

Their reaction was quick and vengeful. Kevin Mahoney was out. Signs came down everywhere. Indeed, if you wander the neighborhood and look at the yards of Republican Committeepeople, you can see exactly where the Kevin Mahoney sign was just the week before - it left a gaping hole in their pretty array. Now Mahoney signs are instead showing up individually on the lawns of Independents and more free-willed Republicans. And they are also showing up paired with Art Post signs on the yards of Democrats. In one case, the two signs are bound together with colored yarn and a bow.

Then, the TTGOP returned to the internet.

Quick! Throw Up a Website!

Many wondered just what had happened to the ttgop web site. Some time last Spring it just went dark. Then last week it returned. And boy was it ever thrown up. It isn't too pretty, yet. Probably just the result of a rush job.

It's clear that the new TTGOP website is a testament to the tired TTGOP message, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." To read their site you would think that Tredyffrin is actually Nirvana, and the TTGOP should be praised for the warm sunshine and gentle breezes. But, enough about that. It's their candidate listings that is relevant to this story.

Their candidate bios are the same old stuff, copied and pasted from their literature. But where's Kevin? Huh? He's gone! It's as if he never existed. The Republican President of the Tredyffrin/Eastown School Board has been completely disavowed. Isn't that the most childish thing?

Readers to the Rescue

This week, Main Line Life and the Suburban and Wayne Times ran two letters from readers about the Mahoney/Post cross-party endorsement. The first, from Susan Lehman, took issue with Dan Kristie's article:

Cross-party endorsements important

Two weeks ago I read in a letter to the editor that a prominent Republican, Kevin Mahoney, the president of the T/E School Board, and an active Democrat, Art Post, are endorsing each other in this coming month’s T/E school-board election. In these continually polarizing times, I don’t understand why our newspapers aren’t covering this more fully. We as citizens should be celebrating that two people running for office can put the welfare of the schools ahead of some manufactured party loyalty. The T/E School Board is supposed to be a nonpartisan office. But we all know that is on paper only. Rightly or wrongly, one party had thoroughly dominated the board. If we blindly follow just one party from some broad assumptions without knowing what individual candidates really stand for, we are truly diminishing our possibilities of success.

In this past week’s paper there was a short, polite quote from each of the two endorsing candidates, and one glib statement from the young woman left out in the endorsement coupling. She intimated that Mahoney and Post only endorsed each other out of friendship and male bonding. That is an insult to both men. Both are longtime residents, putting children through our schools, well acquainted with the area’s problems and the school district’s needs, and both dedicated to our students meeting 21st-century challenges. Personally, I know that Mr. Post is a staunch supporter of women’s rights, and Mr. Mahoney has well served the school board on behalf of both men and women. Perhaps it is our newspaper’s duty to look deeper into the unique cross-endorsement? Could it be that young Debbie Bookstaber being new to our area with no children weighs on Mr. Mahoney’s feeling that another person might be more qualified? Maybe Mr. Mahoney checked into the backgrounds of each competitor and found one more qualified than the other? Or perhaps it is Ms. Bookstaber’s extreme conservative political agenda that has some Republicans jumping party? It would be nice if our newspaper covered these questions, and not end the article with a false idea of the cross-endorsement.

Outside my poll last May, one of my neighbors exited from voting, smiled and commented, “I sure hope that the judges on the ballot weren’t those ‘ban the evolution/creationist’ crazies.” When I questioned him about his one-party policy, he responded telling me that he thought gun control was necessary and that he was also pro-choice. Yes, he voted his party, but he had no idea if he voted for a judge who directly opposes many of his views. Whether you believe in evolution or not, or any other issues, he should be ashamed; he blindly punched the ballot because of party and not what an individual candidate might believe.

After 9/11 there was a film done that asked the question whether God’s light guides us or blinds us. When we think of all the things humans do, good and bad, in the name of God, it is a very valid question that must continually be asked. It is also a valid question when it comes to voting for only one political party.

Susan Lehman

Strafford

The second, from Janet Walkow and Irl Barg noted the fact that Kevin Mahoney is missing from the TTGOP web presence.

Vote for Mahoney, Post

We were looking at the local Republican Web site and saw that they have decided not to list Kevin Mahoney, president of the T/E School Board. They are attempting to punish Kevin because he has shown the leadership to support Art Post, a better, more qualified school board candidate than the other Republican running for the position.

This reminds us far too much of Bush/Cheney’s promoting administrators and generals solely based on allegiance to party loyalty. While we have come to expect this at the national level, it is dismaying to find that the local GOP officials have stooped so low in their petty, partisan politics.

Our children spent a collective 35 “student-years” in the T/E school system. We volunteered in the schools from reading to kindergartners, to serving as a school board liaison from the middle school, to involvement with CAPCO. We know the schools, the district and the board fairly well.

There are three candidates for T/E Region 2 school director. We have spoken to the candidates and researched their positions. Two of the candidates share the values of our community and are qualified for the school board. Based on our knowledge of the candidates, their experience and views, we urge the residents of Tredyffrin and Easttown and all the voters in Region 2 to cross party lines and to support Kevin Mahoney (Republican) and Art Post (Democrat).

Janet Walkow and Irl Barg

Strafford

Congratulations and many thanks to Janet, Irl, and Susan for speaking up. And congratulations and thanks to the editors of our local papers for taking steps to rectify the problem.

Everyone - Republican, Democrat, Independent alike - don't pull that party lever! You respect at least one of them, maybe both. So respect their educated opinions, too. Vote Art Post (D) and Kevin Mahoney (R) for School Board!

This post is part of a series dealing with decisions made by our local newspapers this week:

• Part 1: Does Republican Candidate Tom Like Farm Animals?
• Part 2: All Hail C.T.
• Part 3: Debbie Nails Yale
• Part 4: An Editorial Decision

Art Post and Kevin Mahoney’s Press Release?
Not News.

On Sunday the TTDems announced in a press release that Art Post and Kevin Mahoney, a Democrat and a Republican, have endorsed each other for School Board in Region 2. One would think that this would be Big News. Of the three candidates running, only two get a seat. Two of those three candidates are Republican. And yet, the Democrat and one of the Republicans have decided that they will support each other, to the exclusion of the other Republican, Debbie Bookstaber. What’s more, the TTDems announced that they will support Kevin Mahoney, a Republican, in addition to Art Post. That’s a big thing, right?

Well, apparently not, according to Main Line Life and the Suburban and Wayne Times. They both eagerly accepted this press release, and yet the story does not appear in their papers. Huh? Rumor has it that these two papers were unable to reach Kevin Mahoney for confirmation of the press release.

They couldn’t contact Mahoney? Baloney. They had several days, and their crack staff couldn’t track down the president of the school board, the Senior VP and Chief Administrative Officer of the $3.4 billion organization Pensylvannia Health System? Give me a break.

The TTGOP Blog

I am simply floored by the papers this week. In spite of all the hard work of the TTDems in rooting out the problems and bringing them to light, educating themselves and the community, bringing excited, energetic and eminently qualified candidates to the table, and building bridges between the parties and with the local newspapers - in spite of all of this, we find ourselves stymied by the fourth estate. Actively impeded. It’s downright un-American.

One thing is clarified by the actions of our newspapers. Many months ago the TTGOP’s web site inexplicably went off the internet. Most of us just assumed that a new, improved site was in the offing, and it would appear shortly, probably with great fanfare. It never arrived. Then we began to wonder if the TTGOP would bother to respond online to the harsh facts presented by the TTDems web site and this blog. That never happened, either.

Well, if we weren’t convinced before, it is certainly clear now. The Main Line Life and the Suburban and Wayne Times are the blog of the TTGOP. The TTGOP web site is the newspapers’ web site. Why don’t they just install a domain redirect and be done with it? Maybe a real paper which has not abandonded its roots in objective journalism, like, say, the Philadelphia Inquirer, will notice this travesty in reporting and help shine a light on the problem. The public definitely needs to know.

Wake up, people! Is this the kind of “totalitarian democracy” you want to live in?

It’s almost like George Orwell’s Animal Farm, isn’t it?
Republican Candidate Tom might like that.

This post is part of a series dealing with decisions made by our local newspapers this week:

• Part 1: Does Republican Candidate Tom Like Farm Animals?
• Part 2: All Hail C.T.
• Part 3: Debbie Nails Yale
• Part 4: An Editorial Decision

Debbie vs. the Taliban

So a concerned mother writes with a very reasonable request:

I have been pondering the up and coming election for the Tredyffrin/Easttown School Board. Debbie Bookstaber states on her blog: “If I were to be elected, I would represent all households – not just the Republican households. I don’t believe partisanship belongs in a school board campaign.” I think our voters should be aware that Mrs. Bookstaber has past ties with a group that proudly called themselves “Give Yale the Finger.”

Along with another former Yale alumni, Mrs. Bookstaber wanted to rally to have a certain student deported and thrown out of Yale for his beliefs, as they opposed her own.

Mrs. Bookstaber rose to immediate prominence in right-wing circles when John Fund of the Wall Street Journal published a letter she sent to Yale. That letter was published by Michelle Malkin, and the rest is history.

As a mother of three children in the district, I personally wouldn’t want someone with such strong ties and beliefs representing our youth. It would be an unbalanced representation on the board. It is a direct lie for Bookstaber to state that she is indeed representing all households. Her ties to Michelle Malkin and Steve Doocy are hardly open-minded. Our board needs a balanced board that serves the hearts and minds of not only our children but our educational staff. The balance of our board is imperative if we want to keep TE schools at the top and in a forward direction.

Having someone with such extreme thoughts and ties represent our board is not in the best interest of this school district. I’ll agree with Mrs. Bookstaber she is right – politics has no place on the school board.

Kelly J Hudson

Well done, Mrs. Hudson. The issue is a right-wing politico, who by the way served as a face for the university interviewing high school seniors, turning against the administration to air her own extreme views.

I honestly don’t know how evil this kid was. But we’re not talking about admitting him as an undergraduate, allowing him to matriculate for a degree, or anything like that. He wanted to take some courses, study, talk to people. Urged by an American friend at CBS, he explored the possibility of studying at Yale. After a lot of consideration, the University made a decision to allow this to happen.

No question that the Taliban are bad guys. It is a horrible, oppressive regime reknowned for its horrid treatment of women. So some, understandably, did not understand why the Yale chose to let this person study at the university.

So Clint Taylor and some of his friends, including Debbie Bookstaber, started a campaign to get rid of this Rahmatullah guy. As part of that campaign, they encouraged everyone to send red press-on nails to the university, recalling the alleged Taliban practice of yanking off the fingernails of women who wore nail polish. Many went further and sent in real human fingernail clippings. Disgusting.

The University responded by restating its goals and philosophy behind the admission:

Yale has allowed Mr. Hashemi to take courses for college credit in a part-time program that does not award Yale degrees. Contrary to what has been reported by some in the media, he has not been admitted as an undergraduate to Yale College or to any of the other schools at Yale.

We hope that his courses help him understand the broader context for the conflicts around the world. We acknowledge that some are criticizing Yale for allowing Mr. Hashemi to take courses here, but we hope that critics will also acknowledge that universities are places that must strive to increase understanding, especially of the most difficult issues that face the nation and the world.

According to the State Department, Ramatullah Hashemi was issued U.S. visas in 2004 and 2005, first on a tourist visa and then in 2005 on a student visa. The mandatory procedures were followed, which, in his case, included vetting through an interagency security clearance process. He was cleared by all agencies.

That didn’t stop Debbie. She essentially threw her alma mater under the bus for an education/administration decision, all because it went against her personal political beliefs. She made all the papers, was quoted in all the conservative blogs, was interviewed on a conservative Fox News program by Chris Wallace. Ann Coulter watch out! Here comes Debbie.

Agree with her or not, her methodology is extremely suspect. What will happen if she found something politically objectionable to her in a T/E school? Will she fly off in a similar manner and start a national Nail TE campaign? In the face of her fellow school board members and established education philosophy?

Yeah, that’s what we need. Her sense of priorities is clear. Politics first.

But enough about Debbie. How did the TTGOP-controlled Main Life Life respond when they received this letter? Well, let’s see. There’s a letter from Debbie about the issue right under Mrs. Hudson’s. She complains, “I understand that my involvement in that Yale Taliban protest is being misrepresented.” No one else has mentioned Nail Yale that I know of. A wild coincidence? Nah… I think they gave ole Debbie a call and let her know that there was a letter that she might not like was going to be published. And, by the by, would she like a chance to respond? In the same issue of the newspaper? What a joke. This kind of partisan journalism is simply an insult to our community’s intelligence.

So, just how did she respond? She avoided the issue and instead talked about how evil and bad Rahmatullah is. Whatever. Not the point, Debbie. And then she told people to google “Nail Yale” to get the real story. I, too, encourage folks to do just that. Go ahead. Go. I’ll wait. Did you take special notice of who’s web sites you end up at? What other stories are there? Hmmmm? It’s a virtual Who’s Who of right-wing nutcase blogs. “Nail Yale” was picked up by all those ultra-conservative web sites because it is an ultra-conservative story about ultra-conservatives.

What Main Line Life did was just plain wrong. Normally the object of a letter gets to respond in the next week’s paper. The TTDems were not called and invited to respond to T.C.’s blither. The candidate that J.D.’s campaign was horsing around with (down, Tom…) was not invited to make a response. A couple weeks ago I wrote about how Ellen Brotman Austin couldn’t get the paper to publish her letter. And she actually addressed the issue at hand and had a good point! But the rules are different for the Republicans. Warren Kampf was given advance notice of letters about him. And Debbie the Taliban Slayer had to be given a chance to assert herself, too. On the very same page. Right under Mrs. Hudson’s thoughtful letter. What a crock.

This post is part of a series dealing with decisions made by our local newspapers this week:

• Part 1: Does Republican Candidate Tom Like Farm Animals?
• Part 2: All Hail C.T.
• Part 3: Debbie Nails Yale
• Part 4: An Editorial Decision

All Hail C.T.!

Second is the paper’s decision to give John C.T. Alexander, Chairman of the Tredyffrin Township Republican Committee, yet another chance to brag about the TTGOP’s so-called accomplishments. Far too often C.T. gets to stick his thumbs behind his suspenders, tilt back, and say, “Ayup, ayup we’re doin’ durn good, huh? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” It’s one thing to make space for a message from the chair of one of the local political parties, but C.T. gets far more than that. It must be part of the contract between the newspaper and the TTGOP. Oh, make that plural - newspapers. You see, C.T.’s schtick is in the Suburban and Wayne Times this week, too. I guess they also are under contract to run his letters.

Anyway, along with the generic horn-tooting for the Republican candidates, C.T. spends some time denying the township’s problems.

The literature handed out by the local Democrats this year claims vaguely they are “restoring public trust.” Really? In what way? Ask them.

While he goes to the trouble of mentioning TTDem literature, he obviously has not read the extensive accounts of corruption, cronyism, and pay-for-play reported therein, or within detailed white papers on the ttdem website, or on my blog here or here or here or … well, you get the picture. There’s nothing vague about the TTDems observations and discoveries. Plenty have asked, C.T., and all, Democrat, Republican, and Independent alike, have left with raised eyebrows, sharing a knowing smile.

They have heard about the problems with detailed cases of transparency issues, of cronyism, and of the lack of reaction in the face of embezzlement. They have noticed how, for example, storm water problems at long last are finally getting addressed by Democratic supervisors. And far from taking responsibility for their active ignorance of the problem, the Republicans cast themselves as champions of the issue! As if the public didn’t notice their deaf ears for thirty years!

No, it is far easier to just not see the problems than to try and address them. The local Republican “leadership” motto would seem to be, “Ignore as long as you want, as long as later you say you’ve been paying attention since the start.” One has to wonder if the typical Tredyffrin voter ever really buys into this garbage? Does he really think we are just sheep? (Steady, there, Tom) No, the facts are clear: the Republicans have become lazy in their leadership, and are corrupt, inattentive to the needs of the community, and need to be called to account.

Taking the prize in this column, though, is the most illogical comparison he has ever attempted, and that’s a low limbo bar, folks…

Tredyffrin is the polar opposite of the Democratic-run, inherently corrupt, Philadelphia.

Um, are you absolutely sure you want to go there, girl? Just how much bathroom stall tapping goes on during your monthly TTGOP meetings? How many young male interns have you molested lately? Will the local madame’s black book list all the names of your officers? Will you see to it that your Republican township supervisors vote themselves a pay raise like their brethren in Harrisburg did?

Or, hey, C.T. - are you going to lie to get us into a war with Easttown? The TTDems have nothing to do with the Democrats in Philadelphia. Nothing at all. And yet the TTGOP actively campaigned for and elected those two nightmares of social conservatism Senator Rick Santorum and President George Bush.

Those kinds of comparisons are ludicrous, C.T. Get over yourself.

Today one of our local papers, Main Line Life, gave the Tredyffrin Township Republican Committee (TTGOP) a bully pulpit. More than that, it actively wrote news, made editorial decisions, and managed opinion in the favor of the local Republican party. What gives? I’ve posted about how managing the opinions page in Tredyffrin must be difficult. This week it looks like they just gave up, or perhaps sold out.

This issue is developed several posts. You can navigate with this:

• Part 1: Does Republican Candidate Tom Like Farm Animals?
• Part 2: All Hail C.T.
• Part 3: Debbie Nails Yale
• Part 4: An Editorial Decision

Did you hear? It’s disgusting!

First, Daniel Kristie wrote a “news” story that led with a nasty and false rumor spread by the John (J.D.) DiBuonaventuro campaign. (not that J.D. actually started the rumor; no one apparently knows who started it; but is that really the point?)* Sure, Dan said he couldn’t find any support for it. Sure, he couldn’t find the source. But he said it all the same. He described the rumor as “the opening punch that no one threw.” Hey, that first punch still hurts, bro. What the hell are you doing? You threw that first punch, a reporter from the Main Line Life. Our paper has gone from reporting the news to making it. How sad.

It’s like that story about Lyndon Johnson’s early political career:

Quoted from an interesting CBS News story:
It calls to mind that old saw about Lyndon Johnson who supposedly told his press secretary to get a story in the newspaper about his opponent’s carnal knowledge with a farm animal. When reminded the story wasn’t true, he said that didn’t matter, what was important was to have his opponent denying it.

Daniel Kristie ran with the rumor, called the candidate, and essentially published his denial.*

Okay, then, here’s a rumor I heard some time last week. Or maybe it was Sunday morning when I was chatting with a friend in my front yard. Hmmm… maybe it was at an evening party last night. Who knows? And who really cares? Because I heard from someone is that there is this guy who is infatuated with farm animals. It could be anyone, any Tom, Dick, Harry, J.D., Warren, Bob, Paul. Let’s say… Tom. Yes, Republican Candidate Tom is infatuated with farm animals. Of course, there is no way it could be true. It’s patently false. But, hey, why not talk about it? It’s fun!

So the rumor about the very special place that animals have in Tom’s heart is entirely false. There is no basis to the allegations of the exorbitant amount of time he spends on the farm. None whatsoever.

But still, in spite of the fact that there is no foundation to the rumor, I would encourage everyone to be mindful of your pets around Tom. You know, just to be totally sure. Even though it’s a bald-faced lie that Tom. especially enjoys his time with the fluffier animals, you should be sure to stand between your poodle and Tom when he comes by to visit.

And, hey… In spite of the well-established, often stated, and completely believed denial by Tom that he pays money to keep his favorite animals in a special barn in rural northwest Tredyffrin, complete with posh decorating and closets full of small costumes, we should probably let him know that we know about this nasty rumor. The next time you’re in the same room with Tom, make your favorite farm mammal sound: a subtle horse’s neigh, a sheep’s baaa, or the famous Ned Beatty pig squeal. Don’t let him know it was you. Do it behind your hand. Then, snicker.

You get the point, Dan?

* Upon further reflection, and in consideration of comments sent to me by email, I have revised this post. I am trying make this blog both funny and factual, but I won’t be bringing the funny at the expense of the truth. I appreciate and encourage your further comments sent to MisterTredyffrin@gmail.com. No, I won’t repeat what I pulled or changed in this article because, after all, that would be spreading a rumor known to be wrong, and as we all now know, that wouldn’t be right. Right?