Republican Committee of Lancaster County
902 Columbia Avenue ● Lancaster, PA 17603
PHONE: 717.392.4165 ● www.lancasterrepublicans.com
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** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ** July 31, 2019 |
Lancaster Newspaper
LANCASTER, PA — It’s becoming increasingly clear that the news media has no interest in bi-partisan reporting. The political bias is blatantly clear on national networks like CNN and our President has called these organizations out for their disregard of conservatives. Here in Lancaster County, we have our own Fake News corporation at the Lancaster Newspaper.
Readers have noticed the bias of LNP through their stories and treatment of Republican candidates and elected officials, including Congressman Lloyd Smucker. Early this year the LNP Editorial Board chose to attack the character of Congressman Smucker while staying silent on issues of Democratic negligence and interference. While advocating for civility in politics, the LNP Editorial staff has continually published letters mischaracterizing Congressman Smucker.
On June 6th – the President of the Elizabethtown College Republicans submitted an op-ed to the LNP Editorial staff, not surprising, they still have not published the letter. If the LNP editorial board was truly interested in representing the values of this county, they would publish conservative viewpoints instead of sweeping them under the rug.
It’s been over 7 weeks since this opinion piece was submitted. Here’s the op-ed that was submitted and never published, exposing Lancaster Stands Up’s values and motivations:
Why is Congressman Smucker being attacked for exposing Lancaster Stands Up as socialists? Perhaps the 11th District doesn’t know the truth about Lancaster Stands Up (LSU) and its supporters, perhaps because of the group’s history of operating in the shadows. Let’s examine some facts.
The organization has been glad-handed by a fawning media like no other community organization, and given every opportunity to suggest that its views, according to paid organizer Eliza Booth, are “mainstream.” Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Lancaster Stands Up’s efforts to hide its true aims from the public are intentional.
Jonathan Matthew Smucker, the executive director of Beyond the Choir (Lancaster Stands Up’s parent organization) is an LSU founder and leadership committee member, and he described in-depth at a 2017 talk at the Personal Democracy Forum about how LSU “created a political opposition” with a “protest face” and “an electoral strategy”. Sounds like a political organization to me. LSU has identified a whole bunch of words they weren’t going to use like “activist” and “protester” for example. Turns out Smucker is a sought-after presenter for his speeches at the Marxist 2012 Convention and his talks on the radical “Occupy Wall Street” movement. He authored “Hegemony How-to: A Roadmap for Radicals”, published by AK Press, which self-describes as an “anarchist publishing and distribution” company. Smucker’s book boasts such praises as “if Saul Alinsky [Roadmap to Radicals author] and Antonio Gramsci [noted Italian Marxist] … had a bastard lovechild he might be named Jonathan Smucker.” He alleges Jesus was killed for his socialist beliefs, in fact. But pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
LSU’s “electoral strategy” supported Democrat, Jess King’s candidacy for Congress with $150,000 in independent expenditures, funded by five-figure donations from labor unions and checks from Obama AG Eric Holder’s National Redistricting Committee. What did their candidate support? Medicare for All, a policy that costs a whopping $32 trillion according to three independent reports, and eliminates private health insurance for 158 million Americans, including six million in Pennsylvania. King also pledged to fight for a “Green New Deal”, exposed as a $100 trillion extreme government takeover of nearly every economic sector. These socialist policies are now trumpeted by the most extreme progressive Members of Congress like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and supported by radical groups like Justice Democrats. I encourage readers to check them out. King’s campaign practically plagiarized Smucker’s book – no surprise, since he and King’s campaign manager are married. But I’m certain no illegal collusion happened in violation of campaign finance laws.
Now LSU’s “electoral strategy” consists of supporting Hobie Crystal for Lancaster County district attorney, who’s modeling his candidacy after a radical Philadelphia District Attorney who recently allowed a convicted cop killer to appeal his case. Of course, LSU also stood for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which fights the drug and human trafficking rings. Amnesty for illegal aliens is too timid for this crowd, they profess open borders.
Examine LSU’s “affiliates and sponsors” on its website: Keystone Progress (“Pennsylvania’s largest and most effective progressive organization”), the Indivisible Project (which wrote the book on how to protest and disrupt Members of Congress) and Our Revolution (the “next step for Bernie Sanders’ movement”). What’s that about the “company one keeps?”
How about we take an opportunity to highlight what some of LSU’s own members have said: Becca Rast, former LSU leadership team member, on February 5th, 2019: “I think I’ll feel more free under socialism.” Nick Martin, former Lancaster Stands Up leadership team member, on February 5th, 2019: “Trump has framed the fight as Trump vs socialism. Socialism will win.” Becca Rast and Nick Martin are now working for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, under the banner of a self-avowed socialist.
Does any of this sound “mainstream” to you?
I don’t criticize these individuals, or any member of Lancaster Stands Up, for being politically engaged and motivated by their beliefs. But Congressman Smucker is right – they support socialism, yearn for more government intrusion in our lives, and want to tear down free enterprise. If the fight is, as Nick Martin says, “Trump vs socialism”, then I pick Trump. If it’s Smucker vs socialism, I pick Smucker. But don’t pretend or be misled that Lancaster Stands Up is anything other than what its own founders and leaders openly support and profess – a radical shift towards socialism.
After multiple follow ups with LNP’s Editorial staff about publishing this opinion, it’s time that we take a stand against their blatant partisan bias. Lancaster Stands Up and its associates are exposed in this opinion letter and the public has a right to know.
We ask that the LNP Editorial staff publish this opinion immediately.
Join us in forwarding this message to your friends through email and social media to expose the left’s attempt to make socialism a mainstream idea with the help of the LNP Editorial staff.
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