May 14th, 2022
My Dear America:
Sections of the following Blog Post are copied from Candidates Website Biographies and Wikipedia and will be Identified using Bold Print.
First of all Little Josh Shapiro, who is running for Governor in Pennsylvania is not all that small. Its just that standing next to Big John Fetterman, who stands over 6 feet, anyone under 6 feet looks Tiny.
Although both Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman are running two completely different and separate Election Campaigns in 2022 They are both Democrats running to keep Sanity and Democracy alive in Pennsylvania where they have both carved out successful Democratic Political Reputations in a state in which the state legislature contains some of the rightest of right wing nuts.
I feel sorry for my State Representative, Pete Schweyer, a Great Democrat who unfortunately has to put up with these Republican Screwballs every day in the Pennsylvania State Legislature.
But although Pete, Josh and John might be swimming against the tide in Pennsylvania the past state races indicate that there are still pockets of Sanity And Democratic Support in our state and my guess is that there always will be.
Anyone checking out John Fetterman for the first time would almost certainly be tempted to bet that he is a Trump Supporter. John is tall, tattooed, almost always dressed in a black tee shirt and looks as though he is ready for trouble.
He is indeed ready for trouble and will undoubtedly be getting his share of trouble after he beats out his opponents in the Democratic Primary and moves on to face whichever Trump Ass Kissing Gun Toting Whack Job who ends up surviving the Republican Shark Attack Frenzy that is this year's Republican Primary for Senator and Governor.
Regardless of the fact that Donald Trump disregarded his oath to protect the Constitution for four years and ended his Presidency by staging a failed coup, The Monster from Mara Lago is still unbelievably and incredibly still a hero to many Republicans in the Keystone state. Some of the Candidates on the Republican side of the Primary are some of the same people who tried to stage that Republican Coup, especially Doug Mastriano, a State Senator running for Governor, who masterminded a plot to bring the ridiculous Cyber Ninja "Audit" to Pennsylvania. In so doing Mastriano was willing to release so much voter information that Democratic Legislators like Pete Schweyer blew the whistle on the fact that Mastriano's "Audit" could unleash epic problems with regard to potential Identity theft. Now that Mastriano is running for Governor his information about the "Audit" and his other shady and possibly illegal activities involving Trump have mysteriously disappeared from his website.
Getting back to John Fetterman. Much of what I am going to include in the following paragraphs is quoted from John Fetterman's Campaign Website.
"A Pennsylvania native, John Fetterman was born to teenage parents just starting out on their own. At the time his father worked nights to put himself through College. John grew up in York, PA and followed in his fathers footsteps to Albright College (in Reading, Pennsylvania) where he played offensive tackle for the Lions.
At 23 John joined up with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and his life has never been the same.
John Threw himself into the program mentoring his "little" - an 8 year old boy who had recently lost his father to AIDS and whose mother was also battling the disease. Before she passed away, John promised her that he would continue to look out for her son and make sure that he graduated from College. Fifteen years later, John and his "little" had both held up their ends of the bargain, with his little's graduation from Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, PA.
But John wanted to do more. He joined AmeriCorps and served in Pittsburgh's historic Hill District, where he helped set up the first computer labs in the neighborhood and taught GED classes to young mothers and fathers.
He went on to earn a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
John returned to Pennsylvania to start a GED program in the town of Braddock, one of the poorest and most challenged communities in the commonwealth. In 2005, encouraged by his students, John ran for Mayor. He managed to win the crowded primary by a single vote. In his 13 years as Mayor, John worked to rebuild his community. In his 13 years as Mayor, John worked to rebuild his community, creating jobs, getting youth engaged and bringing creative urban policy solutions to Braddock. The town now has a community center, urban gardens and a free store run by John's Wife, Gisele.
Together John and Gisele have fought for causes they believe in, from immigration reform to LGBTQ + rights. When Pennsylvania lawmakers continued to push outdated discriminatory policies banning marriage equality, John stood up and officiated one of the first same sex marriages in Pennsylvania.
And when they wanted to build a four lane interstate highway through Braddock, a town that's more than 80 percent Black and already suffered historically high asthma rates, John was the only elected official in western Pennsylvania who opposed it on the grounds that it was environmental racism.
In 2016, John decided to run for U.S. Senate to confront the inequality crisis at the highest levels of government. Although John lost the Democratic Primary, John confounded expectations, earning 20 percent of the vote as a relatively unknown candidate in a four way race.
Two years later, in 2018, John ran to be Pennsylvania's Lieutenant Governor, and this time dominated across the commonwealth, winning a five way Democratic Primary and a commanding victory in the general election.
As Lieutenant Governor, John has transformed the position and made a bully pulpit of the office, advocating for economic justice and criminal justice reform.
Weeks after taking office, John embarked on a listening tour of all 67 counties, something no sitting Lt. Governor has ever done, to engage with Pennsylvanians about legalizing marijuana. In three months the historic tour saw over 10,000 people turn out in person and tens of thousands more engage online. Following John's final report and recommendations, the Governor announced his support for legalization of marijuana for the first time.
As the chair of Pennsylvania's Board of Pardons, John has led the fight to give second chances to non-violent longtime inmates and free those who have been wrongfully convicted.
He has taken numerous steps to overhaul the clemency process in Pennsylvania, including eliminating all fees associated with applying for a pardon, making the pardons application more user-friendly and working to move the application process online. Under John's tenure, the Board has recommended more applicants for commutation of sentences than any Lieutenant Governor in decades.
While Lieutenant Governor, John and Gisele have chosen not to settle in the Lt. Governor's Mansion, instead opening up the pool in the official residence to children who typically wouldn't have access to one. They live with their three children, Karl, 12, Gracie, 10 and August, 7 in a restored car dealership in Braddock with the family dog, Levi."
Clearly there is a huge difference between John Fetterman and his mainly Rich, mainly MAGA, Mainly Right Wing Republican Opponents. John's background is a background of Community Service and concern about his Fellow Pennsylvania Citizens.
Although Pennsylvania's Candidate for Governor, Josh Shapiro's background is quite different from that of John Fetterman's, his concern for improving the lives of his fellow Pennsylvanians is quite similar to that of John Fetterman.
"Josh Shapiro was born in Kansas City, Missouri and was raised in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. At a young age Shapiro started a worldwide letter writing program on behalf of Russian Jewish Refuseniks. Following his graduation from High School in Pennsylvania Shapiro attended the University of Rochester, where he majored in Political Science and in 1992 he became the first Freshman to win election as the University of Rochester's Student body President. In 1995 he graduated magna cum laude from the University of Rochester.
While working as a Legislative Assistant on Capitol Hill in Washington during the day Shapiro enrolled at the Georgetown Law Center as an evening student and earned his Juris Doctor Law Degree in 2002. In 2004 Shapiro ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 153rd District. He won that election and won re Election in 2006, 2008 and 20010
Shapiro won election to the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners in 2011. The election marked the first time in history that the Republican Party lost control of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. Shapiro became chairman of the Board of Commissioners. In April 2015 Pennsylvania Democratic Governor named Shapiro Chair of The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
Shapiro announced his intention to run for Pennsylvania Attorney General in January 2016. Shapiro won election as Attorney General in November of 2016 and has done an outstanding job as Attorney General of Pennsylvania although some of his efforts as Attorney General have sometimes been controversial.
Shapiro joined with several other State Attorney's General opposing Donald Trump's travel ban. He also filed a lawsuit to block the implementation of a rule that would have made it easier for employers to deny health insurance coverage of contraceptives. He also joined a lawsuit against ITT Technical Institute, a for profit educational institute that resulted in a 168 million dollar settlement (with about 5 million Dollars of thre settlement going to Pennsylvania students). In 2018 he reached an agreement with federal officials to prevent the distribution of blueprints for 3D Printed firearms. In 2019 he came out in support of the legalization of marijuana for recreational use by adults, joining Governor Tom Wolfe and other leading Pennsylvanians, including John Fetterman.
Prior to his election as Attorney General his predecessor had initiated an investigation of sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the Catholic Church. Following his election Shapiro chose to move forward with the investigation and in August, 2018 he released the results of an extensive Grand Jury Report alleging more than a thousand children having been abused at the hands of 300 Catholic Priests."
Following the 2020 Election Josh Shapiro's office was consistently involved in fighting against ridiculous lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania alleging Voter Irregularities. Shapiro was successful in fighting the Election lawsuits and was front and center on MSNBC and CNN protecting Election responsibility in Pennsylvania.
Clearly Big John Fetterman and Little Josh Shapiro are already on the job protecting Pennsylvania from MAGA Madness in the 2020 Election and determined to keep Democracy alive in Pennsylvania.
Both of the Democratic Candidates for Governor and United States Senator have an extensive and impressive track record which lays out what they stand for.
Both Candidates are Progressive Democrats who support protecting Voting Rights, Reproductive Rights and Civil Rights.
They may differ in some areas but overall in what is increasingly becoming a dangerous and destructive MAGA world Big John and Little Josh stand out as the kind of Candidates that we could always count on to show up in important elections before Donald Trump and his Fake News Friends on Fox News, Newsmax and OAN showed up to put the screws to the important issues on which we have always depended Democratic Support.
Somewhere along the line we have lost our bearings and being a "Democrat" or a "Liberal" was somehow turned into terms of degradation. Somewhere along the line it became Okay to consistently lie over and over to the public and somehow people became convinced that Lies were the truth and the Truth were lies.
Luckily for me I live in Pennsylvania where at least for now we still have some fine Democrats who are on the right track and I certainly hope continue to care enough to seek high office in my state.
Thank you Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman for caring enough about our state and our people to put yourself out there as Candidates in 2022 for Governor and Senator. I wish you both well and will certainly be voting for both of you in the upcoming elections.
We genuinely need you in Pennsylvania and Washington D.C..
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
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