Anti-Hacked: Dauphin County Commissioner George Hartwick using the N word

Currently sitting Dauphin County Commissioner and current candidate for re-election to same, George Hartwick, has been accused of repeatedly using the N word, very loudly and in public, by Dr Marcia Sturdivant.

I received the following letter unsolicited, in the envelope shown. The return address space simply had “Stop Racism” as also shown.

The original letter to Hartwick, along with his fellow Commissioners at that time, reads that it is written and signed by Dr. Marcia M. Sturdivant, while she was Deputy Director, Allegheny County Department of Human Services and Administrator of Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF).

I do not know Dr Sturdivant, except as a connection on social media. I can not and do not vouch for the authenticity of the content. I’ve asked Dr Sturdivant to do so, via email and social media. I’ve received no response.

Dr Sturdivant’ LinkedIn profile states that she did work at Allegheny County OCYF, the second largest child welfare agency in PA.

As it appears to be on official letterhead, from what she says is her former employer, and says it was copied to a number of public officials and prominent public-facing folks, I presume it is authentic. I will, however, post verbatim any and all attributed quotes which support or challenge its authenticity.

Candidate for Dauphin County Commissioner Tom Connolly confirmed that he had seen the letter. He stated emphatically that “The word is offensive in any context. It is extremely disturbing that an Elected Official on Dauphin County business would engage in this type of conduct. The fact that the offensive conduct attracted the attention of CYS professionals from around the State and Country should enrage every Dauphin County resident.”

Candidate for Dauphin County Commissioner Diane Bowman denied knowing about the letter. I gave her a copy of the letter on Friday, Feb 22. She has not commented as of this publication.

I post this for Dauphin County voters to consider in making your choice, in the upcoming County Commissioner race.

As a former Dauphin County Democratic Committee person, I believe that it is crucial that you nominate the voice that speaks best for Dauphin County Democrats. And here you have the voices, and lack thereof, of all three.

Hartwick uses the N word. Bowman won’t comment on the use of the N word. And Connolly condemns the use of the N word. Happy voting, Dauphin!

Dr Sturdivant’s letter

Dauphin County Commissioner George Hartwick using the N word

Currently sitting Dauphin County Commissioner and current candidate for re-election to same, George Hartwick, has been accused of repeatedly using the N word, very loudly and in public, by Dr Marcia Sturdivant.

I received the following letter unsolicited, in the envelope shown. The return address space simply had “Stop Racism” as also shown.

The original letter to Hartwick, along with his fellow Commissioners at that time, reads that it is written and signed by Dr. Marcia M. Sturdivant, while she was Deputy Director, Allegheny County Department of Human Services and Administrator of Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF).

I do not know Dr Sturdivant, except as a connection on social media. I can not and do not vouch for the authenticity of the content. I’ve asked Dr Sturdivant to do so, via email and social media. I’ve received no response.

Dr Sturdivant’ LinkedIn profile states that she did work at Allegheny County OCYF, the second largest child welfare agency in PA.

As it appears to be on official letterhead, from what she says is her former employer, and says it was copied to a number of public officials and prominent public-facing folks, I presume it is authentic. I will, however, post verbatim any and all attributed quotes which support or challenge its authenticity.

Candidate for Dauphin County Commissioner Tom Connolly confirmed that he had seen the letter. He stated emphatically that “The word is offensive in any context. It is extremely disturbing that an Elected Official on Dauphin County business would engage in this type of conduct. The fact that the offensive conduct attracted the attention of CYS professionals from around the State and Country should enrage every Dauphin County resident.”

Candidate for Dauphin County Commissioner Diane Bowman denied knowing about the letter. I gave her a copy of the letter on Friday, Feb 22. She has not commented as of this publication.

I post this for Dauphin County voters to consider in making your choice, in the upcoming County Commissioner race.

As a former Dauphin County Democratic Committee person, I believe that it is crucial that you nominate the voice that speaks best for Dauphin County Democrats. And here you have the voices, and lack thereof, of all three.

Hartwick uses the N word. Bowman won’t comment on the use of the N word. And Connolly condemns the use of the N word. Happy voting, Dauphin!

Sturdivant Letter to Hartwick

The Big Short and The Big Bribery that Enabled it

I must reiterate my previous strong recommendation of “The Big Short”, now that it is on Netflix. If you have any faith in our ‘free market’ you won’t after you watch it. Based on actual events and people.

Spoiler: the global financial meltdown further enriched those who defrauded the world of sheep. As they knew it would going in.

The same folks who hired the geniuses to engineer the bubble also scrambled to hire them to engineer the collapse and the recovery. All involved at those highest levels profited wildly at all three deliberately engineered transitions. And all the rest of us lost our retirements, or our family lost 45% of ours, and have just started to break back even…due to the “free market,” of course.

I saw it in the theaters (which I rarely do) and left even more certain that the blessed and much vaunted ‘free market’ as it currently exists is a scam to steal the commonwealth of Earth for the insatiably greedy, who already have more than they would ever comprehend or track without a CPA, much less use.

And why no prosecutions? Cheerleaders of both broken major US political parties readily point (only, and dishonestly) to those elected from the other team. But it is common sense that no elected official who has a corporately financed campaign will be allowed to significantly (or in this case, even insignificantly) act justly to their financiers. It blows my mind how many of both corporately owned broken parties believe that one might.

Look no further than the different tone that VT Senator Bernie Sanders – who has long ago refused corporate funding – speaks of this issue, compared to almost any one of either party who has taken it.

To put it more concisely, my friend Valdi Weiderpass says: “The book, ‘The Big Short’ is really worth reading to get more detail on this true story of corruption! I also highly recommend the book, ‘The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap’, by Matt Taibbi, to learn about how we truly have a two tiered justice system in the USA. The hyper-rich and powerful as well as the mega-multinational corporations get treated with kid gloves, while the poor and disadvantaged get the full force of enforcement and dysfunctional public defense.”

Our election system, which depends on big money to function is the true criminal culprit to this injustice, and the reason it continues unabated today.

My Testimony to the Dec 8 Dauphin County Democratic Committee’s Brainstorming Meeting

On Dec 8, the Dauphin County Democratic Committee (DCDC), of which I am an elected member, held a Brainstorming Meeting:

Dec 8 Brainstorming Meeting Flyer

Its stated purpose was “to brainstorm ideas and discuss ways to move the DCDC forward as we move into a new election cycle.”

I was invited by DCDC Chair Rogette Harris to attend. I informed her that I was unavailable, but offered to submit testimony for the event. She asked me to do so.

On Dec 7, I submitted the following.  It was my hope then as it is now that Democrats will heed this well-intended advice from its significant left wing:

Fellow Democrats:

I now work most evenings, so I could not make our Dec 8 Brainstorming. I have submitted this testimony to our Chair Rogette Harris. Consider it as you will going forward.

“Fifty four percent of likely Democratic voters think the party should be more like Sanders. Only 26 percent think the party should stay more like Clinton”

And there we have our solution. To win, Democratic ‘leaders’ need to do what liberals need to do: lead as liberals. It is not hard to understand. We will not win without liberal enthusiasm, and the recent positions of various Dem leaders shows that painfully.

“Tulsi Gabbard Set to Join “Veterans For Standing Rock”

As GasLand’s Josh Fox says: “Wanna know why Obama/Clinton and the neo-libs lost? NO SOUL. NO GUTS. NO SPINE. NO CONVICTIONS. Service with a smile. This tape makes me sick.”

The tape to which he refers is of Obama’s White House Briefing on #NoDAPL. Bad enough that they waited till Nov 28 to make a statement (for comparison, both Jill Stein and Bernie Sanders made definitive statements on our side months prior. Clinton made a wishy-washy statement about ‘protecting worker safety’ during the battle, while not one episode of threat to worker safely is on record or indicated). But the statement announces that Obama has “no plans to get involved at this time,” then quickly calls on another reporter.

Yeah. Thanks. This as 2,000 U.S. Veterans had pledged to go to Standing Rock on December 4th to serve and protect the people of this nation AGAINST a militarized uniformed force backed by an oil company. These brave and principled folks began arriving Dec 1.

I agree with Fox. This is why Dems lose. When both sides are on the side of those who can afford campaign contributions, the vast majority who can’t afford this access should support neither. Bravo to Obama’s 11th hour and 59th minute position, which seemed due to be more to prevent having to forcefully remove the protestors the very next day (on the Dec 5 deadline announced by the USACE and N Dakota government)…sort of.

It is why we lost POTUS 2016. And why we will keep losing. Dems don’t win dogcatcher without liberal and socialist support. Earn that support or we won’t get it. Take liberal positions of substance. Against conservative positions. Make definitive and binding statements that put you specifically and substantially against our enemies. Our enemies are those fighting for, and those supporting, the global corporate hegemony. Nothing else will do to win us the liberal and socialist support we need to win dogcatcher, POTUS or anything in between.

The Revolution is underway. The sides are not one corporately-sponsored political party against another. The sides are the vast majority of Have Nots AGAINST almost no one who Have. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

It does not look like we will do that, though. On Dec 2, PoliticsPA released a whine-fest…errr, analysis…called “Did Jill Stein Cost Hillary Clinton the Election?”

It was typical of near-identical misplacements of blame too numerous to count. Therein they showed that Stein got more votes than Trump’s margin in MI, WI, and PA; what it called the “three Rust Belt states that Trump was able to steal from Clinton”.

That article, while pointlessly re-hashing the tired old ‘voter suppression and Koch Brothers’ blame, did correctly identify Clinton’s (not Stein’s) problem: “Stein positioned herself as the true progressive champion during the campaign, reaching out to Bernie Sanders supporters.” While Stein was busy doing this, I – along with many hundreds of thousands of liberals and socialists – were begging Team Clinton to both position herself as a true progressive champion, AND to reach out to Bernie Sanders supporters. For months. Team Clinton did neither. Blaming Stein for doing what a candidate is supposed to do is silly.

The article closes with “it appears the left fringe of American politics cost the Democratic Party the White House for the second time in sixteen years.” That statement may or may not be accurate. If so, it is time for anyone who wants a different result to start appealing to the left fringe of American politics, since whining about us not supporting candidates and parties which do not isn’t working out so well.

If our plan for the future is to follow our reinstalled ‘leaders’ Schumer and Pelosi, we will fare no better. If we don’t at least pick a liberal for DNC Chair, we will not garner the support of the left. Trust me on this, please. I hang with the left. Regularly. They/we are not falling for corporate vs corporate-lite anymore.

My top issues are: campaign finance reform, climate change, #EndlessWar. Neither Trump, Clinton, nor any other corporately connected candidate will be allowed – by their financiers – to significantly address those issues, nor most of my other big concerns. So, I have to pursue weakening the system which allows this circumvention of my sovereignty, and try to convince as many others as I can to join me. I will likely fail. But I would rather try to get what I want and fail, than try to get what I don’t want and “win”.

It is the strategy the TEA Party successfully used on the GOP. As much as I disagree with TEA’s positions, I say ‘bravo’ to their strategy. It was 110% effective. I find it not only insane but revolting that we allow only two parties to speak for 315M of us. But if so, then at least one better damned sure speak for me, or I won’t support it.

TEA specifically withheld their votes, went third party, primaried Rs, whatever it took. They did not budge, and the GOP came to them. Why? Simple. The GOP doesn’t win dogcatcher without far right support.

I look forward to working with whomever of whatever party to promote a true opposition to global corporate hegemony.

Steve Todd
Derry Township, Precinct 12 Committee Male

Take the Muslim Registry Pledge

Donald Trump has said he intends to create a registry of Muslims living in the United States, and a registry of Muslims entering the United States.

Fight back, against our enemy who would do this to our fellow Americans.

If Trump implements a Muslim registry, all Americans should pledge to register as Muslims in solidarity.

http://www.muslimregistrypledge.org

“The Disastrous Failure Of Lesser Evilism” and the Failed US Two-Party Duopoly

This critique of Dems from the Left, is also an excellent analysis on the utter breakdown of our two party system. I’d bet the same case can be made from the Right against the GOP’s clinging to the widely unpopular Trump: ‘At least our horrible corporate candidate isn’t the other slightly worse one.’

Pathetic, my fellow citizens. Absolutely pathetic.

“Fatally missing from most liberal analysis (and political strategy) is that the main fuel powering Trump’s campaign is popular rage at the corporate corruption of the political establishment.

Unfortunately, the failure of union and progressive leaders to offer an independent, anti-establishment challenge to Trump leaves the right-wing an open field to exploit the popular anger.

…by bending social movement priorities around the singular goal of electing the Democratic Party, and by clinging to the false hope of one day “reclaiming” the Democratic Party from big business domination, the left is undermining its ability to defend people of color, women, immigrants, and working people generally from right-wing attacks.

The policy of covering up for the corporate character of the Democratic Party remains a central strategic failure of the unions and progressive leadership in America.”

Trump and Local Republican candidates – Birds of a Feather.

Local PA Republican candidates Lou Barletta, Otto Voit and Sue Helm cheering assault on Trump protester.

Barletta and Helm are also sitting elected officials, sworn to represent ALL their constituents, not just the GOP and conservative ones.

Check out the fans, though! These animals are freaks…and our neighbors.
And so are Trump, Barletta, Voit and Helm.

Shame on all of you.

Excellent video analysis work by my friend Jonathan Antoun !

Helm is running against my friend and kind-hearted Jody Rebarchak, for PA House District 104 Representative. I am certain she would never cheer and chant “USA” while a mob beats a protestor.

Voters of PA House District 104, choose accordingly in November.

#Solidarity with #NoDAPL, Against all Enemies Domestic

BREAKING:

Pennsylvania Public Schools Retirement System, or PSERS, major shareholder in Energy Transfer Partners, which is paying mercenaries to sic dogs on native Americans

Here, I call on PSERS to stop funding this immorality.  As always, the cowardly anonymous comments (at the end) try to justify this assault on our citizens & planet.  Added bonus of a little humor, free of charge.

“Stop the pipeline, respect Native American rights and let us move forward to transform our energy systems away from fossil fuels.”

~ Bernie Sanders, protesting at White House

BACKGROUND

For-profit entity Enbridge Energy Partners, dba Energy Transfer Partners, have invaded a sovereign nation (or more than one), within our own continent.

Crickets. I find one (1) story on NBC for ‘DAPL Protest’. I haven’t checked how many about who won the stupid Olympics, but I doubt one person can count them.

I guess that is where we come in.

Where in the hell is lame stream corporate media? Jesus, I hope one of the Kardashians doesn’t sneeze or someone throws a ball really far or something. They’ll be overloaded with stories then.

What’s worse is that neither corporately-owned major party candidate will be allowed to stand with the sovereign citizens over their for-profit, non-human incorporated entities.

Because these native Americans are not sovereign, and anyone who tells us they are is lying to our faces. I will gladly tell them that. Over and over and over, until we have a representative government.

I haven’t watched a major network news cast for about a decade. And I am a news junkie. I don’t foresee a reasonable scenario whereby I would ever feel the need to again; I simply do not trust corporate media to tell me the truth.

#Solidarity with #NoDAPL

Stop construction of Dakota Access Pipeline on sovereign Native American reservations. Petition the White House; we already have more than enough signatures to require a response, but the more the better:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-construction-dakota-access-pipeline-which-endangers-water-supply-native-american-reservations

Retraction / Clarification of York Daily Record Interview

I am Steve Todd, as cited in the article about the 2016 Democratic Convention, to which I was honored to have been voted in by over 30,000 voters in PA Congressional District 15.

I said much during our extensive interview. I categorically deny (or retract, as most appropriate) that I have not ruled out voting Trump. I will never vote for a racist as him, and apologize if I indicated or said I would. I will consider all other candidates.

(Photo: Jeremy Long, Lebanon Daily News)

Bernie Delgates ( l to r) Susan Ann Rosemarie, Steve Todd and Peter Buckland deep in strategy conference…or just goofing off

Outsiders, Insiders, and The Long Game: Democratic National Convention 2016

This gentleman interviewed me at the DNC Convention. He also interviewed a bunch of others, and attended a far more diverse schedule of events than we delegates could. A well written overview, featuring me, which is of course, the best part.