News & Brews October 24, 2024
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Harris ‘flounders’ at town hall
The uber-liberal Philly Inquirer acknowledges that VP Kamala Harris “floundered” at last night’s CNN town hall when asked how her administration would be different from President Biden’s. If you watched the town hall, you know Harris continued to be unable to answer the most basic questions about her policies. (But she was quick to answer “yes” when asked if she thinks Donald Trump is a fascist.) And did anyone else notice the irony that Harris dodged questions regarding support for Israel yet separately spoke of Esther in Scripture—even though the entire book of Esther is about one person standing up to save the Jewish people from someone who sought to destroy them? (She left that last part out.)
Court says voters must get second chance if ballots rejected
Yesterday, the state Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that voters whose mail-in ballots are rejected because of a mistake they made must be allowed to vote by provisional ballot on Election Day. Votebeat reports, “That means voters who fail to correctly sign or date the return envelope or fail to use a secrecy envelope are entitled to cast a provisional ballot on Election Day at a polling place and have it counted, as long as that ballot wouldn’t be rejected for some other disqualifying issue.” In the majority opinion, Justice Christine Donohue wrote the court was “at a loss to identify what honest voting principle is violated by recognizing the validity of one ballot cast by one voter.”
Lawmakers want Allegheny Co. judge impeached
On Monday, Pennsylvania State Police Liquor Control Enforcement agent Benjamin Brallier—a husband and father of two—was fatally stabbed while out for a run. Now, multiple local officials “pledged to begin impeachment proceedings against Allegheny County District Judge Xander Orenstein after it came to light the judge allowed a man now charged with homicide to be released on no-cash bail for robbery and assault charges last year,” the Post-Gazette reports. Pa. House Republican Whip Tim O’Neal plans to introduce the articles of impeachment. The Post-Gazette adds that Judge Orenstein “has been barred from hearing arraignments since April. The move came after the judge released a man accused of leading police on a high-speed chase through Aspinwall, Sharpsburg and parts of Pittsburgh.”
Lawmakers raise alarm over sex change procedures on children
Yesterday, lawmakers joined the Pennsylvania Family Institute and the Do No Harm organization for a press conference at the Capitol to expose the dangers of so-called sex-reassignment surgeries and other medical practices on children. One speaker was just 13 when she decided she wanted to change her gender from female to male. Doctors performed a double mastectomy on her when she was just 15, and now she regrets her decision. According to an online database of pediatric sex change services across the country, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is the “worst-offending children’s hospitals promoting sex change treatments for minors.” UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is #11. Yesterday’s press conference came the same day the New York Times exposed that a study showing puberty blockers did not improve mental health in children is being withheld from publication as the doctor who led the study—an outspoken proponent of the questionable practice—didn’t like the results. One victim of this doctor’s “treatments” shared her story.
If Harris loses Pa., fallout for Shapiro ‘would be high’
The New York Times dives into Gov. Josh Shapiro’s efforts to help VP Harris win Pennsylvania. But it’s not just Harris who has a lot riding on Shapiro’s efforts. Shapiro himself stands to gain—or lose—depending on how the state votes. “If Ms. Harris wins in two weeks,” the story reads, “the governor will be a hero to the cause….” If she “wins Pennsylvania but loses the presidency, Mr. Shapiro could well be the most obvious front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028.” And if she loses? “I can’t really say what the fallout would be,” said Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, “but I can tell you it would be high.