Hits and Misses
The grief of losing a child in a school shooting is almost impossible to fully comprehend. But imagine if a snake-oil salesman with a national platform recklessly claims to thousands of followers that your child never existed, that they were “crisis actors” and that your grief is fake and part of a larger nefarious plot? That’s exactly what happened to the parents of the children who were brutally murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. Radio show host Alex Jones claimed the whole horrific event was a hoax, and, as a result, harassed and threatened the Newtown parents. This was, as Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson put it, “unspeakably vile.” Last week, Jones received his comeuppance from a jury in Austin, Texas, when he was ordered to pay almost $50 million in damages to the Newtown families. Jones was forced to admit on the stand that, yes, what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School was “100% real.” Jones faces additional lawsuits and, likely, additional humiliation. Maybe it will convince other hucksters and scam artists like Jones that, in the end, you can’t lie with impunity.
Brenda Davis, Washington County’s clerk of courts, brought embarrassment to herself and the county last November when she refused to transfer juvenile files as part of a dispute with Washington County President Judge John DiSalle and, to put it in a nutshell, made a scene about it. Last week, DiSalle sentenced her to serve a 15-day jail sentence on contempt charges for the incident, calling it the “most undignified display of behavior” he had seen in his career, adding, “I’ve never seen something so offensive.” Davis offered an apology before she was sentenced, which DiSalle accepted, but said it came “too late.” Throughout her term, Davis has been one of a handful of row officers in Washington County government who have demonstrated vastly more interest in scheming and playing politics than actually carrying out the substance of their jobs. If she is truly contrite, Davis will turn over a new leaf, concentrate on what voters put her in office to do, and convince her colleagues to do likewise.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano undoubtedly pleased followers of former President Donald Trump when he declined to answer questions before the U.S. House’s Jan. 6 committee this week about his role in the events at the U.S. Capitol 19 months ago. But Mastriano and his campaign have also seemingly made the decision that they will not talk to reporters unless they are of the far-right, very, very partisan variety. Both television and print reporters have been denied access to events. More recently, Mastriano was at the Cochranton Community Fair last week, claiming that Democrats “have the media in their pockets working for them.” But Mastriano refused to talk to a reporter from the Meadville Tribune before and after his speech, reportedly smiling and walking away each time. If Mastriano is elected in November, he will be accountable to all Pennsylvanians, not just those who voted for him. This will mean speaking to media outlets who will ask probing questions, not just those that heap praise on him.
The Washington County Board of Commissioners has thankfully resisted calls to embark on a costly and pointless audit of the 2020 election to mollify supporters of former President Trump who have made baseless claims about election fraud. Not so in Butler County. In late July, commissioners there approved a plan that would audit three precincts. They say it is being carried out to determine how much time a future audit would take and the mechanics of it. This comes after Butler’s vote was already been audited, with nothing out of the ordinary having been uncovered. The Pennsylvania Department of State had a straightforward take on the whole thing, describing it as a waste of taxpayer time and resources, pointing out that “continued efforts to question the results and ultimately the will of Pennsylvania voters only contribute to sowing distrust in our system and further the dangerous conspiracy theories and lies about the 2020 election.”