Joe D’Orsie: Let’s define “extreme”

Extremist. Conspiracy theorist. Christian nationalist. These are just a handful of the titles that the mainstream media has pinned on GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano as we close in on the November 8th general election. The governor’s race is by many accounts the most consequential contest on the ballot in Pennsylvania.

Josh Shapiro, the Democrats’ nominee, is the media’s darling, an often fawned-over champion with very few blemishes or wrinkles, so we’re told. Shapiro is a “once in a lifetime” candidate, according to Pennsylvania’s own Salena Zito. A glimmering Politico centerpiece already has Shapiro lined up to be president. He just needs to win the Pennsylvania governor’s race first. 

How presumptuous.

Mastriano, on the other hand, is “dangerous” and “extreme.” These claims that paint Doug with broad strokes, leverage half-truths, and manipulate his records and words are clearly out of touch with most of us in Pennsylvania. If you recall, Mastriano was allegedly “anti-science” for fighting Covid lockdowns. Now, science seems to have vindicated him, the best defense coming from a January Johns Hopkins study that concluded the lockdowns weren’t worth it, all things considered. 

Then there’s the “Christian Nationalist” Mastriano, who, according to the media, seeks a “takeover of the state” by force. Such an assertion is fanatical and desperate, and as a conservative church leader myself I can tell you it’s a lot of hot air. The newest and perhaps most outlandish claim is that Doug is an “anti-Semite” because of his supposed ties to the social media platform Gab, which apparently may include commentary that is suspect. Incriminating Doug Mastriano for views that someone else may have on a platform of 1.1 million users is silly and doesn’t deserve headline coverage.

You’d be hard pressed to convince hundreds of thousands of people across all 67 counties that Doug and his team have visited this campaign season that he’s too extreme. I’m convinced that there’s two versions of reality at play here: the media’s sensationalized narrative of a cultish boogeyman that will surely destroy Pennsylvania; and the kind, determined, war veteran that has packed fire halls, convention centers, barns, and living rooms for the past half year.

This second version is the reality I know.

The message Doug heralds is clear and it resonates with people. Pennsylvanians deserve better. We need not get sidetracked by peripheral arguments or be duped by clever TV ads. We can’t remove our gaze from what this race is actually about: Democratic policies that have failed and continue to fail, miserably.

The nation’s top Democrat, President Joe Biden, has presided over record inflation, a sharp uptick in crime and lawlessness, a crisis at the border with no plan in place to improve the situation, horrific foreign policy debacles, and has repeatedly focused his energy on things that Americans statistically care much less about than food prices and safe communities.

This departure from common sense applies to Pennsylvania as well. We continue to be among the least attractive places to live and do business, taxing and regulating our businesses and corporations like none other.  And, although we sit on a gold mine of natural gas that could safely and affordably power the rest of the U.S., Democratic leadership in our state continually overregulates and even blocks the extraction, production and delivery of it. We’re effectively living through an “energy crisis” while all of the energy we need is just below our feet. 

That sounds pretty extreme to me.

This is why I think we need to define “extreme.” Is it extreme to believe in rule of law while Philadelphia suffers from the worst spike in gun violence that it’s perhaps ever experienced, in the words of their own beleaguered DA, Larry Krasner? Is it extreme to believe that parents should be involved in their child’s education? Well, not according to the more than three-quarters of parents who, when polled, think they should.

What’s actually extreme is the elimination of funding to state pregnancy centers, as the Pennsylvania Democrats just called for in a letter. This same group enthusiastically endorsed their guy, Josh Shapiro. What’s really extreme is trusting Shapiro, the top law enforcement official in the state, to fix the problem he presided over and ushered in: rampant crime and lawlessness.

Extreme is as extreme does. We’ve seen extreme democratic policies in our state and country drive up costs, crime, and government overreach. The only person who can reverse Pennsylvania’s extreme course and restore her to the great keystone of our union is Doug Mastriano. We have a duty to our families to protect our commonwealth from the real extremists seeking space in the governor’s mansion. That’s why I’ll be voting for Doug Mastriano on November 8th.

Joe D’Orsie is the Republican nominee for state representative in the 47th legislative district.

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9 thoughts on “Joe D’Orsie: Let’s define “extreme””

  1. Me too. I am voting for Matriano as well.

    Sadly, it doesn’t matter what TRUTHS we tell, many NEED to BELIEVE THE LIES in order to function. They cannot or will not wrap their brain around the evil, even when its standing right next to them.

    Those who choose not to participate in the great awakening, will fall harder and faster than they can possibly imagine.

    Tick tock, tick tock…

    1. You sound like a very stable person. Making veiled threats against your political opponents who want no part of your “great awakening” cult. Nope, nothing extreme about that…

  2. Not a single mention of his involvement in the crimes of the deadly January 6 attack on our country. Nothing about the fact that he STILL can’t admit who really won the 2020 election. Nothing about how labels like “Christian Nationalist” weren’t pinned on him by “the media” but by Mastriano himself.

    The author lists problems that have existed since Trump’s reign and have continued into Biden’s like the economy but, just like other Banana Republicans has offered no solutions – just more unhinged attacks.

    1. It’s crazy how Cicero will bunch all of these complaints into every comment. “The article isn’t about what I want it to be about! Wah!”

  3. I too am voting most whole-heartedly for Doug Mastiano. His message resonates with me on practically all of the issues. The main driver for me tho is his opponent’s reluctance to debate him, choosing rather to hide in his basement as he knows Doug would wipe the floor with him.

    What is Josh Shapiro trying to hide?
    Why is he saying we must NOW get tough on crime YET he was AG for 6 years? And let us NOT forget the tyrannical moves of the Wolf administration Shapiro would be a carryover much like BiDen is for Obama!

  4. Once common sense and reality leave the building the media is the only thing they can blame. Your candidate seems to want deniability to what he himself created. Shapiro definitely is not the ideal candidate. He is over the best choice.

  5. I love how the author didn’t even bother asking Jewish voters themselves how they feel. Truly outstanding “journalism”. Republicans4Shapiro Craig Snyder said it best “Is the candidate an antisemite or only a friend of antisemites?” he said. “It’s just crazy that this is even an issue.”

    Of course you’ll never get this perspective on a biased “news” outlet like b&l that’s more concerned with towing the Party Line than with the truth. Then they’ll virtue signal how “fair” they are when they start hitting people up for money.

  6. Didn’t Broad & Liberty publish a bunch of articles from Snyder, too? I swear i read one here recently. How is that biased? I don’t agree with them all, but I’m not triggered by opinions I don’t agree with.

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