On Sunday evening of October 2nd, Steve Lynch came out with a live feed that would be sure to "shock" his viewers. The live ended up being entirely about... me.
I was going to respond quickly with a video of my own, but since writing is my forte I figured responding to his live on my personal blog that happens to be the source of his irritation was the way to go.
Here is my official response to Steve's live:
Woah dude. Back up brother!
First of all, when Glenn Geissinger appointed me as the official blogger of the Northampton County Republican Committee (NCRC) last Thursday, I was just as shocked as you were. As you are aware, I had just started my own personal blog (Game of Politics) a week before that meeting- which was before I had ANY inkling of Glenn's plans. At the time I had no issue adding a link to Bernie O'Hare's blog with the phrase: “for opposing views click here”. It was partially a joke- considering Bernie is the big time Democrat blogger for Northampton County and I'm the little Republican writer gaining grounds in the same county. It was also partially because I like the idea of allowing American citizens to read every angle of politics and to practice a little thing I value very dearly- our 1st Amendment right to free speech.
Accepting the position as blogger for the NCRC kind of tied my hands a bit. I wondered for a moment if I even wanted the position. I would have loved a blog filled with my very opinionated stances without any pretense. I enjoy writing and have a long history- I have published 2 fantasy novels a couple of years ago and have been writing poetry, short stories, and lyrics my entire life. As you can see, I do legitimately qualify for the NCRC blogging position, so the appointment was not without reason. I decided I would accept the position to give my writing outlet a more precise directive and I am overall honored and pleased.
A couple days after the meeting it was drawn to my attention that Glenn was being pestered by Rudy Schellenberger regarding my link to Bernie's blog from my personal blog (Game of Politics), so I figured that out of respect for Glenn, I'd gladly take down the link and there would be no more issues with the NCRC being affiliated with Bernie's Democratic leaning articles.
That's where the truth ends on Steve Lynch's live feed from last night.
Everything else that followed was complete and absolute speculation and guess work and it was WILDLY inaccurate.
I am not secretly a Democrat. I was raised as a very strong Republican and a practicing Catholic in an extremely conservative household. I did switch over to the Libertarian party for a few years before realizing that the Libertarian party was going absolutely nowhere fast and had found myself returning to my roots as a Republican. I have also not infiltrated the NCRC as a secret spy- that accusation itself is almost comical.
Now, if the fact that I have communicated with Bernie O'Hare is enough to justify my removal from the Executive Committee, then I suggest, Steve, that you take a good long look at your new friend Gloria Lee Snover. After all, she's the one who connected me to Bernie in the first place and suggested that I contact him to write a story in support of my campaign for vice-chair. I didn't want to bring this up since I still have respect for Lee and have more important issues to focus on, but since it's come to Steve infiltrating upon my personal life, I felt like it became suddenly an important fact to bring up in my defense.
Now as for the commentators on that live... Patrick VanderPloeg- you misinterpreted our conversation. I didn't say my life was in danger Thursday night- I said some of Steve's people threatened me months ago by joking about what type of caliber bullet it would take to kill me (aka the "unicorn"). Since you were not a part of the committee at that point and probably blissfully unaware of those times, I have the screenshots for those too.
Steve was well aware of these strange threats, considering both he and his wife Amber apologized on their people's behalf during a Tea Party meeting and agreed it was completely out of line. I could've filed a police report then, but I let it go with hopes that they would get over it and grow up.
Kay Mary- you mentioned two things that were straight up out of line for a committee member. First, you mocked mental illness by blaming my actions on "BPD" (which I can only assume is meant to be either Borderline Personality Disorder or Bipolar Disorder). Then you said you would try to find and contact my ex-husband... that is beyond a low blow- that's outright harassment and borderline insane behavior.
It was Melanie Heilman who made the outlandish statement regarding me not having custody of my five children... which is complete rubbish. Anyone who knows me has seen me with my kids and have seen all the pictures and videos I post with them multiple times a week. My ex-husband and I have shared custody, but that isn't the point, nor is it anyone's business. Bringing someone's children into a political battle is far beyond low- it is unethical to the extreme and has the potential to be downright dangerous for them.
Listen... Steve made that live in hopes of convincing hundreds of angry and uninformed people that I am a Democrat in disguise who has infiltrated the NCRC. Steve... that's called harassment and slander, two things you should know, more than anyone, how much of a living hell they can make for someone's personal and family life.
Steve, you have also yet again, lived up to your nickname as the Great Divider. You have brought forth discord and chaos at a time that is most pertinent and sensitive with less than 40 days remaining before November's election. If anyone is out there working for the Democrats, it's you.
I wanted to just ignore this... but I've been through this before with Steve and I know the outlash that will be sure to follow. This is not what the Republican party needs right now. This is counter productive to all the work we have been doing. We have candidates to elect and we need to remain focused on that.
Now let's all stop with the high school drama and get our candidates into office.. shall we?
-Margie Mandell
Freelancer for WRGOA
Blogger at Game of Politics
margie.mandell@yahoo.com