Chris Kelly Opinion: Rise of the ‘MAGAcrats?' #SCRAN'NON
In the beginning, antisocial media was heralded as a revolutionary tool for 'democratizing' the internet. Sure, you could post photos of your pets, friends and family events, but users could also share opinions, conspiracy theories and actual fake news far and wide, with almost no consideration or consequences.
Now, much of the limitless floorspace of what was once sold as a 'marketplace of ideas' is a post-apocalyptic dollar store staffed by malicious morons, frothing bigots and grinning grifters. It's a liar's paradise.
For all its noise and numbskullery, antisocial media sometimes inspires a conspiracy theory that rings true even to critical thinkers. Sometimes there are pictures, which is why people seeking or holding public office should be careful about who they pose with and consider the consequences of the images being broadcast beyond their control.
Chris Kelly (TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE)
Scranton School Director Sean McAndrew is a textbook example. He's a Democrat running for city council, but his biggest donor and longtime friend is a MAGA Republican. The pair posed for a photo at a Trump event. That image and another in which McAndrew smiled alongside other local MAGA Republicans is generating a boatload of chatter on Facebook, X, and in my inboxes. It's being cited as hard evidence that McAndrew is what I call a 'MAGAcrat.'
What's a MAGAcrat? A Machine Democrat who teams up with MAGA Republicans to achieve a common goal — in this case taking down mutual enemies and taking control of county and city government and the school board. MAGAcrats are the palpitating heart of the continuing hostile takeover I've been squawking about for months.
To go even mildly viral, a conspiracy theory needs a catchy name. I've settled on #SCRAN'NON. Pass it on.
The top priority of local MAGAcrats and MAGA Republicans this election cycle is getting rid of Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, an actual Democrat. If they can't beat Paige at the polls, they want to stack city council against her agenda, a la the Janet Evans 'Legion of Dumb' opposition to then-Mayor Chris Doherty.
If you miss Ray Lyman threatening to sic the 'fed'ral attorney general' on 'Mrs. Cutelli' from the spit-soaked podium at marathon council meetings, you might be a MAGAcrat.
Sean McAndrew swears he's not a MAGAcrat or a Machine Democrat. When we chatted Thursday, he said he was aware of the photos and the angry buzz they're pollinating, but he denied playing any part in a coordinated campaign to unseat the mayor.
'I'm endorsed by nobody,' he said. 'I'm not part of any 'Machine.' I'm a Democrat running independently and will work with whoever gets on council and whoever is the mayor because that's how we move the city forward.'
McAndrew said the picture of him and friend and former Councilman Pat Rogan at a Trump event was taken seven years ago.
'Pat asked me to join him to see the president speak and I accepted the invitation,' he said. 'I didn't support Trump then and I don't support him now. People are trying to pigeonhole me based on a picture without talking to me.'
A picture of McAndrew with MAGA Republicans Chris Chermak, a county commissioner, and city council candidate Marc Pane was taken at a recent fundraiser for county Department of Planning and Economic Development grants manager Sandra Opshinsky Hailstone, who is battling breast cancer.
I've known Sandi for more than 20 years. She is a wonderful person and a devoted public servant. Please pray for her recovery.
'It was a benefit for Sandi,' McAndrew said. 'It was a great event for the community to come together. I was standing in line to get a water, and those guys happened to be there. Chris said, 'Hey, smile.' I thought he was taking pictures for the event. I smiled in it. I'm not the type of person who is going to just walk out of a picture and not talk to somebody because of their political affiliation.'
Chermak also snapped a selfie with former county economic development Director Brenda Sacco, the county Democratic Machine's candidate to succeed departed Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin. If county judges put Sacco in the seat, she will form a de facto 'Cheese and Crackers' majority that would sideline Democratic Commissioner Bill Gaughan and give the Machine control of county government.
Back to Sean McAndrew, whose uncle, Mark McAndrew, is a councilman and a regular critic of the mayor's policies. He would be an enthusiastic member of a majority to hamstring her agenda. Sean said the family connection shouldn't matter to voters.
'My uncle is on council, but I have a record on the school board that speaks for itself,' he said. 'I hold my own views. … My uncle doesn't make this decision. The voters do.'
McAndrew said my hypothesis that he is complicit in a coordinated effort to take down Paige is baseless. He's not part of any conspiracy, especially #SCRAN'NON.
'I'm just your guy on North Garfield Avenue, who's just trying to make my home better for myself and all my fellow Scrantonians,' he said.
Maybe the pictures of McAndrew mugging with MAGA Republicans are innocent artifacts of circumstance. Maybe I'm reading too much into the sudden chumminess among natural political rivals.
Maybe there's nothing suspicious about Marc Pane cropping Sean McAndrew out of the picture with Chermak before posting it on Facebook. I reached out to Pane to ask why he did that.
'I don't know if I did or not,' he said. 'I'll have to look.'
I was looking at the picture as Pane said that. McAndrew was cropped out.
Pane said '90%' of the rank partisanship in our politics is attributable to the cynical, pernicious idea that people of opposing parties can't be friends. He also rejected my conspiracy theory, but sent me deeper down the rabbit hole by taking a shot at the mayor.
'I'm sure there's a huge pile of people that would pack together — independents, Republicans and Democrats alike — to take Paige down because we all think she's doing a horrible job,' he said.
There are 30 words in Pane's quote. Am I crazy to single out 'we' and wonder who he's talking about? Is it possible that my frame doesn't fit the picture? Maybe.
Maybe my belief in a MAGAcrat/MAGA Republican conspiracy to unseat the mayor and seize control of local government really is all in my head.
Maybe three decades of reporting on local Machine politics on both sides has warped my lens, leading me to see a guy on Garfield Avenue and his bipartisan pals as foreboding ghosts from an awful, backward time of governmental gridlock cheered on by malicious morons, frothing bigots and grinning grifters.
Maybe Ray Lyman had a point.
CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, invites you to join him in the rabbit hole. Contact the writer: ckelly@scrantontimes.com; @cjkink on X; Chris Kelly, The Times-Tribune on Facebook.
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