A standing ovation for a fellow legislator who is now a convicted felon, drew a sharp rebuke from Americans for Christian Traditions in our Nation (ACTION of PA), a Pennsylvania state elections PAC supporting conservative candidates in the GOP primary on April 24.

The standing ovation clearly demonstrates why conservatives should never give a blank check reelection vote to incumbent legislators in primaries.

It also demonstrates why independent, non-Republican groups like the Tea Party and ACTION of PA “rebels” still have so much influence in Republican primaries and “regular” Republican establishment candidates have such a difficult time convincing conservatives to trust them.

The convicted felon, Democrat former Speaker of the House of Representatives Bill DeWeese, despite his conviction, is still a sitting member of the House of Representatives and is actually on the ballot for reelection in his district as he awaits sentencing for his crimes.

Representative DeWeese said “I certainly feel that I didn’t do anything wrong” after his conviction of felony counts of conspiracy, conflict of interest and three counts of theft.

A standing ovation is an understandable compliment to someone who is departing after years of service in the state legislature and a mark of honor showing the respect he has from his peers.

What does it tell us about the Republican controlled House of Representatives in Pennsylvania when a liberal Democrat who who has been dishonest in using taxpayer paid campaign aids for his reelection campaigns is still so popular – even after his conviction – that his colleagues – Republican and Democrat alike – give him a standing ovation?

Contrast the liberal left’s reaction – carrying on for weeks, months and even years – after the slightest slip by a conservative but they join together – Republicans and Democrats alike – in a standing ovation for a crook who is convicted of theft – who used taxpayer money and paid staff for his reelection campaign here in Pennsylvania.

In fact, the rare news reports about this conviction rarely even mention that DeWeese is the former leader of the Democrats when they controlled the State House of Representatives before the Republicans won a majority in the last election.

Is there any question that if it were a conservative Republican then we’d have seen a series of front page newspaper stories and lead off TV news reports on this and they would all have mentioned the conservative connection over and over again?

The conviction of DeWeese was for a crime that is literally an attack on our very system of self government in America.  That makes the standing ovation particularly outrageous.  What exactly did Republicans and Democrats join in applauding last Tuesday?

“During seven days of testimony,” read one newspaper account, “prosecutors relied heavily on testimony by people who worked for DeWeese at his Capitol office in Harrisburg and his district office that campaign work was an integral part of their jobs.”

For example, when Lt. Colonel Oliver North testified before a U.S. Senate Committee during the Watergate scandal, he did not reveal any details of secret operations he was in charge of to help the Nicaraguan freedom fighters battle against the Sandinista Communists.  Such news reports would of course, have destroyed the perfectly legal assistance that Colonel North had been providing as part of his job at the Reagan White House.

Col. North was later convicted on a technicality – having a “security fence” put up to protect his family from assassination because of his White House counter-terrorism role, which was successful in capturing the “most dangerous terrorist in the world” at the time (FBI sources) Abu Nidel, who had executed the wheelchair bound Leon Klinghoffer in front of his wife on the Achile Lauro cruiseship.

You may recall that President Reagan said, after the fleeing Abu Nidel terrrorists had their airplane forced down by U.S. intercept jets – an extreme long distance operation crossing many different country’s borders – “you can run but you cannot hide” when you kill Americans.  That was an Oliver North coordinated operation from start to finish.

North was a marked man in the eyes of the liberal left for this work for President Reagan, and his work for the President coordinating the invasion of Grenada to throw out the Communist Cuban troops which had invaded.

North could not request the security for his house after the threat to his family because it would have revealed details of his work in seeking such aid, so one of the contractors that North worked with simply did the work – estimated at $60,000 – without billing anyone.

You will recall that at the time, the FBI identified as “the most dangerous terrorist in the world” Abu Nidel and his gang – who was later after his capture by the Oliver North coordinated military team replaced by Osama Bin Laden and his Taliban gang.

So when Ronald Reagan’s staff aid and America’s first counter terrorism coordinator at the White House was convicted on that technicality – accepting an illegal gratuity – the liberal left in America simply rewrote history.

And today if you ask any good little leftist he will happily chirp away about how Ollie North was convicted of “lying to Congress.”

In fact, the conviction by North was later thrown out – not on a technicality as liberals will admit if you drag it out of them – but because several of those who testified against him admitted that they got their information to testify against him from reading out of anti-Ollie newspaper stories, not from their own recollections of actual events.

North had been given a grant of immunity for his Congressional testimony so his prosecution was a betrayal, the “lying to Congress” never happened, and even his conviction was thrown out.

And, the witnesses who read newspaper stories to use as the basis for their testimony to convict Oliver North had broken the law in doing that – as the Supreme Court later ruled.

Yet today the same liberal left continues to report he was convicted of lying to Congress if they ever mention decorated Vietnam veteran Oliver North, our first White House counter-terrorism Coordinator under President Ronald Reagan.

Fast forward to today and Pennsylvania, to last Tuesday in the state capital.

The same news media which is always so eager to report on the slightest accusation against any conservative, however fabricated or exaggerated it might be, had very little to say about a standing ovation for a convicted felon, liberal Democrat state representative last Tuesday.

In fact the conviction seems to have made no waves anywhere except for one group that seems to know the difference between right and wrong, truth and lies.

A group in Pennsylvania which I have reported on in this space a number of times already, Americans for Christian Traditions in our Nation (ACTION of PA), denounced last Tuesday’s standing ovation.

Thank goodness there was one clear alternative to the cheering by both Republicans and Democrats in Harrisburg, one group which objected to this standing ovation by state legislators for a convicted felon who thinks there’s nothing wrong with this confirmed theft of taxpayer funds and staff to win reelection.

Asked for comment by this writer, ACTION of PA State Chairman Jay McKiernan gave me this exclusive quote:  “Over the past ten years some members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have had a hard time separating law making from law breaking.”

McKiernan continued, “As a result, several members and staffers have been convicted of corruption.  Last week, we learned that they can’t tell the difference between a convicted felon and an ‘honorable member’.  More incumbents need to be sent back to the real world where criminals don’t get standing ovations.”

The ACTION of PA group has four especially active chapters and since they are organized as a “political action committee” they can endorse and support candidates for state office in Pennsylvania.  I wish to especially cheer them on.

The ACTION of PA Chester County Chapter is having a “pre-primary breakfast” to support candidates on Saturday, April 21 in West Chester, PA, see their Facebook page or directly reserve your ticket HERE.

The York County Chapter of ACTION of PA also joined their state chairman in expressing outrage about the standing ovation for convicted liberal Democrat state representative Bill Deweese.

They remind their members and visitors on their Facebook page that this April 24 is a Republican Primary election, saying “Action of PA is dedicated to electing principled, conservative, God-fearing people who understand the difference between right and wrong.”

“This is just wrong! Make your voice count. Find out who the moral, trustworthy candidates are and help elect them April 24th. Don’t let our country continue in the hands of men like these.  (they shared a link for a recent newspaper story on this standing ovation for the convicted felon Democrat Legislator spectacle).

The York County ACTION of PA chapter also has a free rally to support their favored candidates in the GOP April 24 primary in Pennsylvania.  Their rally event is being held on Friday, April 13 and begins with a reception (for which tickets must be purchased) and later rally.

There are 18 candidates who will be speaking, including Andy Shaw, who I have reported as a particular favorite in a past story here because he is running against Planned Parenthood’s favorite GOP State Senator.

Their reception is 6 to 7 PM and the free Candidate Forum begins 7:15 PM.  Details about this rally are on their website.

I salute ACTION of PA for reminding voters that they have but two weeks left to ask, WHICH state legislators – if any – refused to join in that standing ovation for a Democrat convicted felon, which are willing to stand up and denounce that action, and which joined in the applause and will not condemn it?

I hope legislators who stood up for a Democrat felon convicted of stealing elections will be told to sit down by voters on April 24 in the GOP primary.

HanoverHenry of RED STATE is Pat Henry on Facebook, and I’m on the lookout for new friends there. You can also communicate via private mail at Facebook, and I welcome new sources for my articles focusing on the conservative-Christian viewpoint in Pennsylvania.  I appreciate your sharing this article elsewhere and only ask that you include this “disclaimer” in any reprints or sharing you do.  And I thank those whose information have helped me with some of my reports, including those who do not wish to be quoted by name.

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