Sean Goldrick of Greenwich penned an op-ed titled "Fiorello is the Marjorie Taylor Greene of Connecticut". I noticed different literary techniques and word count that Goldrick used to critique Kimberly; it's a fascinating oeuvre by him, so let's dig in.
G is for Goldrick, CTC is for my commentary. Submitted by Sean Goldrick, Greenwich
G: In her fawning profile last year of freshman Republican state representative Kimberly Fiorello (149th district- Greenwich, Stamford), Hartford Courant‘s Daniela Altimari anointed Fiorello a “rising luminary” of the Connecticut GOP. One year on, this “rising luminary’s” extremism and bizarre utterances have shocked and outraged many voters in her district, and spurred a powerful movement to oust her from office.
Put bluntly, Kimberly Fiorello is the Marjorie Taylor Greene of Connecticut: the most bizarre of the most extreme.
Fiorello, who serves on the legislature’s Education Committee, has just been rated by the Connecticut Education Association as Connecticut’s worst state representative based on her voting record on education legislation. Ironically, given her seat on the education committee, Fiorello refuses to send her four school-aged children to her hometown of Greenwich’s highly regarded public schools. Not having children in the school system, however, hasn’t stopped Fiorello from appearing at Greenwich board of education meetings where she harangues and threatens board members, demanding they eliminate mask and vaccine mandates, while accusing them of teaching “Critical Race Theory.
CTC: Goldrick opens with a quote from a Hartford Courant reporter; the Courant is renowned for its Leftward Lilt. Goldrick then uses the words "extreme" and "bizarre" twice: once in the first paragraph and then the stand-alone sentence. He quotes the CT Education Association -- the same organization whose president tried to shush other school administrators state-wide after the Veritas video, and, that same president has not been spotted in public. Fiorello helped leak the CEA president's letter to the public; it's doubtful that Goldrick read it.
He uses the following verbs: harangue, threaten, demand and accuse. Please attend Greenwich B of E meetings to find out if Fiorello is up there shouting, while pounding the podium -- or simply speaking. Sean apparently thinks not having children in a school system -- means one cannot be ALLOWED to be concerned with the education of America's kids.
G: Fiorello was recently revealed to be a member of the far-right extremist Facebook group, “No Left Turn In Education,” whose founder spews anti-LGBTQ hate rhetoric, such as telling people to go “back to Trans-sylvania,” claims that sending your children to public schools means “handing them over to the enemy to be raised and indoctrinated in the ways of the state,” and claims that “black bigotry towards whites” is a “very real problem.”
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) recently named Fiorello to its “Failing Grades” list of the ten state legislators with the worst environmental voting records. Not only did Fiorello vote against Connecticut’s Clean Air Act (SB 4), which LCV praised as a “landmark air quality initiative to reduce pollution from transportation with a strong focus on equity and environmental justice,” Fiorello, a climate change-denier, voted against HB 5285, which requires climate change to be taught as part of Connecticut’s science curriculum, and voted “no” on legislation encouraging solar energy production (SB 176).
CTC: Goldrick tosses the common term, "Far-right extremist" from the get-go in this paragraph; this is followed by "anti-LGBTQ hate rhetoric" label, and more quotes that sound pretty outrageous outside a context (which he eliminates, conveniently). He then switches subject lanes, swerving directly into "Climate and Environment" without a turn signal, from "Education". He name calls Fiorello again, with "climate-change denier", a common term thrown at anyone who doesn't accept the religious doctrine of Man-Made Climate Change. Fiorello's "No" vote on HB 5285 was meant to keep the separation between the church (of Man-Made Climate Change) and our state.
G: During the Greenwich League of Women Voters debate in 2020 when asked her views on reproductive rights, Fiorello dodged the question, responding, “I don’t understand why this question is being asked.” She’s now revealed herself to be an anti-abortion extremist, who praised the Supreme Court’s ruling that overturned Roe v Wade, and left abortion access to individual states. Fiorello opposes Connecticut’s state abortion law, which codified Roe, claiming that abortion should only be permitted “early” in a pregnancy. This session, Fiorello voted against legislation (HB 5414) to protect women coming to Connecticut for abortions from prosecution in their home states, and Connecticut healthcare providers who assist them. The bill was proposed in response to Texas’s abortion ban that permits vigilantes to report to authorities for prosecution women seeking abortions, as well as anyone who assists them.
CTC: Note that in this paragraph, "extremist" is used yet again, and is equated very subtly with "left abortion access to the states". You read that right: Sean Goldrick believes leaving the decision to the states is "extremist." Goldrick displays his misunderstanding of HB 5414, which does not limit abortion to "early" pregnancy, but allows abortion right up to full term. He's also clearly unaware that "healthcare providers" has been expanded to include untrained people to perform abortions, meaning HB 5414 will harm some women.
G: Fiorello’s extremist record on civil rights and race includes ugly votes and shocking statements. A virulent opponent of Fair Housing legislation, she once declared that, “Housing is not a right, because housing is built by other people. It’s a want…You don’t have a right to other people’s labor.” In fact, the United Nations decades ago named housing a universal human right.
CTC: The use of "ugly", "shocking" and "virulent" are used; Goldrick quotes the UN -- an unelected, global organization -- as his standard for what rights are, or are not. He is unaware of economic trade-offs, and that the power of a declared statement does not, sadly for Sean Goldrick, equal reality. I can declare the law of gravity to be null and void, but I'll still fall from the cliff if I jump. Goldrick's residence -- home or apartment -- was not built out of free love and popsicles; a shame he can't seem to grasp that homes have always costed labor to build.
G: Fiorello’s ugly extremism was on full display during the legislature’s discussion of a bill establishing “Juneteenth” as a state holiday. “Juneteenth,” referring to June 19, 1865, has long been celebrated by African-Americans as the day that slavery finally came to an end. But when Fiorello spoke on the bill, she first attempted to whitewash the holiday, repeatedly claiming it was about “all Americans,“ rather than a celebration of the liberation of African-Americans. She then claimed that the Constitution’s “3/5th’s compromise,” which counted Black slaves as three-fifths of a human being, “was a compromise in favor towards freedom!.” She continued, “The slaveholding states actually recognized what they claimed to be things that they owned. Suddenly they wanted to count them as full human beings…They count as full human beings.’” Fiorello’s remarks outraged legislators, moving African-American state representative Toni Walker and other Black leaders to denounce Fiorello’s remarks. When Representative Walker began expressing her outrage at Fiorello’s words, every Democratic representative rose and gathered in an arc at the back of the House chamber, where they stood shoulder-to-shoulder in solidarity with their Black colleagues, and silent remonstrance against Fiorello. Fiorello sat alone at her desk.
CTC: here again we have the "ugly" and "extremism" (how many extremes is Goldrick up to? I lost count). I did not watch these comments, and I do not know the context in which they are given -- Goldrick may be eliminating the context, and I won't wander into what I don't know of this apparent demonstration. Expect an addendum on this topic.
G: Outrage at Fiorello’s extremism has galvanized an army of volunteers in her district to support her Democratic opponent, Rachel Khanna. Khanna has already been endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters, National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood, Connecticut Against Gun Violence, Moms Demand Action, Connecticut Association of Social Workers, Connecticut Independent Party, and the Sierra Club, By contrast, Fiorello’s only endorsements come from Connecticut Realtors and the Stamford police.
If Fiorello is a “rising luminary” in the GOP, she’s certainly not acting like it. Fiorello pulled out of Greenwich’s traditional televised League of Women Voters debate, clearly fearing having to explain her extremist record to voters in a town characterized by moderation.
One year on, this anointed “rising luminary” faces the very real prospect of being tossed out of office.
CTC: once again, "extremism" and "extremist" are used. Anyone with experience in politics will tell you that endorsements don't mean everything; they depend on the quality, not quantity. The truth is, that Fiorello's "extremist" record reflects the views of many of Greenwich's parents, business owners, other civic leaders, realtors and law enforcement. If Fiorello is so cowardly, Sean, why is she standing up -- often by herself -- for "extremist" parents, business owners, those aforementioned?
One has to wonder what it's like to live in Goldrick's world: where houses are built for free, babies can be killed right up through month 9, and anything you just really don't like (I won't overuse "hate" lol), you can stick an "extremist/far-right extremism/bigot/fascism/etc" label on.
Goldrick is hoping desperately that the wider public believes him -- as society's morasse continues crumbling with the help of policies from Sean's Democratic "leaders".
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