My New Favorite Writer

Benjamin Landry has had two letters in the PS. After the first, I wrote in the margin, "I think I love you." After the second, I know I do.

In 2009, Sarah Palin created the bogey-man “death panel” to scare the public and undermine support for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). John Boehner and Chuck Grassley fanned the flames of this pants-on-fire lie. We are seven years into the ACA and – surprise, surprise – no “death panels” have materialized to ration care or prescribe euthanasia.

That's the opening paragraph. I believe the way things are going with Republican efforts we will soon have those "death panels."

Saturday saw Mr. Landry taking on Matt Funiciello. 

On Feb. 14, The Post-Star covered a protest at Congresswoman Stefanik’s Glens Falls office. The protesters demanded Stefanik hold town halls to hear her constituents’ concerns, a reasonable request. One conspicuous attendee, quoted at the end of the article, was two-time Green Party candidate Matt Funiciello, who said of the rally, “It’s a good sense of community,” but then expressed “disappointment that national political organizations are attempting to ‘manipulate us into puppets’ from behind the scenes.” 

Funiciello was implying that the rally was organized by a national group, a favorite conspiracy theory of the right wing.

I always say that most of Funiciello's criticism of the Democrats sounds lifted from Alex Jones. 

While Greens have many laudable initiatives and ideals, even Mr. Funiciello must concede that some pragmatism is in order, given the absolute disaster say, of a person like Scott Pruitt being picked to head the EPA. Rather than run another vote-splitting effort in 2018, he should locate a bit of humility and help vet a more viable candidate on the left with strong environmental credentials.

Wow, courtesy. I may have to give that a try in my letters.