The Post Star Disappoints

Really, really disappoints.

It's disturbing to me that my daily newspaper takes the opinions of 5 people on its editorial board and comes to the conclusion that Elise Stefanik is the best candidate to represent me in Congress. The opinion of the Adk Daily Enterprise, Lake George Mirror and Albany Times Union was that Mike Derrick was best suited for the job. The latter two publications saw no reason to even mention Matt Funiciello. 

That's the truly disturbing part. I suppose you can make some kind of case to endorse our current congresswoman. But, no one on your board even registered for Derrick and 40% chose Funiciello. MF has put forth his opinion that there is no evidence that an airplane hit the Pentagon. He has put forth the opinion that the Washington County Board of Elections doesn't take the same care with the voter registrations of minor parties as they do Dems and Reps. He has said that "we need guns to defend ourselves against tyranny and if you don't understand that, you're not paying attention." 

Maybe your editorial board likes conspiracy theories, gun extremism and condescension more than I do. Apparently. And for good measure he feels the residents of the Adks have no need for cell service or broadband. I grew up there. 

I could no sooner vote for him than I could vote for Donald Trump. Two out of 5 on the board? Really?

They are very close to losing my business. I like the idea of a local newspaper and would hate to see it fold. That's why I support it. This makes it very hard to continue to do so. If Derrick wins on Tuesday maybe I'll be overjoyed enough to overlook this. 

Happy Endorsement News

Mike Derrick got the endorsement of the Albany Times Union, one of my regular reads.

We had hoped Rep. Elise Stefanik would be one of those moderate, independent voices her party needs. It's how she portrays herself. Yet her voting record reveals otherwise, with votes to dismantle Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood, and oppose sensible Obama administration actions on air pollution and immigration. 

As an added bonus, they give no mention to Matt Funiciello. If the Post Star who endorsed MF two years ago, endorses Elise Stefanik, I may have a new morning paper.

Taking a cue from them, I'll not mention the loony fellow in my labeling.

Happy Sunday Endorsement

From the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

We have met with Mr. Derrick more than once and found him willing to answer any question we threw at him. He seems like a good listener, and it seems his stated goal to continue a life of public service is genuine. He is not as jovial as Bill Owens or John McHugh, but he is solid and thoughtful, and does not seem as guarded as Rep. Stefanik.

He also pledges to stand up against those who pollute the Adirondacks.

We hope he wouldn't buy too much into the expended-government solutions the national Democrats are pushing, but that was also our worry with Bill Owens, and he managed to be pretty reasonable and bipartisan. Mr. Derrick, a former Republican, seems familiar in that way.

In the moderate spirit of Mr. Owens and Mr. McHugh, we think he would represent our area pretty well in the House.

I don't believe Mike Derrick can overcome the power of Elise Stefanik's incumbency, but I can dream. Can Trump the Destroyer take her out? Stay tuned. Happy to see they've come around on Matt Funiciello whom they endorsed last time. 

If the Matt Funiciello of 2014 were to run this year, we might endorse him again, but he has changed quite a bit. Debates showed that he has become much more combative in style and radical in policies than he was two years ago. We can't go there with him.

For instance, now he's pushing to eliminate all meat and dairy farms, taking the fight against climate change down a lonely road that only the most extreme environmentalists can follow. And then he says he won't help get federal funding to expand broadband internet because he wants the Adirondack Park to be marketed as a place to get away from the modern world.

He's all that and more. Even if Derrick doesn't pull off the upset I'd be somewhat mollified if MF gets under 6%.

Elise Jumps Aboard the Trump Train

And Casey Jones is still at the wheel. Congratulations on making the right decision, congresswoman. And, by right decision, I mean the one that gives Mike Derrick a better shot at being my next congress-critter. 

North Country congresswoman Elise Stefanik is saying much more explicitly that she will support Donald Trump in the presidential election.  

Letter From Aaron

Dear Kevin, I’d like to introduce you to Mike Derrick.  If you haven’t met him yet, he’s running for Congress here in NY-21… something I know a thing or two about. Mike grew up and went to school in Peru, NY – a few exits up the Northway from us in Elizabethtown.  After graduating from West Point in 1985, he spent 28 years in the U.S. Army, serving as a combat infantry officer, senior commander, West Point professor, and diplomat. During that time, he left the active Army for five years to become a stay-at-home-dad of four children while his wife, Kathy, finished her Army career. Mike has lived in three foreign countries, ten U.S. states, and now has returned home to the North Country to serve again. I’ve gotten to know Mike Derrick over the last year. We have talked at length about our shared hopes for the country and for this place we call home.  We have hiked in the wilderness together and agreed about the ways that protecting our environment will help grow and nurture our local economies; we have talked about our parents and our children and lamented the ways that the American dream has become more out of reach for so many; and we have commiserated about the process of our politics. As I see Mike’s name get dragged into the kind of name-calling and mischaracterizations we’ve become accustomed to in today’s campaigns, I reflect again about the culture and strategies that lie behind all this. Everywhere, it seems, the politics of divisiveness holds sway. Mike’s character couldn't stand in bolder contrast. He is a man of integrity and sound competence. His approach is thoughtful, inclusive and cognizant of history.  When Mike speaks about foreign policy, and the decisions we’ve made to put American lives at risk, he does so with direct knowledge of the consequences of our choices. And when he speaks about our home in the North Country, he does so with the kind of passion that comes from a lifelong connection. Carolyn, Eloise, and I have spent time at his home with his family and he has visited us in E’town. We know his sister and her family in nearby Keene, and have met his mother, who lives in Saranac Lake.  I call him my friend, and I couldn’t be happier to see him running for this seat. That’s why I’m endorsing Mike.  In this difficult year of hard choices, I cannot think of a better candidate who embodies what we need in a proven public servant.   Please take a few minutes to visit his website.  Learn more about his background and his vision for the North Country.  He’s been tirelessly traveling this district, so next time he’s in your area, meet him and get to know him.  Join his campaign, lend your voice, and support him however you can.  Thank you, Aaron Aaron G Woolf Elizabethtown NY Yes, I'm aware that I'm not the only one who received it. Susan Spieth may have as well.

Crazy Letter Wednesday

This'll be a nice easy post. First, copy and paste the rantings of Andrew Dicroce.

Radicalized Islamic terrorists attack! Why don't you try those words on Ken or just like the rest of the pathetic pandering progressive lame stream media and low life politicians all you can do is blame law-abiding Americans. I don't shrug like you, I get mad at the fact that how many of these terrorists’ attacks on our soil do we have to tolerate before people like you wake up! Oh yeah it's easy to blame the gun and of course propose another wasted law that would have done nothing to stop this attack. 

Once again we get your left wing propaganda sources that are full of …. ; here is one for yougunfacts.info. Yeah Ken that is a site that backs up their claims with actual facts, something that is sorely missing from your diatribes.

Hey Mr. Credible news source, why don't you own up or admit to using Salon.com for one of your gun control diatribes? What's the matter Ken no guts to own up to it?

One thing all your propaganda can't seem to explain away is the fact that as more Americans own guns, including the evil AR-15, somehow crime has gone down, now how can that be! It's a shame you and your ilk are more upset with law-abiding Americans than with terrorists! 

And since I've already honed my response:

Mr. Dicroce's recent letter has driven me to write. I just wish I could match his peerless rhetoric. Mr. Tingley must still be smarting from the stern dressing down he received. Ouch!

     

Just to comment on the subject he broaches, I'd like to bring folks attention to a recent initiative. A group of veterans that includes Generals David Petraeus and Stanley McChrystal have formed the Veterans Coalition for Common Sense. Their aim is to push for sensible gun policies and to reduce firearm suicides. They're a welcome entry, since we've just seen that the Senate cannot even do the least thing possible. That is, preventing those on the no-fly list from obtaining weapons.

     

I'd urge the Derrick campaign to take a look at this effort. Congresswoman Stefanik has opposed stronger background checks and recently cashed a check from the NRA. Some checks are good ones. All I know of Mr. Funiciello's views is from a February 2014 interview. In that, he stated “we need guns to defend ourselves against tyranny." I prefer we work to strengthen democracy. You're our only hope, Mike. Let's show everyone that the Democratic Party is the one that aligns with common sense. Mr. Dicroce is not going to cast his vote for you.

     

Hillary: "Fuck The Guns"

No, she didn't really say it. Too Trumpian. Close enough for me, though.

“Hillary Clinton passes [our] test with flying colors,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, in a statement, “pushing back against the NRA’s extreme ‘guns for everyone, everywhere’ agenda, and ushering in a new political calculus that saving lives from gun violence is a winning issue.” 

No, that wasn't it. That was John Feinblatt, president of Everytown Says Fuck The Guns Everytown for Gun Safety. Here's Hillary saying Fuck The Guns:

“The gun lobby may be the most powerful lobby in Washington, but I believe that the American people are more powerful still,” said Clinton in a statement responding to Everytown’s endorsement. “We are stronger together. We will not be intimidated. We will not back down.”

I believe there was also a quote from her about shoving Wayne LaPierre up Trump's fat, orange ass, too. Couldn't find it in the article, tho. Feel free to use it, Hill. You too, Mike Derrick. 

What's the label? Yeah, you know. 

Indeed, it is a bold position to take, as Democrats have sometimes shied away from promoting gun control with too much vigor on the campaign trail, worried that the NRA machine will lumber into action and persuade gun rights advocates to make their voice heard at the ballot box.

Oh, Nuts With Guns felt left out. Fuck them, too.

In total seriousness, here's President Obama discussing the issue of gun control as it should be addressed and not the way yahoos like myself.

“First of all, the notion that I or Hillary or Democrats or whoever you want to choose are hell-bent on taking away folks’ guns is just not true,” Obama said. “And I don’t care how many times the NRA says it.”

And:

“So, sir, I just have to say, respectfully, that there is a way for us to have common sense gun laws,” Obama said. “… but the only way we’re going to do that is if we don’t have a situation in which anything that is proposed is viewed as some tyrannical destruction of the Second Amendment.”

We can have nice things. Elect Democrats. 

North Country Hypocrites

Of the Republican variety, natch.

National Republican Congressional Committee is spending money to target Democratic congressional candidate Mike Derrick, just three days after an NRCC spokesman claimed Derrick wasnot "a viable candidate."

NRCC announced Monday it is placing robo calls in the 21st Congressional District criticizing Derrick for not endorsing a Democratic presidential candidate, even as the MRCC's own congressional candidate has not directly endorsed a Republican presidential candidate.

They seem to be having a problem pointing out just where Derrick stands.

NRCC calls Derrick a "party insider," an apparent change in strategy from a year ago when the group criticized Derrick for being a newly-minted Democrat.

Congratulations Mike, its' only May and already you've turned the Republicans into blabbering, blathering, blithering nincompoops. What's going to happen after 5 more months of Ms. Stefanik explaining how her beliefs jibe with Herr Trump's.

Campaign Video of the Day

Another in a series of "of the days" which will certainly not occur everyday. But, enjoy this anyway. Personally, I never cared for ominous background music in any campaign commercial, but then I'm not a professional campaign whatzit of whozit.

Very nice, Mr. Eldridge. And Mike Derrick campaign whozits: if you guys are reading my blog (and why wouldn't you?) take note of this clip. But please, better music. Even Kenny G.

Bonus video:

 

Bonus bonus clip. I could probably spend the rest of the day finding them. Eldridge could'e just used this. 

Odds and Ends Pertaining to Congressional Race

Ladies first. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has said through her spokesman that she won't be attending the convention in Ohio.

"She will be in the district working for her constituents," said Alcivar, in response to an inquiry from The Post-Star.

Rather than try to duplicate perfection, I'll just reprint my comments.

"She will be in the district working for her constituents,"

Attending the convention would be the chance of a lifetime for Ms. Stefanik. I'm certain her constituents would be able to spare her for a few days. As one of them, I couldn't live with myself knowing I caused her to miss this wonderful opportunity.

From the Owens' link:

Owens may have realized his re-election chances are sinking but hiding from Obama’s convention won’t fool North Country voters,” said NRCC Spokesman Nat Sillin

That being said, I hope we can count on Congresswoman Stefanik to stand firmly behind whomever the nominee is.

This is an article informing us that a real, live presidential candidate is coming to Glens Falls. No, not Hillary or The Donald. 

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is expected to campaign in Glens Falls in June, said Matt Funiciello, the party's local congressional candidate.

Funiciello said one or more local events with Stein will held around the time of the State Green Party Convention in Troy on June 11.

Details are still being worked out.

And we all know the devil is in the details.

Comment:

I'm sure Jill Stein is a wonderful woman. I'm going to link to a Charles Pierce piece explaining why, despite knowing her socially, he did not vote for her. This is because I know that, between now and November, I'm going to hear the common refrain from the Green Party. That is that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans. I'm offering Pierce's testimony that there is indeed a difference. And so there is.

And here is an article on the analysis of our three area candidates of what the recent primary voting for prez all means.

And here's a bonus link with the Warren County Republican Chair endorsing Donald Trump. I only wish I could link to Rich Schermerhorn's endorsement in The Chronicle. Get that online, will ya Mark.  

Grasso said Trump’s recent hiring of a “seasoned adviser” and his softening of tone demonstrate Trump is “in essence becoming more presidential.”   

In essence, he couldn't become any less presidential if he tried. 

Courtesy of Mike Derrick

Thanks for this, Mike. I look forward to casting a vote for you.

Then again, searching around a bit on it, she's looking a little flip floppy.

It's been a question Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has been asked numerous times as the race for the Republican presidential nomination continues: Which candidate does she support?

Everytime she's been asked, she's giving basically the same answer, in which she doesn't say.

Maybe we should cut her some slack. I'd have a hard time choosing between those three fine specimens, too. 

But in August of 2014, when Stefanik was in the middle of the race to win her seat, there was another contest going on. That was the Democratic primary for governor of New York between Andrew Cuomo and Zephyr Teachout.

Stefanik's opponent at the time, Democrat Aaron Woolf, gave roughly the same answer Stefanik is giving now. It was the lack of a hard answer that caused Stefanik's campaign press secretary at the time, Charlotte Guyette, to call on Woolf to "spare the voters pathetic sound bites and just let us know who you are supporting."

Then again, maybe not. No slack for you, Elise.