Happy Sunday Non-Endorsement

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%.

Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Party

The GOP really needs to go work on their anger issues, not to mention the gullibility thing.

Bonus Jesse Watters:

The Elections Are Rigged Because Trump Sez So

And the liberal media doesn't. Nice column in the PS this morning.

Donald Trump backer in North Carolina who believes climate change is a hoax, drug cartels control the government and, because it has just popped up as a headline on his so-called smartphone, that Obama has announced plans to seek a third presidential term.

The Trump backer, Allan Thiel, complains that “people aren’t being taught history anymore” and “they’ve dumbed everybody down.” As if to prove the point, he elaborates, “Our country has never had any problems for the last 200 years. We’ve never had a problem with guns or racism until the last eight years.”

At the risk of appearing "dumbed down," I do believe there is such a thing as reality. 

That a “reality” is shared does not make it real. Separating fact from fiction can actually be done.

I'm happy to read that Lueders agrees with me. 

We needn’t belabor the point that rigging a national election is logistically impossible, as officials of both parties have stressed. It would require thousands of people conspiring to subvert American democracy while somehow concealing their historic crime. Considering that the Clinton campaign can’t even keep its emails private, that’s a too-heavy lift.

Yeah, that's the problem with conspiracy theories: all those people you have to "silence" to make them work. 

Charlie Sykes, a conservative radio host in Wisconsin and MSNBC contributor, has been eloquent in lamenting how, through decades of “demonizing the liberal mainstream media,” commentators including himself have “destroyed the credibility of any credible (media) outlet.” Says he, “We’ve basically eliminated any of the referees, the gatekeepers.”

Sure, now he notices. BTW, Sykes is obviously a RINO if he appears on MSNBC so you can't trust anything he says anyway. 

Getting back to the rigged election, here's Rex Smith from the TU. 

Rigging a presidential election is impossible in America. Don't take my word for it (what, you don't trust the media?) — just ask any local election official. They're the experts, you know, because it's our neighbors who run elections in this country, not some big federal agency.

The notion that you could get thousands of county elections clerks, from Albany to Anchorage, to conspire to commit criminal fraud would be laughable if it weren't so offensive.

Imagine how many poll workers would have to agree to look the other way and allow tens of millions of people to vote more than once. Consider the fact that they would have to come from both parties, because each side has its own poll officials and watchers.

As someone who works as an election inspector, it's my sad duty to report that what he says is true. I work with two Republicans who will not allow me to rig the vote in Fort Edward in order to throw the election to Hillary. What's this country coming to?

They Should Charge For It

Non sequitur

Maybe people would value it more.

Local Hero

Sadly, the city of Albany NY is now going to have to remain under the iron fist of tyranny.

A self-described "resistance fighter" who was reputedly forming a militia in Greene County boasted of his ability to kill dozens of people and attack federal buildings in Albany to combat "tyranny" in the event of Armageddon, court papers revealed Wednesday.

A big thank you to the FBI and the informant who had the courage to get close enough to this nut to make the case. 

The FBI launched the probe after learning Twiss "was forming, or had formed, a militia based in Greene County that had plans to engage in acts of violence," the document said. The FBI used an informant to pose as someone interested in joining Twiss' militia and to record Twiss. The complaint suggested Twiss had been in a prior militia but was miffed at his former militia mates.

Really? Miffed? I don want to thank Robert Twiss. He's my go-to example the next time someone pulls out that stupid "we need guns to defend against tyranny" bullshit. Yes, it's my blog and I don't have to stick in expletive like the TU does. 

That day, Twiss said he could "can get guns all day long" and was a "resistance fighter." If an Armageddon situation were to happen, he would go into the city of Albany and "take up arms" against the "tyranny," the complaint said.

While we're in Albany's finest newspaper, here's an op piece by Jeffrey Swanson. 

I am worried about seriously angry people coming to polling places on Nov. 8 carrying handguns.

As an academic who studies gun violence from a public health perspective, I rely on scientific data to characterize risk. Last year, my colleagues and I published a research study which found that 1.5 percent of adult Americans had impulsive angry behavior traits and carried guns with them in public.

Thank God I live in NY and Robert Twiss is now behind bars. 

I am not very troubled by a gun as a cultural symbol. I am concerned about a gun as a highly efficient killing device in the wrong hands. A small percentage of gun-carrying voters this Nov. 8 — about 3 out of every 200, in polling places that allow guns — will be dangerously angry people who cannot control their tempers. Some of them will have been marinating in Trump's message of fear and loathing of outsiders. They will have heard him say that the "Second Amendment people" may need to do something if Clinton wins. In a crowded queue they will rub shoulders — and maybe elbows — with neighbors waiting in the same lines who vehemently reject everything Trump says and stands for.

Guns need not be a part of a moment like that.

One of my chores online today was to look up this letter. It fits here, so what the hell. It's a Kev's Klassic from Dec 2015:

In response to Scott Graves from El Paso, I'd like to say that your love for the Adirondacks must be very shallow if being required to pay a bit in taxes and follow some restrictions on your guns keeps you from living here. If you're retired, it doesn't even seem that your income tax bill would be that high. I know there are people here who own guns and hunt. Don't believe they use AR-15s, though. Unlike Texans, New Yorkers don't make a practice of going, en masse, into restaurants bearing assault rifles. We don't have that level of insecurity.

Of course, recently a lot of folks in Texas were convinced that they were going to be invaded by the U.S. military. No, I don't get it either, but that's what they thought. So, they may have anxiety problems that are only relieved by their guns. And you know what; Gov. Abbott, Sen. Cruz and other Texas politicians did nothing to dissuade their citizenry of that notion. The governor even sent out the National Guard to keep an eye on the federal troops.

The same Texas government fought the Affordable Care Act fervently while New York was working with the federal government to implement it here. The difference shows now too. So, I'll take the "overbearing" government that works to ensure its citizens have health insurance over the one that doesn't, and is willing to allow its people to believe conspiracy theories. I'm retired, as well. I do love New York, and I'm willing to pay taxes in order to live in a sane and civilized society.

Graves' letter:

Yet another decade passes and still I hesitate moving back to my beloved southern Adirondacks. Why? I'm retired now so I certainly could go. The problems lie in the overbearing control that the state government exerts on its citizens. Your taxes are astronomical. Texas has no income tax. Your gun laws are horrifying. I buy and keep as many guns as I want in Texas including the dreaded AR-15. My Adirondacks will remain a distant memory and Texas my adopted home.

Oh how I miss thee, my beloved Adirondacks. Not enough to give up a few insignificant gun rights, tho. What a shallow love that must be. 

Time For National Gun Laws

As long as the nation doesn't go all open carry, that is. Every gun argument I've ever gotten into with a gun fetishist has come around to "what about all the murders in Chicago?" Fortunately here in NY we don't have deaths at that level. Not for lack of trying by the dealers in illegal guns.

Of the 30,606 guns found with complete transaction histories, law enforcement officials recovered 5,873 within three years of the last known recorded purchase, including 2,437 within one year.

And a hefty one-in-five guns recovered after use in crimes were recently trafficked into New York.

The low “time-to-crime” number, the report says, is a strong indication that the weapons were purchased “with the intent to be diverted to criminal use.”

In New York City, 91% of the low "time-to-crime" guns originated out-of-state, the analysis found. That's the largest percentage in the state. Long Island came in second at 58%.

I really don't mind if other states want to sell weapons and ammo in 7/11s. But, keep 'em in your state.

“The data makes one thing abundantly clear: New York’s strong gun laws are being undermined at every turn by lax laws in other states,” Schneiderman said. “Even as we work to make our streets safer, the illegal guns most often used in violent crimes continue to pour into our state.”

Editorial:

A nation of 50 states knit together through commerce is ultimately only as safe as its weakest firearm regulations allow.

Which is why Congress must, hopefully under the leadership of a President Hillary Clinton, finally require what 90% of the public supports: background checks for all gun purchases, including those at gun shows and over the internet.

And why the Senate and recalcitrant House must go further and pass Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Mark Kirk’s bill to make gun trafficking — moving firearms for the purpose of selling them to criminals — a federal felony.

Otherwise, firearms will continue to flow freely through the pipeline. And, contrary to the gun lobby mythologists, more guns will bring more death.