As usual, Stefanik not to blame for anything
Charles Evans Hughes documentary scheduled for Crandall Public Library
The Front Page
Morning Update
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
By Ken Tingley
The headline in the press release from the office of Rep. Elise Stefanik says it all: “Statement on the disgraceful, dishonest and dangerous media smears.”
This is what our local congresswoman does when she is held accountable for her actions.
She attacks.
Last November, the Albany Times Union published an editorial cautioning her about her Facebook advertisements that accused Democrats of endorsing replacement theory.
The ads claimed that Democrats were plotting a “permanent election insurrection by granting amnesty of millions of illegal immigrants.”
Those ads quickly became the subject of national media coverage after an 18-year-old resident of a small, rural community near Binghamton drove to Buffalo Saturday and killed 10 residents of a mostly black neighborhood. The alleged shooter had posted a manifesto online that his goal was to fight back against replacement theory.
In one of those ads, which ran last September, a crowd of Latino-looking people is reflected in President Biden’s sunglasses. In big type, the headline reads “Stop Election Insurrection.”
The Times Union was clear in its editorial last year that the ads could be dangerous. It was also clear that Rep. Stefanik’s ads were subtle and open to interpretation.
They were holding her accountable that those ads were possibly irresponsible and might influence people who bought into the rhetoric.
Rep. Stefanik responded Saturday with the hopes and prayers defense that so many politicians embrace after a senseless tragedy.
She reminded her constituents that National Police Week was coming up and we should “thank and honor our law enforcement and first responders who continue to face skyrocketing violent crimes across the nation.”
She did not condemn white nationalism.
She did not set the record straight that replacement theory had no merit and was nothing more than cheap political rhetoric.
She did not admit that running the ads was a mistake.
Instead, her spokesman blamed the media.
Rep. Stefanik has been down this road before.
When a demonstrator threatened a Post-Star reporter and the newspaper in general with violence, the congresswoman responded by inviting him to her town hall meeting and telling him to bring all his friends. She acknowledged the man at the town hall.
At the time, I emailed the congresswoman and asked that she address these threats with staff at The Post-Star while she was in town, especially with nervous employees who were not in the newsroom and had nothing to do with news coverage. The Capital Gazette shootings were fresh in the minds of many of us.
She did not respond.
She never addressed the threat against the newspaper.
She praised her supporter at the town hall woman.
This goes to an appraisal of her character.
Her spokesman - does the congresswoman ever speak for herself? - first referred to members of the media as the “sycophant stenographers in the media” and then “the groveling hacks in the media” as part of her statement.
Her style is not only to insult and belittle political opponents, but anyone who tries to hold her accountable, to anyone who is trying to get in her way.
I’ve always believed that this upstate community had old-fashioned values that were more important than political beliefs. When some local Republicans tried to hijack a Town Board election in 2017, the voters make sure those involved paid at the polls.
That was inspirational.
As someone who spent more than 40 years working at newspapers, I can attest to the dedication and moral compass of the men and women I worked alongside. Their dedication was in providing factual information to their readers and exposing the perpetrators of lies. They were not motivated by politics or any particular ideology. They were motivated by the truth.
Rep. Stefanik owes those men and women across her district an apology.
But Rep. Stefanik doesn’t seem to care about getting it right, who she insults or belittles or whether she is on the right or wrong side of history.
In that regard, her message has always been consistent. It is always someone else’s fault.
Crandall event
Reminder that Will Doolittle and myself will be having a conversation about life, newspapers and journalism at Crandall Public Library on Tuesday, May 24 at 5:30 p.m.
It will be the first public event at the library since the pandemic began.
Documentary event
In another Crandall Library event, Post-Star reporter Maury Thompson will be showing his film “My Native Air: Charles Evans Hughes and the Adirondacks” on Sunday, June 11 at noon. Thompson is the producer of the film.
The 43-minute documentary covers the life and career of Glens Falls Hughes and his influences on the Adirondacks. Hughes rose to be governor of New York before stepping down to become a Supreme Court justice. He resigned from the Supreme Court in 1916 to accept the Republican nomination for president. He lost to President Woodrow Wilson.
Snarky Aardvark Films released the documentary at the worst possible moment in January 2020 at the dawn of the pandemic.
Admission is free.
Stefanik is only interested in self interest. She will do and say anything that will help her advance her agenda which has nothing to do with representing the people of NY21.
Thank you. Keep up the good work.