BONUS: If you are on a list, you need to be part of `the resistance'
Politico reports Stefanik is top choice to be next U.N. ambassador
Please consider supporting The Front Page with a paid subscription: HERE
The three of us were having lunch the day after the election.
Really, it was more like group therapy.
We were lamenting the future of local journalism and the state of the country. I wondered if I was on a list should Rep. Elise Stefanik get even more power in the next administration.
Paranoia would normally be the diagnosis, but not with Stefanik I argued.
No one disagreed.
By her third campaign for Congress in 2018, she was already chastising "the media" for lying and attacking her. It mirrored what the president was saying about the national media at the time.
But instead of the New York Times and the Washington Post, Stefanik was attacking The Post-Star, the Plattsburgh Press-Republican, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and North Country Public Radio.
At The Post-Star, we had criticized her for hiring a high school student to spy on her opponent.
We had criticized her for not agreeing "not to lie" during her campaign.
We confronted her when she invited one of her supporters to a town hall meeting after he had threatened a Post-Star reporter and the newspaper in general.
It became more and more difficult for reporters to get her on the phone to ask her questions. That had never been a problem in the past with any local congressperson of either party.
Then, the press releases seem to go to only favored media outlets.
Editorial boards became harder to arrange.
And Stefanik disparaged the local press continually.
When readers asked me why we "hated" Stefanik so much, I pointed out that over three elections, we had endorsed the Green Party candidate once, Stefanik once and the Democrat once. I thought that was pretty even-handed.
Later I heard that Stefanik had personally called the publisher of one of the community newspapers and tried to get the editor fired.
I know she called my publisher on more than one occasion to object to our coverage. I'm not sure if she ever tried to get me fired.
So there we were at lunch and one of my colleagues said that after they objected to Stefanik's support of the guy who threatened our newspaper Stefanik would no longer take their calls either.
This is what the local press is up against.
It's why it no longer writes editorials or political columns.
In fact, there is almost no coverage of Stefanik throughout the region because of her lack of cooperation.
It's one of the reasons that Will Doolittle and me continue to write our columns on The Front Page.
We believe that community discourse on local issues is important and the reality is that any discussion of congressional politics is a small part of what we write about.
It is clear that there is an appetite for the discussion by the number of comments that readers make on a daily basis.
This past February, we decided to accept paid subscriptions for those who want to support our work. We have been pleasantly surprised by that support because we both knew this would be a critical year for our country and our region and we wanted to make sure our voices were heard.
We've tried to provide that coverage we were not seeing elsewhere.
We are starting to hear a term called "The Resistance."
It has an ominous term that some might interpret as violence, but no one should look at it that way.
Our country was founded on vigorous debate and we're hoping The Front Page can be a starting point for "The Resistance" here so that opposing viewpoints are heard consistently.
We are hoping there is a "Resistance" nationally as well to ensure our democracy continues.
It was encouraging to hear yesterday that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell - who Trump appointed - said he would not resign and could not be fired because the Federal Reserve is independent of the executive branch.
He may be the first to openly embrace "The Resistance."
We're hoping there are many others who will continually do the right thing so that the laws of the land are followed and adhered to so democracy continues.
Share The Front Page with your friends, you colleagues, your family so they get a variety of points of view.
Thank you for your support in the past and the future.
Stefanik UN job
Maybe the reason Rep. Elise Stefanik didn't bother campaigning in her home district this year was because she didn't expect to be there long.
Politico reported this week that Stefanik "tops the list" the Trump transition team is considering as ambassador to the United Nations.
While the U.N. seems to have less and less influence these days, it is seen as a political stepping stone with former ambassadors Madeleine Albright (Secretary of State), George H.W. Bush (president), John Bolton (national security advisor) and Niki Haley (presidential candidate) all going on to bigger and better things.
Stefanik skillset, as a Trump attack dog, also seems to suit that job where it is anticipated the new Trump administration will be more combative with other U.N. members, including our allies, with Politico reporting that diplomats expect Trump to cut funding for U.N., programs, withdraw from the World Health Organization and the U.N. Global Compact on Migration.
Politico reported that "Stefanik has repeatedly attacked the United Nations over accusations that the world body is antisemitic" and last month called for a “complete reassessment of U.S. funding of the United Nations.”
If Stefanik were to resign her seat, it would trigger a special election in the 21st Congressional District.
Wine and chocolate
Downtown Glens Falls was percolating Friday night with an Adirondack Thunder home game and the Chapman Museum's Wine and Chocolate event at the Queensbury Hotel.
The Chapman saw a record turnout for the event with over 350 in attendance.
Glens Falls advances
Glens Falls, with a perfect 10-0 record this season, is heading back to the Section II championship game after a 29-0 victory over Hoosick Falls/Tamarac Friday night.
Glens Falls will meet Ravena next weekend at Shenendehowa.
Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.
In the first Trump presidency I began ending my e mails with a little picture of a woman confronting an oncoming tank, like the Tiananmen Square image. It says "Resistance" underneath. For some reason I never stopped using it when the Oval changed hands. And now it's crucial. I am heartsick over the election. The country we love is in the hands of a cruel, narcissistic and probably demented man. He and his henchmen, some of whom are obscenely wealthy, and some of whom have undoubted ties to Vladimir Putin , are poised to use America permanently for their own enrichment. They seek to cut our alliances and to erase the agencies whose expertise keeps us healthy. Their economics will destroy us. The only bright light is that Our Elise will no longer "represent" the North Country. But I shudder to picture her representing the whole country.
The only chance to survive is to join each other and resist. Just maybe, we can live through four years of Fascists. But maybe not.
Stefanik has “topped lists” before.
The House race is still very tight so it seems unlikely the GOP a would potentially put her seat in peril. But also Stefanik lacks a couple of important qualities for Trump appointees, money and maleness.
She can raise millions, sure, but she isn’t in the billionaire bro club.
I think we’re probably stuck with her. And what would the alternative be? Dan Stec?
Dear god!