Followers or leaders?
Rep. Stefanik’s husband now working for a gun group
The Front Page
Morning Update
Friday, June 3, 2022
By Ken Tingley
For a functioning democracy dependent on its elected representatives the answer seems obvious.
Should congressional representatives answer to their constituents or their party?
I’m hoping you find the answer as simple as I do. I want my representative to make the best judgement possible based on their experiences and research, rather than being blindly obedient to a political party.
It is healthy for an elected official to occasionally buck the party line. Those decisions should be respected by their party and their colleagues - see John McCain voting down the repeal of Obamacare - and if their constituents believe their congressperson no longer represents their values, they have the power to vote them out of office.
The people should always come first.
We will find out how that works out for Rep. Chris Jacobs of Orchard Park. After the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings, Jacobs announced he was in support of an assault weapons ban while also limiting magazine capacity, the sale of body armor to civilians and raising the age limit for owning military-style weapons to 21.
All see like common sense reforms to our violent culture. All are opposed by Republican politicians.
For Jacobs, this is a dramatic change of course for someone who has vehemently opposed the Safe Act. Perhaps the shooting in Buffalo literally hit a little to close to home. His announcement Friday shocked many western New York Republicans and immediately set about a movement to find a different Republican who would toe the party line.
High ranking Republicans in western New York said his position was “unsatisfactory” and “very disappointing.”
“We can’t support him in this district,” Erie County Conservative Chairman Ralph Lorigo told WIVB-TV in Buffalo.
Local Republicans were already scrambling to find someone to challenge Jacobs in the Aug. 23 primary. That’s what happens these days when you speak your mind or try to do the right thing.
You may remember the same thing happening to State Sen. Roy McDonald when he voted for same-sex marriage 10 years ago.
Jacobs acknowledges that his new position on guns could be controversial in the 23rd District that he represents.
Jack O’Donnell, a lobbyist and political insider with O’Donnell and Associates, told WIVB-TV that “Jacobs would be in for a fight to keep a seat in the House of Representatives.”
For trying to protect constituents.
“Absolutely, this was an act of political courage by Congressman Jacobs,” O’Donnell said. “I think his seat is at risk. I think he could face a Conservative primary and Republican primary.”
“My hope is that this will serve as a tipping point and I’m glad to see Congressman Jacobs has seen the light on this issue,” said Rep Brian Higgins, a Buffalo Democrat.
Rep. Elise Stefanik enthusiastically endorsed Jacobs in February and cited his opposition to New York gun control laws. “I have seen his efficacy and dedication first hand through our work together,” Stefanik said at the time. “I know that he will fight on behalf of the people for the (then) 24th district."
He believes he is doing that now and that should be respected.
Working for gun lobby
The Times Union reported last week that Rep. Elise Stefanik’s husband, Matthew Manda, now works as the manager of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which is ironically located in Newtown, Conn. - site of the Sandy Hook shootings.
The trade group’s mission is “to promote, protect and preserve hunting and shooting sports.” Considering the number of firearms in the country, it does not appear that there is any threat to that.
More significantly, the group was also a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit trying to block a New York Law that increased the potential for liability for gun manufacturers.
The T-U reported that Manda frequently writes for his company’s website and other outlets about the group’s policy stances.
"Law-abiding Americans choose over and over again to take their personal safety into their own hands and purchase a firearm," Manda wrote in a piece about a "Congressional Fly-In" hosted by the group. "Congress needs to ensure the industry is free from ‘woke’ corporate discrimination.”
It is unlikely we will be seeing Rep. Stefanik changing any of her own stances regarding any limitations on firearms.
Power of shocking photos
Jeh Charles Johnson, the homeland security secretary from 2013 to 2017, wrote the following in an opinion piece in The Washington Post on Thursday as he addressed whether families should allow the public to see crime scene photos of mass shootings that killed their children:
“Certain images do more than speak a thousand words. Some actually reveal to us what no words can adequately convey. Images have the capacity to shock the conscience into action, galvanize a population, and alter the course of history. Recall the the film of dogs and firehoses turned on Black demonstrators in Birmingham, Ala. (1963); the TV news footage of Alabama cavalry beating civil rights marchers at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge (1965); the photo of a South Vietnamese police chief executing the Viet Cong fighter with a gunshot to the head (1968); the image of the screaming, naked “Napalm Girl” in South Vietnam (1972); the grainy images of LAPD officers beating Rodney King (1991); and the cellphone video of police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on George Floyd’s neck (2020). Conversely, imagine if there had been no video of Floyd’s killing, leaving us with the initial Minneapolis police report, which was headed simply, “Man dies after medical incident during police interaction.”
Words to ponder.
Critical race theory
North Country Public Radio followed up on Rep. Elise Stefanik’s comments on critical race theory after a Buffalo mass shooting where the gunman was motivated by critical race theory.
Rep. Stefanik told NCPR that the theory was “radical and racist” and claimed New York State was using federal funds to force it on students.
But the State Education Department told NCPR the claim was “patently false.”
NCPR concluded:
“And political observers say it fits a pattern for Stefanik: importing far-right, national issues into the North Country.”
That also seems obvious.
Next event
I will be speaking at the Rockwell Falls Public Library on Thursday, June 23 at 6:30 p.m. I will be talking about life, newspapers, the state of journalism in our country and my upcoming book “The Last American Newspaper.”
I hope you can join me for a hearty discussion.
Tweet of the Day
A Republican with integrity actually reversing his stance on gun contol? Although I'm a Democrat, I kind of want to donate to Jacob's campaign for re-election if only in support of his doing the right thing.
They are elected "by the people, for the people" not "by the gun companies, for the gun companies."