It’s not the issues where we disagree
`Tar’ may be the worst movie I have ever seen.
By Ken Tingley
The question candidates should be answering is not where they stand on the issues, but what are the issues.
Think about that for a second.
Give some consideration to what you truly care about, what is actually affecting your lives and families. The candidates believe we are all salivating over illegal immigration, the Supreme Court’s repudiation of Roe vs. Wade, rampant crime in our streets, out of control gas prices and inflation.
I argue only one really resonates with any of us in upstate New York.
Despite Sen. Dan Stec’s pledge he will stop drive-by shootings in our communities - there have not been any that I am aware of in my lifetime - I don’t believe crime is a significant issue. I feel safe walking through downtown Glens Falls any time of the day or night. Sometimes, I even leave my doors unlocked.
Women’s rights are still protected here in New York while the number of abortions continue to decline each year.
Immigration problems are fueled by bad policies and directly affect communities in south Texas and Arizona far more than here in the North Country. I believe there is plenty of common ground here. No one I know - even those evil Democrats you hear about - supports open borders or illegal immigrants voting.
While gas prices affect all of us, they have been receding in recent months, although energy costs are projected to spike again over the winter. Considering that Exxon reported a record $20 billion profit during the last quarter, corporate greed appears to be the culprit more than anything the Biden administration is doing.
But we are all affected by inflation.
It hits home every week. We have to buy a little less at the supermarket, and pinch pennies to make ends meet. If we were thinking of buying a home, many may be holding off as interest rates climb.
Republicans say Democrats are to blame.
Democrats say Republicans will make it worse.
But my contention is that politicians and the few policies they control have a negligible affect on world-wide economic forces. Even economists disagree about what should be done.
It’s complicated.
So here in upstate New York, Rep. Elise Stefanik promises Republicans will fix the problem. They will make inflation go away. But she neglects to tell us “how.”
We should know how this goes by now. Republicans want to cut taxes and spend less - although under Donald Trump and George W. Bush they did not spend less - and their plans have more to do with cutting corporate taxes rather than taxes for the average working person.
The Democrats want to spend more on things like childcare for working class families, safety nets for the elderly and helping the poor. They are always tagged with supporting welfare programs that encourage lazy people not to work.
But here is the problem that is more recent.
These philosophical differences have now been demonized. They are now portrayed as anti-American. Our own representative, Elise Stefanik, demonizes President Biden, Nancy Pelosi and her opponent in this year’s election as evil people trying to bring down America.
Isn’t that going a bit too far?
The argument that “They do it too” regarding Democrats does not hold water. Recent research shows Republicans are twice as likely to have negative or even violent rhetoric than the Democrats, but that does not excuse anyone who does it.
Rep. Stefanik recently posted a photo of herself standing in front of a sign that is understood to mean “f*** Joe Biden.” In what community is that considered acceptable behavior?
Ultimately, we the voters are the ones who condone it. But here is the problem. Too many of us have bought into the rhetoric, the labels, the falsehoods and even when we don’t approve of a candidate’s actions, we decide to vote for party over principles.
The toxic talk is working. We are buying into it that the other team is evil, socialist and anti-American.
The riots on Jan. 6 should have been a turning point for our country, an opportunity to reboot our republic and double down on democracy, the peaceful transfer of power and civility.
The opposite seems to have happened.
In the days before the 2006 congressional election, Capital District news outlets revealed police had been called to the home of Rep. John Sweeney a year earlier on a domestic violence complaint. There was other misbehavior by Rep. Sweeney and the election went to Democratic newcomer Kirsten Gillibrand.
If those same events transpired today, I suspect voters would not have been swayed and Rep. Sweeney would have held his seat.
Matt Castelli, the Democrat opposing Stefanik, seems like a capable, professional candidate who should be given thoughtful consideration for his moderate viewpoints. But If he was elected, I believe the results for our district would not be much different than under Rep. Stefanik except in one area. We would see civil discourse improve and less lying.
Last week, I attended a lecture at the University of Albany with the provocative title “Telling the Truth.”
It had star power with television personalities such as Brian Stelter (CNN) and Jonathan Lemire (AP, MSNBC), Washington Post reporter Devlin Barrett and the person who may be doing the most important work of all - Nandini Jammi - an advertising watchdog steering corporations away from spending money on fake news and bogus websites.
But the most important concern came during the question and answer session at the end of the evening.
The panelists predicted things were going to get a lot worse before they get better. They expected Republicans to win the House of Representatives and implement a “tsunami” of hearings into Hunter Biden, the FBI and the Department of Justice. One panelist predicted the tantalizing possibility that an investigation into Attorney General Merrick Garland would be announced just as an indictment was being considered by the Justice Department for former President Trump.
Rep. Elise Stefanik reiterated the same thing during a Mountain Lake PBS interview. She called the Jan. 6 Committee hearings “illegal” and an attempt to keep Trump from running again, then said Republicans would use their power to go after Democrats.
Ultimately, this election has nothing to do with issues at all. It has to do with each voter deciding if they believe the rhetoric and the conspiracy theories so many are spouting.
Do they believe mass fraud happened in the presidential election and was covered up?
Do they believe the hundreds of newspapers which continue to faithfully report the facts or will they continue to nod at the talking heads on cable television who are making millions?
Do they believe what they saw on Jan. 6 and how close we came to losing everything?
Do they believe the documented evidence provided by the Jan. 6 committee or are hundreds lying?
It’s time to look deep at what we are being told and whether any of it makes any sense.
It’s not too late.
Talking with Joe
If you get a chance, I hope you tune into my interview with WAMC’s (90.3 FM) Joe Donahue on Thursday at 11 a.m.
We will be talking about newspapers, journalism and my new book “The Last American Newspaper.”
Joe and I will be together again on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at Battenkill Books in Cambridge where we will have an hour-long conversation beginning at 6 p.m.
Beware of `Tar’
You should know up front I love movies. I’m the person trying to find the one redeeming positive in a plodding missive. As the price of movie tickets - and especially popcorn - has spiraled at the multiplex, I’ve tried to be a discerning movie-goer by reading reviews and checking the Metacritic score online.
So after seeing the 91 score for the movie “Tar,” I was on board for a movie about a classical music conductor. It was a world I knew nothing about.
The movie went on for more than two hours while we looked for any redeeming quality. I mean the movie starred Cate Blanchett. She must have saw something in the script.
From the credits - oh my god they go on forever at the BEGINNING of the movie - to the closing scene, I could find nothing.
It may have been the worst movie I have ever scene. I must have been mistaken about the Metacritic score and the good reviews. After rechecking, the 91 was still there.
Maybe I’m just not sophisticated enough to for this movie. We should have gone to see the Rock.
Still waiting to hear the Republican's plan to replace Obamacare. Have since learned to not hold my breath waiting. I've figured out they don"t have a plan. Ditto inflation. I don't like the republican solution for keeping us safe...........more guns everywhere. America will either be in a war zone or back in the wild, wild west. Neither is appealing to me. Canada weeps for what is becoming of its southern neighbor.
Republicans have a plan. They always have a plan. It has nothing to do with making the USA better for the people. It has to do with control. Stacking the Supreme Court has worked nicely for them so far. Retaliation is also part of the plan. Punish the Dems and anyone that supports them. Then there is the part regarding ignoring or using the laws to serve their purposes. Unfortunately the Dems are not planning well. They aren't patient and don't seem to see how easily our laws can be manipulated. Maybe when you have soul, it is hard to think that way. I don't know. But they better start looking at things from a different perspective or all will be lost. Otherwise we will be living in Gilead.