No need to mourn Silver

Hudson Falls Library to hold book event tonight

The Front Page

Morning Update

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

By Ken Tingley

At one point, The Associated Press in New York crafted a list of the crimes committed by all the disgraced state politicians in New York. It was a long list. Their crimes included taking bribes, sexual assault and harassment and abusing their office to line their own pockets. Albany had earned the reputation as being the most corrupt state government in the country.

I kept the AP list in my computer at work for years and added to it each time another politician was exposed. It came in handy when I wanted to show the sad state of Albany politics.

None of the crimes were worse than those committed by Democrat Sheldon Silver, leader of the state Assembly. He was convicted of steering lucrative state funds to a doctor in exchange for business for his law firm. HIs defense was that he had a right to make a living beyond his work in Albany.

But he was eventually convicted.

His death while in federal custody this week was reported appropriately by the news media.

“ALBANY, N.Y. — Sheldon Silver, the once-indomitable leader of the New York State Assembly whose career and reputation were undone by a 2015 corruption conviction, died on Monday. He was 77.”

- New York Times

At his sentencing, Silver had tearfully apologized for his actions and told the judge he feared he might die in jail. That is exactly what happened this week. It’s hard to feel sympathy for a man who repeatedly abused the system for his own gain. Even after caught, his lengthy appeals assured that he would not serve a full sentence.

His legacy, like so many other people who betrayed the people of New York, will be of a criminal who stained all those in state government. It was good to see his corruption in the first paragraph of his obituary.

Tonight’s event

It has been awhile since I’ve been able to get out and talk about my new book “The Last American Editor.”

I had a couple of book signings this fall and made the rounds at several senior citizen centers. It was great to meet Post-Star readers who had read my columns for years. We had some great give and take.

I’m hoping there will more of the same this evening at the Hudson Falls Library for a discussion on life, newspapers and the new book. I’m asking a lot since temperatures will be approaching single digits for the 7 p.m. start.

But I’m counting on the hearty nature of North Country residents to come through again. I’m also figure there can’t be much else to do on a Wednesday night. I hope to see you there tonight.

Olympic snow lacking

The Winter Olympics will be taking place next week, but I’m not the fan of the Olympics that I used to be. With several of the Olympic sites in China  experiencing drought-like conditions, man-made snow has become the standard for this year in Chinga. There is concern that due to climate change this will become the Olympic standard in the future.

Take a  stand

In this time of constant criticism by politicians, it would be nice if they took a stand before anything happens in Ukraine. If things go badly, Republicans will relentlessly criticize the Biden presidency. If the crisis is averted, there will be silence.

When it comes to war anywhere in the world, shouldn’t we all agree that it is not in the best interest of anyone?

Gerrymandering

The bipartisan committee charged with coming up with a fair and equitable realignment of the voting districts in the state has thrown in the towel.

The concept was to take the responsibility away from the Legislature with an independent commission so that the process would be fair and equitable. The problem was that the bipartisan commission was made up of partisan politicians.

If the process was put in the hands of academics and political scientists a fair result might have been possible. But that will never happen.

Tweet of the Day

Zach Hirsch @zdhirsch

I’ve been working with @ncpr to document and fact-check @RepStefanik @EliseStefanik’s statements about the 2020 presidential election, many of which proved to be untrue. Check out our special report on how the No. 3 Republican in the House rose to power:

northcountrypublicradio.orgSpecial report: How Stefanik won power and support for spreading Trump’s ‘Big Lie’The North Country’s Congresswoman first echoed Trump’s baseless claims in 2020, and continues to undermine trust in U.S. elections into 2022. That position has carried her to GOP leadership.