Stefanik failed to mention what she really voted for

Adirondack Theater Festival hits home run with musical with energy

By Ken Tingley

Rep. Elise Stefanik voted for the National Defense Authorization Act on Friday, then sent out a 1,207-word press release explaining why.

But nowhere in the press release did she explain why she voted for blocking any executive orders from the president to help combat climate change.

Nowhere in the press release did she explain why she voted against providing time off and travel reimbursement to any member of the military who had to travel out of state for an abortion.

She also voted to eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusions offices at the Pentagon. Apparently, Ms. Stefanik would prefer that the military look primarily like her North Country district - predominantly white.

None of us can be sure if Ms. Stefanik is a white supremacist, or even if she really supports the military - one measure she voted for prevents the Pentagon from buying books with pornographic content. Apparently, Ms. Stefanik has not talked to any of the solider about those lonely winters at Fort Drum.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said, “A military cannot defend themselves if you train them in woke.”

On Saturday, Rep. Stefanik tweeted “House Republicans PASSED the National Defense Authorization Act to take the radicalism and wokeness OUT of our military and protect our national security.”

There’s that word again - “Woke.”

Republicans throw it around like an anvil, although I’m never quite sure what it means. I’ve talked to others who want it defined as well.

The dictionary Meriam-Webster defines “woke” as “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues or racial justice).”

Rep. Stefanik said that will weaken our national defense.

That it will make our country a worse place to live.

I’m confused.

How is being aware of and attentive to issues regarding racial and social justice going to weaken our national defense?

How is it going to make our country a worse place to live?

It seems like we all should be a bit more “woke.”

Stefanik said in her July 15 tweet that these policies are destroying our country.

She needs to provide some examples, please.

Stefanik on redistricting

On Thursday, a mid level appeals court in New York ordered new congressional lines be drawn for the state.

“When Democrats can’t compete, they cheat,” Rep. Elise Stefanik said in statement. “Democrats want to rig the congressional district lines in their favor.”

Actually, the lines are already in their favor because there are twice as many Democrats in the state than Republicans.

She is correct that Democrats in charge of the Legislature did try to gerrymander the congressional districts overwhelmingly in their favor. That is never acceptable, although Republicans do it regularly in red states as well.

The ruling this week was not made by the Legislature, but by court ruling. You can disagree with the ruling, but that is not Democrats cheating.

The Independent Redistricting Commission, a body made up of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, failed to reach a consensus for the amps in 2022. So the Legislature stepped in and did it, only to have the court throw out those maps for more Republican friendly maps.

As long as there is gerrymandering, the maps will never be fair.

Musical impact

Adirondack Theater Festival touted “Pump Up the Volume”  as its biggest musical ever with 12 different players in the cast.

While it is still in development and the cast had just four days to prepare, if audience reaction means anything, this musical will eventually find a big audience.

The musical is based on the Christian Slater movie of the same name from 1990. This was a production with energy that never quit.