Stefanik should put health of people first
One more nasty comment from candlelight vigil on Jan. 6
The Front Page
Morning Update
Sunday, January 9, 2022
By Ken Tingley
On Friday, Warren County Health Services tallied 320 new cases of Covid-19. That afternoon, Rep. Elise Stefanik tweeted that “The North Country has suffered enough from unconstitutional vaccine mandates.”
If ever there was an example of an out of touch politician, this was it.
On one of the worst days so far in the pandemic, Rep. Stefanik chose to politicize people getting sick.
Politics always comes first with this person.
The 320 cases on Friday were twice what Warren County had ever experienced before. Thirty-one new patients were hospitalized and two were critically ill.
And it is not just Warren County. A new wave of the pandemic is sweeping all across her vast rural district of upstate New York where hospitals are struggling to provide care and begging residents to get vaccinated.
Washington County reported 243 news cases for Thursday and Friday.
Consider the death totals since the pandemic started (Source: New York Times website):
Saratoga County - 277
St. Lawrence County - 161
Jefferson County - 118
Warren County - 109
Washington County - 93
Clinton County - 59
Essex County - 48
Lewis County - 42
Franklin County - 33
And yet, Rep. Stefanik’s is more concerned with scoring political points than preventing deaths.
Brian Mann, an National Public Radio reporter who used to work at North Country Public Radio, called out Stefanik after seeing her tweet.
He is right. If Rep. Stefanik is against vaccine mandates, then she should propose better alternatives that will keep residents, hospital workers and nursing home residents safe. But that should be her priority.
There is a time for politics and there is a time to serve your constituents. This is not a time for politics. Instead of trotting around the country raising money, perhaps Rep. Stefanik should be touring the North Country asking what local health centers and hospitals need from her to reduce the number of Covid-19 cases. Perhaps, she should engage in clear messaging that urges residents to be vaccinated.
When hospitals have been forced to curb services, or businesses have been forced to shut down, it is because the pandemic continues to thrive. Rep. Stefanik may not be the problem, but it would be nice if she tried to find a solution.
Right here in Hometown, USA
After observing the candlelight vigil at Centennial Circle on Thursday evening, I wrote that I saw only one confrontational incident with a man yelling at the group from his Cadillac.
One of the participants told me there was one other incident before I arrived. Here is what Agata Stanford described in a comment to me:
“Yesterday, before your arrival, a car slowed and it's driver shouted at me and my friends that we were Biden's Whores. This hatred of others who are expressing their grief on the anniversary of an egregious attack on the democratic process is pathetic and stems from demented thinking. It has nothing to do with opposition to policy or proposed legislation. It is purely the feeble expression of the malcontent defending the indefensible.”
Thanks to Rotary
On Thursday, I spoke to the folks at the Glens Falls Rotary Club via Zoom. They are an organization that quietly does many good things in our community.
I first spoke to them 23 years ago after I first became editor at The Post-Star. I talked to them about that first speech and many of the accomplishments the newspaper had in helping the community over the years. But I also warned them that the community has become increasingly divided and is facing a crisis.
I’m hoping they might be able to help bring us together.
A conversation in Greenwich
The Greenwich Public Library is hosting a conversation between WAMC radio host Joe Donohue and myself on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
We’ll be talking about life, newspapers, journalism, my book “The Last American Editor” and my new upcoming book.
It should be an interesting evening. Attendance is limited to 25, so make sure you reserve a spot by sending an email to the librarian at: grn-director@sals.edu.
The folks at Battenkill Books will be there as well to provide sales for “The Last American Editor” and I will do a signing afterward.
Because space is limited, attendees must RSVP in advance by sending an email to grn-director@sals.edu
Hudson Falls event
I will also be holding a reading of my book “The Last American Editor” at the Hudson Falls Library on Wednesday, January 26 at 7 p.m.
Looking forward to talking about life, newspapers and the lives of the local people I chronicled.
I also received the Stefanik campaign mailer described as a newspaper, probably paid for by my tax dollars. Stefanik is in the minority party and the record shows she voted against nearly every benefit that she claims she delivered to her constituents. Most of the benefits flowing to people in the North Country are because courageous Democrats; in many cases at huge political costs; wrangled their forces to get these passed. My mom was a public health nurse, and she would be so upset at Stefanik's spouting of lies and misinformation. We would never have controlled polio with folks like her in power. The only thing she seems to care about in her district is keeping the federal money hose pumping for Ft. Drum.
Stefanik's priority is Stefanik. That will never change.