Slaying the Dragon
Timothy Snyder, the Yale history professor and author of The New York Times #1 bestseller “On Tyranny,” recently said a number of things we should all take to heart: “It’s horrible that these people [who’ve lost positions and reputations after standing up to Trump] have faced consequences. The rest of us should feel solidarity with them, and try to make it understood that those consequences are worth something, that we hear them — that we will do something about it.
“We have a long tradition of recognizing heroes as the people who resist power. Freedom isn’t a ride you take; it’s something you have to take hold of. A lot of us have to be willing to dissent. When a lot of us dissent, it’s no longer dissent — it’s opposition, and people aren’t so lonely, and more people can have courage. Because you can pick on a hundred people, but it’s a lot harder to pick on a million.”
Right on! There’s strength in numbers, and none in numbness. If all of us with eyes to see, hearts to feel, and hands to join rise up together in opposition, we can slay the dragon.
We’ll do it by organizing, by marching, by protesting, by rallying, by candlelight-vigiling and doorbell-ringing and letter-writing, by speaking loudly and clearly to our government and gently but forcefully to our children — especially those of voting age — and then by going to the polls, en masse but as one, and restoring the United States as the Land of Opportunity rather than the land of opportunism, a nation united and not a nation divided.
After all, we’re the United States. And our motto is “E Pluribus Unum”: “Out of Many, One.”
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
Term Limits? Really?
I read with interest your article about term limits for Saugerties. Mr. Ivino states that term limits was “one of the hottest topics” among voters, but your article indicated his campaign made term limits the number one bullet point on all his campaign literature. Could that have created a confirmation bias? Is his and Mr. Andreassen’s concern really with term limits?
Mr. Ivino states, “if the party doesn’t do a caucus during the nominating convention and they do a regular vote through the committee, the committee is deciding who can and cannot run on the line.” By that reasoning his argument should be focused on the process by which candidates come to the ballot, not how they are selected once nominated. Rather than asserting Saugerties needs term limits, it appears both Mr. Ivino and Mr. Andreassen are dissatisfied, perhaps rightly, with the way the local political parties select their nominees.
Mr. Andreassen states the absence of term limits creates a “monopoly,” (which in that context it appears he means “exclusive possession or control of something,” as defined by Webster’s dictionary) with “the same people running every year.” Again, the party committees determine who runs; if they are supporting the same candidates every year, Mr. Andreassen’s argument lies with the parties and their processes, not the limits of a candidate’s term of office. When a number of different parties field candidates and sometimes cross endorse, and when candidates do not usually run unopposed, it is hard to understand how a monopoly is the problem.
Term limits create an immediate and on-going lame duck situation, disincentivizing both voter and elected official, a situation that undermines our participatory democracy. Mr. Andreassen laments “the same people running every year,” but becoming a local government official is the result of winning a competition, not having everyone who is interested line up to take a turn. People who want to run for office find a way to get on the ballot. After that, the people vote. Anyone can term limit him or herself, should they choose to do so. Elections are about making choices, for both the candidate and the voters.
Mr. Ivino states, “Term limits make you focus on…what your constituents want you to do.” But how does that work when the voters want to re-elect a candidate who has well served his or her community and the voting public? In that situation term limits thwart the people’s will in arbitrarily denying them the right to vote for the candidate they believe best able to meet their needs.
To vote for the candidate of one’s choice is a privilege and a right; it should not be legislated away. The argument for term limits is an attempt to constrain the voters’ choice. Term limits abrogate the people’s authority. Now more than ever we should be paying attention to and participating in our voting process; it provides a means for limiting the terms of our government officials: it’s called an election.
Deidre J. Byrne
Saugerties
Health care facts
It’s quite clear that the President’s State of the Union speech was not factual regarding tax cuts for low and middle income citizens considering that those earning between $10,000 and $20,000 per year average less than $1 per week and those whose incomes are greater than $200,000 per year get an average tax break of $1,327 per week.
Trump also claimed that the U.S. has the best health care in the world. BOGUS, only if you can afford it. According to the National Economic & Social Rights Initiative, “The market-based health insurance system in the United States has caused a human rights crisis that deprives a large number of people (about 32 million) of the healthcare they need” (nesri.com). Most distressing is that more than 100,000 people die each year in the U.S. because of the way the health care system is organized.
The U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate and a lower life expectancy than comparable countries (World Health Organization [WHO]).
The U.S. has the highest rate of maternal mortality among higher-income countries (WHO).
45,000 people die each year because they have no health insurance (American Journal of Public Health).
Around 50 percent of African Americans have no health insurance (Center for American Progress).
Prior to Obamacare, nearly 700,000 families went bankrupt each year paying for their healthcare even though 75 percent were insured (WHO).
The U.S. has fewer doctors and nurses than other high-income countries (WHO).
Hospitals and doctors are disproportionately located in wealthier areas. Public hospitals are closing where they are most needed.
President Trump has declared that he would prefer people from Norway to emigrate to our country. In response, some Norwegians pointed out that they have had universal healthcare since 1912. College is free. They are ranked #1 in the Global Retirement Index. Both public and private sector workers are covered by some kind of pension. In the U.S. “roughly half of corporate employees lack access to an employer sponsored retirement plan. “Why would we want to move to the U.S.” they say.
Ask yourself, if we are the richest country in the world, how come countries poorer than us can have universal healthcare and we can’t. Is it that we aren’t smart enough? Is it too expensive? Or, are some of us unwilling to share.
William Hayes
Saugerties
Antidote to fear is love
Coronavirus is causing an even more widespread epidemic of fear. This fear is real. Fear of death and suffering is a universal human experience, regardless of faith or culture. Fear itself is infectious, and feeds on the unknown and the unseen. This kind of fear will not solve any crisis; it will leave us paralyzed.
How can we roll up our sleeves to help stop the spread of fear? The antidote to fear is love, which will give clear thinking and positive action.
Some will walk into the line of fire and tend to the sick and dying at risk to their own life, perhaps laying down their life as the initial “whistleblower,” Dr. Li Wen Liang, did in Wuhan, China. Many others will spend untold hours on disaster preparation, including those who serve in health care, law enforcement, education, and other areas of public service.
But the rest of us can also act in small or big ways. We can pray for those who suffer from the disease. We can act rationally and prudently to prevent its spread. We can comfort and reassure those who are fearful. If prevention measures prohibits public gathering, we can pick up our mobile devices to reach out to the isolated. We can pray for government leaders instead of criticizing and second-guessing them.
And we can remind one another of these words of Jesus: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life … Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
J. Heinrich Arnold
Pastor, Bruderhof
Rifton
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