Turning Over a New Leaf

With Kathy Hochul becoming Governor, New York State is “turning over a new leaf” in its halls of governance.

The first difference I believe we will notice is one of style and tone—there will be no threats or defiant statements.  We got used to that with Andrew Cuomo and, in my view, it was that arrogant side of him that finally brought him down.  Kathy Hochul, Governor, will be the kind of down-to-earth, empathetic and articulate person that made her a good Congresswoman and a respected local elected official here in western New York.

The other aspect of governing that I hope she brings to Albany is a return to allowing the departments and agencies of state government do their work without continual interference from the Governor’s office.  In Andrew Cuomo’s world, virtually all announcements whether they dealt with transportation, health care or the weather, had to first be politically cleared by the Governor’s office.

When you are Governor, the public expects you to name good, qualified people to head up major departments and agencies of the government.   Then they expect that you will give these individuals the ability to implement government policy in the fields to which they are assigned.

Why should nearly every press release dealing with state government action have to be cleared by the Governor’s office?  Why do we need to wait for political vetting when it comes to letting state contracts or fighting a snow storm along the Thruway?  Hopefully, the Hochul Administration will restore some autonomy to state departments and agencies.

I would also hope that her administration will try and return to some sense of sharing governmental initiatives with the legislature.  The Cuomo administration used to “cram-in” all kinds of policy decisions into the state budget so that the legislature would have no time to hold hearings or conduct serious deliberations on them.  It is time to get back to a more deliberative type of government where the legislative representatives of the people can interact with the state’s chief executive.

The new Governor Hochul fortunately has a lot of political experience, and she will also have time to put together a campaign for Governor in 2022.  It won’t be easy because she is from western New York and the politics of the state is always tilted toward downstate.  (The presumptive Republican candidate running for Governor, who has already announced, is from downstate and lives on Long Island.)  However, Kathy Hochul in the past won a statewide primary election for Lieutenant Governor—and I would guess that she is ready to engage New York City Democrats in a race for Governor if she wants to.

I think the next few months will be "fun," if you can call watching state government fun.

I think the next few months will be “fun,” if you can call watching state government fun.   At least it will be interesting—the first western New Yorker as Governor since Grover Cleveland, the first woman Governor of New York ever.  The politics of it all and how it plays out will at least be “captivating.”  Maybe that is a better word. 

Finally, I think we need to give her a chance at stepping up to the job of being Chief Executive of this very diverse and often divisive state.   There is nothing wrong, no matter what your politics, of wishing this fellow western New Yorker  “good luck” as she starts her new duties!

Rolland Kidder

Requiring Accountability

Holding people accountable for their actions is important, especially in politics.

Holding people accountable for their actions is important, especially in politics.  Today there are two “inquiries” going on which are focused on accountability—one in Washington and the other in Albany.

The Washington inquiry relates to what happened on January 6, 2021.  The leadership of the Republican Party has, more-or-less, trashed this effort.  They still fear the power of Donald Trump and are afraid to endorse anything that might lead to his door.  They seem to have forgotten his speech at the Ellipse on the Mall that day firing up the crowd and encouraging them to assault the Capitol.

I know that some look upon Nancy Pelosi as some kind of “ogre” who has only partisan interests at heart.  However, I give her credit for “sticking to her guns” and convening an official inquiry into what happened on that infamous day which occurred last January in our nation’s capital.  In normal times, like after the Watergate break-in, there would have been full bi-partisan support for a special investigative committee.  This time, the Senate Republican leadership said “No” and only two Republican members of the House apparently had the courage to serve on such a panel.

It is too early to tell, but I am hopeful that this Committee can still get to the bottom of what happened that day so that it is forever remembered as a blight on the democratic foundations of our government.  Perhaps the former President will be found to be only one of many responsible for what happened.  But, anyone listening to his speech that day would be hard-pressed to conclude that it had no effect on the mob.

The other inquiry we need to keep our eye on is the one in Albany investigating the Governor’s actions in allegedly withholding information related to how the pandemic affected nursing homes and the recent conclusions of a formal investigation by the Attorney General that he sexually harassed several women.  This kind of thing cannot just be “swept under the rug.”  

At the state level, most of the Republicans (unlike in Washington) are more than ready to investigate and impeach Governor Cuomo.   However, since they are now out of power with a diminished minority in the legislature, it will be up to Democrats to deal with and make a judgment on these serious accusations of misconduct.  Early reactions by the Majority Leader of the Senate and Speaker of the Assembly indicate that the Attorney General’s Report is being taken seriously.  It is also possible that the Governor could resign rather than face impeachment.

Whether at the national or state level, the public will not look kindly on inaction on these matters.  The people are demanding an honest and impartial assessment of what happened.  It so happens that leadership on these issues at both the state and federal level is now in the hands of Democrats.  If they run an unbiased and thorough investigation into what has happened, the public will support the outcome.  If they conduct something else, they will pay for it politically.

The Republicans also face the “Scylla and Charybdis” of public opinion.  If they strive only to investigate a Democrat in Albany, and not one of their own in Washington—public opinion will turn against them.  The public does not want a “white-wash” in either case—just the truth.

Requiring accountability from our elected officials is one of the “checks and balances” of our constitutional form of government.

Rolland Kidder

Driving Long Distance in an Electric Car

Friends of ours have children and grandchildren who live in the New York City area and they often drive there.  They can make it in about 7 hours in their SUV.

Now that everyone is talking about electric cars, I was wondering how long it would take them to make that drive in an electric-driven vehicle (EV)?

Though EV batteries are getting bigger and better, it is currently best to only count on them for 250-300 miles between recharges.  New York City is 360 miles away.  So, it is probably best to think about driving to New York in an EV over two days and not trying to make it a one-day trip.  You wouldn’t want to run out of juice in the Lincoln Tunnel right at the end of your trip.

Currently it takes 8-10 hours using conventional sources of power to “fill-up” an EV.  So that would mean driving east to Binghamton, staying over-night, recharging the car and then heading on into New York the next day.  Who wants to do that?

I bring this up because sometimes people want you to think that the conversion away from gasoline- driven cars will be an easy thing.  It may be easy around a big city where you never drive more than 100 miles per day.  But, around here, things get more complicated.

There are a lot of differences between electrically driven cars and those with internal combustion engines.  An electric car has no big engine or transmission.  It has no exhaust system.  Yet, it does have a battery that weighs 1200 pounds that needs to be constantly refilled, and you could be left stranded.

Someday they might make a battery that will go 1,000 miles between “fill-ups,” or perhaps they will develop a technology to fill a battery in a matter of minutes instead of hours.  But, for the foreseeable future, it looks like long distance trips by electrically-driven cars may be problematic.

Another option might be to have electric cars rented instead of owned.  You could then drive a car to Binghamton, trade it in for a fully charged car and then head on into New York.  It would sort of be like a modern day “Pony Express” where every so many miles you get on a fresh horse in order to keep the mail moving.  But, would people actually adapt to that?  We are used to having our own car.

When you think about it, our gasoline driven cars are really quite efficient.  Where else can you put 90 lbs. of fuel into a 14-gallon tank and have the energy to propel you down a road for about 300 miles?

I don’t know about you, but I think that it is going to be awhile before people start driving electric cars from here to New York City or beyond.  I wouldn’t give up your gasoline car quite yet.

Rolland Kidder 

The other day, early in the morning, as I drove east on I-86, a spectacular vista appeared as I neared Exit 12. The clouds were low, in the distance fog had settled over the Conewango Valley, and yet I could still see the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains off in the distance down past Clarks Corners.

It made me realize again just how beautiful the drive is along I-86, the Southern Tier Expressway.

When it comes to this road, I go way back to the days when it was still a “pipe-dream.” There was a Route 17 Association which for years had been lobbying Albany for a four-lane highway. The old Route 17 was primarily a two-lane road that meandered all the way from Westfield to Harriman, New York down close to the Hudson River. At Binghamton it turned into a four-lane artery but, even here, it was restricted by cross roads and occasional traffic lights. It was a long, slow way to get downstate and to New York City.

What finally changed things was the passage (in large part through the efforts of Senator Robert Kennedy) of the Appalachian Regional Commission Act that brought federal dollars into the area which could be used for infrastructure projects, including highway construction. It took many years but, gradually, the expressway that we now call I-86 began to creep west from Binghamton to Corning, eventually to the shores of Chautauqua Lake and then finally, the last section, to I-90 near Erie.

There were a lot of people who deserve credit for the road but I will mention just one, Bill Hennessy. Bill had grown up in Wellsville and finally became Commissioner of Transportation for the State of New York. It was Bill who saw the “big picture” and wanted the road to be a scenic and spectacular highway as it wound its way through the Southern Tier.

Think of the vistas we now have. There are close-up views of the Allegheny River near Salamanca. There is the incredible view on either side of the Alfred-Almond Pass as you come off the high point of the highway in Allegany County. Then, there is the winding descent eastbound as you come down from the pass over the hill at Howard, just west of Bath—special, “awesome” might be the over-used word.

Then there is probably one of the most spectacular highway views in the East, the Visitor’s Center off the eastbound lane overlooking Chautauqua Lake near Bemus Point. When you drive in, you don’t at first see the Lake but the view of it emerges as you park your car and then it fills the whole horizon. The view is incredible with nearly the whole south basin of the Lake stretched out in front of you.

There is another whole story of how the road got to this particular place—at first planned for being closer to the lake, local opposition pushed the right-of-way further up the hill. (It also gobbled up a lot of John Cheney’s farm, which he wasn’t pleased with.) But, when it got here, you have to give the State DOT engineers (and likely, Bill Hennessy) credit—they saw the view and planned the overlook that we now have.

As visitors and truckers pull into this stop, I can envision that a few of them have said: “Someday, I am going to come back and live in this beautiful place!” The premier vista on Vista Highway, right here in Chautauqua County. It is one of those places that makes you realize that you are lucky to live here.

Rolland Kidder

Two Peas in a Pod?

This is an old saying which defines two people being, in some ways, very much the same.  “Peas in the same pod” were the words recently written by Albany newspaper columnist, Chris Churchill, in an article alleging that the words very much describe similarities between Andrew Cuomo and Donald Trump.

Back in 2016, Churchill opined in a prior article that Donald Trump’s election as President was not good news for Andrew Cuomo who had aspirations for the White House.  “Weary voters in 2020…would be looking for a different personality type.”

“Trump is a bully from Queens,” Churchill wrote at the time.  “New York City through and through. Hotheaded, he tends to yell.  We’re told he’s vindictive.  Cuomo is a bully from Queens.  He’s New York City through and through.  Hotheaded, he tends to yell.  We know he’s vindictive.”

Trump is a bully from Queens, Cuomo is a bully from Queens.  New York City through and through.

Fast-forward to today.  2020 has come and gone and so has Donald Trump’s Presidency.  The gubernatorial election of 2022 in New York is in the offing and Andrew Cuomo is facing allegations of sexual harassment and of hiding facts about nursing home deaths from COVID while he was writing a book lauding his leadership in fighting the pandemic.  Things look grim for Andrew Cuomo right now.

Churchill also makes a comparison of Trump’s accusation of a “witch hunt” being orchestrated by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller over his connections to Russia to Cuomo’s criticism of “politics at its worst” in describing the investigations being coordinated by Attorney General Tish James and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, since both of these public officials could be potential candidates for Governor.

The political approach of Cuomo, according to Susan Lerner of the good-government group Common Cause, is to undermine “faith in governmental checks and balances, just as Trump often did.”

“Two peas in a pod” is, of course, an over-simplification.  Cuomo had a lot of experience in government before becoming Governor, and Trump had none before he became President.  Trump is rich and Cuomo isn’t.  Cuomo articulated an understandable explanation of what was happening at the beginning of the COVID crisis, and Trump didn’t.

But, I think Churchill still has a point to make.  When you come from the “rough and tumble” of an outer borough like Queens, and then you make it to the big time either in Manhattan, the State of New York or the United States itself—you carry a certain chip on your shoulder as being a guy who made it despite all of the obstacles put in your way by old money, old politicians and the enemies you have made along the way.

When in trouble you go on the offensive and attack the veracity of the attackers.  Divert the attention of the public.  Change the spin.  Stall and time will be on your side.  Ultimately, you might still win.  “Two peas in a pod?”  What do you think?

Rolland Kidder

A Memorable Masters

Hideki Matsuyama, 2021 Masters Champion

For me, the final day, the final hole of the Masters Golf Tournament is always spectacle for an emotional outpouring of the best in sport.  This year was no exception.

As he walked toward the 18^th green, this year’s winner was special and the crowd knew it.  Small by Master’s standards because of COVID, the crowd stood, clapped and cheered as Hideki Matsuyama made his way onto the green. 

A novice and amateur 10 years ago, Matsuyama had been the low scoring amateur at this same event.  Now, he was the winner of the tournament and of the Green Jacket—in my view, the most prestigious honor you can receive in the world of golf.

There are four major tournaments a year in professional golf—the U.S. Open, the PGA, the British Open and the Masters.  The Masters is the only major played at the same golf course each year—Augusta National.  If this were baseball, it would be like the World Series being played each year at Yankee Stadium. 

If this were baseball, it would be like the World Series being played each year at Yankee Stadium. 

Augusta is magical.   It is a golf course in the midst of a beautiful garden.  It is a course built and envisioned by Bobby Jones, perhaps the greatest American pioneer in the game of golf.  You feel the spirit of Bobby Jones when you are there.  The players know that this is “holy ground.”  When you tee a ball up at Augusta National, you are treading the same ground as some the great names in sport—names like Jones, Hogan, and Palmer.

We know that Matsuyama’s victory was huge news in Japan.  The sport has been growing in that country since its introduction early in the twentieth century.  Matsuyama is now a hero in his home country, and that is good for the sport everywhere.

When given the Green Jacket, the commentator mentioned that the newest winner at the Masters was from Sendai, Japan.   It brought back a memory of an old friend, Carl, who at age 19 was a waist-gunner on a B-29 which one night in 1945, along with many other planes, firebombed the City of Sendai—a part of the great conflagration that ended World War II.  Though at 12,000 ft., the big bomber was bounced around like a ball by the heat coming from the flames below.  He couldn’t sleep much after that night… the smells of the burning City of Sendai would not leave him.  It wasn’t until he decided to give his life to God and become a minister that Carl began to sleep well again.  Yet, he never forgot his days in the Air Corps and would regularly attend reunions of the 20^th Air Force.  He always wore a B-29 tie clasp.  We sang in a church choir together.  It was the tie-clasp that led to my asking him about the war.

Other than last year’s postponement for six months because of COVID, the only time the Masters has ever been cancelled (or postponed) was for three years (1943-’45) during the Second World War.

If Carl were still around, he would have loved to have seen Hideki Matsuyama walking up that 18^th fairway, toward the green and the Green Jacket.  Two nations, once at war, now at peace with a son of Sendai winning America’s, and probably the world’s, most prestigious trophy in golf.

It doesn’t get any better than that.

Rolland Kidder

Naval Historical Foundation: Brown Water Bluejackets

I was recently asked to participate in this round table discussion on Vietnam Riverine Warfare in the Mekong Delta.  Although lengthy, its quite a fascinating mix of historical and first hand perspectives of the role of the Navy in the Delta region and how they leveraged a unique mix of assets and strategies to keep the waterways safe and navigable.

"This panel of historians and veterans relate their first hand experiences containing an excerpt from Admiral Zumwalt's memoir On Watch describing his innovative approach to riverine operations in Vietnam, as well as vignettes detailing the in-theater experiences of Vice Admiral David Robinson, Captain Richard Krulis, and Lieutenant Rolland Kidder, three veterans of the brown water warfare who discuss the war in greater depth as part of an ongoing webinar series on naval history."

Rolland Kidder

Lowering the Decibel Level

 

I don’t know about you, but I am pleased that pronouncements from the White House have substantially decreased under our newly-elected President.

For the past four years, you could almost count on getting 3 or 4 “tweets” in the early morning hours many of which were attacks or controversial statements which would then dominate the news cycle for the next 24 hours.  It left you feeling out-of-breath.

Some of the “tweets” concerned the usual political targets like the “Democratic Socialists” or “left-wing enemies” like Nancy Pelosi.  But, some were focused on people who had been appointed by the administration itself—think about poor Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General, or even General “Mad Dog” Mattis who had been appointed Defense Secretary with great flourish and flash before falling out of favor.

The culture wars of who was wrong and why, the search for disunion and controversy was continual and constant.

Fast forward to today—boring, old, tight-lipped “Common Joe” Biden.  We have gone from the frying pan into the cold room.  We are finding out again that there is more to life than pronouncements from the White House.

We are finding out again that there is more to life than pronouncements from the White House.

The “truth-be-told” is that I think we are all a bit relieved and appreciative of the change in tone.  All of our problems have not gone away nor have our differences vanished.   But, we are talking more now of how we can attack our common problems instead of each other—getting the country vaccinated and fixing up our crumbling infrastructure. 

I know that the comparison is not completely accurate, but my reading of history takes me back to the years after the end of World War II.  The country was exhausted, out-of-breath.  It had come out of a terrible and costly war.  Rationing and deprivation had driven the home economy for an extended period of time.  People just wanted to take a break, live their lives, and get back together.

In 1952, they would elect as President a rather “ho-hum” quiet man of few words, General Dwight D. Eisenhower.  He would focus on rebuilding the post-war economy, strengthening international agreements, and building a huge new system of Interstate highways.  Home building also flourished.   When asked how he would define America, Eisenhower made the commonplace statement that it was a country where you could have a barbecue in your own backyard.

However you describe the time we are in now, I think we all could agree that after the past four years and the battle against COVID, it is time to take a break from our culture wars.  Pouring kerosene on our differences is emotionally exhausting.  We all may not be able to have a barbecue in our own backyard, but we can work on common challenges together and hope that each and everyone gets a “shot” at the American dream. 

I, for one, am glad that the “decibel level” in our public discourse has been lowered a bit so that we can again focus on our common aspirations as Americans.

Rolland Kidder

Missing the Draft

I am  a U.S. Navy Vietnam veteran, though not entirely by choice.  One reason I joined the Navy is because I didn’t want to get drafted into the Army. 

From just before World War II until 1973, after the Vietnam War, every American male reaching the age of 18 was subject to the draft.  That was the way we provided the manpower for our military.  Had there had been no draft, I may never have chosen to enlist in the Navy.

What the draft did was to throw together Americans from all regions and walks-of-life into the same basket.  I had been raised here, in a relatively sheltered rural, small-town community in Upstate New York.  I had never really gotten to know people from El Paso, Texas; Brooklyn, NY or Tulsa, Oklahoma before serving in the military.  I had never really gotten to know someone who was Jewish or Japanese; really poor or really rich; minimally-educated or better-educated—until I went into the Navy.   The Navy was the mixing-pot that became my way of finding out who I was as an American.

I recently read an article by the columnist David Brooks which stated:  “Real change seems to involve putting bodies from different groups in the same room, on the same team, and in the same neighborhood.  That’s national service programs.”  That is what the draft was—a national service program.  Instead of being in a same group-think, echo chamber—in the military, we got to know and understand each other and experience a true cross-section of America.

“Too much of the ‘I’ and too little of the ‘We.’”

A similar thought was expressed in a video lecture I recently watched by the philosopher/theologian Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of Great Britain.  (Sacks died this past year of cancer.)  Sacks said that the primary problem we have today is:  “Too much of the ‘I’ and too little of the ‘We.’”  He then commented that he thought the greatest description of who Americans were, was to be found in the words:  “We the People.”

The thoughts of both Sacks and Brooks resonate with me.  Neither endorsed a military draft.  But I can attest that it was the draft, my serving in the military with fellow Americans, which significantly broadened my views as a citizen of this country.

Today, one of my great disappointments has been the unfulfilled promise that modern communications and social media would somehow make us more informed citizens with a larger world view.  Instead, it has given us more echo-chambers where we can shut out voices that don’t see things our way.

How, as Brooks described, do we get more people “in the same room?”  I believe we need a mandate of national service.  Let our young people, both men and women, serve for a period of time in the national interest.  Let them choose between a military and civilian option.  But, somehow, we need to expose future generations of Americans to the common purposes and ideals of this country.

We don’t need to call it a “draft.” Call it a “national service requirement” or something else—but we need to get back to it.  We need some kind for program to put us in the same room so that we can begin understanding and talking with each other again.  Somehow, we have lost that along the way.

Rolland Kidder

Sacred Ground

When you first see it, it is just a piece of low ground situated along a fast-flowing, southern river. Then you look about and see the cannons, plaques and memorials and you realize that you are at Pittsburgh Landing on the Tennessee River at Shiloh

You glance down at the brochure sent to you by the National Park Service and there is the old photo taken in 1862 of this place crammed full of steam boats delivering the goods of war… yes, this is that same place.

This is same piece of ground that General Grant and his Army were jammed into on Sunday, April 6th of that year as the Confederate Army nearly pushed his Union forces back into the river in one of the fiercest battles of the American Civil War. Here, the final line of the National forces held, its center led by another General, William Tecumseh Sherman.

The Union would not die this day, and the next day more troops would come in to reinforce the line and begin the counter attack. It was not the beginning of the end; it was more the end of the beginning. The War would go on for 3 more years. But, the momentum had shifted in the West. The Union was not going to go away.

On the recent occasion of visiting here, one of my grandchildren texted me: “Papa why are you there?” I texted back: “Our country almost disintegrated here, but fortunately it didn’t. Being here lets you know what it cost to keep it together.”

“Our country almost disintegrated here, but fortunately it didn’t. Being here lets you know what it cost to keep it together.”

Two days of horrific fighting at Shiloh resulted in over 23,000 casualties of dead, wounded or missing Americans. It was American fighting American. This is sacred ground. Being here gave me the same kind of feeling as when I visited Omaha Beach in Normandy. Big things were being decided here.

The Shiloh Meeting House, Tennesee

Near the center of this national park is a small, rebuilt, hewn log structure… the Shiloh meeting house or church. It is counter intuitive, in a way, that this building gave the battlefield its name. The word “Shiloh” in the Bible can mean “place of peace.”

It reminded me of Lincoln’s words in his Second Inaugural where he struggled with the reasons and purposes behind a Civil War in a nation that read the same Bible and prayed to the same God.

In some ways, this struggle still goes on. We are a diverse and fractious people who are still trying to find our way and live together. Shiloh reminds us of that. It is indeed “sacred ground.”


Rolland Kidder

The Heart of Winter

 

It was cold this week...

It was cold this week, and it reminded me of the poem by Robert Service about the prospector in the Yukon who  “hated the cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell.”

It is true that I don’t like the cold anymore.  Yet, I am also gripped like a “spell” when it comes to experiencing the heart of winter here in Chautauqua County.  The snow falls and covers the land like a blanket.  Everything is covered in white.

Compare that to March (next month) when the snow will start to melt, and we will start to see all of the junk reappear that we forgot to put away last fall, and the snow becomes a brownish color.  I must admit that I like February, the heart of winter, better.

A friend of mine told me what it was like on the ice last week-end in Mayville.  He went fishing and stayed inside his new pop-up tent for a few hours.  When he got ready to go home, there was a blizzard going on and he could barely see shore from where he was on the ice.  Yet, by the time he drove to Jamestown, the snow storm had subsided. 

I said to him:  “Welcome to the Chautauqua Ridge and lake effect snow coming off Lake Erie!”  Lake effect snow—it is a part of what causes us to be caught up in a “spell” up here in the hills this time of year.

Another phenomenon of winter is seeing the woods open up.  In the summer, from our house, you can’t see far down the lake because of the leaves and foliage of the woods.  But now, with just the trees and snow, we can see down the whole length of the bay. 

I have noticed that the dog is barking more.  I think it is related to the fact that he can now see much more of what is going on around him.  Any movement in the woods or a car coming down a far driveway, is picked up by his eyes, perks his ears, stimulates his protective instincts and, though told not to do so, he starts to bark.

There is a peace and solemnity to it all.

His barking is more noticeable, of course, because it interrupts the deep quiet of winter.  The hub-bub of the holidays is over, the pressure is gone to decorate and congregate, and we are now at one with the elements.  There is a peace and solemnity to it all.

And, yes, there is that one, yearly, symbolic action that lets you know you are in the “heart of winter”—the appearance of the jig saw puzzle.  Somehow, we seem to get more of them as we get older, and they sit on the table right in front of the window waiting to be assembled and solved.  Wiling away your day dealing with a jig saw puzzle and looking out on the lake—how does it get any better than that?

Celebrating the heart of winter in Chautauqua County—it is a good place to be!

Rolly Kidder 

   

America’s Saddest Day

 

photo: Leah Millis, Reuters

I have been around this country now for many decades.  Yet, I have never witnessed a sadder day in our history than this past Wednesday when a mob took control of the Unites States Capitol building. It was made especially sad because it was incited and supported by the President of the United States. 

I had turned on the TV early in the afternoon to watch the democratic process of the certification of the Electoral College vote—a traditional event held every four years, usually not controversial, but made so this year because the President had challenged its validity.

President Trump had gone earlier in the day to “pump up his troops” who had gathered on the National Mall.  Promising to march with them to the Capitol (which he didn’t do,) he incited this mob to go to the Capitol building during the Electoral College proceedings in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.  They then marched up Pennsylvania Avenue, attacked the Capitol Building forcibly entering it, and then roamed through the building damaging and desecrating the sacred deliberative chambers of the U.S. Senate and House.  It was the most un-American and anti-democratic action I have ever witnessed in this country.

When asked by President-elect Biden and leaders of his own Party to address his supporters to stop the violence, the President, late in the afternoon, made a short speech claiming the election had been stolen from him, told the mob that he loved them, and then in a half-hearted way asked them to go home.

This is an event which will forever change the face of this country.  This comes in the category of the Pearl Harbor attack or 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in terms of its impact on our country.  The view of our country as a bastion for democracy will be forever impacted. 

We tend to take for granted that Americans will abide by the result of our elections, that we are a nation of laws and not of political strongmen.  That vision was broken this week.

Recently, in this column, I wrote that January 6^th could be the day that President Trump might “fold his tent” and then turn on the Vice President as his final scapegoat, blaming Mike Pence (in his ceremonial post of chairing the certification process) for losing the election.  I never envisioned that, in so doing, he would incite a mob to attack the Nation’s Capitol.

If there is any silver lining, it is that the U.S. Congress went back into session after the events of this tragic day, worked through the night and voted to accept the results of the election.  But, our lives as Americans will be forever changed.   Unlike Pearl Harbor or 9/11—this attack was from within, fomented by a sitting President of the United States.

Rolland Kidder

To the Bitter End

Nearly three years ago, in this column, I discussed the upcoming 2018 New Year and the speculation that if the Mueller investigation were conclusive, Donald Trump’s Presidency could end like that of Richard Nixon’s.  However, I also commented that unlike Nixon: “I can’t envision our current President getting on a helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House and quietly leaving town.”

The Mueller investigation came and went and so did the 2020 election.  Yet, it seems that the observation still has merit—this President is not going to easily leave the White House.

We have now been through recounts and lawsuits in several “battleground” states.  One was Wisconsin.  This was a state that Donald Trump carried by about 20,000 votes in 2016.  He accepted and celebrated the vote… no problem.  However, this year the voters of that state said that they had enough, and President Trump lost the state by about the same margin.  In 2020, the election In Wisconsin was deemed a “fraud” by the President.

Similar accusations were made against other states that he lost, including Georgia where Republican officials ran the election and also watched over two recounts.  Still, the President didn’t believe it, as if to say:  “If I don’t win, there must be some kind of fraud involved.”

Think back over the past several years starting with the crowd at the inauguration being the “biggest ever”… though it wasn’t.  Then there was the President’s advisor, Kellyanne Conway,  inventing the phrase “alternative facts” as she did her best to create a spin over the President’s various falsehoods and misrepresentations.

It reminds me a bit of the country song:  “Call me Cleopatra… cause I’m the Queen of denial.” 

This President cannot mentally accept the fact that he lost the 2020 election.  It reminds me a bit of the country song:  “Call me Cleopatra… cause I’m the Queen of denial.”  Though, in this case, it is Donald Trump, the King, singing the song.

In most of the Presidential elections that I can remember, the loser of the election, by this time had conceded defeat.  The only exception was in 2000 when the vote count was close in Florida and the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the recounting of ballots in that state which gave George W. Bush a 500-vote advantage and the election.

This year, the same Supreme Court declined to hear a “Hail Mary” appeal supported by the President to invalidate the election in five states.  To their credit, our two Republican, western New York Congressmen—Tom Reed and Chris Jacobs—declined to join in that lawsuit.  Other Republican leaders, now including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Senate, have congratulated President-elect Joe Biden.

When will Donald Trump finally “fold his tent” and end this?  It could happen on January 6, 2021, the day that Vice President Pence declares the results of the Electoral College valid. Then, the President, could turn to Pence as his final scapegoat and give up the fight.

Whatever happens, it won’t be pretty...

Whatever happens, it won’t be pretty—and we are likely to see a President leave office under protest with the promise to run again in 2024.  He could decide not to join the new President at the Inauguration Ceremony on Capitol Hill on January 20^th.  In his mind, that might legitimize an election which Donald Trump will only recognize if he can be the winner.

Rolland Kidder

The Dust Settles in Albany

There were hopes in Republican ranks that the Party would pick-up seats in the State Legislature this year.  Now, that the “dust has settled,” we know that their position in the state capitol will be slightly worse.  In addition, after the upcoming reapportionment based on the 2020 census, Republican representation in the legislature could be reduced even more.

Democrats in the Assembly had a super-majority going into the election, but that was not true in the State Senate.  After the election, it now appears that there will be at least 43 Democrats in a State Senate of 63 members also effectively giving the Democratic Party in that house a super-majority.  “Super-majority” means that they would have enough votes to over-ride a Governor’s veto.

Some pundits have alleged that this will mean a “super-liberal” agenda in the state’s capitol.  The Governor, himself a Democrat, does not seem to be much worried about the shift in political power.  He has been around Albany a long time and knows the old adage that “all politics is local,” and that State Senators, no matter what their political affiliation, must first defend and represent the constituency from which they were elected.

In the case of New York State, this means that new Democratic Senators from Upstate and the Hudson Valley will be deemed “marginals”… a designation given to those who had close elections and who could be beaten if they were to become part of a big liberal agenda in the state.  On the other hand, because they gave the Democratic Party a super-majority in the State Senate, they will be in a much stronger position to deliver for their constituents when it comes to state budget items and how taxpayer dollars are spent.

We have now become what is essentially a one-party state, much like California.

I have written in past articles that the decline in the fortunes of the Republican Party in New York State is not a healthy political development.  We have now become what is essentially a one-party state, much like California.  The ultra-conservative, personality-driven brand that the Republican Party has been offering voters has been rejected by the people of the state in more than one election. 

This does not mean that Republicans cannot compete in statewide offices.  There is a “shelf-life” for every elected official, and the public is willing to consider alternatives for Governor and other statewide office holders.  But, the GOP will need to field candidates who represent the broad centrist, middle-of-the-road voter if they expect to succeed in electing people to statewide office. 

Perhaps something like “ranked choice voting” or an “open primary” process should be considered in our State.

The continuing decline of the Republican Party in New York may usher in new concepts to ensure voters have real choices in elections.  Perhaps something like “ranked choice voting” or an “open primary” process where people can select the primary election that they wish to vote in should be considered in our State.

Absent changes like that, it looks like we will be having one party dominance in Albany for the foreseeable future.  Though, for Democrats, this may seem advantageous… that does not mean that it is a good idea.  Competition in politics is a good thing, and we are getting less of it in Albany than at any time I can recall.

Rolland Kidder