from MICHAEL STEIN

President In Clear, But Allies

Spouted Documented Lies

To the Editor:

I feel obligated to respond to just a few pearls of wisdom promulgated by Otsego County Republican Chairperson Vince Casale in his recent column, “Was Justice Achieved?”

Does anyone else see the irony of Mr. Casale decrying the horrors of “gotcha politics” while simultaneously extolling the virtues of Roger Stone, his dapper prom date at the most recent Otsego County Republican dinner?

Stone is after all, a self-professed and self-promoted “dirty trickster” so it’s a little hard to generate a whole lot of sympathy for him.

Vince, we may have indicted a ham sandwich as you said, but by the time the justice system is finished with Stone we can only hope that he’s finely ground sausage. For years he’s been emblematic of the type of “gotcha politics” Vince decries, and he deserves nothing less than the book being thrown at him.

I was also interested in Vince’s claim of a “smear campaign” being perpetrated by the Democrats. Last time I checked, we had documented proof of extensive Russian meddling in our election.

Is it a smear campaign to suggest that this matter be investigated and the guilty held to account? Or perhaps Vince would have been happy for us to have left this investigation to the President, and his ever-changing cast of Cabinet flunkies.

Absent the Special Prosecutor, I’m sure we could have counted on President Trump to conduct a totally thorough investigation, in between regaling Russian operatives in the Oval Office and playing footsie with Putin at gatherings of world leaders.

Finally, it’s interesting that the question posed regarding so-called “Democratic overreach” was never answered in the article. I’m not sure if that’s because Vince didn’t have an answer or if his response was a victim of the editing process.

Either way, I would suggest that seeking explanations from people who have repeatedly spouted documented lies to the FBI, Congress and the American people regarding contacts with representatives of a foreign government, even after that government had been proven guilty of meddling in our election, is not overreach. It’s Democracy.

Vince, I agree that AG Barr has to make a responsible decision on what needs to be released to the American people. One can only hope that he does so within his role as defender of the Constitution and not of a President who has repeatedly lied to the American people.

MICHAEL STEIN
Cooperstown