The View From Fly Creek Ensure Local Politics Are Local Everybody knows that it takes millions of dollars to run for the most important political offices, and even billions (counting PACs and ‘dark money’) to run for president. Although big campaigns can be funded by small donors (under $200 each), as Bernie Sanders has shown, most campaigns depend on large donors (up to and including more or less self-funded billionaire campaigns like those of Trump in 2016, and Tom Steyer…
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VIEW FROM FLY CREEK Let Home Rule Guide Sanctuary Movement By ADRIAN KUZMINSKI • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com As Americans have become dissatisfied with various policies imposed by the federal government, they have sought ingenious new means of resisting them. One strategy, first developed by activists upset with federal immigration policy, was to establish “sanctuary” communities to protect undocumented immigrants, particularly from Central America, who were targeted by the federal government as illegal aliens to be deported. In 1985, San Francisco…
View From Fly Creek Trump Impeachment Reveals Flaws The grounds for impeachment in the Constitution are stated as “treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The House of Representatives has the sole power to bring impeachment, and the Senate, with the Chief Justice presiding, has the sole power to try impeachment. The phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors” is not defined in the Constitution. But, then as now, minor crimes, usually punishable by less than a year in prison, have…
Column Reconsidering Impeachment This writer was happy to see the Democrats initiate a formal investigation into impeaching President Trump. Impeachment is a legitimate Constitutional mechanism to address pressing issues of conduct in office, something we desperately need. Elections are our normal mechanism for sorting out political differences, but there is no way in the long periods between elections to resolve serious tensions like those we have now. In the meantime, we get an endless stream of experts, panelists, commentators and…
LETTER from DICK DOWNEY Affordable Power Needed: For Now, That Means Gas To the Editor: Adrian Kuzminski’s latest editorial, “Refocus $500M From Pipelines To Renewables,” plays three-card monte with reality and the truth. Mr. Kuzminski questions NYSEG’s petition to the Public Service Commission (PSC) for a rate increase. In particular, he objects to the allocation of $203 million (not $500 million as headlined) toward upgrading and expanding capacity of the DeRuyter gas pipeline servicing Oneonta. He states, “To cover costs…
LETTER from ADRIAN KUZMINSKI There Is No Gay Lifestyle, And No Straight Lifestyle To the Editor An earlier column of mine, “Flying the Flag,” generated some strong responses, mostly private. Some friends were outraged, saying that I lent credibility to homophobic attitudes by citing a comment a community member made about “gay lifestyle.” That was not my intent, but it clearly had that effect in too many minds, which I deeply regret. The idea of a “gay lifestyle” is as…
COLUMN VIEW FROM FLY CREEK On Flying The Flag By ADRIAN KUZMINSKI • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com The other day I was chatting with a long-time local business man in Cooperstown who occasionally reads this column. He brought up the recent decision of the Village of Cooperstown to officially fly the Gay Pride flag on Village property. He expressed discomfort with at least some aspects of gay lifestyle, and clearly felt that the village action did not represent him and, by…
COLUMN Home Rule In Constitution, But Limited By ADRIAN KUZMINSKI • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com I’ve been commenting in recent columns on the first two Principles of Sustainable Otsego: Sustainable Living and Economic Independence. In this column, I want to take up the third and last principle: Home Rule. “Home” is where we live with family, friends, and neighbors. Its scale is small enough to sustain in-depth relationships with people and places. Home has the capacity to inspire love, not least…
COLUMN THE VIEW FROM FLY CREEK Do We Give More Than We Take, And Does It Matter? By ADRIAN KUZMINSKI • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com In my last column, I discussed “Sustainable Living” – one of the three principles of Sustainable Otsego. Today I want to consider the second principle, “Economic Independence.” I’ll take up the last principle, “Home Rule,” in a later column. The phrase “economic independence” is bandied about these days by politicians and pundits alike. But what would…
THE VIEW FROM FLY CREEK Only Grassroot Activists Can Save Our Planet By ADRIAN KUZMINSKI • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Sustainable Otsego has been both a social network and political action committee since its founding in 2007. Over that time, it has advanced three principles around which local life could be organized: Sustainable Living. Economic Independence, and Home Rule. Today let me address Sustainable Living; I’ll take up the other two in later columns. Sustainable Living turns out to be a…
