"Danger: Destruction Zone" Letter to the editor Tom Denton

Danger:  Destruction Zone

Some New Yorkers have been fortunate to experience the astounding beauty of the West’s red rock country.  To those who haven’t, the unprecedented decision by Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Zinke to cut back the size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments by  85% and 50%, respectively, might seem a distant blip on the screen of media storms.  Having grown up in Utah, which is blessed with Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, Zions and other natural wonders, I fear our complacency.  The administration’s chopping block is consistent with two themes that have guided its other actions:  trading our future for a volatile and dubious present, and tossing aside humility in favor of strutting bombast.

One visits Arches or Zion and feels one’s insignificance in the face of nature’s power.  We are reminded that our time on earth is limited, and we hope that our children and future generations will share our wonder.  Has Trump ever visited the back country in these lands?  Does the behavior of this real estate developer suggest that he would be awed by what he cannot control?

Our national monuments and parks belong to us, the people.  The breathtaking rock formations, the impossible arches and spires, will last far beyond the lifespan of our churning businesses.  Imagine visiting our beautiful Adirondacks in a decade and seeing trails of oil drilling machinery or torn forests replaced by mining equipment and sludge piles.  Are we willing to say, Stop!  Will we demand a change of direction, away from this treacherous path that destroys an irreplaceable gift to our humanity?

Publishing history:

The River Reporter 2-21-18

Shawangunk Journal  2-22-18

New Paltz Times 2-28-18
                       

"Did Your Rep Take Blood Money From The Gun Lobby? Here Is Something You Can Do" Web opinion piece Ted Millar

Yesterday, as the country was still reeling from the thirtieth mass shooting in the first 45 days of the year, the eighteenth school shooting, I decided to look up how much the Republican, John Faso (NY-19), who represents my district accepted from the National Rifle Associate (NRA) leading up to his 2016 election.

$8,200.


Now, that doesn’t even come close to placing him in the top 20, but it’s still money, and if there’s one thing we know in a post-Buckley vs. Valleo, McCutcheon vs. FEC, Citizens United America, it’s that politicians (mostly Republicans) will contort themselves into pretzels defending positions their wealthy campaign contributors buy their loyalty to support.

According to page 10 of the Indivisible Guide, members of congress (MoC) care about local press and editorials much more than tweets and Facebook posts, so I decided to compose a letter to the editor of my local newspaper, as I have been wont to do myriad times since my representative was elected.

This is what I wrote:

“This week we saw yet another individual who never should have been allowed to obtain a gun walk into another school with another assault rifle and perpetrate the eighteenth school shooting this year–and it’s only February.

“It’s been five years since the horrific massacre in Newtown, CT. Since then, there have been 239 school shootings where more than 400 people have been shot.

“And who’s to blame? Members of Congress who accept obscene amounts of campaign cash from the National Rifle Association, and can only offer “thoughts and prayers.”

“According to Open Secrets, our very own Rep. Faso received $8,200 from the NRA.

“I call on Rep. Faso to publicly condemn the NRA and return that money.

“Only through the repudiation of the gun lobby can we have a chance of ending the terror it is complicit in inflicting.”

Like you, I’m fed up with the “thoughts and prayers.”

So why don’t we all send our elected officials a similar message? Send it to your local newspaper, and make sure you call out your MoC by name as well as the figure she or he received from the gun lobby.

This may just be the tipping point. We can hope. The “Me Too” Movement, the Women’s March, and thousands of organic local protests all over the country indicate progressive change is in the air.

The pressure is on.

According to a piece in Politicususa:

“The NRA is getting scared because, after Parkland, Americans aren’t only angry. They are getting organized and ready to primary pro-NRA Republicans…People are coming together to stand up to them, and that is exactly what the NRA fears most.”

Sergio Rozenblat, the father of a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School sophomore who survived Wednesday’s shooting, appeared on The Last Word With Chris O’Donnell to beg politicians to “stop accepting blood money.”

Only through collective outrage can we expect Congress to listen.

The tide is turning.

Publishing history 

Daily Freeman 2-21-18

"faso's russian egg" Letter to the editor Tom Denton

 Faso’s Russian Egg   

 Do you remember, as a child, playing with those Russian nesting eggs, when you would twist open a large plastic or ceramic egg and find inside another egg? Twist and turn, twist and turn, until you finally reached the tiny egg at the center of the mysterious toy?

Congressman John Faso has laid such an egg on his constituents in the 19^th Congressional district who try to communicate with their representative.   First, he evaded residents for months, offering only “teleTown Halls” where he controlled the callers and questions. Constituents cracked open the egg to get the real rather than the canned Faso.  But visitors to his Kingston office found that when they became too troublesome, the staff refused access to the office and only took written comments in the downstairs lobby.  Cracking open another egg, protesters outside his office were told by apparent security employees of the building that they could not enter it.  Persisting in their demonstrations, constituents most recently twisted another egg to find on a door a notice from the management of Faso’s office building, directing district residents to call a phone number to reach his office or arrange an online meeting.

Constituents continue to crack open the egg to reach the John Faso, who by now is getting smaller and smaller.

Publishing history

            Daily Freeman online, paper           2/12, 2/15

            Shawangunk Journal                       2/15

Sullivan Co. Democrat                     2/8