Commentary & Opinion

Over the weekend the planet achieved a new milestone:  A small Siberian town hit temperatures that exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  While that region of the world is noted for its wide range in temperatures, the reading is the highest ever recorded north of the Arctic Circle.

Let’s start out with something positive, the Clinton County Fair Grounds which will not be open for the fair this year has decided to utilize its facilities for a drive-in theater.  Many of us remember those venues in which we had fun as children and even more fun later on. I am pleased that they are demonstrating their creativity, flexibility and a desire to make people happy.  The first night was a resounding success as reported by the local media.  I am hoping to get out soon to see a movie for some fun in a difficult environment.

June 19th is an important date in American history.  For my brother, myself and our families, it is the anniversary of the judicial murder of our parents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, 67 years ago.   What he and I lived through as a six-year old and a ten-year-old back in 1953 never goes away.   [Calling it murder is not hyperbole.   For the facts underlying the reasoning behind this conclusion as well as details of what actually happened in the case, see Meeropol, Michael, “‘A Spy Who Turned His Family In’: Revisiting David Greenglass and the Rosenberg Case,” American Communist History Volume 17, Issue 2 (May 31, 2018) .]

I like mixed nuts. I don’t know how they do it, but someone has figured out the perfect ratio of different kinds of nuts – the best-tasting proportion of Brazil nuts to filberts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews, and peanuts (technically not a tree nut but a legume). I love blindly reaching into a bowl of mixed nuts and coming up with a delightful, satisfying blend of varying flavors, textures, shapes, and sizes.

In Oscar Wilde’s famous novel The Picture of Dorian Grey, a man is beset with a unique curse. Invincible to harm and age, every ailment or injury that befalls him is transferred to a portrait of himself. If he views it, the wounds would then become his own, so he avoids it. Not knowing what his portrait holds, in time, he becomes dangerously unconcerned with what he has become. His inability to see the portrait of his true self is his undoing.

The Governor wants us all to reinvent policing in our own communities. Let’s pull that apart. He wants each separate community to have a conversation about policing and reset everything. Sounds good. Community is a lovely warm word. But I think the reality is a lot different than it sounds.

Americans pride themselves on living in a nation governed by laws, not the whims of those in power.  Those laws are determined by representatives elected by us.

A Bloomberg article reported that Wall Street was warning corporations to gather as much cash as possible as we drift into the second half of the year. The obvious concern is the number of people who are unemployed, and the likely decrease in spending which that will cause even if another pandemic relief package is passed by Congress. This dire warning coincides with many other economist views that the fall, September, October, November and December could be particularly treacherous, and thus, the acquisition of cash could be very important, not only for corporations but individuals. Something more to think about as part of this difficult period.

Some years ago, I wrote an illustrated children’s book about the underground railroad.  In it, a family of slaves seeks refuge with an immigrant Jewish family from Germany who had never intended to serve in the dangerous role of harboring escapees.  Noticing the Jewish family’s Menorah lamp burning brightly in their window one night in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the slave family mistakes the lights for the lights of a safe house beckoning kindly to people running from plantation owners and slave hunters.  Caught in a web of accidental circumstance, fear and suspicion, the story’s four parents are prodded by their four quick thinking children into devising a plan for hiding their friends that night.  The plan works, the two families celebrate Hanukkah together, and the Jewish family helps its new friends escape to freedom the next morning. 

You hear it all the time from natives, expats, experts, know-it-alls, and blowhards: that such-and-such a city that you’re thinking of visiting isn’t what it used to be. It’s a mere shell of its former self. While it was once the coolest, hippest place to visit, where everything was a bargain and life was still authentic and you could sit at a café all day nursing your espresso and no one would bother you and you could blend in easily with the locals, now it has become overrun by tourists. It’s been ruined by the commercialism and gentrification that follows in their wake. There’s no more there there. It’s over. It’s so yesterday, so last year. Don’t go there.

Two weeks ago, George Floyd, an African American man, was asphyxiated when a white Minneapolis police officer pinned his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes 46 seconds.  The police officer has now been charged with murder.  Mr. Floyd’s killing, coming on the heels of the recent deaths of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, ignited protests against racism and police tactics that have broadened to include the nation’s political leadership.

Former north country congressman Bill Owens offers his weekly look at world events. 

Like most Americans, I have been heartbroken by the loss of over 110,000 of our fellow citizens to the coronavirus over the past four months. I have also been outraged and anguished by the continued killings of unarmed black people at the hands of police or vigilantes. 

I stumbled upon a Medium post the other day entitled “The Top 10 Signs You’re Really Cut Out to Be a Writer.” It caught my eye and I thought, sure, why not? So what if I’ve been at this thing for 40 years or so. So what if I’ve written and published literally thousands of articles, essays and reviews. So what if I’ve had two books published with a few more on the way. Isn’t it time, I thought to myself, to find out if I am really cut out for this work? How can I be sure I’ve made the right decision? Why not read the article and find out?

George Floyd was murdered, and he deserves justice.

After practicing law, it’s hard to stick to stereotypes about people, whether the police, the looters, whites, presidents or anyone else. Lawyers see the best and the worst, Mother Teresa and Jack the Ripper. The good and bad aren’t predictable.

After a nearly two-month hiatus, state lawmakers returned to Albany last week to conduct legislative business.  Having wrapped up a limited agenda, they are not expected to return for the remainder of the scheduled session.

President Trump continues his elimination of Inspector Generals and effectively the oversight which they deliver.  The latest firing of the Department of State Inspector General raises a whole new set of concerns because Mr. Pompeo is under investigation for arms sales to Saudi Arabia and for utilization of Department of State employees for personal matters.  He is the latest of the President’s cabinet appointees who has been investigated and several have already resigned.  This is an overall pattern of behavior which reflects a complete distain for the rule of law.

I wanted to talk about something else; the health crisis is so serious and depressing. But it’s so serious because Trump has been unwilling to be part of the solution. He tries to double down, deny the science, ignore the tragedy and let everyone who’s not a Trump supporter sink into bankruptcy or perish, while Trump and his buddies play golf, and the people he put in charge of federal agencies use the pandemic as a smokescreen behind which to destroy all the agencies and the states and the services they provide – from schools to fire, police, safety regulation and health services.

On this federal holiday, millions of Americans have been out of work for two months.