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 Feb.22, 2008 |
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Steroids Use? It Pales Next To Civil Liberties’ Threat To the Editor: Perhaps it is symbolic, here in the home of the National pastime, that on Wednesday, Feb. 13, the major news story was about the congressional hearings on drug doping in major league baseball. Major league icon Roger Clemens was pitted against his accuser, and former trainer, Brian McNamee. It was a drama that seemed to captivate all sports fans, as well as the entire nation, considering it was the lead-off story on the nightly news of most major television networks. If one were to live in a vacuum it would seem that this story of the alleged drug use (and perjury) of arguably the greatest pitcher in the history of major league baseball was truly the biggest news story of the day, and maybe of the week, month, or the entire year. But here’s the rub. Not mentioned by the "liberal" media was the vote by the U.S. Senate to overwhelmingly extend the reach of warrantless wiretapping (FISA, the Foreign Intelligence & Surveillance Act) and to grant retroactive immunity to the telecom companies that cooperated. Interestingly both Hillary Clinton and (disappointingly) Barack Obama elected to not vote on this legislation. If you recall, when this story first broke, the news media and the Congress were outraged. I was outraged that the New York Times sat on the story through the 2004 election and only broke the story after Bush had been re-elected. So what was an egregious constitutional (and Orwellian) violation of our civil liberties a year or two ago now became an approved Senate bill on its way to the House for rubberstamping, not even worth mentioning on the news. Proponents argue that the bill will keep us safe from the threat of further terror attacks against the "homeland." Does anyone remember FDR’s words in the depth of The Depression? "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." There has been a steady erosion of American civil liberties since Sept. 11, beginning with the Patriot Act. Thomas Jefferson admonished Americans centuries ago that "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance." Unless we wake up and become the citizens that our founding fathers expected us to be (call, write or e-mail Gillibrand, Schumer, or Clinton), we will lose this greatest gift of liberty and freedom that the world has ever seen. Or just turn the channel to ESPN and open another bag of chips. MICHAEL GECI-BLACK Cherry Valley To the Editor: How lucky we are in Cooperstown to have two outstanding candidates running for the two seats on the village board. Jeff Katz is completing his first term as a trustee and can run on his record. I sat next to Jeff for the past three years at village board meetings and have been on several committees that he has chaired and I can attest to his thoroughness, intelligence, dedication and desire to do everything in his power for the betterment of Cooperstown and his constituents. I respect and trust his judgment. Besides his duties as trustee, he is very much involved in the community in other ways, such as his work as co-director of Cooperstown Concert Series and school activities. We must have Jeff continue his work as a trustee. Jim Vrooman is a relative newcomer to our village. Some long-time Cooperstonians seem to think that is a disadvantage. I disagree. Jim moved to Cooperstown because he saw the type of community in which he wanted to live and raise his children. He recognized the good things about Cooperstown, but he also saw the village with new eyes. He saw that Main Street needed sprucing up and could be made to look more inviting and he and his wife took it upon themselves to devise a plan to do just that. They brought their plan to the trustees and it developed into the Village Pride Committee, which encourages individuals and businesses to adopt a tree on Main Street, plant flowers around it and tend it so that it is kept beautiful. The Vroomans chair that committee and even the Hall of Fame and The Otesaga are participating. It seems there was no one in Cooperstown, either native or Main Street business owner who cared enough to initiate this type of project. Maybe they have lived here too long to notice. Jim did it just as a concerned citizen. He saw a need and did something about it. That is the kind of person that we want and need as a Trustee. Please vote for Jeff Katz and Jim Vrooman on March 18. GRACE KULL Cooperstown To the Editor: I beg to differ with my favorite newspaper editor, Jim Kevlin. Though he pointed out the desirable proximity of Jim Seward to Cooperstown, he failed to explain why this fact would present a serious problem for Don Barber, who will soon formally announce his candidacy for state senator, to keep the needs of Cooperstown people in his mind. Having met Don Barber (and having learned that he has a car in good working condition), I have been assured he is able to reach our town and also can represent us ably in the State Senate. Farmer, small businessman, builder, and six-term supervisor of the Town of Caroline (near Ithaca), Barber has already proven himself as the person who has what it takes to break the log jam in the State Legislature, which keeps us New Yorkers from accomplishing what we need our government to get done. Barber has a long interest in environmental concerns. He is chair of the Tompkins County Council of Governments. He has served in various capacities in other inter-municipal cooperation projects. He knows how to work with others to get the job done. He will advance the cause of public financing of elections (a bill patiently sitting in Speaker Silver’s office) so that we voters, not Big Business, can choose the representatives we want to work for OUR interests and we can get our money’s worth from our tax payments instead of having so much of it go for corporation tax breaks and subsidies. At his fundraiser I attended in Oneonta recently, I was eating his wife’s deviled eggs when she came up to me and said, "Our chickens laid those eggs." Not a bad start, I figure, for a region that needs it agricultural potential revved up, right? HILDA WILCOX Cooperstown   ART TO THE EDITORRill Mischief Underground splashing, a steady hollow gurgle under glassy bubble ice and this winter’s snow. • Uneven at first, then the clear rhythm of the search for downhill. Water always takes the easy way – especially when no one is watching. • A wet glimpse as it flashes in the sunlight winding under the rocks and bank of a roadside ditch or cut in the woods near you from March 10 through April 30. • Times may vary depending on lots of things. MICHAEL WHALING Sharon Springs Feb. 17, 2008 | Letters- Nov. 23, 2007 | Letters- Dec. 14, 2007 | Letters- Dec.21, 2007 | Letters- Jan. 04, 2007 | Letters- Feb.1, 2008 | Letters- Feb. 15, 2008 | Letters- Feb.22, 2008 | Letters- Feb,29, 2008 | | Our Services | Contact Us | Great Links | Return Home | Classified Ads | News Archive | Cooperstown Homes | Calendar -Best Bets | Letters to the Editor | |
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