Tuesday April 30, 2024 
Stolen Biden Sign on Veterans Day
We knew there was a chance that the Biden/ Harris sign we put at the end of our property on the Taborton Road would be taken, but it made it through the election season. We Thank our neighbors and those traveling daily on Taborton Road, who may have disagreed with our political leanings but agreed with our freedom to express them. But it was stolen on Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor and respect all military veterans who have served and those who sacrificed their lives protecting the United States and the freedoms guaranteed in the US Constitution and the amendments to the Constitution, including Freedom of Speech.
I am not asking for the sign to be returned, we have more than one, but I do hope whoever took it will think about how stealing a persons right to Free Speech is a way to honor Veterans.
Regina Leonard, Sand Lake
A Tale Of Two Counties, And My License Plates
I had to switch license plates and the registration from one car to another. I happened to be near the Albany County DMV. I had all of my documentation, and hoped this might go somewhat smoothly. Quite wrong. The Albany DMV was in near shut-down mode, with appointments strictly required, even though there were only 1or 2 customers in the office. Someone at the door seemed to mumble that I had to fill out paperwork and then come back and drop it in the mailbox in their lobby, and wait. For how long? She was not interested in answering a lot of questions.
I was frustrated, but on a whim, rushed down to the Rensselaer DMV in downtown-Troy. Inside, the place was on fire with efficiency. Many were in line, but there were about 10 service-windows open simultaneously – quite impressive. It took a little bit of time, but I got everything done, with a friendly, cooperative clerk. He even gave good advice on how to save some registration money if I sell the old clunker quickly.
Things aren’t perfect with any DMV. But on this day, the visit to the Albany office was a waste of time, while the visit to the well-oiled machine in Troy was terrific. The NY motor vehicle procedures are the same in any county. I’m sure Albany would use the Covid problem to explain how things work there now. Poor excuse. Rensselaer faced the same challenge, but found a way to work smartly and keep the taxpayer relatively happy.
Frank Coppa, East Greenbush
Our New Softball Field Can Wait
We find ourselves in very uncertain times. Everything that we know, and the very way that we interact as people is questioned. Just last week our governor shouted an edict that limited personal gatherings, in our own homes, to less than 10 people. Most schools in our state are running at a reduced capacity mostly due to choice, but also out of necessity to “meet covid requirements.” Many people have been forced to work from home, or are stuck on unemployment checks that are rapidly being depleted. Some may never return to work in an office. Some may never return to work at all. Many have taken this time to reflect on what is truly important in their lives, and have spent it catching up on much needed moments with their loved ones. Others have spiraled into anxiety, depression, and fear. No one is sure what tomorrow will bring.
On December 8, the Averill Park School system is presenting a special vote on a capital project that will cost $45 million dollars. Wouldn’t it be prudent to wait until we are at least passed this uncertainty? We have been assured that 75% of the project will be covered by state funding, but over the last 2 years our state has lost almost $20 billion dollars. Any reasonable person can guess that means budget cuts will be coming. I understand that our schools need a little updating, but this is not the time for it. So many among us don’t know who is going to watch our kids tomorrow, how we will heat our homes this winter, or where our next paycheck is coming from.
On December 8, please vote NO on the entire capital project so that our community can regroup after this virus has taken its toll, and we can decide how to proceed with our future. Vote by absentee ballot, or better yet: vote in person, to make sure your voice is heard.
Would you really remortgage your house right now for a renovation?
Steve Valente, Poestenkill
Destructive Distrust
Local elected officials around the country, regardless of party, need to loudly defend their local election processes to counter President Trump’s unsupported claims that widespread voter fraud is the reason he lost his reelection bid to Joe Biden.
The President without apparent basis is creating distrust in our election processes amid his followers. Elections are the foundation of our democracy, and distrust in them is a first step toward democracy’s destruction.
Local officials are more likely to be trusted by local voters of the same party than remote officials in Washington, and, to maintain that trust, local officials ought to speak of election processes in their localities which they know on a first-hand basis. (As an official poll worker [election inspector] in several elections and, separately, an observer of absentee ballots being opened and tallied in an election decided by fewer than 10 votes, I can assert that those voting processes were run fairly, diligently and with both Republican and Democratic participation.)
I urge all local elected officials in Rensselaer County, especially Republican elected officials, to help restore faith in America’s elections by defending the integrity of the election processes and results in their local areas.
This will be a sad time for all Americans if President Trump’s unfounded claims of vote fraud are allowed to stand unchallenged by his fellow Republicans and distrust in our election processes becomes deeply embedded with a large portion of the electorate.
Garrett DeGraff, Averill Park, NY
Chair, Sand Lake Democratic Committee
Democracy is the Vilest Form of Government
If truth has any value over perception in today’s world, President Trump will find it in the courts.
Democrats fear the truth because they have replaced it with a false perception of reality that they have cultivated it the court of public opinion.
They are only able to win cases in the courts of public opinion because they dominate the news media exclusively with false perceptions. Democrats have no need for truth in their democracy as long as the majority of voters have been adequately saturated with false perceptions of reality.
But we are not a democracy. Democrats have spent decades if not centuries trying to convince people that we are a democracy because that is their battlefield.
Our nation’s founders created a republic in order to tame and subdue democracy’s inferior laws of man that inevitably lead to its own demise.
In our republic, it doesn’t matter if the truth is held by only one person among a hundred. The truth is all that matters and always prevails in a republic where the rule of law is superior to the fickle laws of man.
Our Supreme Court was designed to be the ultimate arbiter of truth within our nation’s legal system but it isn’t the only safety net that our nation’s founders created for moments like these. Our nation’s founders gave us protections within the Electoral College system as well.
Our state legislatures are tasked with the duty of choosing the delegates to the Electoral College. They have the ability as well as the codified legal duty to select delegates who will protect the republic from the will of an ignorant majority. It’s a lot like jury nullification but nestled within our legislative bodies.
If this presidential election is not decided favorably for the people who voted to maintain our republic, it will lead to our destruction at the hands of democracy.
There’s good reason why James Madison referred to democracy as the vilest form of government.
David Crawmer, North Greenbush
Highway Dept
I don’t know Owen Goldfarb, but I couldn’t agree more with his letter regarding Toby Chadwick. As a lifelong resident of East Poestenkill, with a short 10 year hiatus with the Marine Corps, I find our roads are better maintained than the county roads. My wife and I are both out pretty early for work and our road, Tymeson Road, is consistently better maintained than the county we roads we travel.
We welcome new additions to our community, but they should know what they are getting as far as service when they move here. Most of us have a stubborn sense of self reliance and have no desire for the town to do what we can do ourselves. The bigger towns, Colonie, Brunswick, etc have much bigger “more expensive” highway departments that pick up leafs, brush,etc. I prefer our lower tax’s and freedom to handle my own problems. It is terrible that a man who has dedicated his working career to our town should be badgered to the point of resignation by one of our elected officials. We all need to know who we are voting for.
Tim Wilkins, Averill Park
“Just One Ask – Wear A Mask”
That’s the latest yellow LED sign message you’ll see traveling West on I-90 through Albany these days. Let’s forget about the grammar and the fact that it’s not a request so we can focus on the political optics of masking and lockdowns for a moment.
Long before COVID-19, there occurred a crisis in Sandy Hook that resulted in the deaths of school children at the hands of a crazed gunman. Governor Cuomo of New York declared the event to be such an emergency that it was necessary to force fast-track gun legislation through the State Assembly.
None of the legislation would have been sufficient to stop that crisis or prevent another just like it but the Governor wanted the political optics of having “done something”.
For the vast majority of people living in the Governor’s base of New York City, his new gun control measures were not even a minor inconvenience. There was no reason for the majority to push back.
But the NRA and other 2nd Amendment groups did push back with legal challenges that failed to stop Governor Cuomo’s aggression against Upstate New York’s constitutionally centered citizens. Now the Governor is engaging in legal action against the NRA for daring to challenge his authority.
Do you see where I’m going here? We have devolved from a constitutionally protected Republic of people born with natural rights, into a land of serfs whose rights have been usurped by the occupant of the royal throne and the mob of his democratic majority.
There is nothing but anecdotal evidence to suggest that masking or locking down have done anything to stop COVID-19 but it does provide the Governor with the political optics that he has “done something”.
People who have defied him have had legal actions taken against them for daring to challenge the Governor’s authority and the political optics were used as a weapon to defeat his Democrat Party’s Republican challengers.
So I have one non-poetic request. Stop bowing to the king.
David Crawmer, Wynantskill