LETTER from PATSY SMITH Constitution Gives Us The Right To Do What Makes Sense To the Editor: I’m afraid that Mr. deBlieck (Letter to Editor, March 19-20) doesn’t understand what the U.S. Constitution actually says and does. Like the power to declare war and raise taxes, the power to organize and arm militias is explicitly reserved to the Congress of the United States. Don’t believe me? Read Article One. There are no provisions that allow the “entire population to form…
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Opinion - Page 173
FRONT PORCH PERSPECTIVE If Not For A Buttonhook By JIM ATWELL • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Some years ago, I had dinner at Great-Grandpa’s house down in tidewater Maryland. It’s a handsome brick house with dormers, and it used to face a clear view across the fields to broad West River. But realtors overran the area, and the fields filled up with houses for commuters to Washington. And Great-Grandpa’s house is now a restaurant – a high-toned French one, mind you,…
VIEW FROM WEST DAVENPORT Did Anyone, Or Everyone Kill U.S. Pandemic Team? By MIKE ZAGATA • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com A friend of mine commented that he was upset with the president because he had eliminated the Pandemic Response Team (PRT). I didn’t know there was such a thing and I’m guessing that neither did the President. However, the fact that my friend was blaming the President for eliminating it, and then a year or so later having us face a…
LETTER FROM THE GOVERNOR Cuomo’s Daily Updates Show Much Being Done Editor’s Note: Here’s an example of Governor Cuomo’s daily email updates, which underscore how much is being done to combat coronavirus. Do yourself a favor: sign up at: https://now.ny.gov/page/s/coronavirus-updates March 23, 2020 Dear New Yorker, Amid this pandemic, we can’t underestimate the emotional trauma people are facing or underestimate the pain of isolation. It is real. This is not the human condition — not to be comforted, not to…
EDITORIAL Job One, Beat Coronavirus; Job Two, Limit The Harm As a community, we face two tasks. Job One is to tackle the coronavirus threat. As evident in closing schools and colleges, local governments and business, in our adherence to “social distancing,” and in Bassett Hospital’s pro-active agenda, there is community-wide commitment to that. Governor Cuomo, who has been at his best since the crisis loomed, put it well Sunday, March 22, in his interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “In…
Front-Porch Perspective Avast, Maties! Editor’s Note: Only a partial version of Front Porch Perspective was published March 12-13. Here’s the full version. By JIM ATWELL • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Nope, I’m still not sitting on my front porch, laptop frozen to my lap. Maybe after I spot a first crocus, I’ll try writing out there again. Hey, I’m old and a bit ditsy – but not nuts. Meanwhile, last week some whimsical friends did find a way to distract themselves…
LETTER from CHIP NORTHRUP It’s Right To Close Schools; Dreams Park Must Be Next To the Editor: Schools are the absolute best places to transmit airborne diseases, almost as effective as cruise ships. In the average size high school, there are over 750,000 contacts a day at less than 10 feet that can potentially transmit an airborne disease such as the flu or COVID-19. And that does not include making out behind the stadium. The fact that children don’t get…
TENDING THEIR FLOCKS Protect Over-60 Members Who Are At Highest Risk By JOHN A. MACHOLZ • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com In Luke, Jesus calls his followers to be as innocent as doves and as wise as serpents. It is now time for us to be wise as we follow the One who brings hope and healing to our lives and world. I am announcing the cessation of “in person” worship in this synod beginning March 15 and continuing for at least…
LETTER from CINDY FALK, DAN CROWELL CGP Helps Guardsmen Save Historic Resources To the Editor: Earlier this month, the Cooperstown community welcomed a group of soldiers from the 403rd Civil Affairs battalion for their monthly training. The visit is part of an ongoing partnership between this unit and SUNY Oneonta’s Cooperstown Graduate Program. CGP students develop a program about the protection of cultural heritage (think of the Monuments Men during World War II), and the soldiers learn about museum collections…
LETTER from TIMOTHY GIBSON Flippant Headline On Serious Topic To The Editor: I find it unruly that Tom Morgan would headline his column (“Nothing to Fear but Flu Itself”) attached to the coattails of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (a man crippled by the polio virus and consistently polled as one of America’s five greatest Presidents) in an attempt to attract reader attention to a very deadly and communicable virus and at the same time disparaging legitimate responses to it. Mr. Morgan…
