Democratic succession could trigger big Senate losses

President-elect Barack Obama came in on a huge Democratic tide, one that pushed his party within spitting distance of a 60-seat supermajority in the U.S. Senate.

But the Dems now face the prospect of losing three Senate seats in "blue" states within two years.

Obama's own seat in Illinois is now at the heart of a cringe-inducing Democratic scandal.

It's still unclear who will replace New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton -- who is awaiting confirmation as the next Secretary of State.

But that person will certainly face a withering, high-stakes contest against former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani or possibly former Governor George Pataki.

Obama has also chosen Colorado Senator Ken Salazar to serve as Interior Secretary, putting that seat up for grabs in two years.

Even if all three seats flip in 2010, Democrats have some wiggle room left.

If Al Franken wins the Minnesota contest, the Dems will hold an astonishing 58 seats. Along with the two Independents who caucus with the Dems, that's the magic 60-number.

But by 2010, that number may have eroded to just 54 Democrats (assuming a Franken loss).

That's still a solid majority, but Republicans will head toward 2012 with some much-needed momentum.

Caroline Kennedy's challenge

Caroline Kennedy still has some time to convince New Yorkers that she's the right person to replace Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But she has to act fast.

Obviously, Governor Paterson can appoint whomever he chooses. But currently, a Kennedy pick would look like pure dynasty-building.

In her initial forays into the public spotlight, Ms. Kennedy has shown absolutely no reason why she should be The Choice.

She first tried avoiding the media entirely, never a good sign in New York Politics.

Then she set off on an interview tour that revealed no spark, no fresh new thinking, no hidden talent for this sort of thing.

Frankly, she seemed thin-skinned at times -- and not particularly charismatic.

Her lack of political activism in New York has been, well, disappointing.

Put bluntly, Ms. Kennedy needs to wow New York. She needs to make her case clearly, passionately, and unambiguously.

Otherwise, she and her family should move quickly to rescue Governor Paterson from the no-win political conundrum they have created.

Conservatives push back against NY's fat war

The influential Weekly Standard has called out New York Governor David Paterson for trying to make obesity "the new smoking."

"The anti-smoking campaign shows how to turn a private vice requiring tolerance and indulgence into a public offense demanding regulation and official censure," writes essayist Andrew Ferguson. "Paterson is following the campaign step by step."

He also zings the city of Binghamton for banning anti-fat prejudice: "Its new law reinforces the view that obesity, like sex or race, is an unchangeable condition deserving civil rights protection," Ferguson writes.

The governor and the Binghamton city council acted independently, of course, but together they've concocted a perfectly progressive two-pronged approach, a one-two punch, a regulatory pincer movement designed to eliminate, all at once and simultaneously, not only discrimination against the obese but also the obese themselves.

Conservatives have been up in arms about so-called Big Mac taxes for years. But there is a deeper -- and more interesting -- debate at play here.

How should societies react when public health risks emerge, particularly triggered by things like smoking, drug use, drinking, unprotected sex, and gluttony that are "choice" behaviors?

Outright prohibition doesn't seem to work very well. A case in point being our current Drug War.

But the cigarette approach, while controversial, seems pretty effective. Pump up the taxes, ratchet up the "soft" restrictions, and boom.

"The campaign against smoking was progressivism's greatest recent success," Ferguson argues. "Over a span of 20 years, an ancient human weakness once enjoyed by nearly half the population and quietly tolerated by the other half became virtually outlawed."

The benefits of the cigarette campaign are self-evident and there is growing evidence that obesity is a widespread and legitimate "epidemic."

But is a Big Mac comparable to a pack of Marlboros?

I only know one thing: They better not come for my gin and tonic.

When journalists are unpatriotic

During the build-up to the Iraq invasion, a lot of major media outlets were frightened of appearing unpatriotic.

They joined in the jingoistic fervor that led to what many critics (including Republicans and conservatives) have described as one of the major foreign policy blunders in U.S. history.

Now the journalism community is screwing it up again, by going silent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while U.S. soldiers are still dying.

"America’s three broadcast network news divisions have stopped sending full-time correspondents to Iraq," reports the NY Times.

“The war has gone on longer than a lot of news organizations’ ability or appetite to cover it,” said Jane Arraf, a former Baghdad bureau chief for CNN who has remained in Iraq as a contract reporter for The Christian Science Monitor.

Joseph Angotti, a former vice president of NBC News, said he could not recall any other time when all three major broadcast networks lacked correspondents in an active war zone that involved United States forces.

Except, of course, in Afghanistan, where about 30,000 Americans are stationed, and where until recently no American television network, broadcast or cable, maintained a full-time bureau.

Now that's unpatriotic.

Let it blow, let it blow, let it blow...

We spent the last forty-eight hours watching our beloved snow weep away into the gutters, as rain fell across the mountains.

There are a few islands of white -- some trails on Whiteface, the High Peaks -- but let's face it: It's autumn again.

On top of the rain and unseasonable warmth, the wind arrived like a Canadian Pacific freight train, booming against the house, knocking down power lines.

Ugh. Maybe I'll go over to Lake Placid this afternoon and stand in that little pile of snow that they shovel together for the tourists...

Big News, Pt. IV - the "St. Lawrence Valley"

The biggest story of 2008 in this neck of the woods is an easy one: Darrel Aubertine winning his Senate seat...twice in one year! The former Assembyman defeated Republican Will Barclay in February in the most expensive and vicious campaign the North Country has ever seen. The special election was called to replace powerful Senator Jim Wright, who took a job with an energy lobbying firm (he had chaired the Senate Energy committee).

The result was a major upset. The 48th Senate district is overwhelmingly Republican; you have to go back, at least, to the 19th century to find a Democrat in this seat.

Then Aubertine defended it last November, defeating Watertown lawyer David Renzi pretty convincingly. The two campaigns consumed St. Lawrence and Jefferson county politics like nothing I've seen in my (paltry, I know) eight years here.

So here's my quickie list of the other big stories of 2008 in my reporting. Like Brian, I'm leaving out the big statewide stories, like Spitzer, the presidential election, the state deficit, etc.

- wind power fuels big windfalls and deep divisions, from Ellenburg and Burke to Cape Vincent, Hammond, and Galloo island.

- summer concerns over the skyrocketing price of heating oil and natural gas, and the push to find alternative energies in agriculture, like switchgrass and wood pellets.

- the DEC's pending ban on open burning, including burn barrels.

- the International Joint Commission decides to support a water levels plan on the St. Lawrence River that's very similar to the 50 year-old one. Then the IJC does an about-face, and bags that plan for a more environmentally friendly solution.

- the never-ending pressure of ongoing deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan for Fort Drum's 10th Mountain Division. The headquarters is in Iraq now; the 3rd brigade is deploying now to Afghanistan.

- the economic crisis takes its toll on North Country industries, like Corning, General Motors, and tourism.

- passage of the Great Lakes Compact helps preserve fresh water from export.

- the Stanley Cup comes to Ogdensburg!!

Tune in to The 8 O'Clock Hour tomorrow morning for our wrap-up of the news of 2008...

BTW, I put that region name - the St. Lawrence Valley - in quotes because I'm referred to as the St. Lawrence Valley reporter. But "outside the Adirondacks" stretches from Watertown and Fort Drum to the Thousands Islands, St. Lawrence County, Akwesasne - even into Franklin and Clinton counties. Lots of territory to cover!

Caroline Kennedy questioned about Adirondacks

The New York Times ran a fairly unflattering story over the weekend on Caroline Kennedy's bid to serve as the replacement-Senator for Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The piece was based on a lengthy interview Kennedy gave -- part of a new phase of her statewide PR blitz.

During the conversation, the Times' panel of interviewers raised the specter of a political career that would necessitate journeys to the distant North Country.

Specifically, they wondered how Ms. Kennedy's husband would view her travels.

Asked how much of a role her husband, Edwin A. Schlossberg, might take in her political career — on the hustings in Watertown, N.Y., say, or other political way stations in the north country — she hinted that he might be busy elsewhere, given his own career as the head of a prominent design firm. But she said no one could have a more supportive husband.

“The more time I spend with him, the happier I am,” she said.

Ms. Kennedy said she had spent some time in the Catskills and the Adirondacks; when asked her favorite place in the state outside of the city and Long Island, she said, “I like visiting historical sites. I loved visiting the battlefields of Saratoga.”

That's not exactly a deep intimacy with upstate New York.

The Times portrayed Kennedy as occasionally thin-skinned, a trait she would have to lose if she hopes to hold the prized seat.

“Have you guys ever thought about writing for, like, a woman’s magazine or something?” she asked the reporters. “I thought you were the crack political team.”

Ouch.

Some assembly required

So here's a new twist on that timeless image of Dad sitting on the living room floor on Christmas morning trying to cob together a bicycle with all the wrong tools and two left thumbs.

My son, Nicholas, plays a hugely complicated computer game in which the player is a Great Leader, guiding a civilization from the stone age right through to the development of interstellar starships.

One of his presents was an "upgrade" program that allows new technologies, new strategies, and other thinga-ma-jigs which are apparently a must-have evolution of the game.

But when we tried to load the New-and-Improved content, the computer balked. Incompatible, it said. Then it shut the whole program down entirely.

No advice, no suggestions, just -- dark. Game over.

I imagined Hal 2000's glowing red eye staring at me. Sorry, Dad. Why not take a stress pill and lie down?

Naturally, calls to the tech support center went unanswered. While Nicholas wrung his hands, I floated in on-hold limbo, treated to vast amounts of 70s cheese whiz pop music.

The game's tech-support website, meanwhile, proved about as helpful as a tablet of Mayan hieroglyphs.

Out of frustration, I set off into a maze of fan-supported chat rooms, where hordes of 12-year-old boys trade strategies, gossip and (lucky for me) some incredibly helpful advice.

Following their instructions, I surfed around until I found two separate "patches" for the computer program, which I managed somehow to download.

(Confident the entire time that I was introducing a digital virus on par with Ebola, but we appear to have dodged that particular fate.)

When we finally popped the new game disc back in -- voila. It started up with all the modern, glossy zip that Nicholas had been hoping for.

Now he's hard at work leading his civilization into the history books. And like all Dads before me, I'm milking my small victory for all its worth.

Big news! Part III - The Adirondack List

Martha, David and I will be round-tabling the year on Monday, yakking about the biggest stories we covered in 2008. Here's my back-of-the-napkin list for issues that loomed large inside the Adirondack Park.

(Outside the blue line, other things struck me as far bigger: the budget crisis in Albany, for example, and the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is strictly my back-yard line-up.)

The list goes in inverse order, from least important to big-big. Let me know what you think.

10. Sour national economy accelerates lay-offs in Adirondack tourism, manufacturing
9. Fort Ticonderoga hits budget crisis, director resigns
8. Floatplane feud over Lowes Lake sparks APA fight
7. Property tax activists push reform at home and in Albany
6. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand holds House seat for Dems
5. Dodgers great Johnny Podres dies in Port Henry at age 75
4. White-nose syndrome kills bats in Adirondacks
3. North Country prison industry threatened with closure, job cuts
2. Former Assemblyman Chris Ortloff arrested, pleads guilty to child-sex charge
1. Massive conservation deals reshape Adirondack environmental debate.

Happy New Year!

Brian

A mixed Christmas message from Rome

This is the time of year when many North Country families look to Rome for the Pope's message of peace.

And indeed, Pope Benedict XVI sent words of support to “all those who, rather than resigning themselves to the twisted logic of conflict and violence, prefer instead the path of dialogue and negotiation as the means of resolving tensions within each country and finding just and lasting solutions to the conflicts troubling the region.”

In this frightening season -- when the world seems balanced on the edge of a precipice -- that kind of optimism and idealism are greatly appreciated.

But Pope Benedict also chose this holiday season to issue an unprecedented verbal assault on the millions of gays and lesbians in the world, describing homosexuality as a "destruction of God's work".

He also insisted that homosexual inclinations reflect a "more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil".

It strikes me that Pope Benedict can't have it both ways.

He can't in good faith call on the world's peoples to engage in the painful and complex dialogue that will lead to peace, while also condemning out of hand so many souls.

The Pope calls upon Israelis to sit down with Palestinians.

He implores warring nations to reject decades of hatred and to reach beyond their own faiths and doctrines to embrace other people of good will.

I understand that the Roman Catholic church disapproves of homosexality.

But surely people in same-sex relationships -- who have never murdered or bombed or invaded or launched pogroms -- deserve as much respect and love as all those other factions that the Pope embraces.

In this season of hope, Pope Benedict should lead by example, by sitting down with gay and lesbian members of his own church.

He should listen to them with an open mind, acknowledge the challenges and vagaries of the human heart, and extend to them his full grace of love.

That would indeed be a message of peace to the world.

Big News! Part II - The Ortloff Nightmare

We're recapping some of the big stories of the year and today's announcement that former Assemblyman Chris Ortloff has pleaded guilty to a felony child-sex charge certainly makes the list.

Ortloff was a twenty-year veteran in upstate New York politics, an Assemblyman and a tough-on-crime member of the state Parole Board.

He was a member of a dozen different non-profit boards and was also a prominent businessman, author, and former journalist.

The details of his attempts to arrange a sexual liaison with two girls, age 11 and 12, are so revolting and harrowing that even hardened journalists were at a loss to know how to cover the story.

The good news is that the children Ortloff meant to victimize were, in fact, fictional -- a trick crafted by New York state police.

The bad news is that the 61-year-old apparently suggested in his conversations with undercover cops that he had victimized other underage children in the past.

Some of those questions still haven't been sorted out.

It's always heartbreaking when a prominent community leader is exposed as flawed -- case in point, Eliot Spitzer. But this case went beyond all that.

This tale has a David Lynchian, Twin Peaks quality that suggests a deeper kind of predatory evil at work.

Ortloff's sentencing is set for April 23rd. One hopes that the court will heed these words:

"When a convicted sex offender is released, this type of crime has almost no remediation, it has a higher recidivism rate, they tend to do it, and do it again."

Who said that? None other than Chris Ortloff himself, during an interview with WCAX TV in 1995.

Former 10th Mt. Div commander the next Tom Clancy?

Brigadier General Anthony Tata has outed himself as the best-selling author "Aiden Rocke Tata," who pens the "threat" series of military thrillers.

Gen. Tata is the former deputy commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan.

Newsweek says his novel, "Sudden Threat," is "winning rave reviews and calls from film producers."

He told the magazine that royalties from book sales are going to the USO Hospital Services Program for wounded warriors.

Gen. Tata is still active-duty and lives in Alexandria, Va.

"Even today I’m able to give 2000% to my military duties and family," he writes on his website, "and find time to write on the weekends and in the evenings when I’m traveling."

Big News! Part I - From Finch to Follensby

Okay, so maybe it's not The Big Story, but one theme that evolved over the course of 2008 was the fate of the privately-owned Adirondack back-country.

The Nature Conservancy's acquisition of Follensby Pond -- the holy grail of Adirondack conservation efforts for thirty years -- combined with the disposition of the massive Finch, Pruyn lands, literally redefined the playing field.

Even more interesting, for a wonk like me, is the fact that this land deal is so big that it has tendrils and facets everywhere.

The sour economy could affects private efforts to pay for the land deals; and the budget crisis in Albany could cripple the Environmental Protection fund, which is used to buy state forest preserve land.

Meanwhile, the final status of all that real estate -- wilderness? forest preserve? limited timber harvesting? -- will affect dozens of Adirondack towns for...well, forever.

And finally, there's the personal and visceral part of the story. I spent a day trekking in a wilderness bog near Blue Mountain with Nature Conservancy staff -- and another day paddling Follensby.

Those were tastes of pure Adirondack wildness that I'll savor for a long time.

--Brian

Biggest North Country news stories of 2008?

We're reviewing our coverage this year in preparation for a conversation next Monday on The 8 O'Clock Hour about the top stories of 2008. Of course, there's the fall of Eliot Spitzer, and the rise of Governor Paterson. What were the biggest stories affecting your community this year? Let us know by commenting to this post. And tune in next Monday...

Do you trust the firewall?

Over the years, underwriting credits (those non-commercial "ads" that are permissible on public radio) aired on National Public Radio and NCPR have occasionally drawn fire for various reasons. Some listeners decried Walmart's credits on NPR a couple years ago. A couple anti-wind farm folks questioned my independence in reporting on wind power when Maple Ridge wind farm was running credits on NCPR. You can read our underwriting guidelines here.

The latest debate concerns the Department of Homeland Security's credits airing these days on NPR. Read NPR's Ombusman's summary of the situation here.

As a reporter, these situations don't worry me so much. Not because I dismiss the importance of journalistic ethics, independence, and potential conflict of interest. These are of the highest priority here at NCPR and at NPR.

I don't get worried because I know the firewall between the news and underwriting departments is strong and impermeable. Sandy Demarest, our underwriting director, works independently on selling credits. Our on-air announcers (myself included) read them as they appear on the daily program log. I know nothing about the terms or lengths of the contracts (except what the published rates are) or when the credits will air (except when I see them on the log). It would never occur to me to think twice about reporting a story because its target was a station underwriter. And I can't imagine Sandy approaching anyone in news about coverage of a particular story, or about treatment of a particular issues. Jennifer Ludden, NPR's immigration correspondent had a similar reaction:

"Having this funding credit on air would have no bearing on how I handled future stories," said Ludden. "I certainly would have no idea if this particular credit would air in the same show or segment as one of my pieces. More to the point, I would have no problem continuing to report on the program's shortcomings, and the controversy over it."

Still, perception matters. Do you believe in NCPR's, and NPR's, firewall between news and sales? I hope so. It's the bedrock firmament that makes independent journalism possible.

-- David

Democrats and gays

Seen in isolation, President-elect Barack Obama's controversial decision to invite conservative evangelical leader Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation would seem a sideshow, a kerfuffle on the way to history.

The truth is more complicated -- and more significant.

Gays and lesbians make up a significant faction within the Democratic Party. They are a significant voting block, but they're also key fundraisers and activists.

What's more, many progressives see gay rights as the moral equivalent of civil rights.

But other mainline Democratic factions are deeply uncomfortable with the GLBT movement.

Exhibit A: The black community's staunch support helped pass Proposition 8. That's the ballot measure that recently stripped California gays of equal marriage rights.

Exhibit B: New York state Senator Ruben Diaz's decision to road-block a Democratic majority in Albany, largely because he opposes same-sex marriage and other gay rights.

"The Democratic Party should not be a party of only two issues: Abortion and homosexual marriage," Diaz wrote, in a statement issued over the weekend.

Obama's invitation extended to Rick Warren -- a man who compared same-sex marriage to incest and pedophilia -- looks a whole lot like Exhibit C.

It seems to me that Democrats are at a crossroads. They can choose to oppose further gay rights, formally and frankly closing the door on things like gays in the military and marriage rights.

Or they can embrace they idea that people in same-sex relationships are, well, human and therefore (to quote one of our founding documents) "created equal."

But the time when party leaders can have it both ways is ending.

"Obama also said today that he is a 'fierce advocate for equality' for gays," wrote columnist John Cloud last week in Time magazine, "which is — given his opposition to equal marriage rights — simply a lie."

Hamilton County Is Dangerous

As the snow continues to fall here, I came across an appropriate map. These are the places you're most or least likely to die of a natural weather event. Heat is the biggest killer; hence, the South is the most dangerous place to live.

The North Country is pretty average, despite our winters. The eastern Adirondacks, right along the more lonesome stretches of the Northway, looks a little hazardous. And then there's Hamilton County, up there with the desert border regions of the souhtwest and the Rocky Mountains.

So if you're in Hamilton County right now, be careful.

Let it snow! And snow...and snow...

Holy crow it's snowing outside. I'm in Westport, which is usually the banana belt of the Adirondacks, and it's thigh deep in places.

We snowshoed and skied in the forest this morning, then replenished the porch wood pile. But it's a good day to be tucked in and off the roads.

We've seen one major accident already.

A winter storm warning is in effect for much of the North Country, so be safe. And send us those Photo of the Day pictures of your snowy weekend.

Brian

Frost, Nixon, Bush and Shoe

A few days ago, I watched the new film Frost/Nixon. It tells the story of talk show host David Frost's epic interview with disgraced former president Richard Nixon.

It's a brilliant film and the central theme feels completely contemporary: How does a society find closure when a democratically-elected leader turns out to be a disaster?

In the movie, Nixon comes as close as he ever came to a full-bore confession. He acknowledges the fundamental damage he wreaked on America and our civic institutions.

But during the interviews, he also offered that famous assertion of the imperial presidency: "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal."

(You can see clips of the original, devastating interviews on Youtube here.)

The global response to the George Bush-shoe-throwing incident has much the same cathartic feel.

Obviously, the act itself was outrageous: You don't toss objects at American presidents.

But it was the gesture of a frustrated global culture that has no other way of condemning Mr. Bush or calling him to task for his conduct.

The parallels are the more perfect because Mr. Bush -- like Mr. Nixon in his day -- had been working feverishly to shape and manipulate the public response to his leadership.

All of that was eclipsed in a heartbeat.

Both politicians were masters of political symbolism. Both men understood the power of television. Mr. Bush must know that he and that pair of shoes are forever linked.

Some day, Hurricane Katrina, the current economic crisis, and the mismanaged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will have faded into the history books.

But those few seconds of humiliating videotape will remain as a stark expression of the public's disdain.

An open letter to Caroline Kennedy

Dear Ms. Kennedy:

It appears that you've risen to the top of the list to succeed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as New York's next junior Senator. Congratulations. Sincerely.

But before accepting the post, let me encourage you to walk the walk for a week or two.

Take a drive upstate and spend several days back-to-back sitting in on Rotary club luncheons and sitting through award ceremonies at VFW halls.

Meet with six or eight small-town mayors in a day. And then, the morning after, see if you can remember their names -- or fake it well enough to get by.

Because that's the life that awaits you.

The thing is, the United States Senate ain't what it used to be. The patrician, reserved enclave that your father and your uncle first experienced is ancient history.

These days, Senators work the rubber-chicken circuit just like lowly congressmen. In part, that's because Senators Schumer and Clinton redefined the office.

So pull your galoshes out of the closet and get out of New York City and test the politician's life before saying yes.

See if you're comfortable sitting on couches in double-wide trailers. See if you're okay with people feeling like you work for them.

Oh and one other thing.

If you accept the post, you'll face two bruising elections in the next four years -- one of them very likely against former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

I've seen Rudy on the stump. He's one of the best campaigners in the country, as good at naughty as he is at nice.

To beat him, you'll have to split your time between dull-as-dirt fundraisers in New York City and weary campaign whistle stops in places like Gloversville and Plattsburgh.

Truth is, there is absolutely nothing on your resume to suggest that you enjoy that sort of thing, or have any particular knack for it.

So put a toe in the water first. Come join us for a few Methodist church dinners and Chamber of Commerce luncheons. Then decide whether this is the life for you.

Sincerely,

Brian Mann
Political Reporter
North Country Public Radio

A budget is how we tell our story - and this story is Hard Times

State budgets are massive, boring things -- numbers and line-items and political jargon that make even the most tenacious citizen recoil.

But all that fine print released by Governor Paterson on Tuesday is how modern societies set their priorities and articulate their goals.

Schools? Hospitals? Food for the poor? Investment in roads and bridges? In many ways, our spending is more definitive than our laws.

Right now, the story Paterson is telling is one of austerity and retrenchment. "This is the worst fiscal downturn in our economy," he declared yesterday, "since the Great Depression."

Do we have the guts and the creativity to weather hard times? If so, how?

Will it be the old game of Winners and Losers? Or will Governor David Paterson find a way to weave everyone's narratives into that big, bad budget?

My sense right now is that no one quite knows how to react. There's a deeply rooted desire to play the old "I want slightly more than my fair share" game.

But all parties seem to grasp that the coffers are truly empty.

Which means that something like statesmanship is called for as we teeter on the edge of something worse than recession.

How will it all end? No spoilers here. We'll all have to wait until the authors gather in Albany for a final rewrite.

Strange maps are cool

A poster to my Beat Authority music blog turned me on to the really, really cool blog, Strange Maps. The title pretty much covers what it is - a map of a Dutch city in the style of an artist, a map comparing Ukranian voting patterns to imperial Russian borders, a map comparing where people say "soda" or "pop" or "coke", southern Ontario as an elephant. If you like maps, it's a dream come true.

While listening to Brian Mann's story today on rural voting patterns, I found an incredibly cool map comparing southern counties where Obama won and counties of maximum cotton production pre-Civil War. Amazing, and big thanks to the folks at Strange Maps.

-- David

NASCAR & buggy races

For folks who follow rural culture, the sudden skid of the NASCAR circuit is startling. Only a few years ago, the high octane racing world was as iconic as football, as deeply-rooted as soccer moms.

Now, the sport is in dire straits, with plummeting revenue and travails linked to the struggles of the Big Three automakers. Here's the NY Times treatment.

Executives of the Big Three Detroit automakers told Brian France, the Nascar chief executive and chairman, that they planned to cut their investments in the sport sharply in the 2009 racing season.

Since then, Chevrolet has said it is cutting back on advertising and sponsorship deals with 12 tracks. Ford is trimming Nascar spending by 20 percent, and Chrysler by 30 percent.

In Slate, one writer calls for the sport to be "euthanized."

I don't recommend euthanizing NASCAR lightly. This is the sport that gave us sporting icons like Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, and the King, Richard Petty.

I appreciate NASCAR's cutthroat competition, consider it a major sport, and think of the drivers as world-class athletes.

But let's face facts—even if Ford, GM, and Chrysler get the cash they want from the taxpayers, they are going to have to pull back heaps of sponsorship dough from stock-car racing.

The loss of revenue is hitting individual teams as well. This from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

No one is more aware of the downturn than Georgia’s Bill Elliott. The Wood Brothers team that he drives for in the Sprint Cup Series is planning to enter just 12 of 36 races next year due to a lack of sponsorship.

What makes this fascinating is that NASCAR has come to symbolize a type of American automobile that seems to be an endangered species: power and machismo edging out efficiency and eco-friendliness.

In the "Volt" era is there a place for Dale Earnhardt?

I would argue that we actually need NASCAR more than ever. Not as a model for how our commuter vehicles should look, but as a repository for fantasy and wish-fulfillment.

Isn't that part of what sport is for? We dream of golfing like Tiger or dunking like Mike.

Someday, as we putter along in our plug-in hybrids, those NASCAR guzzlers will look as quaint and fascinating as the thoroughbreds and the racing buggies that compete in Saratoga.

Heading down to the inauguration?

A listener and lucky winner of tickets to the Obama Inauguration (via Rep. John McHugh's drawing) is hoping other ticket winners might want to cooperate on traveling to DC together...somehow. A bus, probably? It's greener, could be tons of fun, and so on. Maybe The Beat Authority could put together some road music... This listener reports the congressman's office, rightly, can't give out names, but you all could meet up here in the Inbox and we Inbox insiders could facilitate a meet-up in the real world. I don't have tickets, but that sure would be cool to do. Comment here, or e-mail me: martha@ncpr.org

Senator Kennedy from New York?

It's official - or as close to official as such things get. Caroline Kennedy is campaigning for Governor David Paterson's nod to replace departing Senator Hillary Clinton.

Supporters include NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg. Detractors include Rep. Gary Ackerman, a Queens Democrat, who told the Times Kennedy "has name recognition — but so does J. Lo.”

Read the NYTimes treatment here.

Schumer: Main St. or Wall St. Champion?

We get press releases from Senator Chuck Schumer all the time, and they usually deal with bread-n-butter - sometimes even minute or obscure - hometown issues. Rural economic development, the digital TV transition, sewer and water system overhauls, airport service for Ogdensburg, a new dam in Heuvelton, that sort of thing. He prides himself on being a Main Street guy.

But his home is New York City, and the center of his political power is Wall Street. Yesterday, the New York Times had a pretty bruising, front-page article on Schumer's personal and fundraising ties to the financial giants who are now gobbling up the $900 billion bailout fund. His voting record shows a deep commitment to the deregulation and free market strategies that have us in the financial situation we are today. From the article...

Mr. Schumer...repeatedly took other steps to protect industry players from government oversight and tougher rules, a review of his record shows. Over the years, he has also helped save financial institutions billions of dollars in higher taxes or fees. He succeeded in limiting efforts to regulate credit-rating agencies, for example, sponsored legislation that cut fees paid by Wall Street firms to finance government oversight, pushed to allow banks to have lower capital reserves and called for the revision of regulations to make corporations’ balance sheets more transparent.

It'll be interesting to watch how Schumer votes - and leverages his power on the Senate Banking and Finance Committees - as Congress works to reverse the economic tailspin.

1980 Olympic great Heiden still rankles

I was in New York City over the weekend and stumbled into a gallery in Greenwich Village that was displaying the astonishing work of Norwegian painter Verbjorn Sand.

We got to talking and I mentioned that I live near Lake Placid and the (otherwise uber-charming) Norwegians bristled.

"Oh, we know Lake Placid," one fellow said. "Eric Heiden, right? He beat out Norwegians in 1980 to win his five gold skating medals."

It was all very good-humored, but there was some authentic grudgery going on. I sort of wish Americans cared that much about winter sports...

RFK Jr's 2nd choice? Gillibrand

North Country Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand's name continues to bubble up in the discussion of New York's suddenly available Senate seat.

In New York magazine, Robert F Kennedy Jr. called her his #2 choice.

“I’m urging my cousin Caroline to take it, because I think she would be fantastic,” he says. “I sent her a note; I haven’t heard back from her. She’ll be a huge force in the Senate.”

Any other ideas? “Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand,” he suggests.

What about his ex-brother-in-law, Andrew Cuomo? “I would leave those considerations to Governor Paterson,” Kennedy says.

NPR cutbacks

Yesterday our network, National Public Radio, canceled two shows (Day to Day and News and Notes - neither is part of NCPR's broadcast schedule) , laid off 64 people, and eliminated 21 other jobs.
We don't have the full list of the 34 journalists who are out, yet. NPR's own reporting this morning named some names. (There's a press release there, too.)
This doesn't directly affect NCPR's news department --- none of us is on an NPR salary, though the network does buy freelance reporting from us on a regular basis. We expect that to continue.
There are also questions from listeners and members about where their, your, support for local stations factors in. After all, most member stations had good results in their fall membership drives...so what gives? Look for our e-newsletter, The Listening Post, this afternoon for more. The short version is: your membership dollars support the work of your local station. Your support helps us pay membership dues and program fees to NPR, but we are independent operations.

Drum troops spearhead new Afghanistan strategy

You'll be hearing a lot about the 3rd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division these days. Many of the 4-5,000 troops headed to Afghanistan from Fort Drum starting in January will be charged with protecting the southern entrance to the capital, Kabul. More units will follow. NPR reported on the brigade last night, the NYT last week. The 3rd BCT's public affairs team says it's swamped with requests for coverage. This same brigade spent a year in Afghanistan in 2006-07.

Today's the 3rd BCT's deployment ceremony at Fort Drum. They roll up and stow the brigade flag ("furl" it?) in preparation to unfurl it next month in Afghanistan. It's a busy time right now around post, as thousands of families get everything in order for a year-long separation.

Potsdam man profiled in Esquire

Jason Rohrer's best known in Potsdam for two things: he turned his front lawn into a natural meadow, went to court for it, only to have the DOT unceremoniously mow it down last summer; and he produces the weekly sudoku puzzle in North Country This Week (for which I declare him my eternal nemesis the times when I can't solve it).

But Jason's also a nationally-renowned techie and video game creator. There's a fantastic, fascinating, and compelling article in the latest issue of Esquire about him.

Rohrer's in demand now. He was in our studios the other day to be interviewed for the program To the Best of Our Knowledge (to the best of my knowledge). Hopefully we'll have a profile of him, too, soon. Congrats to Jason.

Breaking: Senate Dems implode...again

Malcolm Smith is facing more friendly fire from the Dem ranks. A hodge-podge deal that seemed to cement his control over the fractious Democratic majority has evaporated.

Here's Danny Hakim's treatment in the NY Times:

That means that Mr. Smith, a Queens Democrat, may not become the president pro tempore of the Senate when the new legislative session begins in January. For that matter, the Senate’s new leader may not even be a Democrat.

Snatching defeat from the...ah, you know the rest.

Update on the Mercer Report - "geo-fencing"

While, as our web guy Dale Hobson suggests, blocking Internet access across borders is very 20th century, the blocking goes both ways. I first heard the term "geo-fencing" from the Mercer Report's executive producer yesterday. I had e-mailed wondering why we Americans can't see his wonderful show's video via YouTube any more. He said "it's geo-fencing" and reported that Canadians can't for example, access Saturday Night Live anymore either. Friends in Montreal and Ottawa confirm. Apparently, it has to do with royalties and rights.
Googling "geo-fencing" produced an incredibly wonky set of responses. But one Toronto blogger said "geo fencing is killing the Interet" back in Nov. 2007. Does anyone know more? Is there any break in the geo fence?

Gillibrand third in Senate poll

(NOTE: This entry includes some corrections posted at 10:10 a.m.

Marist Institute polled New Yorkers to see who we want to fill Hillary Clinton's unexpired Senate term.

Marist found that people are pretty evenly split between Caroline Kennedy and Andrew Cuomo, giving them 25% apiece.

But according to a separate poll by Public Policy Polling, North Country Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand is leading the "dark horse" category with a surprisingly high 6%.

Here's the Washington Post's take:

Members of Congress like Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand or Steve Israel -- who are far less well known statewide -- if better known might be significantly more appealing to New York voters.

Gillibrand edged out Israel and more than doubled the showing of Nassau County executive Tom Suoizzi and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.

The takeaway?

Gillibrand -- who has deep ties to the Democratic Party in New York City and Albany -- has new standing inside the party.

Holding a district once dominated by Republicans has given her centrist credibility and boosted her name recognition.

What will she do with those assets? Stay tuned.

Democrats and corruption

Not satisfied with two election cycles of near-supremacy at the ballot box, Democrats are now pushing to close the "corruption gap."

The effort has already paid-off big in 2008, with the downfall of two high-flying Democratic governors, Eliot Spitzer from New York and Rod Blagojevich from Illinois.

One used a business trip to Washington to hook up with an illegal call-girl ring; the other allegedly tried to auction off a United States Senate seat.

Not bad, not bad. This latest scandal in Illinois even threatens to taint President-elect Barack Obama, a man Blagojevich charmingly refers to on the wiretap repordings as "that motherf*$#(*."

And just to be sure there's plenty of fine-print stuff for the wonks to mull over, we have the ethics probe into House Ways and Means committee chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY).

He's accused of various misdeeds, including a failure to pay taxes, misuse of rent-controlled apartments, and doing favors for the operator of a school named after him.

Here's the Wall Street Journal's treatment:

The New York Democrat was chased down the hall by reporters demanding to know whether he was going to temporarily give up his chairmanship over ethics allegations.

"I don't see what purpose that would serve," Rep. Rangel said. "I don't think reporters should be in the position to remove chairmen, not even temporarily, especially when the reporting is false."

Okay, it's not quite Abramoffian yet, but Democrats have proved that they're fast learners.

Canada in crisis...and no access to The Mercer Report!

A breakdown in international relations for sure. We're still tracking down the five Ws of this story, but international fans of the CBC's Rick Mercer Report are howling, including this fan. There's some bad language from around the world about this at You Tube, but the video is "unavailable in your country."
Same from Mercer's Facebook page. And from the CBC, which invites you to several places where you can't watch the clips.
So -- more on this later, maybe. For now, to those of us close enough to the border, who still get out TV signals the old fashioned way...don't forget to tune in tonight at 8.

Measuring stick

The world will spend years and decades sorting out the historical legacy of the Bush Administration. ProPublica, a relatively new online investigative journalism outfit, has put together a few nifty numbers to measure President Bush.

New eyes on the northern border

The first Predator B drone has arrived in North Dakota. They'll be high above the 49th parallel, watching for people crossing the border illegally.

According to The New York Times, it'll be joined by three others, and it'll fly it's first missions in a month or so. The drones won't be armed -- though they can carry missiles, laser-guided bombs and other weapons.

The drones have been patrolling the U.S.-Mexican border since 2005. Apparently, there are simply enough of the drones to go around now, so Customs and Border Protection are expanding.

North Dakota?

Aubertine to chair Agriculture (UPDATED w/ audio)

North Country Senator Darrel Aubertine has been tapped to chair the Senate Agriculture Committee. His position was the first announced at today’s press conference with leader Malcolm Smith. Aubertine, about to begin his first full term in the Senate, is a life-long dairy farmer from Cape Vincent.

We'll have more on the appointment later today on All Before Five and tomorrow on The 8 O'Clock Hour. But if you want to see a truly bizarre political moment (not unusual for Albany), watch the way Smith abruptly left his own press conference. He later apologized and finished up.

Update: Here's the audio of an interview with Sen. Aubertine yesterday.

Let them eat - cats?

There was an essay last week in the Huffington Post about the sometimes mad foibles of the extremely wealthy that included this, rather bizarre reference to the Adirondacks:

I attended a luncheon at the private Club Colette in Palm Beach a few days ago for feral cats.

There are about 400 of these wild animals on the island and they are treated better than the 4,000 homeless across the bridge.

During the luncheon one wealthy matron got up to make her testimonial. "I have 18,000 acres in the Adirondacks," she said. "I'll fly some of these cats up there in my private jet."

Gee, thanks. That's EXACTLY what we need.

Hat tip to the Adirondack Almanack, who first noticed the reference. Read the original article in HuffPo here.

Last day of deer season...beeyo-bope!

When I was a kid growing up in Alaska my Mom had a morbid fear that one of her kids (there were six of us) would get eaten by a grizzly.

She insisted that we yodel when we were out playing in the woods, so that we wouldn't stumble across an angry and startled bear.

The cry she taught us sounded something like this: "Beeyo-bope!"

I know, I know. Kids generally love it. Grown-ups think it's pretty irritating.

There are no grizzlies in the Adirondacks, thank God, but there are plenty of deer hunters. So I've adapted Mom's yodel for the North Country.

(A friend who hunts near North Creek provided our Thanksgiving dinner this year: venison tenderloin served with cabbage and mashed rutabagas. )

Snow-shoeing in the Giant Mountain Wilderness this weekend, I could hear the rifle cracks echoing down below in the valleys.

Last day of the season, I thought. Bet those folks are pretty eager to get their deer.

Beeyo-bope!

An Adirondack athlete (four-legged, that is) competes in Japan

We recently profiled a Ray Brook couple (check out our story, with pics, here) who raise thoroughbred horses in the Adirondack.

One of their ponies -- Tin Cup Chalice -- has been competing with some of the best race-horses in the U.S., winning huge purses.

Now Chalice is racing in a major Japanese match-up on Sunday. The Adirondack Daily Enterprise had a great write-up of the story this week, which you can read here.

The money quote (sorry, bad pun) comes from Chalice co-owner Scott Van Laer -- who, in addition to raising race horses is a NY state Forest Ranger.

"If we come in the top five, I'll be ecstatic," Vanlaer said with a laugh. "If we win, I'll retire."

North Country man challenges President Obama's American citizenship

(See the update at the bottom)

Bob Schulz from Queensbury -- a self-described tax protester and head of the We the People Foundation -- has taken out full page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune this week.

He's demanding that President-elect Barack Obama produce an original birth certificate to prove that he's an American citizen.

Schulz told the Glens Falls Post-Star that the ads cost "tens of thousands" of dollars. Here's the paper's treatment:

Schulz earlier ran afoul of the federal government by distributing an informational packet detailing how to avoid federal tax withholding on paychecks.

He recently attempted to stop the bailout of Wall Street firms by suing on the grounds that the plan was unconstitutional.

He has also taken on local causes, such as opposing the project to dredge the Hudson River and the ill-fated proposal to create a sewer district in Lake George.

You can view the full ad here. It basically questions whether Obama is "a Natural Born Citizen of the U.S."

"Are you legally eligible to hold the Office of President?"

Claims about Obama's citizenship have been thoroughly debunked -- he was born in Hawaii -- but Schulz's campaign has drawn a lot of interest.

In addition to local press coverage, he's been interviewed by Slate, Politico, and had a treatment by the Associated Press.

Here's our coverage of Mr. Schulz's battles with the IRS.

Update: "Anonymous" argues that I'm wrong to suggest that Mr. Schulz's allegations have been thoroughly debunked. (See his comment below.)

Anonymous is simply wrong. The St. Petersburg times and Politifact pursued this question tirelessly and independently.

Here's what they found:

On June 13, 2008, Obama’s campaign finally released a copy [of his birth certificate]

When the birth certificate arrived from the Obama campaign it confirmed his name as the other documents already showed it.

Still, we took an extra step: We e-mailed it to the Hawaii Department of Health, which maintains such records, to ask if it was real.

“It’s a valid Hawaii state birth certificate,” spokesman Janice Okubo told us.

When conspiracy theories continued to bubble up, about the document being forged, Politifact then asked more questions.

When the official documents were questioned, we went looking for more answers.

We circled back to the Department of Health, had a newsroom colleague bring in her own Hawaii birth certificate to see if it looks the same (it’s identical).

But every answer triggered more questions.

And soon enough, after going to every length possible to confirm the birth certificate’s authenticity, you start asking, what is reasonable here?

Because if this document is forged, then they all are.

If this document is forged, a U.S. senator and his presidential campaign have perpetrated a vast, long-term fraud.

They have done it with conspiring officials at the Hawaii Department of Health, the Cook County (Ill.) Bureau of Vital Statistics, the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois and many other government agencies.

As a journalist -- and a citizen -- that's good enough for me.

--Brian Mann

Remembering former Assemblyman Bob Nortz

Remembrances are pouring in for former North County Assemblyman Bob Nortz, a fixture in Lewis and Jefferson County for years serving from 1976 until 2002. He died in Sarasota Florida following a brief illness.

He last ran successfully against Darrel Aubertine in 2000.

Here's state Sen. Aubertine's statement: “I’d like to express my deepest condolences to his wife Beverly and his family. He will be missed.”

And here's 7 News WWNY-TV's write-up:

Nortz, a native of Lewis County, represented Lewis and Jefferson counties for most of his career.

Late in his tenure, Democrats who controlled the state assembly redrew the lines of his district, cutting out Lewis County.

Nortz, who owned property in Cape Vincent, was able to hold onto the seat, narrowly beating Darrel Aubertine in his last election in 2000.

And here's a remembrance from Rep. John McHugh:

“The North Country lost a great man and public servant today with the death of Bob Nortz. What most of us will remember about Bob was his great attitude and his terrific sense of humor. And, Bob backed that up with an unparalleled passion for service to the people of the North Country. Over the two and a half decades that Bob served in the State Assembly, he led the North Country through some tumultuous times and, without fail, always put the interests of New Yorkers first.

“Bob was one of my first mentors when I entered politics as a State Senate staffer in Albany, and he set the example as to the right reasons to enter politics. Bob cared about people as individuals, and had so much to give – which is what made him such a special man and dedicated servant to the North Country.”

“At this difficult time, my thoughts and prayers are with his wife Beverly and his three sons.”

E.T. Call Obama

We missed an issue in our Fresh Start series, advice for the President-Elect.

ET believers are organizing a Million Fax "march" on Washington to urge Obama to acknowledge "an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race". The faxes are pouring in. Organizers believe some of Obama's cabinet picks are signs they have a place at the table.

This could be a good backdrop for a policy announcement.

A click of the odometer

Today marks my second year here at NCPR. My fellow newsies asked me to write a bit about the first time I came to the North Country.

The back story: I was working at a pubradio station in Salt Lake City and heard about an opening at NCPR. I e-mailed news director Martha Foley and told her I’d be in Burlington, attending a journalism conference. She said I could rent a car and drive to Canton for an interview.

So, in addition to the rubber chicken, exploding pens and other accoutrements of journalistic conferences, I packed a suit and shiny black shoes, too. But I forgot a necktie.

"No worries," I thought. I'll just pick one up between Burlington and Canton. [Insert knowing chuckle here]

After driving three hours across the North Country, I was pretty sure the last thing I'd see was a tie. I rolled into Canton about 15 minutes before my interview and saw a sign for a dry cleaner. This was my only hope. While wire hangers seem to breed in our home closets, neckties practice their reproductive skills at dry cleaners.

I asked the woman behind the counter if she had any ties, she just smiled and motioned for me to follow. She walked into a back room piled high with clothes. She said they were all abandoned and would be donated to Goodwill.

"You can take as many ties as you want."

I took a blue one, and got the job. But now I can’t find my rubber chicken.

Thanks for two great years and, hopefully, many more.

The view from local government: "The only defense we have is litigation"

I interviewed Fred Monroe this week about a plan by North Country counties to sue the Adirondack Park Agency.

Fred is supervisor in Chestertown and heads the Adirondack Local Government Review Board. During our conversation, he described what he views as a profound shift in the region's relationship to Albany.

The political climate is obviously changing.

In the past, Adirondack residents and local governments have seen that their Senator -- Senator [Ron] Stafford and more recently Senator [Betty] Little -- have been our defenders.

When there's been legislation proposed that we feel would be harmful to our residents, our Senators have been able to block that legislation.

But now with the change in Albany to a Democratically-controlled Senate, we think that the stopping power of our representatives -- our Senator, particularly, has been substantially weakened.

It's likely that the only way we can defend ourselves is through litigation. What other recourse do we have?

Our legislators can propose a bill. But that's unlikely to be adopted through the legislature. So the only defense we have is litigation, it seems to us.

That doesn't mean that we can't work together with environmental groups or the APA or the DEC on things we can agree on.

The environmentalists have done this for years. Every time they're unhappy about something they start a lawsuit.

And yet they still seem to have the ear of the DEC and the APA.

I think we should be viewed the same way. If we think an agency is going the wrong direction, we have the right and responsibility to challenge it.

And we don't have any other way to do it.

--Brian Mann -- channeling Fred Monroe, supervisor in Chestertown

Frozen River Blowing Up

Director Courtney Hunt's new film about smuggling people across the frozen St. Lawrence River in Akwesasne is winning big awards - the Sundance Grand Jury prize, and most recently, a Gotham Independent Film award last night (thanks, Brian Mann).

The film was actually shot along the border north of Plattsburgh. But I covered Courtney Hunt when she filmed a short version of Frozen River on the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation several years ago. You can also listen to an interview with her after the full-length came out. And check out the trailer below.

Big congrats to Courtney on her success. But I can't imagine folks in Akwesasne are too thrilled their reputation as a smuggling capital is on the silver screen.

-- David

Those Who Show Up...

I covered last night's meeting in Canton about the next steps in pursuing the elusive "rooftop highway" linking Watertown and Plattsburgh across the North Country. A lot of people asked the DOT how they know residents actually want a new highway in the first place. DOT folks pointed to a newspaper survey, input from lawmakers, but mostly to comments from previous meetings. In other words, show up to make sure you're heard.

75 people showed up in Canton - a big number for a wonky public hearing on a Tuesday night. But according to the Watertown Daily Times, just 20 came to the Watertown hearing. Lowville's was "sparsely attended", with no one commenting on the plan.

The "rooftop highway" is waaayyyy more important to people in St. Lawrence County. Jefferson County already has I-81. Lowville is a quick drive south to Utica or west to Watertown. On the eastern side of the region, Clinton County has its Adirondack Northway.

Malone and Franklin County is in much of the same boat as St. Lawrence - far from an Interstate. Attendance at meetings in Malone tonight and Plattsburgh Thursday will likely bear this out.

The reality is even if all the 162,000 people in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties were in favor of the "rooftop highway", it's hard to imagine them persuading Albany and Washington to fund a $2 billion Interstate, without the active support of the "bookend" counties of the North Country.

UPDATE: 60 people came to the Malone meeting.

What if America's economic crash is regional?

We remember the Great Depression as a national calamity. But some parts of the country were slammed far harder than others.

There were stark differences between urban and rural communities, and sharp contrasts from one region to the next.

What if the same happens this cycle? If Detroit implodes, what happens to Michigan? Does the rest of the country keep writing fat checks?

And what about other parts of the country that once relied on manufacturing for their economic base? Ohio, upstate New York, New Jersey -- if they can't reinvent themselves, how should the nation respond?

It's said that a rising tide lifts all boats, but the last couple of recessions have left some parts of America crippled. This cycle could be even more damaging to vast swaths of the country.

Even in good times, America has seen growing regional disparities between educational and economic attainment.

Two years from now, we could find islands of real prosperity rebuilding in the U.S., surrounded by growing regions of essentially permanent malaise.

And if the recovery is spotty, how will the North Country fare? Opinions? Comment below.

Acorn news in your neighborhood?

I knew this blog would come in handy.
Apparently there's an acorn shortage in some parts of the country. I've already gotten one e-mail, asking whether North Country squirrels face the same trouble. No oak trees in my yard, so I can't offer any anecdotal evidence of my own. What about you all in the more oak-friendly zones? ...along the St. Lawrence, for instance. What's the acorn news? More on missing acorns from The Washington Post.
People in my neighborhood will remember the Christmas party a couple years ago, when a flying squirrel turned up in the tree...the indoors tree, that is. Fascinating to watch, very puzzling, too. How did he get in? The kids (all in their 20s) herded him around the house. It was a slow chase, really; the squirrel didn't seem all that upset. I finally let him out the back door, hoping he could find his way back to his cache.
(As I write, I'm listening to Todd Moe's visit to a root cellar -- a human example of squirreling stuff away for winter...)

The perils of carpet-baggery

When Hillary Clinton parachuted into New York in 2000, few voters had any illusions about her long-term commitment to the state.

We were a stepping stone, possibly to the White House. Supporters were fine with that notion; critics, not so much.

If Clinton had made it to the Oval Office, her coattails would have helped a lot of New Yorkers -- Presidents have a long history of funneling goodies and prestige back to their "home" states.

But Hillary Clinton's wanderings have suddenly taken her in a new direction, one that does little or nothing for people here.

Instead, we lose almost two full terms of seniority; we lose her experience; and we lose the connections that we in the North Country have developed with Clinton and her office.

Hillary Clinton is a unique case, a political personality unlike any America has seen before. And she has wowed even some of her fiercest critics, proving to be a diligent and effective Senator.

But maybe it really is better for voters to choose politicians with roots in their communities. The Glens Falls Post-Star says it's time to make the transition:

"With a new representation from someone who's willing to devote their full attention to improving the lives of New Yorkers, state residents could get a better deal than a former First Lady with her eyes on bigger things."

What do you think? Was Clinton's transience a fair price to pay for her star power?

How to blow a romantic weekend in the Adirondacks

I went up Hurricane on Friday, trudging higher and higher into winter. At the top it was downright lunar.

The fire tower, rimed with ice, looked like something NASA had planted on a distant world.

Just before I reached the summit, two figures emerged from the snow and fog: a young couple from New York City.

He was wearing blue jeans and a puffy windbreaker. She was wearing tennis shoes, a woefully inadequate coat, and a deeply knit brow.

"I don't have any traction at all," she complained.

When I asked how her feet were doing, he answered on her behalf: "They're fine."

That, I thought, is a statement he will regret.

As I descended, I thought about the weird stuff I've seen in the Adirondack back country:

The troupe of middle-aged day-trippers, almost to Marcy Dam, wearing flip-flops and carrying a massive beer cooler.

The guy in his solo canoe on the Oswegatchie, so loaded with gear (including boom-box) that the river was kissing his gunwales.

And then there's the stupid stuff I've pulled, like the time I tried to ski Wright with only one climbing skin. Graceful? Oh, yeah.

(It would have been ugly enough with both skins.)

But the cardinal rule when you plan to do something dopey in the Adirondack woods is don't bring your spouse. And don't -- trust me on this -- do it in the middle of a romantic weekend.

--Brian Mann

Reviewing Hillary's Time in the North Country

After weeks of speculation and backroom dealing, it's official. President-Elect Obama nominated Hillary Clinton as his Sec. of State. Hear the details, and political repercussions this afternoon on AB5 and tomorrow on The 8 O'Clock Hour.

Brian's blogged about how much New York, and especially the North Country, will miss Clinton. It's hard to understate it, don't you think? No one can remember the last time a Senator visited the North Country so often. I searched through our archives and found Hillary launching micro-entrepreneurship in Potsdam, becoming well-versed in military affairs (and eventually landing a seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee) by frequent visits to Fort Drum, making the case in Lake Placid for Democratic leadership in rural areas, and winning bipartisan support here, not in the least simply by showing up. We appreciate attention way up here, right?

As I reflect, I remember more...the Clintons vacationing in the 1000 Islands, Hillary and John McHugh hitting farm country in a show of bipartisanship, Hillary fighting the "passport proposal" (which'll become reality in June if Mr. Obama doesn't reverse course)...

So two questions: As Senator Clinton seems a lock to become Secretary Clinton, what are your memories - and opinions - of her eight years as Senator? Did you ever meet her personally?

And with the names being floated to replace her, do you think the next Democratic Senator from the Empire State will put in as much face time in the North Country as Hillary did? Hard to believe it possible. But who've thought in 2000 we'd be writing this about "the carpetbagger from Arkansas"?

UPDATE: Here's a blogger with a different take on Hillary's time in New York.

--David

Two things...

Two things news folks around the state are watching today:
Hillary Clinton's successor in the Senate. A spokesman says she'll keep her seat until she's confirmed -- if and when. That gives Gov. David Paterson at least a month to consider the options.
Read more here:

Rep. Kirstin Gillibrand is reportedly still on the list.

Second thing -- the governor's Commission on Property Tax Relief is due out with its final report on controlling property taxes in NY. They're the highest in the country, by the way.

New in this space...

Welcome to The In Box -- the NCPR News Department is now officially horning in on Brian Mann's bit of the blogosphere. Or sharing, you could say. Or lightening the load. So watch here for what's happening day to day, thread to thread. You'll see posts from all of us: me, Brian, David Sommerstein, Todd Moe and Jonathan Brown. We'll be figuring out how to share a blog, hoping you'll chime in as well.

--- Martha

Watch this space

This is my final post for Ballot Box - just a quick thanks to everyone who chimed in through this election season and the post-op.

It was huge fun to think out loud (okay, pontificate) at will - and to field such interesting questions and counter-arguments.

We'll be back with a team-blog produced by NCPR's news department asap, so stay tuned.

Over and out.

Did Clinton's rise cost NY billions?

The new York Daily News is reporting that Sen. Hillary Clinton passed up a chance to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee -- one of the most powerful pork-generating posts in Washington.

Instead, according to the Newspaper, she pursued "the more prestigious secretary of state job..."
The report quotes a source in Senate majority leader Harry Reid's office saying, "It's absolutely not true."

But the Daily News insists that the post was offered to Clinton, after aging committee chair Robert Byrd stepped aside.

The increasingly frail Sen. Robert Byrd, 91, recently relinquished the committee's top perch.

Byrd perfected the practice of pouring taxpayer cash into his home state, West Virginia. Committee bosses have tremendous power to assign pork barrel spending projects.

When Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) had the job this decade, his state received double the national per capita spending average.

Given NY's budget woes, having a Senator at the top of Appropriations would be huge.

Perhaps Sen. Chuck Schumer will receive the big prize for his work rebuilding the Democrats' majority status?