Mystery foot rattles Tupper Lake

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise is reporting that folks in Tupper Lake were afraid that they'd found a child's foot on the playground on a softball field at LP Quinn Elementary school.

The good news: It wasn't a child. The bad news: It was the hind leg of a young black bear.

Tupper Lake Central School District Superintendent Seth McGowan said the foot was mostly just bones with a little flesh attached. In the dark, the remains could have easily looked like a human foot, he said.

Yikes.

Recession, and payback, hit Senate GOP

Here's a press release we got from Republican Senator Joe Griffo, who serves Lewis and parts of St. Lawrence and Oneida counties:

Senator Joseph A. Griffo (R-I-C, Rome) announced that effectively immediately, his satellite offices in Massena and Lowville have been closed due to cutbacks in his State Senate legislative allotment and resources. North Country citizens looking to contact him to discuss state-related issues or to make an appointment can call a toll-free number that will be directed to his remaining district office in Utica. That number is 1-800-226-1558.

I suppose the recession has something to do with it. But after decades in the majority, Senate Republicans are feeling the pinch of minority status. Of course, this is what Senate Democrats had to deal with for all those years, and you know politicians rarely skimp on payback.

Griffo shutters North Country offices

State Senator Joe Griffo says cutbacks in state funding for Republican lawmakers are forcing him to close two North Country satellite offices.

Massena and Lowville will shut down immediately. Only one district office remains open, in Utica.

Constituents wanting to reach Sen. Griffo can call a toll free number: 1-800-226-1558.

The move follows the GOP's loss of their Senate majority. The minority party historically has received less money for staff and offices.

Specter and the downward spiral

Republicans face a systemic dilemma that in some ways parallels the Democratic conundrum of the mid 1990s.

In those years -- thanks in part to Republican redistricting efforts -- moderate Democrats were being picked off. The surviving party was smaller and more ideological.

When Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) emerged as the House minority leader, it seemed possible that the Democratic movement would flounder toward the margins.

But Pelosi and Democratic leaders in the Senate somehow resisted the temptation to follow their more purist base.

They chose pragmatists like Rahm Emanuel (in the House) and Chuck Schumer (in the Senate) to lead their rebuilding effort.

Even former Vermont Governor Howard Dean -- at first seen as a firebrand -- hunkered down and got busy doing the nuts-and-bolts work of erecting a 50-state political movement.

The results were visible here in New York's 20th congressional district, where first Kirsten Gillibrand and then Scott Murphy laid claim to a seat that had been cozily Republican.

This week's defection of Senator Arlen Specter from the GOP is more evidence that the conservative movement is trying a different and far more perilous path.

With each passing year, the Republican Party is a smaller and more fervently ideological organization. (Rush Limbaugh describes this as a healthy "winnowing" process.)

It appears that the temptations of purity are simply too great. The GOP could lose as many as 4 additional U.S. Senators in 2010, as moderates are ostracized or weakened by primary challenges. More defections are possible, perhaps likely.

(Limbaugh seems particularly eager to drive Sen. John McCain out of the party.)

Where might the downward spiral end? Ask a Whig. Or a Federalist...

Going secular?

I've had some interesting conversations the last few weeks sparked by my post about religious remembrance services in Binghamton.

I suggested that maybe it's time for more secular-minded people, like myself, to develop parallel rituals -- ones that celebrate community, offer comfort in times of grief -- outside the context of religious faith.

One of my clergy friends emailed me a link to this article in the New York Times, about atheists who are speaking more publicly about their views.

“It’s not about carrying banners or protesting,” said Herb Silverman, a math professor at the College of Charleston who founded the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, which has about 150 members on the coast of the Carolinas. “The most important thing is coming out of the closet.”

Two recent studies suggest that the number of non-religious Americans is growing fast. The massive ARIS study found that in 1990 86% of us described ourselves as Christian. The percentage is now 76%.

(In demographic terms, a 1% loss per year represents a revolutionary change...)

"The challenge to Christianity in the U.S. does not come from other religions," the authors conclude, "but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion."

A Pew study released earlier this month found a huge amount of churn within religious communities, but concluded, "The category of people who are unaffiliated with any particular religion has grown more rapidly than any other religious group in recent decades."

The question posed by my religious friends is this: Where does morality come from if more of us (especially more young people) don't get their values from church? Or synagogue? Or mosque?

A lot of Christians, in particular, are sincerely worried about a creeping moral decay in American society.

My answer, briefly, is two-fold: First, I see little evidence that church-goers are more or less moral than non-church-goers. In ethical terms, my secular friends and my "believer" friends are indistinguishable.

Second, I think our society has produced a new menu of moral and ethical resources. From poets to ethicists to philosophers, the secular options are beautifully rich.

I found this passage the other day in Joseph Campbell's "Creative Mythology."

[I]n the fields of literature, secular philosophy, and the arts, a totally new type of non-theological revelation, of great scope, great depth, and infinite variety, has become the actual spiritual guide and structuring force of the civilization.

So what do you think? Are we becoming more secular? Does a more secular future mean a less moral future? Is America still a Christian (or Judeo-Christian) nation? How will American culture accomadate a new, more outspoken "non-faith" community?

Conservatives process Tedisco loss

Another interesting response to Jim Tedisco's humiliating loss in the 20th race is featured on the conservative website newmajority.com.

It's David Frum's brainchild, but the writer is Tom Qualtere, who has connections in the North Country.

Here's the nut of his argument: About a quarter of registered Republicans are voting for Democrats on a regular basis.

And that's enough to destroy a conservative movement that had engineered itself (in some cases through congressional redistricting) for narrow, 51% majorities.

Voters who are still registered Republican have simply stopped voting with their party in recent years and cannot even be convinced to come home for strongly assumed “safe candidates” like McCain and Tedisco. In fact, 25% of registered Republicans in NY-20 voted for Barack Obama while 26% claim they would support Andrew Cuomo over Rudy Giuliani for Governor in 2010.

It is because of these lapsed Republicans, in New York and elsewhere, that Washington looks the way it does right now. Yes, these “Obamacans” (or whatever we call them) should be focus-grouped and their reasoning thoroughly analyzed. And yes, the Bush-to-Obama transition has breathed vibrant new vitality into the Democratic Party that has not yet subsided. But beyond NY-20 and George Bush and Barack Obama lays a party and a movement in a coma, dying on life support, in emergency need of new doctors and new treatments.

Qualtere lavishes scorn on the national Republican committees who backed (and shaped) Tedisco's campaign.

"While we hold therapeutic tea parties and keep looking to the past for inspiration and much-needed energy," he concludes, "liberal Democrats are winning once-unthinkable elections."

In our backyard, the power grid struggle writ small

NPR is airing an interesting series this week on the future of the nation' power grid. President Obama has allocated several billion dollars to beginning the construction of a "smart grid" that would use electricity more efficiently and make it easier to incorporate clean, but intermittent, power sources like solar and wind into the grid.

When you look around the North Country, you can see how challenging and divisive this initiative will be. Remember the Power Line battle in St. Lawrence County in the 1980s? Look at the bitter energy being invested in every wind power project in the region. A smart grid ain't gonna be easy.

Everyone likens the smart grid initiative to the creation of the Interstate highway system in the 1950s. But that was when the federal government could just plow projects ahead, with little local resistance and even fewer lawsuits. Those days are gone.

For a real flavor of how complex this issue is, listen to the NPR stories, and then read the comments.

Scozzafava rises to minority leadership

Dede Scozzafava has been in the state Assembly for almost a decade now. The Gouverneur resident benefitted from redistricting in 2001 when St. Lawrence County's Democratic pockets were strung together in the 118th "River" district (now held by Dem. Addie Russell). Scozzafava's 122nd "Hills" district is solidly Republican; Scozzafava's popular and often runs unopposed.

Yesterday, Scozzafava was awarded the position of Minority Leader Pro Tempore, the woman who carries floor debates forward for the Assembly Republicans. Granted the GOP is very much in the minority in the chamber, but Scozzafava's elevation puts a North Country rep. in a power position.

In her press release, Scozzafava renewed her reputation of bipartisanship and independent thinking (she's a Republican who opposes the death penalty and favors same-sex marriage).

“We cannot achieve results for the people of our state if we continue to have an ‘us versus them, Democrat versus Republican’ mentality. This type of partisan bickering will only lead to further gridlock in Albany. It would be naïve to think we won’t have disagreements, but when we do, I challenge all of my colleagues to engage in professional, courteous debates."

Was Tedisco the problem?

The circular firing squad has formed in Republican ranks. A culprit is sought for Jim Tedisco's humiliating loss to political newcomer Scott Murphy.

The FixNYGOP blog blames state party chairman Joe Mondello for engineering Tedisco's nomination without seriously considering other candidates.

One Wall Street Journal columnist heaped scorn at the feet of Tedisco himself: "Republicans lost because they fielded a poor candidate who ran a lousy campaign."

There's little doubt that the selection process that produced Tedisco was flawed. County chairman managed to fracture the district's Republicans, alienating supporters of state Senator Betty Little in the North Country.

But I watched Tedisco on the stump and didn't see the kind of blundering that others are describing.

Remember, when this all began he was the most visible and arguably the most powerful Republican in New York state. He was the guy who took on Spitzer over drivers licenses for undocumented workers.

Bottom line? This defeat was about more than Jim Tedisco.

Gay marriage: The sacred and the mundane

For this morning's coverage of New York's same-sex marriage debate, I interviewed Sister Jennifer Votraw. (See the news page.)

Sister Votraw has been a steady, thoughtful voice for the Diocese of Ogdensburg for years. She articulates well the Church's view that gay marriage represents a violation of "natural law."

Natural law is a concept that dates back at least as far as Thomas Aquinas.

It's the notion that certain basic societal ideals -- and religious doctrines -- can be discerned from the structure of the natural world.

Think of it as God's fingerprint.

In this case, it takes the union man and a woman to procreate; therefore it must stand to reason that "marriage" must be a sacrament limited to couples who can bear children.

The problem with this argument isn't that it's illogical, or wrong. (Who am I to quibble with Aquinas?)

The problem is that for more and more Americans, especially young people, homosexuality just feels, well, normal. (Dare I say, natural?) The topic is even kind of boring.

Folks like Sister Votraw find themselves using a sacred argument to denounce a thing that a lot of people see as mundane.

This is nothing new for Church leaders, who've struggled for years with "cafeteria Catholics" and with an American culture that has drifted toward modernism and secularism.

So what do you think? The Roman Catholic Church will play a big role in New York's political wrangling with same-sex marriage.

Is that a good thing? What do you think of "natural law?" How does your faith shape your thinking about this issue?

(As always, be civil and thoughtful. We're into territory that mingles our most intimate convictions about love and God -- so think twice before you hit Enter.)

Time for a "reset" on New York's small towns

Tom Brokaw wrote an editorial earlier this month for the New York Times arguing that rural governments and institutions (he talks about the huge archipelago of universities in North and South Dakota) need to downsize.

Every state and every region in the country is stuck with some form of anachronistic and expensive local government structure that dates to horse-drawn wagons, family farms and small-town convenience.

If this is a reset, it’s time to reorganize our state and local government structures for today’s realities rather than cling to the sensibilities of the 20th century.

If we demand this from General Motors, we should ask no less of ourselves.

Governor Paterson is talking today about property taxes. Listen for Karen DeWitt's report tomorrow morning during the 8 O'clock Hour.

But isn't the problem really one that we own locally? Why does New York state have more than 10,000 local taxing jurisdictions.

More to the point, why does my home town (Saranac Lake, population under 5,000) have 3 towns, 2 counties, a village, and a school district...all spending taxpayer dollars?

A funny-pages manifesto

I grew up reading comic books. I learned to read the newspaper by reading the funny pages. Andy Capp, Bloom County, Peanuts, Doonesbury, and Calvin and Hobbes.

Those were staples of my childhood.

Some of the most enduring characters in American pop culture come from those ink-drenched pages. Prince Valiant. The Katzenjammer Kids. Beetle Bailey. Rip Kirby. Li'l Abner.

The last decade, comic books -- sorry, graphic novels -- have experienced a renaissance.

The writing is brilliant, the art is compelling. Every conceivable genre is represented, from action adventure to romance and comedy.

Literary comics outsell literary novels and half the movies in the cineplex this summer are strip-minded from Marvel or DC.

But let's face it, the comics page in the newspaper is a different story. It's a disaster, a mind-numbing collection of drab humor, soap opera, Catskills-era gags, and crummy art.

The Peanuts strip remains on life support, years after Charles Schulz passed away.

Garfield is stale as a week-old plate of lasagna. Dilbert, a source of razor-sharp cubicle wit years before The Office premiered, has been reduced to a schtick.

Meanwhile, the old greats -- Prince Valiant, the Phanton, Dick Tracy -- are a total mess. The plots are inscrutable, the writing vapid and the art is atrocious.

Many a day, the best offerings are Shoe...or Wizard of Id. And that's not saying so much.

I know we have a lot to worry about these days, but the demise of the Great American Funny Pages kind of stinks.

How do we train a new generation of kids to read newspapers if they're not scrambling for their morning dose of Calvin and Hobbes? Or jonzing for the latest Far Side cartoon?

As newspapers reinvent themselves, they should think about demanding that the big comics syndicates find some new talent, or cultivate some home-grown artists.

Surely one of those brilliant comic books teams would love to create a daily strip with national exposure.

In the meantime, we'll all have to suffer along with Hi & Lois...and roll our eyes as poor Dagwood tries to milk one more joke out of one more sandwich.

Torture is about law and morality, not politics

Many Republicans and Democrats insist that any investigation or prosecution of the Bush administration for its torture policy would be counter-productive.

They overlook two basic realities.

First, America is a nation of laws. If government officials violated the law, the question isn't one of politics but of justice and order. The Bush Administration readily sent rank-and-file soldiers to prison for breaking the law by committing torture at Abu Ghraib. Why should higher ranking officials be treated differently?

Second, for many Americans torture is a moral issue every bit as palpable as abortion. To suggest that we should just "move on" ignores the deep sense among many Americans (more than half, according to one recent poll) that we can't simply sweep this under the rug. When a society commits an atrocity as horrible as torture, surely silence is the worst possible remedy.

War and democracy are both messy things. There will always be a desire to look the other way, to avoid painful realities. But eight years of that sort of denial have been disastrous.

We see now just how disastrous.

President Barack Obama should send a very clear message:

The handling of this matter should be decided independently by the Attorney General of the United States and by the investigative committees of Congress.

That process should proceed without any input or influence from the White House.

Is same-sex marriage inevitable in NY?

Take a few minutes to listen to NCPR's conversation with lawmakers about same-sex marriage.

Check out this NYTimes article about Senate majority leader Malcolm Smith's religious influences.

Then let us know what you think.

Is same-sex marriage a civil right? Part of the "gay agenda"? Is it inevitable -- or should gay and lesbian couples accept a compromise position, something akin to civil rights?


This is one of those issues that tempts people to flame and go nuclear. Please -- think twice before submitting your comments.

Pretend that you're talking to someone in your local coffee shop, or on the street corner outside the post office.

What message does Tedisco's loss send to the GOP?

By design or happy accident, Republicans dodged a big PR hit by stringing out the results of the 20th Congressional district special election.

But with Jim Tedisco's concession on Friday, the GOP has another chance to confront their rapid descent into insignificance.

As Republican leaders concede, they played this one by the standard conservative play book: Fiscal conservatism, anti-Pelosi rhetoric, and regular digs at President Obama's profligate spending.

They ran a capable, experienced candidate, a guy who is scandal-free and well-funded. When the race began, Tedisco was arguably the most visible, influential Republican in New York state -- the man who took on Eliot Spitzer.

The GOP poured in massive resources and talent, dispatched Rudy Giuliani, Michael Steele, and other Republican luminaries.

This formula was played out in a lightning-fast election against a complete unknown, a political neophyte -- Scott Murphy? I asked two months ago. Who the hell is Scott Murphy? -- on turf that is historically favorable to Republican candidates.

Bottom line? It didn't work.

For a Republican to come close in a district like the 20th with the particular dynamics that shaped this race -- that's not nearly good enough.

(When GOP talkers suggest that this was a respectable finish, it's sort of like the coach of an NFL team arguing that it's okay that they lost to a college squad...because at least they kept the game close.)

The Washington Post's Chris Cizzilla put it this way: "One thing is for sure: this is an opportunity lost for Republicans."

But maybe not. Maybe at long last Republican leaders will take this voter feedback, retreat to whatever mountaintop conservatives favor (Valhalla? Olympus? Sinai?) and begin confronting reality.

Here are some places to start: Why did we pick the candidate we picked -- instead of, say, a woman like state Senator Betty Little?

Why did we refuse to give Jim Tedisco the leeway to embrace President Obama's stimulus package, once we realized that it was popular in the 20th district?

Why are we using the same group of operatives and tacticians in race after race, when they're not winning for us?

Is it time to revitalize the party at the county level, finding new chairmen, new committee members?

Maybe the biggest question: Why is Scott Murphy, a venture capitalist and a self-made millionaire, running as a Democrat? What's so broken with our GOP brand that he's not one of ours?

Jim Tedisco once claimed that his victory here might spark a revival Republicans in the Northeast.

If his party leaders are honest with themselves, and start asking the tough questions, Tedisco's defeat could do even more good for the party.

Murphy Wins Special Congressional Election

Almost a month after the March 31st election, Democrat Scott Murphy has won the race for New York's 20th Congressional District.

Republican James Tedisco conceded Friday (4/24) afternoon. Election night totals were too close to call but a recount showed Murphy's lead expanding.

In a statement, Tedisco congratulated the Congressman-elect and the Assemblyman said - in his role as a state politician - he'd work with Murphy.

Report: Tedisco concession "imminent"

This from The Hill newspaper in Washington DC:

Indicating that a concession is imminent, a Tedisco attorney on Thursday called his rival's campaign in search of a cell phone number for Murphy, a source close to Murphy's campaign told The Hill.

Did grandpa use torture?

My headline is glib, but the question is sincere: America has faced plenty of dangerous wars in the past, overcoming Nazis, Commies, Confederate traitors, you name it.

Many of those threats occurred right here on American soil. Did we need torture to win those fights?

(I'm setting aside for the moment the question of morality and values.)

If so, how exactly did torturing prisoners help? (From the vantage point of history, we should have a fairly clear, apolitical view of this.)

If it didn't help, why do we need it now?

So I pose this as a question to all you blog-profs out there: Anyone know the answer? What's our society's track record here?

What do you think about same-sex marriage?

Monday and Tuesday of next week, NCPR will air a series of in-depth conversations about same-sex marriage.

We'll hear from a couple of women who want to see their relationship embraced by New York's marriage laws.

We'll hear from Sister Jennifer Votraw, with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg, who is convinced that same-sex marriage violates what many theologians call "natural law."

We'll also listen in on the thoughtful, complex debate occurring among the North Country's state Senators and Assembly members.

They may be forced to vote on the issue this year -- and their opinions don't fall along party line.

(Only one North Country lawmaker -- Democratic state Senator Darrel Aubertine, who opposes same-sex marriage -- declined to be interviewed about the issue.)

So what about you? What's your take on same-sex marriage? A civil right? An erosion of traditional values? Comments welcome below...

Reports: Tedisco concession coming soon; Murphy leads by 401

Two news organizations, RollCall and Capital News 9, are reporting that Republican Jim Tedisco has "abandoned hope" of winning the special election and "could conceded to Democrat Scott Murphy as soon as Friday afternoon."

According to the latest official tally, Scott Murphy leads by 401 votes. He's held an advantage for nearly two weeks, which has grown steadily during the recanvassing.

Meanwhile, the liberal website Talking Points Media is reporting that Republicans challenged (unsuccessfully) the ballot of a prominent progressive radio host, Sam Seder, who was busy on election day with jury duty.

Sam was none too impressed when I told him that the Tedisco campaign alleged that he wasn't a resident of the district. "Jerks," he said. "I mean, I could tell you I've attended far more Livingston town meetings than Jim Tedisco has."

Republicans earlier tried to disqualify the ballot of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Also, the Albany Times-Union has an excellent report on the reasons for ballot disqualifications -- including an error that forced officials to discard votes from an Essex County nursing home.

In Essex County, elections officials brought ballots to a nursing home so residents there could vote, but then put the ballots in the wrong envelopes.

NCPR will follow developments in the 20th race through the day and will have an update during All Before Five.

Is broadband the holy grail for rural towns?

The Washington Post has a fascinating story today about the divergent paths of two small towns in Virginia that managed to tap into high-speed broadband data lines.

Many high-tech companies have heralded a January report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a research organization, that stated that an investment of $10 billion in broadband networks across the country would create nearly 500,000 jobs, including the hard-hat jobs digging trenches and laying fiber lines. Other positions would come from businesses that rise from high-tech innovation and better productivity, the report said.

But some economists have questioned such predictions, saying that bringing high-speed Internet to rural areas is much more complicated.

"For the idea that some sort of magical economic development will occur, there is no evidence that that can happen," said Robert W. Crandall, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has studied the issue.

Doubts about the stimulus

I fall loosely in the camp that one would call fiscally conservative. I'm a big fan of balanced budgets. I think capitalism is a powerful, positive force.

Linked with the advent of modern scientific inquiry, capitalism has done more to advance the material and moral well-being of humans than any previous ideology or religion.

Despite what critics on the right and the left may say, I'm convinced that prosperity produces healthier, more ethical societies.

Even the most advantageous human systems and philosophies are flawed and erratic; that's what human society is all about.

We've seen this illustrated in spades the last couple of years. Capitalism has tied itself in knots.

There is certainly a need for more government regulation. Capitalism needs a rule-book. It needs the moderating hand of democratically-approved controls.

(Not only to fix the economic mess, but also to deal with problems such as climate change.)

Yet I remain skeptical about the stimulus program that President Barack Obama has created. Yes, it eases the short-term pain -- an understandable and worthy goal.

But what about the long-term? If the economy recovers, will government agencies gradually relinquish some of their awesome new power over trade and commerce?

Will government investments be smart and targeted enough to help create new wealth?

Or will the debt created by soaring rates of deficit spending reach a critical mass that drags down private-sector investment?

Ultimately, my doubts are the result of living and working in rural communities most of my life.

Many of America's small towns -- including here in the North Country -- have lived for decades on the equivalent of stimulus spending.

That's what state prisons are all about. That's what the Olympic Regional Development Authority represents. All those government jobs paid for out of Albany and Washington DC.

Paid for, in the final equation, by taxpayers.

That stimulus was supposed to spark this region's private-sector into a renaissance, or at least a semblance of vitality.

But with a few happy exceptions (I'm thinking of PARC and the Plattsburgh airport), private jobs haven't followed the government dollars.

Despite decades of taxpayer investment, the amount of real investment capital flowing into this region remains dangerously low. Unemployment remains high - and highly dependent on politicians living elsewhere.

Will our national leaders do better? Will government find a way to stimulate the economy without becoming the economy?

Or is the North Country a harbinger of what the US as a whole will look like in the future?

Comments and arguments welcome.

Sen. Little suggests that time has come for Tedisco to concede

Here's state Senator Betty Little, Republican, talking about Jim Tedisco's court fight over the 20th district House election with the New York Observer:

"I think he ought to do a good analysis of where he stands and what the possibilities of the outcome are; 273 votes, that's the biggest lead anybody's had in this race since it concluded," she said.

"You can't drag this one out as long as you can drag out a November election, you have to look to constituents not being represented at this point. And with the stimulus, and the economy, and the things that we need to get done, we need somebody there to start working."

Napolitano gets it (mostly) right on Canadian border

Homeland Security director Janet Napolitano is getting pasted in Canada this week for suggesting that our northern border is more of a terrorism concern than the US-Mexico border.

CTV said that Napolitano "suggested that the 9-11 terrorists entered the U.S. through Canada."

The CTV story then waxes on about "misconceptions" about the 9-11 attacks and any form of Canadian involvement.

Here's Napolitano's exact quote:

"Yes, Canada is not Mexico, it doesn't have a drug war going on, it didn't have 6,000 homicides that were drug-related last year," she said.

"Nonetheless, to the extent that terrorists have come into our country or suspected or known terrorists have entered our country across a border, it's been across the Canadian border. There are real issues there."

When asked if she was referring to the 9-11 terrorists, Napolitano added: "Not just those but others as well."

The Canadians are right that their country had no involvement whatsoever with 9-11, as a transit point or a haven for Al Quaeda operatives involved in that particular attack.

But it's also clearly documented that the so-called Millenium Bomber did base his plot out of Montreal.

Canadian intelligence agencies have warned repeatedly that Canada's immigrant community includes active terror cells sympathetic to Al Quaeda.

Algeria terrorists have also used Canada as a staging ground for terror attacks in Europe.

Clearly, Napolitano should be careful with her words.

But Canadian officials know that the basic premise of her comment -- that our northern border has been a transit point for Islamic extremists -- remains uncomfortably true.

CQ predicts more Republican struggles next year

Congressional Quarterly has handicapped US Senate races next year and they think Dems have a very good chance of gaining seats yet again.

With the caveat that these ratings will change over the year and a half before the midterm elections, seven of the nine rated No Clear Favorite (or tossup) by CQ Politics are now held by Republicans.

The fact that this is actually an improvement for the GOP over the 2006 and 2008 cycles underscores how bad those years were for that party.

Democrats are poised at the edge of a sixty-seat, filibuster-proof majority, so Republicans are scrambling to pull back from the brink.

But the GOP has five retiring Senators, four of them in states that look highly vulnerable to Democratic challenges: Florida, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Missouri.

The Dems only have one retirement to defend, in Delaware. They could also see vulnerable incumbents in some of the "musical chair" positions created by President Obama's election.

They includes Kirsten Gillibrand here in New York and Roland Burris in Illinois.

We've talked a lot here about the philosophical and policy problems facing the GOP. CQ's analysis shows that in tactical and ground-game terms, Republicans are also still playing defense.

The human footprint

Yesterday, I interviewed a group of researchers at SUNY ESF about the perilous impact of population growth on climate change.

The math seems pretty simple: 6.7 billion people eating Big Macs and driving Hummers probably won't produce a happy ending.

The same day, I happened to rent a sci-fi thriller on DVD, a remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still.

The premise of the film is that humans are a big problem: "If the earth dies, you die," says the alien Klaatu, played by Keanu Reeves. "If you die, the earth survives."

Alan Weisman's book, "The World Without Us," explores this territory. His website has a sort of cool graphic that shows how quickly your home would be reabsorbed by nature if you were to disappear...

On the other hand, there are a growing number of scientists and writers exploring the concept that humans may be a sort of necessary part of the ecological mix: a way for nature to become self-aware.

And of course, most of the world's faiths place humans at the pinnacle of the cosmological pyramid, just below the Creator.

So what do you think? Are humans the problem on this Earth Day? The solution? Are we a virus or are we a miracle?

Davis quote haunts Tedisco

We noted yesterday that former Virginia congressman Tom Davis -- who once led the GOP's House campaign effort nationwide -- had called the election for Democrat Scott Murphy.

That one comment, made to the Washington Times newspaper, has haunted Republican Jim Tedisco in recent days, turning up in Politico, USA Today, and other prominent journals.

"We lost the special election in New York," said Davis, a seven-term congressman from Virginia who stepped down from office last year. "It's gone."

Not exactly the kind of statement that RNC chairman Michael Steele (or Tedisco himself) wanted floating around all week as the court fight muddled forward.

Meanwhile, no word from Jim Tedisco, who's been invisible for a week now. I still receive regular emails from the Murphy campaign. Nothing from the Republican camp.

Obama changes course on NAFTA reopener

Over the years, we and many news outlets have reported on globalization critics' assertion that free trade pacts create a "race to the bottom" on environmental and labor standards. Union contracts too expensive in the U.S.? Try Sri Lanka! Pesky Clean Air Act requirements too costly? They don't have those in Jakarta! That sort of thing. You can find plenty of critics of this assessment, too.

President Obama made readdressing environmental and labor issues in NAFTA a major issue when he met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa in February.

But now it appears, after meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, that's off.

NAFTA has, and will continue to have, a big effect on the North Country economy. It's worth watching how - and if - it evolves under the Obama Administration.

Chavez, Ortega and why conservatism means never having to say you're sorry

Conservatives are up in arms these days over President Barack Obama's apology in Europe for America's "arrogance."

They're also furious over his handshake and conversation with Venezuela's elected president, Hugo Chavez.

Fox News has also reported that Obama sat through a 50-minute diatribe against the U.S. from Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a socialist.

In a Fox interview, Newt Gingrich argued that Obama was aiding the "enemies of America."

“Frankly, this does look a lot like Jimmy Carter. Carter tried weakness, and the world got tougher and tougher, because the predators, the aggressors, the anti-Americans, the dictators – when they sense weakness, they all start pushing ahead,” Gingrich said on Fox & Friends.

Gingrich also jabbed at Obama for his "bow to the Saudi king."

The dust-up comes at the same time that Democrats were releasing memos detailing America's extensive use of torture in the war on terror. Here's the NY Times editorial take:

To read the four newly released memos on prisoner interrogation written by George W. Bush’s Justice Department is to take a journey into depravity.

So what do you think? Is Obama showing weakness around the world? Rejecting American exceptionalism? Revealing American war tactics?

Or crafting a more nuanced foreign policy? Returning morality to our defense policy? Comments welcome below...

Will we hear from Assemblyman Jim Tedisco?

Assemblyman Jim Tedisco has been largely mum about the legal fight over the 20th congressional district race. His attorney, Jim Walsh, has done the talking for a week now.

But as Tedisco's path to victory grows more and more tenuous, we need to hear from the candidate.

As a veteran Assemblyman, Tedisco knows just how important it is that this House district have representation, especially now when Federal stimulus money is being dolled out.

If he has a clear argument for prolonging the court battle, he needs to make it quickly.

Over the weekend, former Virginia Rep. Tom Davis -- a Republican -- told the conservative Washington Times newspaper: "We lost the special election in New York. It's gone."

The Times described Davis, until recently the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, as "a veteran election vote-counter."

Davis -- and a growing chorus of voices across the political spectrum -- may be wrong. Jim Tedisco may be the legitimate winner in the 20th House race.

But he needs to show his cards now -- as in today. He needs to explain his motives and outline a plausible path to victory.

If he can't, then it's time to accept the decision of the people (Democrat Scott Murphy currently leads by 273 votes) and start gearing up for 2010.

Murphy-Tedisco Update: Murphy ahead by 264

More ugly news for Jim Tedisco (R-Schenectady). The mid-morning count now puts Scott Murphy (D-Glens Falls) up by 264 votes -- the biggest lead we've seen since election day.

I'm still shocked by Murphy's North Country margins: Warren, Washington and Essex County were game-changers in this race.

Looking through these numbers -- and the remaining contested ballots -- Tedisco really needs something big to turn this around.

One more court date is scheduled on Monday...

You'll miss it when it's gone

I've been a journalist for a quarter-century. I've written and produced news for every medium, from television to magazines, high-brow to low.

(One of my earliest assignments was chronicling Boy George's antics in London in the mid-1980s...)

Most of my career has been spent in public radio. But if you ask me which newsgathering institution is most essential, most irreplaceable, my answer is simple:

The newspaper.

From the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal right down to our humble but vital Adirondack Daily Enterprise and Malone Telegram, newspapers are (in a word) necessary.

Without them, our democracy (already an imperfect experiment) will enter a new era of uncertainty.

When the history of this era is written, which threat to our society will seem more dire, fundamentalist Muslims in Pakistan or the loss of newspapers?

A lot of new-media advocates say the internet will fill the void. Nonsense.

Newspapers have the institutional capacity -- teams of journalists, editors, photographers -- to pursue complicated, investigative stories.

They also have firewalls between advertising pressure and editorial content that grant them greater objectivity.

Are newspapers perfect? Of course not. But their demise will leave a void that other news outlets -- including public radio -- simply aren't equipped to fill.

Tedisco fighting aura of defeat, prepares for legal fight

Republican Jim Tedisco is losing the fight to convince the media that his bid to win the 20th district house race is still viable.

Tedisco has suffered a flurry of negative reports, all suggesting that his pursuit of the House seat may be effectively doomed.

An analysis published today in the influential, non-partisan The Hill newspaper concluded that "things are looking very dim" for Tedisco.

Democrat Scott Murphy currently leads by 178 votes. He's led the race for more than a week, and the canvassing of absentee ballots only seems to have solidified his position.

While there are still hundreds of ballots remaining to be tallied, The Hill points out that two-thirds of those votes "will come from counties where Murphy is both winning on absentees and won on Election Day two weeks ago."

Meanwhile, Politico is reporting that the "GOP is prepared for a protracted court battle..."

The on-line journal released an internal Republican memo which concluded that "the election will most likely be decided in the courts."

But so far, Tedisco has lost most of the legal arguments his camp has mounted.

New York's election system does allow for multiple appeals that could drag the process out for weeks or even months.

If Republicans can't convince the public that he has a legitimate chance of winning, that kind of protracted court battle could be costly in more ways than one.

On the other hand, Republicans may conclude that they have a real chance of defeating Scott Murphy in 2010, if they can deny him the perks of incumbency as long as possible.

If this race remains unsettled until, say, August or September, then the winner will have no time for a victory lap before the next race begins...

Is the fuse lit on right-wing extremism?

Conservatives are howling about a new Homeland Security report that details newly elevated concerns about right-wing terrorists operating within the US.

They're convinced that the Obama administration is unfairly targeting conservatives (and Republicans) who have legitimate concerns about the Democrat's policies.

But arch-conservative Glenn Beck has acknowledged on Fox News that tensions are so inflamed among people and groups on the Right that he worries about an attack.

When I first saw this [the shootings in Binghamton, NY] and I saw that there was a shooter at a place where immigrants met, I can't lie to you. I immediately said, oh, dear God, don't let it be somebody who's like, Oh, these illegals, they're...

I fear what will happen. We have a giant fuse just burning in this country and we have to do everything we can, not to deny that reality, or deny what's caused that fuse to be lit...but actually talk about the bomb on the other end and actually cut the fuse, not ignore the fuse.

Yikes. The truth is that a lot of rhetoric on the Right has been troubling since President Obama was elected.

Mainstream pundits on Fox and other national networks have portrayed the Democrat as a Stalin or a Hitler or an Anti-Christ.

I'm a pretty moderate guy. But if you convince me that our country is being led by Josef Stalin or Adolph Hitler (or the Beast!) then armed insurrection would become a moral duty.

Now, historically -- with some notable exceptions -- conservative activist movements have been extraordinarily peaceful and non-violent.

I can't say this clearly enough: Despite the sometimes jarring rhetoric, conservatives have focused on winning victories at the ballot box and in the courts.

But we now have a Republican governor in Texas talking openly of secession.

We have GOP leaders arguing (with very few facts) that they're losing elections because of ACORN-style fraud and corruption -- not because voters have rejected their policies.

We have pundits like Beck insisting that Americans have been "disenfranchised" -- even though we held a peaceful transition of power, via the ballot box, only a few months ago.

This doesn't bode well for the country or the GOP.

When Democrats lost control of their "lefty loony fringe" in the 1960s and 1970s, it led to a long period in the wilderness.

If conservatives tolerate the rise of their version of the Weathermen or the Black Panthers, their marginalization will surely be profound.

A lot of conservatives understand this.

"Republican leaders should have put a hundred miles between themselves and [Fox News pundit] Glenn Beck, the first day he began dwelling lovingly on the possibility of right-wing armed violence in the United States," wrote David Frum, a former assistant to President George W. Bush.

Indeed. The question then is simple: Why haven't they?

Adirondack Park Agency meeting live and on the air!

It's APA meeting week and you can watch the entire proceedings live on the internet. The agenda is available here and includes some interesting issues

There's a discussion of the Bog River Flow Unit Management Plan (that's "floatplane controversy" in layman speak) scheduled for this afternoon and a presentation scheduled about the APA's proposed legislative changes now floating through the system in Albany.

Show starts at 9 am today and tomorrow. Watch it all live here.

Nate Silver predicts Murphy win in the 20th

Nate Silver is a self-identified Barack Obama supporter, but he's also a pretty sharp reader of polling data, demographic trends, and numerical election data.

His website, FiveThirtyEight.com was often ahead of the curve during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Silver has an analysis up of the Tedisco-Murphy contest that predicts a fairly comfortable Democratic win.

Although Republican candidate Jim Tedisco is leaving no stone unturned in the special election in New York's 20th Congressional District -- including objecting to the ballot of Kirsten Gillibrand, the woman whom he hopes to replace in the Congress -- the results tallied so far suggest that he is bound for defeat.

Silver basically reads the numbers in the absentee ballots returned so far and concludes that Democrat Scott Murphy's absentee ballots are outperforming his election night performance by about 3.2%.

His analysis factors in a disqualification rate of roughly 13% -- meaning the campaigns can legally challenge that many ballots and (if Silver's right) Tedisco would lose.

Finally, he concludes that the Republican's anticipated victory in Saratoga County will only net Tedisco around 33 additional ballots. Not enough to close the gap.

Obviously, there are a lot of variables here -- and there may be arguments the other direction as strong as Silver's. If any one sees other interesting analyses out there, please comment below.

Other thoughts? Have at it.

Update: It's Murphy by 168

The Board of Elections posted their most recent update mid-morning and it shows Democrat Scott Murphy moving ahead incrementally: a grand margin of 168 -- which sort of sounds huge at this point.

Caveat A: Saratoga County, a Jim Tedisco/Republican stronghold, hasn't submitted any of their absentee ballots yet.

Caveat B: This is getting ugly, with the Tedisco camp alleging that military voters are being disenfranchised and 2nd homeowners voting illegally; and the Murphy camp claiming that the GOP is trying to disenfranchise old people and Jews.

A couple of weeks ago it was the TV stations making major bank off this election; now it's the lawyers.

Stay tuned!

Report: Hacketts forced into bankruptcy

The Watertown Daily Times is reporting creditors - in this case, the manufacturers of the merchandise - are forcing Hacketts into bankruptcy.

Hacketts must be the North Country's biggest chain of department stores, with nine locations (it'll be eight when the Watertown store closes this summer). Hacketts started in Ogdensburg in the 1830s, and was acquired by another regional retail chain, Wise Buys, two years ago.

This may be a big blow to the regional retail scene. We'll have coverage today on All before Five and tomorrow on The 8 O'Clock Hour.

The stimulus is coming, and it ain't flashy

Yesterday, Governor Paterson's office announced $34 million in transportation and infrastructure funding for the North Country. We've been receiving a flood of stimulus-related press releases from the Gov lately, so it's hard to keep up. But I believe this is the first big chunk of federal stimulus money I've seen specifically dedicated to the North Country.

And here's what our "economic recovery" looks like:

• $900,000 to resurface approximately one mile of Oak Street, a Plattsburgh city street, and one mile of North Catherine Street (State Route 22), also in Plattsburgh.
  
• $5 million to resurface and provide fresh pavement markings on approximately 40 miles of various highways in Lewis, Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Franklin and Clinton counties.
  
• $800,000 to replace five intersection signal systems in Clinton, Franklin and Jefferson counties.
  
• $1.1 million for a project to provide much-needed maintenance to approximately 500 miles of highway in Lewis, Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Franklin and Clinton counties. This work involves cleaning and sealing cracks in the pavement that contribute to deterioration of the highway surface.
  
• $2.2 million to repair bridges in Lewis, Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Franklin and Clinton counties.
  
• $1.3 million to complete a project replacing deteriorated guide rail in the Adirondack Park in Clinton Franklin and St. Lawrence counties.
  
• $1.4 million for a project to provide needed maintenance work to two bridges in St. Lawrence County. One structure is on State Route 11B and crosses the East Branch of the St. Regis River while the second is on State Route 420 and crosses over the Racquette River.
  
• $4 million for a project to restore the protective paint on eight bridges in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties.
  
• $3.5 million for a project to rehabilitate four large culverts in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties.
  

Wow, fixing culverts and guard rails, traffic lights and potholes, bridges and yellow lines. Now that's bread and butter, mundane economic development.

Easy riders or ambulance fodder?

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise has a story today about a motorcycle crash out near Paul Smiths College. The rider was medevac'd by helicopter to a hospital.

State police were not able to give the biker’s name at the scene, but Trooper Eric Mendelsohn said the man’s injuries appeared to be mostly “facial road rash.”

This is the season when we'll see one or two motorcycle accident reports a week in the North Country -- some of them truly horrific.

Last summer, I reported on the fact that motorcycle touring is big business and dangerous business.

Here's an excerpt from a brochure issued by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.

Motorcycle fatalities represent approximately five percent of all highway fatalities each year, yet motorcycles represent just two percent of all registered vehicles in the United States.

One of the main reasons motorcyclists are killed in crashes is because the motorcycle itself provides virtually no protection in a crash.

For example, approximately 80 percent of reported motorcycle crashes result in injury or death; a comparable figure for automobiles is about 20 percent.

My concern with the motorcycle touring culture isn't that people choose to ride -- obviously it's a joy to thousands of people and this is a free country.

My worry is that the motorcycle industry markets these machines aggressively to people who are underprepared and underskilled...and often poorly informed about the risks.

Doctor grudge sparked 15-year graffiti spree?

The Glens Falls Post-Star has one of the weirder, more intriguing stories I've seen in a while on their website.

It chronicles the 15-year history of a particular graffiti tag -- "rowlow" -- that's been turning up on walls and fences around the region.

A local doctor has long ascribed the tagging to another physician involved in a feud at the Glens Falls Hospital. Dr. Frank Rollo told the newspaper that "rowlow" was a reference to his name.

According to the Post-Star, he may have been right.

[Dr. Kenneth] Hopper, 70, of Chester, had been arrested a day earlier when a Warren County sheriff's officer on patrol spotted him spray painting "rowlow" on a Lake George highway overpass.

My opinion?

The doctor shortage is so severe in the North Country that if Dr. Hopper wants to scrawl nonsense words on random objects we should buy him some spray cans and put him back to work.

Selling conservatism

There's been an interesting conversation threading out here about the tea party events scheduled around the country and around the US.

I want to throw another couple of thoughts into the fray. First, I think these rallies could be a very good thing. Public expression and debate is almost always valuable.

Our society is a noisy, diverse, argumentative culture; I happen to love it that way.

But I hope conservatives won't miss an opportunity here. What do I mean?

I worry that too many conservatives are jumping to the end of the argument, which goes something like this:

Government spending is bad, Obama is bad, so be afraid -- be VERY afraid.

For years, the Right has assumed that a silent majority of Americans (to use Barry Goldwaters phrase) would simply "get" that idea.

Offer voters a legitimately small-government choice and they'll take it every time. Right?

I don't think so. Not anymore. Public opinion polls, election results, and the behavior of average Americans (who are demanding more healthcare, more education, more of everything from their government) suggest that we love our BIG government.

So the folks holding rallies around the country need to put aside the "end of American civilization as we know it" rhetoric and start making their case.

If stimulus spending isn't the right way to navigate this economic nightmare, what is? If more regulation isn't a way to prevent future bank meltdowns, what is the alternative?

For the tens of millions of Americans who rely on government for at least a part of their healthcare, housing, jobs, and education -- what's a better way?

I know it's boring -- at least compared to images of Adolph Hitler and Stalin -- to lay out a reasoned argument. But the truth is that Americans aren't buying that firebrand stuff.

So maybe these rallies will be a defining moment for the Right.

Either they'll be the start of a new, healthily grassroots argument for small-government America -- or they'll be another lurch toward the fringe.

Tough numbers for the GOP

The new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll offers very little in the way of a beacon for Republicans seeking a path out of the wilderness.

The GOP has assailed President Barack Obama on security issues and battered Democratic leaders in Congress for passing the massive stimulus bill.

Fox News and other conservative outlets have trumpeted anti-tax tea parties around the country.

But the new poll shows public approval of Congress hitting a high mark (okay, only 35%) not seen since April of 2005.

Only a third of Americans want to see Congress back in control of the GOP.

74% of Americans say Republicans don't have a "clear plan" for solving the country's economic problems and substantial majority -- 61% -- say GOP leaders should be doing more to cooperate with President Obama.

Meanwhile, 71% of Americans say they have confidence in Mr. Obama.

Ouch.

There are two take-aways here.

First, Republicans are still at square one in figuring out now to talk about America's new political landscape.

Second, the American public is continents away from the anti-Democrat rhetoric in the right-wing media and blogosphere.

Are you reading the numbers differently? Comment below.

Straight shooters

A lot of praise is being heaped on the Navy SEALS whose marksmanship saved the life of a Vermont sea captain held captive by pirates. This from the Washington Post.

"It was pretty remarkable that these snipers nailed these guys," said the senior military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "You think of rough seas, 75, 80 feet away, and under darkness, and they got them. Three pirates, three rounds, three dead bodies."

We in the North Country know the value and competence of our military. While scanning the papers, I found an article about another American straight-shooter.,.the repairman who fixes the Hubble space telescope.

If all goes well in what Dr. Grunsfeld described as"brain surgery" in space, Hubble will be left at the apex of its scientific capability. As chief Hubble repairman for the past 18 years, he has been intertwined with the Hubble telescope physically, as well as intellectually and emotionally. “He might be the only person on Earth who has observed with Hubble and touched Hubble,” said Bruce Margon, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and former deputy director of the Space Telescope Science Institute.

In a time when so many titans of American society have turned out to have feet of clay, it's great to remember that we still have amazing, accomplished men and women working to get things done.

There's no place like home

I grew up in a little town called Sitka, Alaska and some very cool footage of my village has turned up in a Cargill advertisement (of all places).

Check the video out here.

I worked a lot of years in the fish house shown briefly (I was too seasick to go out in the boats...but my brother crewed one of the trollers.)

The place that looks sort of like a cafe (with all the pictures on the wall) is actually the Pioneer Bar, one of the best places in the world to drink after a big halibut season.

(The P-Bar was briefly world-famous a couple of decades ago when a live rattlesnake crawled mysteriously out of the bathroom and got a write-up in the Associated Press.)

More true tales? Back in 1974, a guy named Porky Bickar dumped a load of old truck tires in the dormant volcano shown in the video and set them on fire.

Images of the smoking mountain were printed in newspapers around the globe.

More about Sitka? Check out some cool surfing video here.

Mid-afternoon update: Murphy up by 25

Tedisco folks say they've gained a lot of ground in Saratoga County, but the official count still has Murphy up by 25. Which in technical political parlance is roughly half a whisker's difference.

All of us who didn't vote (Yes, as I confessed earlier, I blew it too...) really screwed this one up, eh?

Do tea parties protest too much?

Anti-tax tea parties are taking place across the US, including here in the North Country.

The Glens Falls Post Star is encouraging readers to send political leaders virtual tea bags.

The Boston Tea Party in 1773 helped ignite a revolution and was the inspiration for similar citizen protests throughout history. This week, we've got a chance to ignite another one -- a tax revolution.

From the start, I've found this metaphor a little flawed. The Boston tea party was a protest against taxation without representation. But our government is duly elected at all levels: local, state and Federal.

What's more, Americans have a long history of punishing elected officials who cut government services. Without taxes, we can't have those popular programs.

Here in the North Country, government is -- by far -- the top employer. We've been living on "stimulus money" for decades.

When you factor in non-profits, hospitals, and nursing homes that rely on government entitlement programs, government makes up the lion's share of our regional economy.

So here's my suggestion. When you mail in that tea bag, or turn up at a tea party rally, be sure to mention which government service you're willing to give up.

Don't name government "waste" or "pork" -- those items make up only a tiny fraction of Federal spending.

To balance our budget we'll eventually have to make deep cuts to government programs that most of us now take for granted. Things like Social Security, Medicaid, public education.

We'll also have to forfeit hundreds, if not thousands, of government jobs here in the North Country -- everything from school teachers to snowplow drivers to prison guards.

So before you shake your fist at the tax collector, take a look at your own purse or wallet. How many dollars in there came from the government?

And what will you sacrifice to make the government we all elected smaller?

Pundits predicting a...tie in the 20th

Can it get any worse? After weeks of a bruising, lightning-round-style campaign, Republican Jim Tedisco and Democrat Scott Murphy are all locked up. Each day's count brings a lead change.

(For the record, the weekend tally puts Murphy ahead by 35 votes...)

Now, Politico and The Hill are contemplating the reality that this race could result in a tie -- falling well within the margin of error that modern American elections can discern.

Here's The Hill's take:

As the vote count seesaws between two candidates in New York's 20th Congressional District, both parties are trying to claim a victory neither has actually achieved.

And from Politico:

Here’s a potential outcome to mull over in the New York 20th District special election--a dead heat. With just 35 votes separating Democrat Scott Murphy, who holds the lead, and Republican Jim Tedisco, a tie isn’t exactly out of the question.

The Saratogian has begun looking at the what-if question:

John Conklin, a spokesman for the Board of Elections, said that Gov. David Paterson would have two options if, once all the votes are counted, there is a tie.

“He can either do the entire process all over again in which the candidates would have to be re-nominated by their parties, Eric Sundwall would have an opportunity to get on the ballot again, and campaigns could once again start,” said Conklin. “Or, because of the time in the year now, he could let it sit and let the process take place during the general election in the fall.”

If a do-over does happen, we could well see a new dynamic opening up: some kind of serious primary challenge for Tedisco -- who recently lost his post as Assembly minority leader.

Fair or not, Republicans in the district have ranged from dissatisfied to dismayed by his performance in this campaign.

Some thoughts on faith and mourning in Binghamton

I was in Binghamton on Palm Sunday and attended three different religious services: a Baptist, a Congregationalist, and a ceremony at a public school that involved all the city's faiths.

The ceremonies were beautiful and profound and comforting; the religious leaders there were warm and welcoming; but the experience for me was also deeply awkward and even troubling.

I grew up in a Fundamentalist church (my aunt used to try to predict my future using randomly chosen passages from the Old Testament) and was later an altar boy in the Episcopal church.

I'm deeply read in the Bible and consider it a beautiful, even awe-inspiring work.

(I also spent time in a Buddhist monastery in Malaysia and have been a passionate reader of other religious works.)

But like more and more Americans (as many as 15% according to one recent survey) I no longer believe.

I'm not a Christopher Hitchens type. I respect the rhythms and rituals of faith.

But my own moral and philosophical compass no longer pivots around traditional ideas of divinity or faith or supernaturally inspired teaching.

Which is why last week's remembrances felt so awkward to me. I wanted very much to gather with other people. I wanted to honor the people who had died.

I wanted to share thoughts about the complexities of human life and the painful realities that surrounded the death of those fourteen people.

But I'll be honest: I didn't want to do it in the context of someone else's mythology, no matter how beautiful and welcoming.

If current trends continue and the number of secular Americans continues to rise, I think we may need to develop some new traditions.

Not to replace the religious institutions and rituals -- which are essential. But to create a public space for those of us who use a different sent of mental tools to think about the hardest things in life.

Your thoughts? Post below...

The Recount and Those Pesky 2nd Homeowners

The recount is underway and there are half a dozen different tabulations out there. The state Board of Elections says Jim Tedisco (R-Schenectady) has expanded his lead slightly to 24.

Adding in newer numbers, the Daily Politics blog puts Democrat Scott Murphy (D-Glens Falls) in the lead by 15 votes. Ugh.

One interesting wrinkle: The GOP seems to be contesting votes based on residency, trying to target 2nd homeowners who split their time between the district and NYC or other farflung parts.

This from the Daily Politics:

A Democratic reader who lives in Columbia County wrote in to say the recount there is very contentious, with GOP attorneys challenging ballots cast by second home owners (most of whom are from the city, and tend to be enrolled Democrats).

Republicans have been suspicious of urban immigrants swinging the district's election results for several cycles now -- beginning with John Sweeney's loss in 2006.

The liberal and conservative blogospheres are fired up and the attorneys are on the ground...As I say, ugh.

Not a good week for big ideas

St. Lawrence County has a penchant for trying to reel in the big economic development fish. Just in my nine years in the North Country, here's a short list (off the top of my head; I'm sure there are a lot more) of big plans and their statuses (stati?):

• the Rooftop Highway - ongoing study
• the St. Lawrence River Aquarium - dead - $$ and megawatts going to an economic development agency that leaders have been fighting over for more than a year
• 20,000 cow feedlot/ethanol plant - on hold indefinitely
• NASCAR-style racetrack/casino/resort/golfcourse/kitchen sink - see below
• St. Lawrence River pump and electricity storage project - see below

Well, it wasn't a good week for the big ideas. The NASCAR-style racetrack (you can't actually call it a NASCAR ractrack or they might sue you) and the pump storage thingy both died, according to the Watertown Daily Times. Well, the ractrack project didn't actually die, but bankruptcy doesn't sound good.

Wait! I just remembered the mother of all huge projects in St. Lawrence County! Weren't they going to build the world's largest supercollider underneath the Brasher forest or something? I'm not kidding.

They did build the St. Lawrence Seaway 50 years ago, though.

Anyway, happy Passover and Easter to all!

A budget that reflects NY

Governor Paterson is drawing heavy fire for his new budget -- and rightly so. (See the Press-Republican's take here.) It manages to serve up a fair amount of bloat, while at the same time dishing out some serious pain.

But the truth is that this budget reflects pretty accurately the American sense of entitlement.

We all want tons of government -- everything from healthcare to job creation -- but we're indignant at the idea of paying for it.

In the early going, Governor Paterson rolled out an austerity budget (no tax increases, serious cuts to government services, a fairly tough line with public employee unions), but his poll numbers tanked.

With public opinion ratings under 30%, and the unions and hospitals hitting him from both flanks, it's hard to see how he could have taken a tougher line with Democratic leaders in the Assembly and the Senate.

There's an old saying that in a democracy the people get the government they deserve.

The truth is that this budget, ugly as it is, reflects New Yorkers' lingering appeteite for a free lunch.

For Conservatives, Great Ratings and Disastrous Elections

The last couple of weeks, I've spent a lot of time watching conservative television (the Fox talk line-up) and listening to conservative radio.

Both are booming in popularity, building historically large audiences. And they're doing so at a time when the Republican Party is perched at the edge of yet another cliff. (They've already fallen off a couple...)

One problem for the GOP is the dichotomy between ratings success and electoral success. Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are seen as titans when they pull in 3 million viewers or listeners.

But that number represents only about 4% of the number of people you need to win a presidential election.

And there is evidence that these right-wing talkers are actually alienating the larger pool of American voters -- the centrists, the independents -- who tip close elections.

Only 37% of women hold a positive view of Rush Limbaugh, according to Public Policy Poll. Fully 49% have an unfavorable view of him.

But those women cast more than half of the ballots in most elections.

As the GOP brand falters, these high-volume talkers become the new face of the conservative movement.

There simply isn't a Republican politician with the charisma and stature to compete with Limbaugh, or O'Reilly, or Beck, or Coulter, or Ingraham.

So the next time they say something outrageous, divisive and caustic (I heard some CRAZY things during my week of tuning in to the Right's media culture) that wacko-stuff becomes the daily message for the conservative movement.

The solution? I don't know. But the first thing Republicans have to do is acknowledge that there's a fat, shaggy tail wagging the dog of their movement.

They can't control the right-wing media, they can't direct it, and it does at least as much harm as good to their cause.

CBS covers 'white nose syndrome'

There are times when television really tells a story powerfully. A crew from CBS traveled to Vermont recently to document the carnage among bat species at Aeolus Cave.

Their report will give you a really intimate sense of what it's like down in these once-vibrant and living habitats that are now being reduced to tombs.

You get what you pay for

Friday afternoon, I was in Canton getting ready to pledge pitch as we pushed toward the end of the spring membership drive.

Jackie Sauter -- who out news-junkies the news team -- was the first to pick up on wire reports out of Binghamton that something horrible had happened.

I had shown up in Canton wearing my Carhart work pants and a two day growth of beard. (That's why I'm in radio.)

I had no equipment, not even a cell phone.

So when NPR called and asked NCPR to scramble fast to help out in Binghamton, Ellen Rocco chipped in her phone. Radio Bob Sauter loaned me his personal laptop.

Joel Hurd found a field-recording kit and cables.

I was on the road in a quarter hour. (Fortunately, I had a couple changes of clothes still in the pick-up.)

I connect these dots -- the pledge drive, the team at NCPR, and my work here in Binghamton -- because the dots ARE connected.

NCPR does great journalism because we have incredible people on our staff, with deep experience.

And we have that team because thousands of our neighbors chip in whatever they can to support us -- $5, $1,000, jars of honey, whatever.

You get what you pay for, right?

Part of what listeners get for their generosity, naturally enough, is our work: the best radio and journalism we can manage.

But you also get our true gratitude and friendship. It's an honor to be working with (and for) all of you.

And now...I can't wait to get home.

--Brian, checking in from Binghamton

more numbers in the 20th CD race

OK -- so yesterday the state Board of Elections reported an actual dead het in the Murhpy-Tedisco match-up for the 20th CD seat. 77,225 votes each.
This morning, Politico.com has conflicting news from the campaigns, with a report from the PolitickerNY.com giving Murphy a 198-vote margin, and Tedisco headquarters giving the GOP candidate a 30 vote edge.
Once again -- unofficial, and still counting.

Tedisco to lose leadership spot

The Saratogian newspaper is reporting that Assembly minority leader Jim Tedisco will resign his leadership role on Monday.

Tedisco, who drew both praise and criticism for the management of his special election House campaign, told the newspaper, "I believe we'll be off to congress."

But win or lose, Tedisco seems resigned to stepping away from the minority leadership post:

"As leader, I’ve always let the conference lead me and I trust they will pick a great leader," he said.

That's one absentee vote for Murphy

Congressional Quarterly is reporting that one of those thousands and thousands of absentee ballots outstanding in the 20th CD race was cast by none other than Kirsten Gillibrand.

The freshly-minted New York Senator cast her ballot from Washington and has revealed that she threw down for Scott Murphy, the Dem from Glens Falls.

Are you giving at the office?

You didn't really think the In Box would let this week go by without even one stinking pledge pitch, did you?

That's right, folks, it's pass-the-hat time for North Country Public Radio. We're committed to taking our community ethic on-line and a big part of community is this simple:

Don't show up at the potluck without bringing a dish to pass!

The good news? Any dish is welcome, even that three bean salad or the jello-and-coconut shaving desert...or the weeny casserole.

So click here and make a pledge of ANY AMOUNT.

Anything. $5? $40 even. There's plenty of cool stuff there, from ball caps to "green" grocery bags.

(Anybody who's called me a numbskull on this blog over the last six months has to pledge at least $25!)

As David Sommerstein would say: Viva radio publica!

Let the snowbirds decide!

Naturally, a lot of talk going on about those absentee ballots in the 20th Congressional district race. They'll be decisive.

(For the record: despite some chicken little talk within the GOP, there is absolutely no evidence or even suggestion so far of vote tampering or inappropriate activity...none.)

The Board of Elections has released some numbers, which suggest that the military component of that vote will be fairly small: only about 10% of the ballots mailed out were sent to service-members.

And this is key: Only 170 out of roughly 6,300 ballots returned so far came from military members. (More will come in before the mid-April deadline.)

This matters because the Republican side is convinced that military voters will give them an edge.

Which means that this race is in the hands of the snowbirds! Think of it as another controversial Florida election!

Murphy lead shrinks to 25 votes!!!

You thought it couldn't get any tighter? The Albany Times-Union is reporting that a recount in Columbia County found new votes for Republican Jim Tedisco.

Democrat Scott Murphy's lead is now 25 votes.

The take-away? A couple dozen people who didn't bother to vote yesterday could have made all the difference in this race.

And now a confession: I was driving down to Saratoga Springs to cover the race yesterday afternoon when I realized I hadn't voted.

That's right. I completely blew it. My polling place is the northernmost point in the entire district and I was just too far south to turn back...sigh.

NCPR on NPR's Talk of the Nation this afternoon

I'll be on NPR's Talk of the Nation in the 2 o'clock hour (eastern) today talking about the NY 20th congressional race.

NPR's 20th House race coverage continues...

You can hear my story from this morning here. This afternoon during All Things Considered, Mara Liasson will focus on the race and the new populist themes being test-driven by Republican candidates around the country.

Also, political editor Ken Rudin is co-hosting an on-line discussion about the race today at 2:45 pm. You can also comment below...

For Tedisco, it's tough being Republican

If nothing else, this race highlights the brand damage done to the GOP over the last eight years. NY's 20th has a 70,000 voter Republican advantage, in terms of registration.

You can't win this district without Republican voters. So the GOP fields a respected, fairly moderate, scandal-free guy, one of the best players on their bench -- and still he's tangled up with an unknown neophyte named Scott Murphy.

(One of my editors at NPR asked last night, "Is he REALLY unknown?" I said, "I've lived here for ten years and I've never heard of him and it's my job to hear about people...")

So let's be plain: If the Republican movement is healthy, there's no race here. Murphy probably doesn't even run. But we're a long way from that.

Murphy was able to climb onto Barack Obama's coattails and race to the front, closing a 20-plus point gap in a matter of weeks.

Will the zeitgeist change if Team Obama's stimulus plan tanks? Sure. But the GOP has to start planning their own revival and not just wait around for the Dems to hit a brick wall.