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First off, I moved to New Paltz in 1989. By my math, that is 20 years ago, not a mere 20 minutes ago.*
A front page article in the New Paltz Times this week makes it sounds like Butch Dener is referring to me when he dismisses a critique of statements made here on the Gadfly because the comments were made by “someone who has lived in New Paltz for maybe 20 minutes” … but according to him he was referencing someone who made comments submitted to the blog, not the blogger (me). That is a significant distinction, don’t you think? (Sorry, I would like to link to the New Paltz Times article that makes this misrepresentation, but alas, it is NOT online.) That said, I do disagree with rejecting someone’s input based on the amount of the time they have spent in the community we all share.
Secondly, my last entry on this topic was NOT a correction.
Update, yes. Correction, no. At no time did I say in the original blog post that the incumbents went running to the Republican Party. And to evade the point that they did indeed interview – a first step that is clearly an explicit move towards seeking a nomination – with a party whose platform is in direct contrast with their party of registration - is smoke and mirrors. And the three incumbent candidates I have spoken to – Toni, Kitty, and Jeff – were all quite frank that they are quite open to the potential Republican nomination.
Again, it does remain to be seen whether or not they will get or inevitably accept a Republican nomination. However, I stand by my criticism of them even considering the idea. That is how I feel, what I believe. They feel differently. It is a disagreement among friends, among people who care about New Paltz. Nothing more, nothing less.
kt Tobin Flusser
*In 1989, I moved here to attend SUNY New Paltz, which I graduated from in 1992. When my husband and I were first married we had a brief sojourn to the “other side of the mountain” and northern Ulster from 1994 to 1996. In 1997, we moved back – we had our first child and wanted to be back in New Paltz, especially so we would be in this school district.
9 comments:
The chaiman of the New Paltz Republican Party, after inviting Democratic incumbents to interview for a possible Republican endorsement, presumably because he can find no Republicans who are interested in running, appears before the five-member town board, all Democrats, to assure them that the Republican Party of New Paltz is not dead.
Who could possibly doubt him?
Considering the reporter for that article, it's entirely possible that Bruce was misquoted...but I'm pretty sure that she's at least accurately communicating his tone.
Calling yourself a gadfly is no excuse for getting your facts wrong, which you did. So why not concede a correction? And in the future, don't take anything you read in the NPT at face value.
You are RIGHT-ON with your comments K.T. Thank you! Think of the Republican Party and the values for which it stands in terms of screwing the environment, making rich people richer at the expense of low and moderate income families, forgetting about all those who can't afford health care, infusing religion into everything and viciously dividing people to protect self interests. This is the party that worships Limbaugh, loves Sarah Palin, thinks Dick Chaney is being unfairly treated by the elite media and the list goes on. Thank you Toni Hokanson, Jeff Logan and Kitty Brown. We now all know that your democrat party values are disposable and you are willing to sell your souls to the "pave over New Paltz" local Republican Party. How disgusting!!!
Correcting my comment above...sorry, I meant Butch, not Bruce. :)
I was with you all along KT. Boo Butch!
Following Martin McPhillips' comments above, the Chair of the New Paltz Democratic Committee, seeing no incumbent candidates worthy of the nod, declines to endorse anyone. Her husband, of course, writes a glowing endorsement in the local weekly of the incumbent Highway Superintendent, who was himself a Republican about twenty minutes ago(at the same time that one of our gadflies was entering New Paltz for the first time). And meanwhile we wait for "Real" Democrats to come forward and challenge the "Fakirs" on the Town Board, those same "Fakirs" who are trampling on all that we hold dear by returning Butch Dener's telephone calls!
This is exhausting, can we all go home now?
Pete Healey
Following up on Robin's comment about possible misquotes, I have it on good hearsay that Butch's comment was an accurate quote, but that he was not referring to kT. Butch is unafraid to make his views known, and even though I think his tone is sometimes more aggressive than necessary, I applaud his willingness to publicly air what are often minority views.
Personally, I don't think it should be legal for someone to run on more than one line, or to run as a candidate for a party one is not a member of. It actually weakens the chances of other parties in the long run by allowing them to cop out instead of finding candidates of their own.
And Anonymous, as a registered Republican who remembers that Teddy Roosevelt created the first National Park, I can assure you that any political party is an amalgam of the views of its membership. Granted, the present direction of the Republican Party is strongly rooted in some very narrow ideals, but I take exception to you painting millions of people with such a broad brush from the shelter of anonymity. Did you perhaps forget to include your name with your comments, something that we ask mature and thoughtful people to do here as they disagree with one another?
Oh, gross.
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