Editor:

In his recent letter Bob Harker threw in a barb implying I supported socialism. I simply ask readers to read, or re read, my recent letter about “character.” It is not what I was writing about or saying and is nonsense to say I support socialism.

Unfortunately, there are many arguments in it also found on Kremlin-supported ONN. I think the most outrageous are the ways he tries to establish that violence is a Democrat phenomenon.

There are fact checkers from official reports to shred the basic argument.  But these claims also a hide a terrible – and dangerous – truth.

If we look at recent US history and at those who Trump calls “nice people,” we find the major source of continued domestic terrorism!

Oklahoma City. Columbine. Chardon School. Isla Vista.  Charlestown Church. Las Vegas Massacre. Sandy Hook. Aurora Theater. Casas Adobes, Arizona. Austin bomber. Parkland School. Santa Fe School. Jacksonville gamer. MAGA bomber.

All white. All supremacists. No Democrats. (Is this “the pot calling the kettle black”?)  Whatever, it’s a real fact the problem solvers among us can not ignore.

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

This man some call the President has gone too far calling soldiers, who fought and died for our country, “losers.”

This is the guy who made fun of disabled veterans, attacked John McCain and referred to generals as stupid. This is the same man who got deferments for bone spurs, which his doctor said “were temporary” and they could be treated.

This man said that his Vietnam was sleeping around and avoiding VD on the Howard Stern show. He has no respect for the military and in his tiny little mind they are his pawns.

He wouldn’t make it a day in the military because he couldn’t file bankruptcy and run away. It’s time to get our respect back from our allies and tell Russia to stay out of our business, time to respect our military and our heroes and thank them for their service, and time to vote this man out of office.

All gave some, some gave All, Trump GAVE NOTHING!!!

Harvey Campbell

Vietnam-era Veteran

Lyndonville

Editor:

I was not going to respond to Mr. Fine’s recent letter rebuking my previous letter but believe several of his “points” need clarification.

First and foremost, Mr. Fine again indemnifies Governor Andrew Cuomo for New York’s ills and instead places blame on President Trump. Why is it, Mr. Fine, that New York ranks 33rd of the 50 states in job growth in 2020 according to Kiplinger? Did President Trump cause this? Is Cuomo again not held accountable for “his” state’s failings? If so, then surely Trump gets credit for the 32 states doing better than us.

Is it also President Trump’s fault that New York suffered the greatest population loss in the nation from 2018 – 2019? Or was it “the weather” as Mr. Cuomo tried to tell us. Perhaps the fact that New Yorkers carry the highest tax burden in the nation played a part. And this of course does not even include the multitude of hidden taxes referred to as “fees” and “surcharges.”

I thank you, Mr. Fine for informing me that “it has always been illegal to loot, rob or destroy property and despite the Covid-19 inconvenience those activities are still illegal.” My question to you sir is how do you explain the dramatic and sudden increase in extreme violence and criminal behavior that is happening every night in the democratic led cities with so few arrests?

Men, women, and even children are being slaughtered. Could it be that the “representatives” that you point out are elected time in and time out have pulled enforcement capabilities out from under the various law enforcement agencies? Is cutting law enforcement budgets by as much as 1/3 a factor?

I would submit to you that stating it is “reasonable to assume that Democrats are providing services and delivering safe neighborhoods better than Republicans” is a self-serving statement that is proven wrong daily – by those pesky FACTS again. Is not Orleans County Republican run? Were not the protests held in Medina and Albion indeed peaceful? (And more likely to start a conversation?)

When was the last time a toddler was struck and killed by a stray bullet here?

You continue with “The Trump administration has blatantly violated the Hatch Act and subjected the American government to bribery for the benefit of Mr. Trump.”

I ask for facts to back this oft thrown about statement. There is, in fact, a stipulation in the Act that specifically exempts the President and Vice President. The left has been calling President Trump a criminal since before he took office. Four years later, despite Pelosi and her party still throwing everything they can think of toward Trump to see what sticks nothing has – or will. Donald J. Trump is still our President.

I think it was Mr. Cropsey that mentioned a “fear of socialism.” Yes, socialism scares the hell out of me.

In closing, I am certain that the Orleans Hub does not provide this open forum in which opinions can be shared and debated to devolve into a constant back and forth between a few individuals. I will therefore not respond to your anticipated rebuttal. Throw at me what you will to see what sticks.

I stand by my conservative views. I would much rather support capitalism and all its shortcomings, the rule of law, and a belief in One Nation Under God than allow a system that has proven to destroy nations throughout history to destroy this one. I have children and grandchildren. And a conscience.

Bob Harker

Clarendon

Editor:

People Count: The Census: Future funding and representation in government relies on accurate counts of how many people are living here in Orleans County, citizens and non-citizens alike.

The count is wrapping up at the end of September. Make sure someone in your household has mailed back the paper form or gone to 2020Census.gov or called to complete the survey and included everyone living and sleeping mostly in your household as of April 1, 2020. For English, call 844-330-2020.  Para español, llame:  844-468-2020. Phone numbers for other languages are listed on the website.

Voices Count: Voting: Future governance relies on each of us finding out more about candidates and making informed decisions.

Modern technology makes primary sources available. For example, look at whether Congressperson Chris Jacobs, filling out the last 6 months of Chris Collin’s term, is representing you or only voting at the pleasure of the president: https://clerk.house.gov/Votes.

Citizens: Register to vote by October 9. Vote early, starting October 24.

From many, one caring community.

Beth Wood

Barre

Editor:

This fall there are many avenues of voting that will be available to all registered voters and, because I believe so strongly in the power of our electoral process, I want to make sure you are aware of the options available to you and have time to decide how you will cast your vote.

This November’s election is one of the most important elections in recent history, and your participation is vital.

• Early Voting Sites: Starting on October 24, this is a process that allows registered voters to go to a designated early voting poll site in their home county to cast their vote in-person up to 10 days before the General Election, which is held on Nov. 3.

Please be sure to check with your local board of elections (contact information is found below) to make sure you know the correct location of early polling sites on where to vote if you plan to participate in early voting.

• Regular Poll Site:  On Tuesday, November 3 (General Election Day) from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., you can vote in person at your regular poll site. To find your regular polling place, you can contact your local county BOE, or go through this link on the State BOE website (it will also allow you to be redirected to your local county site to find your early voting site).

To ensure your safety, as well as the safety of others, please be sure to wear a mask and follow social distancing. It would be a good idea to try to show up at less busy times to avoid crowds as well.

• Absentee Voting by Mail: Alternatively, you can vote this November by mail. Traditionally, this process has been reserved for those who have been out-of-town on Election Day or are sick or homebound; however, because of COVID-19, I voted in favor of a new law that allows anyone to obtain an absentee ballot during the pandemic.

This process has been made even easier with the creation of an online portal application process on the state BOE website, which you can access here. You can also learn more about the process on their website or by contacting your local county BOE (county information below) where you can also obtain applications for absentee ballots. If you plan to vote by mail, I encourage you to complete and send in your absentee ballot application immediately to allow enough time for the BOE to process your request.

Another way you can participate in our election this November is to sign up to work as a poll worker. This is a paid position, and an extremely important position in our civic process. As a poll worker, you will be responsible for helping to ensure the integrity of our election.

Not only will you be paid for the hours worked during the election, but also for your training, and you will be placed in your home county. Poll workers are in high need, so please consider applying with your local BOE to fill this crucial role. Click here to learn more.

No matter which method you choose to cast your ballot, the important thing is that you do vote by whichever way you feel is safest and most comfortable. If you have any questions about voting options, polling sites or absentee voting or would like to become a poll worker, you can contact your county BOE as follows:

Erie County BOE

(716) 858-8891

Niagara County BOE

(716) 438-4040

Orleans County BOE

(585) 589-3274

Assemblyman Michael Norris

Lockport

(Norris represents the 144th Assembly District, which includes Shelby in Orleans County, and parts of Niagara and Erie counties.)

Editor:

A brilliant conservative caught my attention Sunday. He pointed out there are anarchists on the far right and far left who simply want to burn everything down.

They are behind personal injury and physical destruction. They use hate and derision as excuses to blame whatever they can use to stir things up for others.

My initial reaction was “to heck with them” – actually worse. But that accomplishes nothing! It feeds them.

The answer is arrest them when you can, cut off their supplies, and solve real problems! By simply talking and solving problems you make them furious – ignored, marginalized, and with their matches gone and lighter fluid confiscated, they will be beat back into obscurity.

Some people realize this innately. Others have a harder time learning. But in the end the ones still talking big or worse out on the streets burning, looting, and killing and stirring up no good with their lies will never learn.

Good people need to join hands and do what is right. It always wins in the end. But it starts by

recognizing the haters, the liars, the pyromaniacs who are warped and can never learn.

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

I am duly shocked by Chris Jacobs’ “no” vote on additional funding for the United States Post Office.

He claims his vote was a mistake. Well, it was or it wasn’t. But either way, he is clearly showing his incompetence in his role as our Congressman for NY27. The Post Office is a vitally important service at all times, but more so in an election amid the Covid-19 pandemic. There are many voters who will be dependent on absentee ballots.

If a mistake, how can he be as irresponsible as to error when voting on this imperative issue? My understanding is a vote is made by pressing the Yes or No button. The result is shown on an overhead screen and the Congress person is afforded an immediate opportunity to change the vote if it is wrong.

If not a mistake, then it is a vile affront to his constituents by supporting a Trump position and then saying “oops, I didn’t mean it.” We have a right to know his platform without lies or hypocrisy.

We need real representation in Congress and Nate McMurray will provide it. He will work hard for the people of this district emphasizing visibility and communication. He is a moderate Democrat. I note that most of the anti-Nate ads and statements are simply wrong.

This election is vitally important. Do your research to get the facts and above all, vote. Our democracy depends on it.

Carri Ludwig

Clarence (formerly Waterport)

Editor,

I was asked to share a copy of my letter to Congressman Jacobs, Senator Ortt, and Assemblyman Hawley along with the photo:

Dear Sirs,

Provided photo: Cindy Burnside said three turbines in the proposed Heritage Wind project would mar the view in her backyard.

This email is regarding frivolous spending at the cost of our schools and our students’ education.

The attached photo is of our field. We love the wide open spaces here in our town. Please, look at the picture again, only this time imagine 3 of 33 wind turbines just beyond the tree line in the back.  680 feet tall—that is more than 3 NYS Capitol Buildings stacked one on top of each other. Imagine them with blades spinning at well over 220 mph. They would tower into the line of the lower clouds. I did not move and build here to see monstrous structures, but if Governor Cuomo has his way, whether we want them or not, he will have 3 placed there and right now, at the extreme cost of education. We do not need the Heritage Wind Project, that money needs to go to our schools right now!

While Governor Cuomo sits on millions of our tax dollars, our school budgets have been cut and he is causing, on purpose, the schools and children to suffer…by his own hands with my money.

His dream of forcing his delusional “green” energy down our throats, here in this rural farming community, is appalling…meanwhile our schools and students suffer!

He is sitting on OUR money to fund a proposed wind project in our small town and yet our schools are financially hurting. With the COVID-19 mandates he put into place, there are many, many families and students without internet access in our area or even adequate ability to connect.

He cut the funding to schools and placed mandates on the schools for reopening which in turn causes the students and families to suffer—all while he sits on our money for frivolous projects that are not needed right now!  We do not need wind turbines or solar panels right now!

Our school systems and the families that are being forced to stay home in the attempt to teach their children need this money! This is how I want my money spent-it’s my money, don’t I get a say? What is wrong with this picture?

The funds that he is sitting on needs to be filtered to the schools instead of being frivolously spent on a project that we DO NOT need. We supply more than enough energy from Niagara Falls for THIS area. Our town is only 50 square miles and if the majority of the citizens do not want the proposed project by Heritage Wind, LLC/Apex…33 towers at 680’ each!  At the cost of education! It is wrong!

Please, do not allow this project, or others like it, to continue its dark journey while sending schools, children, and their families to the gallows. Stop him-he is ruining our educational system and it all starts with defunding these projects, opening up that money bag, and filter the funds to the schools that need it instead—stop the frivolous spending of my/our money.

No turbines! Not now-not ever-it’s a very bad deal!

Respectfully,

Cindy Burnside

Barre

Editor:

I would like to respond to Mr. Harker’s letter from Aug. 29. I am a liberal so perhaps I can address some of Mr. Harker’s concerns.

As a liberal, I condemn violence and criminal activity and all the liberals I know also condemn violence and criminal activity. Mr. Harker writes: “In NY, I could not go to church for weeks. I could, however, loot, rob, destroy in the name of ‘change’ if I so chose.”

Mr. Harker, it has always been illegal to loot, rob or destroy property and despite the Covid-19 inconvenience those activities are still illegal.

Mr. Harker comments that cities that have been run by Democrats for decades now have protest and violence. Mayors and city council members are elected by the citizens. Citizens generally want smooth roads and good schools and safe neighborhoods.

Since Democrats keep getting elected it is reasonable to assume that Democrats are providing services and delivering safe neighborhoods better than Republicans. When Mr. Trump became president, crime in major cities in 2017 was down according to FBI statistics. Because of Covid-19 infections, unemployment is at an all-time high and especially affects minorities.

While Mr. Trump is not responsible for the virus, he is responsible for the response. Other countries have the virus under control enough to re-open their economy including Canada.

While N.Y. State Department of Labor reported: “For the 12-month period ending June 2020, the private sector job count in the Western New York region fell by 80,900, or 14.7 percent, to 470,500.” But just across the border, The Globe and Mail reported (8/7/20), “The Canadian economy added 418,500 jobs in July as pandemic restrictions eased across the country, marking the third consecutive month of rising employment after millions of jobs were lost earlier this year.”

Furthermore, it is wrong to associate the violence during the peace protest with a political fraction such as the left. For example the Star Tribune out of Minneapolis reported: “A masked man who was seen in a viral video smashing the windows of a south Minneapolis auto parts store during the George Floyd protests, earning him the moniker ‘Umbrella Man,’ is suspected of ties with a white supremacist group and sought to incite racial tension, police said.”

The Kansas City Star (6/16/20) reported: “Devin Burghart, president of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, said his organization has found evidence of Boogaloo and other far-right extremist groups at 40 protests related to Floyd’s death, including some in Kansas City and Wichita.”

In clear language committing a crime makes you a criminal regardless of political persuasion. The Trump administration has blatantly violated the Hatch Act and subjected the American government to bribery for the benefit of Mr. Trump. The Trump administration is criminal.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

At one time I thought we would be voting about the character of Presidential candidates. Many decided who they thought worse last time.

This year we are voting about what type of person we are.  For example:

1. At the funeral parlor do you comfort the family or tell them “all lives matter” and “everyone dies”?

2. Do you believe what people tell you about crime rates or do you look for yourself? (I found NYC in 1990 had 2,500 murders and now under a Democrat and different policing training had 550 in 2019? Not what Rudy said.)

3. Do you think high bids on your stock is more important than unemployment being at a 70-year high with tens of thousands of employers closed?

4. Can you reconcile the federal crime reform law our President brags about which let people out of prisons with his promises to put people in jail?

5. Do you think God delegated golfers, anyone, authority to judge church-goers’ souls?

6. Do you prescribe your own medicine? Do you reject any and all recent medical advances. What about discontinued drugs when the FDA has found bad side effects and taken them off the market?

7. Do you believe the guy who says he wants to give police raises or the guy who will deny them money in the third stimulus package?

8. When mail delivery is down 12 percent, do you think the USPS head should show us the study he says proves cutbacks will work out – particularly as it a study he also testified he has never read?

9. Is your fear of socialism so deep you support doing away with all health insurance because joint buying power is socialist?

10. Are you worried that the Social Security actuaries say payroll tax elimination will cause SS and Medicare to run out of money in 2023?

11. When Rudy Giuliani takes a Russian film crew – One America News Network (OANN), also known as One America News (OAN) – to Urkaine are you going to listen or laugh when he airs his report about that trip?

12. Do you believe in jury verdict? How many does it take for you to suspect a pattern?

13. Do you believe with our death rate and job attrition rates so high we can keep up with countries which do not have those problems?

It seems to me in this 2020 election we are voting about who we are – our morals, our concern for others, our superstitions and our gullibility or lack thereof.

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

I write in response to Gary Kent’s concerns regarding folks having a “cavalier” attitude toward a civil war.

First, since being offended is so loosely defined and “in” these days, I am offended. I am not a “conspiracy theorist.” I do watch Fox News. His thinly disguised derision of those on the right is not called for, especially since he and others on the left are opposed to stereotyping and profiling. Isn’t that what you are doing Mr. Kent?

One would also have to ask what kind of civil war worries Mr. Kent the most? Left vs Right, Black vs White, Poor vs Rich? Supporters of the rule of law vs criminals?

Mr. Kent rightly states that war kills people. It does. There is violence, hatred, injuries, and death. Not one sane person on the planet would advocate that. It can be said that all these factions are in conflict with the other in some form.

Which is exactly what is happening in large cities across our nation today. Cities that have been run by Democrats for decades. (Yet is President Trump’s fault of course.) The same career Democratic politicians that are conveniently turning a blind eye to the fact that men, women, and children are dying as a direct result of the anti-cop, anti-white, anti-anything patriotic anarchy they refer to as “peaceful protests.”

A once united nation is being torn to shreds before our very eyes. In NY, I could not go to church for weeks. I could, however, loot, rob, destroy in the name of “change” if I so chose. Any thinking person who denies that this is a mockery of what our forefathers envisioned is disingenuous. When the left is in control our Constitution is “evolving.” Evolving to favor their favorite big government scheme of the day.

Black Lives Matter of Chicago INC (a for profit organization) claims violence, robbery, looting, and other types of the crimes being committed are simply “reparations.” Really? It has almost become cliché that if they honestly are advocates for black lives why are they silent on the rampant rate of black-on-black crime?

Mr. Kent, I do not believe we are on the verge of civil war. I do believe that November’s election should decide our future. Ideally one party or the other will come out with the Presidency, the House, and the Senate. At least that would at last determine which path we take. The stakes are high, the division clear.

Regular readers of the Hub’s Letters section already know who and how I will be attacked in response to voicing my differing opinion. From those of the “all inclusive” party.

In closing, I implore every US citizen, get out and vote. In person. With ID.

Bob Harker

Clarendon

Editor:

The very last sentence of my last post should have read: “I believe the extreme right wing has become a force for evil and the mostly Republican politicians who ride their coat tails should be ashamed of themselves.”

I absolutely do stand by my use of the word “evil”. For the last month New York State’s daily death rate has been less than 10. NYS’s population is almost 20 million. The USA total is about 320 million.

If the rest of the country had done what NYS did (credit Cuomo here), the country’s daily death rate would have been a bit less than 200.

Instead the national death rate has been about 1,000 a day. I believe the force behind the death of the additional 800 is evil.

Dennis Seekins

Lyndonville

Editor:

Many voters will have the opportunity to vote by mail in the upcoming election this fall.        This is an extremely bad idea on several counts. It does not take any imagination to believe that the process of requesting, filling out and returning a ballot is clumsy, subject to error, loss and yes subject to manipulation and fraud.

Much additional handling is involved in a mail-in ballot before it actually gets recorded as a vote, as opposed to an in-person vote. A mail-in ballot has to be requested, mailed, opened, filled out, mailed back, opened and recorded, a process that involves considerable time and handling, at least six times. There is ample opportunity for error, mistake, and loss. There also the opportunity to vote twice once by mail and once in person.

The claim is being made most recently by noted liberal columnist Mr. Steven V. Roberts in his local publication of August 15th that there is no evidence of manipulation and fraud. Not so, Mr. Roberts is so blinded by his dislike for President Trump that pertinent facts are being deliberately ignored.

Ballot harvesting, finding uncounted absentee ballots in the trunk of a car, and most recently the voting fraud in Patterson N.J. in May, wherein a revote must be taken, are all evidence that fraud and manipulation can take place.

The potential for fraud, abuse and mistakes are greatly enhanced by mail-in in voting. Further the ballot must be mailed early, depriving voters of the opportunity to involve themselves in the complete election cycle

The most disturbing aspect of mail-in voting is the potential for a substantial delay in declaring a winner. Both parties will have a field day claiming victory and accusing one another of fraud and suppression of votes.

There will be endless controversy over the legitimacy of many a mail-in ballot. Was the signature messed up? Was the correct envelope used? Was it mailed on time? Was it post marked? etc., etc., etc.

We may not therefore know for several days or more, who actually won the election. The public is entitled to a  speedy election result particularly in these days of unrest where demonstrators and protestors regularly take to the streets, attempting to short circuit the democratic process. It would be far more productive if they volunteered at the voting booth.

There is risk in going to a polling booth in the midst of a raging pandemic. I submit there is no more risk and possibly less, than going shopping, going to the gym, going bowling, going out to dinner and the like. The greater risk lies in compromising and confusing a critical election.  President Trump is correct. Vote in person on election day and assure that your vote is counted.   Our democracy depends on it.

James C. Hoffman

Somerset

Editor:

I would like to congratulate Mr. Harker on cracking the code on mail-in voting. It is certainly not a coincidence that “blue” states would offer options that expand voting opportunities.

That, of course, is in stark contrast to the President going on the record with Fox News in April saying, “[Democrats] had levels of voting, that if you ever agreed to it you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

I will say that I appreciate the concern for ballot rejections, which highlights the need for voter education. Far from a reason to suspend an option that would expand the opportunity to vote.

Now is a good time to call attention to the fact that the House passed the Voting Rights Advancement Act in an effort to enact sweeping voter reform. The bill, which was reintroduced recently as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, has been sitting on Mitch McConnell’s desk since December 2019.

The law prevents state and local governments from making last-minute, discriminatory changes to voting practices either at the polls or during early voting periods. So, I wonder why one would oppose this legislation unless the goal was to encourage widespread voter suppression? I suppose it is coincidence that such legislation is stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Now, from the voter fraud standpoint, voter fraud is as American as apple pie. Voting in colonial America was often reserved for white, land-holding males over the age of 21, which excluded a large portion of the population (both free and enslaved). During Reconstruction, poll taxes and literacy tests sought to disenfranchise African Americans and poor whites. Less “systematic” measures marked by violence and carried out by organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan of course suppressed voting in the South. Today, states purge voter rolls, limit early/absentee voter options, and enact ID requirements, which are a modern-day form of the poll tax. Perhaps the biggest example of modern-day voter fraud is the Electoral College, which in the past two decades has awarded us a president who failed to win the popular vote. Halting the possibility of universal mail-in voting is just another tactic by the minority to retain control; add it to the lengthy list of voter suppression tactics.

Ultimately, I am left befuddled that Mr. Harker asks what the Postal Service should do with $25 billion in anticipation of the November 3rd election. Why should Americans have to demand that tax dollars go towards rectifying a manufactured crisis? Trumped up conspiracy theories peddled by the President that mail-in voting leads to fraud were insufficient. So, a loyal donor to the President’s campaign was planted at the head of the USPS to systematically dismantle it in the months leading up to the election. Another nail in the coffin that the GOP has carefully constructed for the Postal Service, starting in 2006 with mandates to pre-fund retirement benefits.

In closing, I will head off the expected Trumpian response; the U.S. Postal Service is just that, a service. It was never intended to turn profits like a business. What is most concerning is that many in rural WNY fail to fully understand the significant role that the USPS plays in your lives. There is a specific reason why the USPS delivers Amazon packages. The company’s profits would drop to an unacceptable rate if an Amazon van showed up at your doorstep, as it does in larger metro areas.

Matthew Ballard

Statesville, NC (formerly Clarendon, NY)

Editor:

A recent letter indicated Republicans are a forces of evil because of the questions that have arisen regarding the Covid-19 virus.

Certainly the writer has to admit that health experts have waivered and changed direction on this Chinese coronavirus. This would include wearing/not wearing masks. Lockdown or not. Destroy the economy then cry for a bailout or not. Allow all hospital procedures or just abortions. Limit gathering sizes except to protest. Close travel to Europe and China or not.

More than likely the writer would have labeled the travel ban as a Republican racist policy. Questioning why the need to take certain liberties away while allowing others is not evil.

Edward Urbanik

Lyndonville