The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Every so often, the spin that's used to defend our continued presence in Iraq gets boiled down to an essential, ridiculous nugget of falsehood. It happened today, in the front-page Democrat & Chronicle story on the testimony of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. Randy Kuhl says:

I'm confident that General Petraeus is the most competent, qualified, objective individual to determine how this country should proceed in Iraq.

This one sentence is the reductio ad absurdum of all the Petraeus-centric rhetoric we've been hearing for the last six months. Kuhl is putting a general above the President and Congress in making the strategic decision of the next steps in Iraq. Kuhl's flight from responsibility has led him to utter a statement that, taken to its logical conclusion, would have the reader believe that we live in a military dictatorship instead of a republic.

Petraeus, Crocker and the rest can give their report on how they think things are going in Iraq, but Kuhl is living in a fantasy world if he thinks residents of the 29th are going to adopt David Petraeus as their new Caesar. I think yesterday's editorial in the fairly conservative Corning Leader, which states that Petraeus' report is "anti-climactic", is pretty close to the prevailing majority opinion.

After today's non-event of Petraeus' testimony, the Congress, which has the power to declare war according to a quaint little document we like to call the Constitution, will be called upon to make a decision. They may not be "competent, qualified and objective", but they are responsible, whether or not our Member of that august body wants to admit it.

The guilty verdict in the protester trial made the Hornell Evening Tribune, WETM-18 in Elmira, and the Elmira Star-Gazette.

Some of the highlights of the past couple of days of coverage:

• One of the protesters, Ellen Grady, testified that she had been involved in another protest when Amo Houghton had the seat in the 29th. Though she was told that Amo was out and wouldn't come back, he returned at the end of the day and invited the protesters to his home for cookies and lemonade.
• The reason the trial took two days, and jury selection almost one, is that the protesters tried to question each juror about their views on the Iraq war.
• One of the jurors who was interviewed said that the deliberations where surprisingly difficult: "I felt for the defendants and actually wiped tears from my eyes after the verdict. But I feel people should be aware of our laws and should abide by them."
• There's a possibility that those convicted may be sentenced to time in jail. If so, it won't be the first time for at least one protester. Daniel Burns spent time in federal prison for spreading his own blood over a recruiting station in Ithaca in 2003.

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader editorial page [pdf], which includes managing editor Joe Dunning's column. Dunning's topic is the Kuhl/Massa race. He says that Kuhl's reluctance to say that it's time to pull out from Iraq will cost him votes, and that the Petraeus report is an anti-climax.

A six-person jury in Bath found all of the protesters on trial guilty of criminal trespass this afternoon.

In other protester coverage, reader Elmer sent this morning's Corning Leader front-page story [pdf]. And the Steuben Courier had a story as well.

The Star-Gazette coverage of the protesters' trial in Bath says the trial will resume this morning. There's no indication that Kuhl will testify.

Reader Elmer sends three stories from today's Corning Leader. The front-page news [pdf] is the trial in Bath and Kuhl's subpoena. After the jump [pdf], Kuhl tones it down on the lockout:

We are in the process of trying to create a system where people don't have an unlimited ability to walk in and be disruptive [...] We had a study done to determine what our needs are and what could be done, considering the facility we have.

As for the protesters, Kuhl said "I understand there are hired political operatives behind the effort who do not live in the district and are trying to make a point."

The Leader also carries two stories [pdf] related to legislation in Congress. In one, Kuhl relates his experiences on his first conference committee assignment, which was on HR 2669, the College Cost Reduction Act. The other story is reprinted from the Messenger-Post. It's about S-CHIP and is based in part on Eric Massa's Wednesday press conference.

Update: Rochesterturning has posted another Leader item, an editorial by Randy Kuhl (image file).

Today's Star-Gazette coverage includes a longer article about today's trial of anti-war protesters in Bath. As expected, Kuhl will not be attending the trial, even though he was issued a subpoena on Wednesday. Channel 10 in Syracuse, and Channel 18 in Elmira also carry short pieces on the subpoena.

According to its work schedule [pdf], Congress will adjourn next Tuesday (9/11) at 3 p.m. and remain in recess for the rest of the week due to Rosh Hashana. So Kuhl could, in theory, testify next week if necessary.

In the Star-Gazette story, Kuhl's spokesperson says that the subpoena will be referred to the House's general counsel. According to Rule 8 of the Rules of the House, Kuhl has a duty to inform the Speaker when in receipt of a subpoena that pertains to the "official functions of the House". I don't know if maintaining his district office falls under that heading. If so, according to Rule 8, it is up to the Member to determine if the subpoena is "is a proper exercise of jurisdiction by the court, is material and relevant, and is consistent with the privileges and rights of the House." Assuming that it is, then the member is directed to comply.

One of the major privileges of the house is contained in the Speech or Debate clause of the Constitution, and is also known as "Congressional Immunity". It forbids the arrest of a Member of Congress for crimes other than "Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace" while Congress is in session or while the Member travels to or from Congress. I doubt that this clause will have any bearing on a subpoena from a court in Bath, but any legal action involving a Member of Congress engaged in his official duties opens an interesting can of worms.

Reader Elmer sent this item: A subpoena was issued for Randy Kuhl to testify in tomorrow's trial in Bath. It sounds like the process for getting a subpoena to a sitting Member of Congress is complex and may not be resolved before tomorrow.

Eric Massa's radio program is the subject of a Hornell Evening Tribune article.

The phrase "tilting at windmills" is often used metaphorically, but in today's press conference, Eric Massa did it literally. Read on for more about wind power and other issues.

Massa began today's conference with a discussion of S-CHIP, which, he said, is "a very easy-to-understand effort by the new Congress to increase access to quality health care for the nation's uninsured children." Massa called Kuhl's vote against S-CHIP "stunning": "Especially in the rural areas of the 29th Congressional District, we have a real emergency with regard to health care in general, but specifically for children."

Massa stressed his view of the non-partisan nature of S-CHIP:

This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. When I go to the doctor, I don't say 'Are you a Republican or a Democrat?' Medical care should have nothing to do with partisan politics, but everything to do with access.

Bryan Roth from the Messenger-Post asked why Massa considered health care an "emergency". Massa replied that 49 million Americans don't have health care, and that "as access to health care is cut back, illness and fatalities increase." Roth also asked what Massa thinks needs to be done. Massa's response:

I'm on record supporting single-payer health care: privately-delivered publicly-funded health care. I will work to give the American People what Congress has given itself. Every Member of Congress has a gold-plated, diamond-studded health plan. The American people deserve no less. [If I am elected,] I will not accept the Congressional Health Plan. As a military retiree, I'll stay on that program, which is far less than Congress', until everyone in the 29th Congressional District has the same as what Congress gives itself.

I asked Massa what he thought about the objection that the new S-CHIP limits in New York were too high, since they covered a family of 4 with an income of $80,000 (actually, I was wrong: it's $82,500). Massa said that "a family of 4 earning $80,000 is certainly eligible to pay for the Iraq war." He added:

Why is it wrong for someone with an $80,000 income to get access, while it's OK for Congress to get free access to health care. It comes down to a bottom-line discussion item: why should health care come down to a competitive model: survival of the fittest. We're the only industrialized country [doing that].

With S-CHIP out of the way, Massa turned to wind power. He prefaced his windmill discussion with a discussion of the way that nuclear energy was marketed in the 1950's. Massa remembers advertising which featured "clean free nuclear energy" but didn't mention "the hundreds of billions of dollars for cleanup, the long-term health risks, or the increases in taxes." Massa sees the same thing happening in current talk about windmills:

Today in Steuben County and throughout the Southern Tier, we are being scammed in much the same way. We are scammed by foreign-owned companies building foreign-manufactured wind turbines that will not produce electricity. This is a threat to landowners, who will see taxes explode. It is an environmental burden, which will see bird populations destroyed. Foreign companies will take their tax subsidies and run, with no money going to the 29th Congressional District. We are going to have to live with 1,000 windmills the size of the Washington Monument.

Massa said he was interested in this issue because "our local governments are not sounding the alarm". I asked him why he thought that the windmills wouldn't produce energy:

We are being told that we are building windmills to provide electrical power for New York State's largest consumers. The largest consumers in New York are air conditioners in New York City. Wind is available for generation in upstate on cold winter nights. That's when there's enough wind to turn 450 foot towers.

Finally, on Iraq, Massa had this to say about the Petraeus report:

We're seeing something in this administration that we've never seen before in the history of the United States of America. We're seeing a Commander-in-Chief and Members of Congress saying that they're going to wait until they get a report from a General [to decide what to do about the war]. George W. Bush is the Commander-in-Chief. He's supposed to be the leader, not the follower. Members of Congress are elected to lead, not follow. In the American military tradition, it's the civilians who tell the military leaders what to do, not the other way around.

The Elmira Star-Gazette reports that the anti-war protesters arrested last month will go on trial Friday in Bath.