"My favorite part of Dead Week is getting up early, drinking coffee, and looking ahead to the long stretch of nothingness that fills the day."

"The nothingness doesn’t have to be slothful; sometimes I leave the house and sometimes I don’t, but the point is that it doesn’t matter. If I don’t go outside, I don’t feel bad about it, and if I do, everybody else I encounter looks equally confused and at loose ends, frittering away these leftover days. It is the only time of year when the days feel slow to me, when the time outside of whatever tasks I have to do does not somehow vanish into further worry and busyness. It is the only time I don’t feel like I am perpetually late to my own life...."

Writes Helena Fitzgerald, in "All Hail Dead Week, the Best Week of the Year/The week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve is a time when nothing counts, and when nothing is quite real" (The Atlantic).

The author "is a writer based… in New York." I presume that means New York City, and not just because I know it is the convention in New York to say "New York" for New York City and to specify "New York State" if you mean to refer to the state. There's no other state where people add "State" to the state's name. Imagine if in Oklahoma, you said "Oklahoma State" to signal that you didn't mean Oklahoma City. Anyway, I know that means New York City because the people on the street have a distinct look of being off from work. If the author goes outside she's struck by everyone looking at loose ends. New York City is such a workplace.

Anyway, for me, out here in Madison, Wisconsin, every day is the equivalent of a day in Fitzgerald's "Dead Week."

"The Long Path is a 358-mile hiking trail that begins at the 175th Street subway station in Manhattan and runs to Thacher State Park, just south of the Adirondack Mountains."

" Conceived around 1930 by Vincent Schaefer, a chemist and meteorologist, and named after a line from a Walt Whitman poem, the Long Path initially had no fixed route and was essentially a sequence of waypoints that led toward the Adirondack High Peaks.... It often felt like I was the only human on the trail. Occasionally I encountered others in the mornings or evenings, though all of them lived nearby and were being towed by their dogs. I began to realize that nobody I encountered was aware of the Long Path’s existence, including several people whose homes sat mere feet from the trail. Despite being well marked (its route is indicated with a rectangular aqua blaze), it appears to be hidden in plain sight. Apparently the ubiquitous patches of paint adorning tree trunks, stones and telephone poles are only perceptible to those who navigate by them...."

Writes Casey Kelbaugh, in "Walking From Manhattan to the Catskills on the ‘Long Path’/Intrigued by a trail marker he spotted upstate, a photographer set out to follow a meandering — and little-known — hiking route north from New York City" (NYT)(free access link).

The Walt Whitman poem is "Song of the Open Road," which begins:

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

"Unlike nearly every other state, New York does not allow cameras in the courtroom and also prohibits audio recordings..."

"... of witness testimony and other proceedings.... In an era when even the U.S. Supreme Court streams live audio of oral arguments, New York is way behind the times; the official court rules for coverage of People v. Trump allows for about 60 journalists (including two sketch artists) to witness the proceedings with 'no video, no photographs, no audio recording.'... In New Yor​​k — again, in a departure from the federal system and every other state — official rules state that transcripts of what gets said in court must be purchased from the court stenographers who have the job of recording, on a specialized keyboard, every word, action, and ruling in criminal cases." 

From "Free the Trump Trial Transcripts/The New York court system’s maddening lack of transparency is about to be a national embarrassment" (New York Magazine).

The destruction of New York State.

Trump on Truth Social last night:

I did nothing wrong, except build a successful and very liquid company, owning some of the Greatest Properties in the World, and defeat Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Democrats in the 2016 Presidential Election, an Election which a Republican was not expected to win. I am now the Presumptive Republican Nominee, and likewise, dominating Joe Biden, the Democrat Nominee, in the Polls. This is a Weaponized Attack on Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, unlike anything that has happened in the History of the United States. This is a Political Witch Hunt, and will lead to the destruction of New York State, with businesses and people fleeing by the thousands, while criminals continue to roam the streets. We will continue to appeal until Justice prevails!

"It’s no secret that an enormous amount of party leadership in New York State is based on big money and old-school, calcified machine-style politics that creates a very anemic voting base that is disengaged and disenfranchised."

Said Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, calling for the resignation of Jay Jacobs, the Democratic Party chairman in NY state.

Quoted in"If Democrats Lose the House, They May Have New York to Blame/Republicans flipped four congressional seats in New York, the most of any state in the country. How did this happen in one of the nation’s most liberal states?" by Nicholas Fandos (NYT).

[M]any progressives... lamented that numerous candidates had failed to stake out a bolder agenda that would inspire the state’s 6.5 million Democrats and to invest in more durable on-the-ground organizing, rather than trying to motivate voters out of fear of [GOP candidate for governor Lee] Zeldin.

Remarkably sad photographs accompany the NYT editorial endorsing the current NY governor.

I'm looking at "Kathy Hochul Is the Best Choice for Democrats in the June 28 Primary." I can't copy the photographs, so I'll just copy the captions and tell you the photos all feel desolate to me:

1. "BUFFALO The sole room where abortions are performed, left, and one of several natural birthing rooms at Buffalo Women Services, which provides obstetric, gynecological and abortion services. The future of abortion access is one of the major issues on the ballot in New York State’s Democratic primary for governor on June 28." (We see the open doors to 2 side-by-side dimly lit rooms, one with a big bathtub. )

2. "BUFFALO An impromptu memorial outside Tops Friendly Market, the site of a racist mass shooting on May 14 that resulted in the death of 10 Black residents. Ms. Hochul, who once boasted an A rating from the National Rifle Association for her legislative record, now embraces gun safety regulations." (Flowers and crumpled American flags lie on the sidewalk right next to a storm sewer.)

3. "MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. A new high-density residential building near a Metro North train station, surrounded by many single-family homes" (a very intrusive high-rise apartment building painted with insultingly jolly colors) and "MOUNT VERNON Single-family homes near the end of the No. 2 subway line" (a weedy, seedy residential street with a lone figure, seen from the back, who seems selected to represent poor black people).

4. "MANHATTAN A rider exits the 34th Street-Herald Square subway station. Recent high-profile crimes on the subway and elsewhere, plus coronavirus variants, have many office workers still staying home." (Another lone figure seen from the back, disappearing around the curve in a dilapidated hallway. This one represents a woman in danger.).

5. "CAIRO, N.Y. Tattered American flags. New York, in this moment, requires a governor who is committed to fighting for our rights and freedoms, and the editorial board endorses Kathy Hochul." (Faded, frayed American flags poking out of unmowed weeds by a generic 2-lane highway.)

I haven't read the text of the editorial, only these captions, as I marveled over the crazy collection of photographs. Hochul is the current governor! You made the state look terrible. Yet voters are supposed to want more of the same. I guess change only risks making things worse. Be grateful for another serving of sadness stew, New Yorkers.

"In 2020, Fern Steficek set out to raise sheep and grow plants for natural dyes in the Hudson Valley."

"She began searching for land, visiting one property that had recently been acquired by Brooklyn transplants. But when she described rotational grazing practices to the owners, which involve moving clusters of animals around the pasture using portable fencing, they were put off by the idea, saying they preferred for the livestock to dot the landscape. 'We walked around the property, and they were talking about their vision of, basically, a petting zoo,' Ms. Steficek said. They also objected to any of the animals’ being slaughtered for meat, she said. 'It was frustrating and unrealistic, and not trusting me to know how to process animals humanely, but wanting a fairy tale idea of what farming is.'... If farmers could afford their land to begin with, these alliances might not be so necessary...."

From "How 'Fairy Tale' Farms Are Ruining Hudson Valley Agriculture Farmers are losing properties to wealthy buyers from the city, while leasing land from the new owners can feel like a 'modern-day feudal system'" (NYT).

"Fearing ‘Extinction-Level Event,’ N.Y. Democrats Turn Against Each Other."

That's a headline in the NYT. Subhead: "Newly drawn congressional maps have led some House members to quickly lay claim to certain districts, even if it means challenging fellow incumbents."

Two weeks ago, Representative Sean Patrick Maloney warned fellow Democrats in a private meeting that a ruling by New York’s highest court to invalidate a Democratic-leaning congressional map could prompt “an extinction-level event” for the party, according to people familiar with the remarks. Democratic incumbents, he feared, could either be shoehorned into more difficult districts or forced into primaries against one another. 

How damaged is NY Governor Kathy Hochul?

The NYT has this by Luis Ferré-Sadurní, "Hochul Picked a Running Mate. Now She Has to Pick Another One. Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin’s resignation in the face of a criminal indictment creates a major political test for Gov. Kathy Hochul":

The search [for lieutenant governor] was relatively swift, with Ms. Hochul, a white Democrat from Buffalo, homing in on elected officials of color from downstate. She picked Brian Benjamin, a Black state senator from Harlem who was expected to help Ms. Hochul broaden her appeal in New York City, announcing her choice at a campaign-style rally in Upper Manhattan in August. 

The move came despite a string of ethics questions that had followed Mr. Benjamin and that centered on some dubious campaign finance practices during his time as senator and his unsuccessful run for city comptroller last year.... 

Mr. Benjamin’s arrest appeared to blindside Ms. Hochul, disrupting her schedule just as she was increasing her time on the campaign trail this week. The arrest coincided with a mass shooting at a Brooklyn subway station, and Ms. Hochul had to call off a union fund-raiser in Manhattan and a news conference on Long Island....

And what did she say at that news conference? How did that go? The NYT just said she had to interrupt her campaigning and moved on to the possibility that Andrew Cuomo might run for governor again. That "would most likely be a steep climb for him," we're told. It's for the reader to wonder how much less steep that the climb suddenly got.

The damage to Hochul looks much more lurid over at the NY Post. Here's Bob McManus in "Kathy Hochul’s terrible judgment leads to one terrible day." McManus begins by trashing that press conference (video at the link):

Comparing 3 states based on how they billed us for skipping the toll booths on a recent trip to NYC.

Pennsylvania — charged $0 and advised that we'll have to pay next time.

New York — required to pay the toll amount ($16).

New Jersey — must pay the toll amount — $3.95 and $9.85 — plus a $50 administrative fee — with the amounts billed separately and the administrative fee charged twice. That's $100 extra on top of $13.80 in tolls.

NOTE: There was no option to stop and pay the toll. There was no one in the booth, presumably because of Covid.

"Mommy!! I won!!! Mommy, I'm the mayor of Buffalo!!! Well, not until January, but yeah. Like, yes. Yes, mom."

Video @TheBuffaloNews

India Walton leaves Poize Nightclub on Niagara Street to call her mom telling her she won mayoral democratic primary in Buffalo pic.twitter.com/tVNsy2mDe2

— Robert Kirkham (@RobertKirkhamBN) June 23, 2021

 

"India B. Walton, the community activist barely known to many Buffalo voters just months ago, shocked four-term incumbent Byron W. Brown in Tuesday's Democratic primary for mayor in what may rank as the most historic upset in the city's political history.... Her victory followed a left-leaning campaign that built surprising strength in finances and organization in its closing days. While Brown, 62, aired soft TV ads that seemed to reflect strength and confidence, Walton jabbed the mayor as out of touch with average voters, under investigation by a federal grand jury, and a pawn of 'billionaire' donors unwilling to relinquish his 16-year grip on City Hall" — The Buffalo News reports.

I'm no fan of left-wing mayoring, but that video makes me cry!

The NYT article points out that Walton will be "the first socialist mayor of a major American city since 1960, when Frank P. Zeidler stepped down as Milwaukee’s mayor."

"When I saw people putting in their windows, it just felt like this fluffy, billowing feeling of potential and growth and things happening again."

Said Angelica Palmer, quoted in "Can Cute Windows Resurrect a Depressed Town in Upstate New York?/A project in Cherry Valley, a longtime artists’ haven, is brightening storefronts and telling the world, 'We’re still here!'" (NYT). 

[O]ver the last eight weeks, several hundred people have come to Cherry Valley to see the windows and visit the pop-up boutiques, traveling from Cooperstown, Sharon Springs, Albany, even New York City. It’s premature to suggest that this small number of visitors would be enough to help reverse Cherry Valley’s economic fortunes....

Here's the Light Up Cherry Valley Instagram account. Sample photo:

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Light up Cherry Valley (@lightupcherryvalley)

"To just have a bunch of people in their folding-chair thrones telling them 'no,' it’s just really shortsighted. You have people who are playing both sides here. But what’s the side? Either Black lives matter, or they don’t."

Said Michelle Williams, the white owner of the Mermaid Cafe on Main Street, in Catskill, New York, quoted in "'A Slap in the Face': N.Y. Town Rejects Black Lives Matter Painting/The debate over whether to allow the street art has exacerbated racial tensions in Catskill, where just over a fifth of the population is Black" (NYT).

The headline uses the words "painting" and "street art" to refer to "Black Lives Matter" painted in large block letters on the street.

Vincent Seeley, the president of the board of trustees, which voted down the proposal, said they were willing to put up banners saying "Black Lives Matter," but the activists reject that alternative and insist on the large letters painted on the street.

Seeley says the board has now gotten requests "to hold a 'Blue Lives Matter' rally on Main Street, and to post an 'Unborn Child Lives Matter' and an 'All Lives Matter' banner" and they might just need to "to reconsider whether to allow any public messaging on its streets."

Along Main Street, where vintage Black Panther texts are displayed at the counter of the Magpie Bookshop and anti-racism messages have popped up on chalkboards outside restaurants, few people were willing to publicly voice opposition to the Black Lives Matter painting. Dissent has seemed to take place mainly under the cover of social media, where rancorous debates run rampant in comments.

Here's the third-highest ranked comment at the NYT:

I applaud this community for rejecting BLM demands. The article says "The proposal didn't seem like too much of an ask...". Well, it was!! I firmly believe the "silent majority" who are paying close attention but not voicing any opinion, will be heard on voting day. BLM has no right to "assume" they can put their message wherever they want. Believe it or not, other people have opinions that are "equal". BLM doesn't want equality, they want superiority and they use race and intimidation as a club to get it.

I don't think a political message should be painted in large letters on the street. The street should be kept clear and uncluttered, with the safety of drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians as the overwhelming priority. It's one thing to paint "STOP" crosswise on a street at an intersection, where the idea is to force the driver to be even more aware than usual of the need to stop. It's quite another to paint several words lengthwise on the street and to distract the driver into reading something that isn't related to driving. Quite aside from safety and neatness, the city shouldn't be choosing one political message over others and making it a semi-permanent part of the infrastructure. Political speech should be left to the people to write and speak to each other. That's community — when people can speak to each other, not when they can get the government to repeat their slogan for them in paint on the street.

"A Wisconsin Supreme Court justice on Tuesday invoked the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II during oral arguments for a challenge to the state's controversial stay-at-home order...."

"The Wisconsin Legislature filed a lawsuit last month in an attempt to reopen the state and block the extension of the stay-at-home order issued by state health officials to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 'I'll direct your attention to another time in history, in the Korematsu decision, where the [U.S. Supreme Court] said the need for action was great and time was short and that justified, and I'm quoting, 'assembling together and placing under guard all those of Japanese ancestry' in assembly centers during World War II,' said [Justice Rebecca] Bradley.... 'Could the [Department of Health Services] secretary under this broad delegation of legislative power or legislative-like power order people out of their homes into centers where are they are properly social distanced in order to combat the pandemic?... The point of my question is what are the limits, constitutional or statutory? There have to be some, don't there, counsel?... My question for you is where in the Constitution did the people of Wisconsin confer authority on a single unelected Cabinet secretary to compel almost six million people to stay at home and close their businesses and face imprisonment if they don't comply with no input from the legislature without the consent of the people? Isn't it the very definition of tyranny for one person to order people to be imprisoned for going to work?'"

CNN reports.

MEANWHILE: A Southern District of New York judge un-cancelled the New York primary, the NYT reports. Democratic members of the State’s Board of Elections made the decision to cancel the primary, and the challenge was brought by Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang.

“If all but one of the presidential candidates are removed from the ballot and the primary is not held, Delegate Plaintiffs will be deprived of the opportunity to compete for delegate slots and shape the course of events at the Convention, and voters will lose the chance to express their support for delegates who share their views, [U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres wrote]. “The loss of these First Amendment rights is a heavy hardship."

Torres was appointed by Obama.

"Cuomo’s rise is an unalloyed benefit for his state and the nation’s largest city, but it is not an unalloyed benefit for his party."

"To almost any sentient observer, it looks like the Democrats have picked the wrong guy to oppose Trump this fall. But the Democrats have painted themselves into a corner. They can’t simply stride out across the wet paint now that Biden has effectively won the nomination. He won it in open primaries, with settled rules, and there’s no way to change them. Biden won’t offer the party an easy escape. He won’t suddenly renounce the prize he has sought his entire adult life. And even if Uncle Joe woke up with a horse’s head in his bed and backed out, Bernie Sanders would say, 'Hey, I’m next. No cutting in line.' In that unlikely scenario, the Democratic Party would undoubtedly reject the hardline socialist at their convention in Milwaukee, but doing so would enrage his staunch supporters and fracture the party unity necessary to defeat Trump.  So why not nominate Cuomo for vice president and hint that Biden would step aside after one term?... A Biden-Cuomo ticket would be made up of -- gasp -- two older white men. Where is the woman on that ticket? Where is the African American? How exactly did they get pushed aside in a party that is built upon the rock (or is it sand?) of identity politics? Moreover, Biden has actually promised, in public and on tape, that he will select a woman for his running mate...."

From "Cuomo Rising, Biden Wandering" by political scientist Charles Lipson (at Real Clear Politics).

This is a terrible problem for Democrats, but I would give priority to the important work Cuomo needs to keep doing for New York right now. He should not be pulled off the job to do the work of running for President (or Vice President!). Right now, he looks especially good because he is coordinating with the Trump administration. It would be disastrous to confuse that work by making him Trump's official opponent. Getting through this crisis is more important than the presidential election, and even if it weren't, the Democrats are not going to win by putting their party interests above taking care of the immediate problem now. Cuomo is the Governor of New York. He's doing a what seems to be a good job of it, right when that is what is desperately needed. That's more than enough for Cuomo. The fact that Biden is a terrible presidential candidate for this time is just too damned bad.

"We all know that Trump is a bully. But I say, I’m a New Yorker, and I know how to deal with bullies. I did it all the time. I’m not afraid of Trump and he knows it."

Said Mike Bloomberg, quoted in "Wounded but defiant, Bloomberg promises to keep fighting."

I don't think any of the Democratic candidates are afraid of Trump. They all say he's a bully and offer to stand up to him. The question isn't whether they're afraid, but whether they are capable of fighting to a win. Bloomberg's real answer on that question is that he's got all that money. And that he's more capable than the other finalists not because he's a fierce debater, but because he's moderate and normal.

By the way, I'd like to look at the new Bloomberg ads. Why can't I find a YouTube page that just gives me all his ads? Is it that the campaign wants to force me to go through a page where I give them my information (which I don't want to do), or is that they have targeted ads and they don't want me to see the ads that are targeting other people?

ADDED: About that "I’m a New Yorker" business. Sanders is also a New Yorker. I'm interested in the way United Statesians find important meaning in their particular state affiliation. Amy Klobuchar presents her Minnesotanosity as a compelling qualification. Buttigieg has some belligerent pride in Indiana. Biden finds meaning in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Warren goes all Oklahoma on us. They all act as though their particular state gives them special powers.

I like this about America, but it is a form of prejudice. It's apparently an acceptable prejudice, this notion that my state is superior to the other states, that I'm better than other people because I come from this state. I've lived in New York and experienced the New Yorker's attitude of superiority. I happen to come from Delaware, and I've learned that people don't think much of the Delaware person (unless it's a corporation), but I grew up thinking we were very special because Delaware is The First State. Like: We're #1.

But I learned long ago that no one outside of Delaware cares at all about that. New Yorkers, on the other hand, never let go of the belief that in their own superiority. You see that in Bloomberg. Who's nearly 80. And who's trying to convince the people in all those other states that he's their guy. He expects them to be awed by his superiority. But he was crushed at the debate. Where's the superiority?

Maybe he's too sophisticated to take the bait. These people can't make me mad. If you can find video that shows Bloomberg's face when Elizabeth Warren says "horse-faced lesbians" — most video shows only her at that moment — you'll see he does not look the slightest bit alarmed or intimidated. There's a slight smirk, like he still thinks his joke is funny or thinks Warren is merely amusing in bringing it up.

"As President, I will always be there to help New York and the great people of New York. It will always have a special place in my heart!"

Tweeted President Trump, announcing his new domicile...

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House, is the place I have come to love and will stay for, hopefully, another 5 years as we MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, but my family and I will be making Palm Beach, Florida, our Permanent Residence. I cherish New York, and the people of New York, and always will, but unfortunately, despite the fact that I pay millions of dollars in city, state and local taxes each year, I have been treated very badly by the political leaders of both the city and state. Few have been treated worse. I hated having to make this decision, but in the end it will be best for all concerned. ...

He expresses love for the city and the people, but not for the political leaders (at the city and state level).

Trump didn't go so far as to say that no one has been treated worse than him. I wonder who are the "few" who've been treated worse by the city/state leaders (in his mind and in reality). I tried to think, and I thought of a victim of police brutality, but police officers, though they wield the power of government, are not "political leaders." The answer should have to do with the deliberate use of the highest power of government to torture and destroy a good person because of good things that he has said and done.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo responds on cue:

"Good riddance. It's not like Mr. Trump paid taxes here anyway. He's all yours, Florida."

I think Cuomo is commenting on a pending criminal investigation of Trump. From a recent news report about that (in Reuters):

In August, Vance, a Democrat, subpoenaed Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns from 2011 to 2018, and other records from the president’s longtime accounting firm Mazars USA. The subpoena is part of a criminal probe into Trump and his family business. The scope of that probe is not publicly known. Trump sued Vance’s office in Manhattan federal court to block the subpoena, arguing that as a sitting president, he cannot be subject to criminal investigation....

Using the criminal law to pursue a citizen is a very serious matter. Cuomo should not be making a pronouncement about the facts in that case. Aside from that, there's the implication that those who hold political power and purport to represent you really only want you so they can get tax money from you. Even if the political leader only cares about the economic value of its citizens, they should see the contributions that people make aside from the money they send to the government. Most of the positive value people provide to their community comes in a form other than tax money. Cuomo's insult to Trump is an insult to all New York citizens, many of whom don't pay much in taxes, but who do good things that benefit each other and make New York great... if New York is still great... make New York great again...

The quasi-religion of New York Magazine clickbait is making me uneasy and a little sad.

Just 2 things I'm seeing on the front page of New York Magazine right now...



I'm not recommending reading these. I haven't clicked through. I'm just contemplating the meaning and the emptiness.

Cynthia Nixon is running for Governor of New York: "This is a time to stick our necks out!"

I love New York, and today I'm announcing my candidacy for governor. Join us: https://t.co/9DwsxWW8xX pic.twitter.com/kYTvx6GZiD

— Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) March 19, 2018

She has experience... just not in government.

It worked for Trump.

Drain the swamp! Right??

Signs that no one gives a damn about the Olympics anymore.

From the front page of New York Magazine:

Elsewhere on that front page is:

NBC Declared Wrong Olympic Winner in Women’s Super-G
And gold medalist Ester Ledecka pulled off a massive upset.

If NBC can't even bother to get it right...

I myself am watching quite a bit of the Olympics. I use the DVR to skip over most of it, but I like zeroing in on the best skaters and snowboarders. I wish NBC would do what I seem to remember the Olympics broadcasters doing decades ago: Focus on the individuals, not the countries, and stress that this is a place where what matters is the individual and the only question is who is the best in the world. Ironically, that's the best propaganda for America, not this continual enthusiasm for whoever comes from America.

I approve of this satire:

Norway needs to be stopped https://t.co/H0LTopFNJE

— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) February 18, 2018

This is sweet:

Ester Ledecka on why she’s still wearing her goggles, hours after winning Super-G: “I was not as prepared as the other girls. I don’t have makeup on.” #pyeongchang2018 #olympics pic.twitter.com/qrsMPYohPi

— Evan Doherty (@YSportsEvan) February 17, 2018