Thursday, May 31, 2018
Monday, May 28, 2018
Memorial Day
On Memorial Day, I am thinking about my Dad, who served in the U.S. Navy in World War II. His ship was the U.S.S. St. Paul, which fired the last salvo of the war. His older brothers -- James and Jack -- served in the U.S. Army. All three brothers made it home safely. All three now rest in peace.
I never served. So, what I think whenever I see veterans is, "They outrank me." They risked far more than I ever could. All I can do is be grateful and make the most of what they have given us.
In 1776, the Founding Fathers told an English king what needed to be said:
• All men are created equal.
• All men have a right to Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
We now understand those words need to include "all people" but the point is that those words would not have been worth the parchment they were written on without a military to back them up. "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately," Benjamin Franklin said.
The fledgeling U.S. Army and Navy made the words of the Declaration of Independence come to life. That's what they did for the Founding Fathers. What the Founding Fathers did for those soldiers and sailors was to give them something worth fighting for.
For more than 200 years, our military fought for democracy. The least we can do is use this gift. "Earn this."
Some facts about the 2016 election:
• Only 58 percent of registered voters -- 139 million out of 232 million eligible voters -- cast a ballot.
• About 93 million of registered voters did not vote.
• About a quarter of the people who could be registered were not.
• 62 million voted for Donald Trump.
• 65 million voted for Hillary Clinton.
• Total vote for president: 127 million (many who voted did not bother voting for president)
• The population of the U.S. is about 326 million. About 74 million of those are children. So, about 252 million of those are adults. This means, according to my rough math, about 125 million people sat on the sidelines.
Aside from any political preference, that statistic is what I cannot stomach. This is what our military fought and died for through how many wars? 125 million is more than the population of the United States in 1932.
My point is this: Register to vote ... and then vote. I don't care if you are Republican, Democrat, Socialist, Libertarian, Conservative, Green or even Whig. Engage in the political process. But do it respectfully. When you encounter someone who disagrees with you, say to yourself, "Hooray, democracy works." If you lived in a country where everyone "agreed," you'd be in trouble.
Don't expect to win every argument, but if everyone participates and votes we can at least know that the election results truly do reflect the majority of the people. I could live with that.
That is what our veterans fought and died for.
Check on your voter registration status:
https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/votersearch.aspx
Register to vote through the DMV:
https://voterreg.dmv.ny.gov/MotorVoter/
I never served. So, what I think whenever I see veterans is, "They outrank me." They risked far more than I ever could. All I can do is be grateful and make the most of what they have given us.
In 1776, the Founding Fathers told an English king what needed to be said:
• All men are created equal.
• All men have a right to Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
We now understand those words need to include "all people" but the point is that those words would not have been worth the parchment they were written on without a military to back them up. "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately," Benjamin Franklin said.
The fledgeling U.S. Army and Navy made the words of the Declaration of Independence come to life. That's what they did for the Founding Fathers. What the Founding Fathers did for those soldiers and sailors was to give them something worth fighting for.
For more than 200 years, our military fought for democracy. The least we can do is use this gift. "Earn this."
Some facts about the 2016 election:
• Only 58 percent of registered voters -- 139 million out of 232 million eligible voters -- cast a ballot.
• About 93 million of registered voters did not vote.
• About a quarter of the people who could be registered were not.
• 62 million voted for Donald Trump.
• 65 million voted for Hillary Clinton.
• Total vote for president: 127 million (many who voted did not bother voting for president)
• The population of the U.S. is about 326 million. About 74 million of those are children. So, about 252 million of those are adults. This means, according to my rough math, about 125 million people sat on the sidelines.
Aside from any political preference, that statistic is what I cannot stomach. This is what our military fought and died for through how many wars? 125 million is more than the population of the United States in 1932.
My point is this: Register to vote ... and then vote. I don't care if you are Republican, Democrat, Socialist, Libertarian, Conservative, Green or even Whig. Engage in the political process. But do it respectfully. When you encounter someone who disagrees with you, say to yourself, "Hooray, democracy works." If you lived in a country where everyone "agreed," you'd be in trouble.
Don't expect to win every argument, but if everyone participates and votes we can at least know that the election results truly do reflect the majority of the people. I could live with that.
That is what our veterans fought and died for.
Check on your voter registration status:
https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/votersearch.aspx
Register to vote through the DMV:
https://voterreg.dmv.ny.gov/MotorVoter/
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Separation of Church and State
As I've written previously on this blog ... before I became a candidate ... my faith is important to me. But so is the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
As a writer, former newspaper reporter and former faculty adviser to college student newspapers, the freedom of the press has been crucial in my life. But that's not all the First Amendment is about.
It reads:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Freedom of press comes in third in this list. Our founders saw the separation of Church and State as so essential they made it the first clause in the first paragraph of the Bill of Rights.
"But aren't we a Christian nation?" I've heard many say.
We are a nation founded mostly by Christians, but these were Christians of different flavors. The Puritans landed at Plymouth Rock because they fled the persecution of an English king who disagreed with their brand of Christianity. Anglicans and other kinds of Christians landed on other parts of the North American coastline.
They landed here knowing the history of religious strife in Europe. Wars fought between princes on behalf of one Christian sect against the other.
Only a few decades after the Puritans landed in Massachusetts, a Puritan in England named Oliver Cromwell would defy the English king and spark the English Civil War. The king would be captured, beheaded and Cromwell would become Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. He would rule that nation for five years until he died.
With his death, his government collapsed and the British monarchy was restored. When the royals returned, they dug up Cromwell's body and posthumously executed him. His body was hung by chains, thrown into a pit and mutilated. They stuck his head on a pole outside Westminster Hall. Cromwell's head would bounce around England for nearly two centuries, going from owner to owner until finally being buried in 1960.
The British colonists on the shores of North America watched from the sidelines as their home nation tore itself apart with religious conflict. Their descendants would remember this when it came time to write a constitution for a new nation. They knew the only sane choice was to keep religion out of government.
Our founders ensured church and state be separate. This also ensured the everyone could worship as they wanted to because no one flavor of Christianity or any other religion could hold power over any other. The separation of Church and State spared our nation from the religious conflicts that had plagued Europe and the rest of the world for centuries.
As candidates for office and as public officials, we must not allow the government to be used as a weapon to promote a particular theology.
As a writer, former newspaper reporter and former faculty adviser to college student newspapers, the freedom of the press has been crucial in my life. But that's not all the First Amendment is about.
It reads:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Freedom of press comes in third in this list. Our founders saw the separation of Church and State as so essential they made it the first clause in the first paragraph of the Bill of Rights.
"But aren't we a Christian nation?" I've heard many say.
We are a nation founded mostly by Christians, but these were Christians of different flavors. The Puritans landed at Plymouth Rock because they fled the persecution of an English king who disagreed with their brand of Christianity. Anglicans and other kinds of Christians landed on other parts of the North American coastline.
They landed here knowing the history of religious strife in Europe. Wars fought between princes on behalf of one Christian sect against the other.
Only a few decades after the Puritans landed in Massachusetts, a Puritan in England named Oliver Cromwell would defy the English king and spark the English Civil War. The king would be captured, beheaded and Cromwell would become Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. He would rule that nation for five years until he died.
With his death, his government collapsed and the British monarchy was restored. When the royals returned, they dug up Cromwell's body and posthumously executed him. His body was hung by chains, thrown into a pit and mutilated. They stuck his head on a pole outside Westminster Hall. Cromwell's head would bounce around England for nearly two centuries, going from owner to owner until finally being buried in 1960.
The British colonists on the shores of North America watched from the sidelines as their home nation tore itself apart with religious conflict. Their descendants would remember this when it came time to write a constitution for a new nation. They knew the only sane choice was to keep religion out of government.
Our founders ensured church and state be separate. This also ensured the everyone could worship as they wanted to because no one flavor of Christianity or any other religion could hold power over any other. The separation of Church and State spared our nation from the religious conflicts that had plagued Europe and the rest of the world for centuries.
As candidates for office and as public officials, we must not allow the government to be used as a weapon to promote a particular theology.
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
No man is an island
[Reposting this entry from October 2007 because I recently came across the photos about this story]
In the early 1990s, I was a reporter covering the protests in Allegany County against plans to build a
In that crowd, happily clinging to the arm of someone I took to be a younger relative, was M.M. Alexandra Landis. Dr. Landis -- who told me she had a Ph.d. and had taught at Harvard -- was an elderly woman who seemed to be delighted at the prospect of being arrested. I asked her why she was there, risking arrest. I have always remembered her reply.
"Are you familiar with John Donne?" she asked. Then, with no prompting, she launched into his poem:
"No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee. "
I thought of Dr. Landis this morning as I watched the EMTs take my elderly neighbor out of her home on a stretcher and put her in an ambulance.
Posted by Ed Bond at 11:01 AM 0 comments Friday, October 26, 2007
What it means to be a reporter
Last year, my buddy Jeff Schnaufer and I went to Washington D.C. to visit some museums. We spent part of one day at the International Spy Museum and later on went to the Newseum. What struck me was the contrast in the two experiences. One institution explored lies and deception. The other celebrated the search for truth and facts.
At the Spy Museum, we had the opportunity to go on a simulated spy mission. We had to solve puzzles, use surveillance equipment, infiltrate a bad guy's headquarters, interrogate a possible double agent and ultimately decide whether to deploy a black ops strike team. At the end, we got to watch the news reports on what had happened, knowing that we could never tell the real story. (They also had a massive display on the Bond movies, so my name got a bit of attention when we picked up the tickets.)
At the Newseum, the experience had been much more static. What stayed with me had been the memorial for all the journalists who died in the line of duty. A pickup truck riddled with bullets. Many reminders of how dangerous journalism could be.
When I had been a journalism professor, the Newseum's website had been an invaluable resource for my classes. But after being at the Spy Museum, the Newseum was a bit of a let down.
If only the Newseum had an immersive experience too. To me, it would be fun if visitors to the Newseum would be handed a notebook and pen and be told, "There's a zoning board meeting in the next room. Go find the lede."
Next they are told, "There's a politician giving a speech in the next room. Go get direct quotes despite the bad acoustics and his habit of occasionally mumbling. Oh, and be ready in case something unexpected happens like a protest or the sudden appearance of his opponent."
Then, "Ok, there's a crime scene next door. Try to get the story even though the police have the area cordoned off and the officers on the scene are instructed not to talk to you."
Then after the Newseum visitor goes home and goes to bed, their phone rings at 11:30 p.m. An angry editor yells at them for flubbing the lede or questions how they got their facts or quotes.
Then as they wake up the next morning, wondering how it all worked out, the clock radio goes off and the morning news announcer reads their lede to them.
Truth be told, I loved being a reporter. You didn't do the job for the money. You did it as a service to the public. The payoff was the adrenalin rush of getting the story, not just first, but correctly. I was despondent when I had to write a correction, but you could not shirk that part of the job. If a mistake happened, you had to correct it and figure out how to avoid that mistake in the future.
Despite what some politicians would tell you, I believe that most journalists work very hard to get the facts right and do it dispassionately. I will have to exclude 24-hour news channels from this. They don't provide 24 hours of news every day. It's more like 23 minutes of the same news, repeated over and over and over, intermingled with spin doctors and pundits.
Here's what I do for my mental sanity. If a major news story breaks, I may turn on the 24-hour news. But once they give the initial facts and start repeating those facts, or when the anchor says, "And now we turn to our panel of experts," that my cue to either switch channels or turn off the TV.
Being a reporter taught me how to listen, how to read people and how to be a quick study on complicated issues. One downside has been that since I stopped being a reporter, I've had to learn how to be a human being. No, I shouldn't call the same person three times a day until they give me an answer. Human beings don't do that. As a reporter, I learned about life through a unique filter -- everyone I ever talked to knew I was a reporter and was consciously or unconsciously on guard about what they said.
But as I get into politics, I realize my reporting skills are invaluable. It also makes sense to operate as if everything is a matter of public record. Because of my career in newspapers I have already lived a very public life. For example, you can go Google "Ed Bond Los Angeles Times" and read stories I wrote more than 20 years ago.
The advantage to this also goes back to a lesson I learned way back in politics class at St. Joseph's University.
There are no secrets.
At least not permanently.
Even though the International Spy Museum is a monument to lies and deception, its very existence tells you that eventually truth will come out. The Newseum is the testament to that side of the story.
While working on my announcement video, I ended up scanning in a lot of my old clips to pick out which ones to use. So, in the interest of time for anyone who would like to do some background research on me, I am posting all those clips here. Think of it as my own personal Newseum exhibit.
Or if you just have about 3-4 minutes to spare, you might check out this video I made to get a quick overview of what it was like to be a reporter and how I got here.
Cheers!
At the Spy Museum, we had the opportunity to go on a simulated spy mission. We had to solve puzzles, use surveillance equipment, infiltrate a bad guy's headquarters, interrogate a possible double agent and ultimately decide whether to deploy a black ops strike team. At the end, we got to watch the news reports on what had happened, knowing that we could never tell the real story. (They also had a massive display on the Bond movies, so my name got a bit of attention when we picked up the tickets.)
At the Newseum, the experience had been much more static. What stayed with me had been the memorial for all the journalists who died in the line of duty. A pickup truck riddled with bullets. Many reminders of how dangerous journalism could be.
When I had been a journalism professor, the Newseum's website had been an invaluable resource for my classes. But after being at the Spy Museum, the Newseum was a bit of a let down.
If only the Newseum had an immersive experience too. To me, it would be fun if visitors to the Newseum would be handed a notebook and pen and be told, "There's a zoning board meeting in the next room. Go find the lede."
Next they are told, "There's a politician giving a speech in the next room. Go get direct quotes despite the bad acoustics and his habit of occasionally mumbling. Oh, and be ready in case something unexpected happens like a protest or the sudden appearance of his opponent."
Then, "Ok, there's a crime scene next door. Try to get the story even though the police have the area cordoned off and the officers on the scene are instructed not to talk to you."
Then after the Newseum visitor goes home and goes to bed, their phone rings at 11:30 p.m. An angry editor yells at them for flubbing the lede or questions how they got their facts or quotes.
Then as they wake up the next morning, wondering how it all worked out, the clock radio goes off and the morning news announcer reads their lede to them.
Truth be told, I loved being a reporter. You didn't do the job for the money. You did it as a service to the public. The payoff was the adrenalin rush of getting the story, not just first, but correctly. I was despondent when I had to write a correction, but you could not shirk that part of the job. If a mistake happened, you had to correct it and figure out how to avoid that mistake in the future.
Despite what some politicians would tell you, I believe that most journalists work very hard to get the facts right and do it dispassionately. I will have to exclude 24-hour news channels from this. They don't provide 24 hours of news every day. It's more like 23 minutes of the same news, repeated over and over and over, intermingled with spin doctors and pundits.
Here's what I do for my mental sanity. If a major news story breaks, I may turn on the 24-hour news. But once they give the initial facts and start repeating those facts, or when the anchor says, "And now we turn to our panel of experts," that my cue to either switch channels or turn off the TV.
Being a reporter taught me how to listen, how to read people and how to be a quick study on complicated issues. One downside has been that since I stopped being a reporter, I've had to learn how to be a human being. No, I shouldn't call the same person three times a day until they give me an answer. Human beings don't do that. As a reporter, I learned about life through a unique filter -- everyone I ever talked to knew I was a reporter and was consciously or unconsciously on guard about what they said.
But as I get into politics, I realize my reporting skills are invaluable. It also makes sense to operate as if everything is a matter of public record. Because of my career in newspapers I have already lived a very public life. For example, you can go Google "Ed Bond Los Angeles Times" and read stories I wrote more than 20 years ago.
The advantage to this also goes back to a lesson I learned way back in politics class at St. Joseph's University.
There are no secrets.
At least not permanently.
Even though the International Spy Museum is a monument to lies and deception, its very existence tells you that eventually truth will come out. The Newseum is the testament to that side of the story.
While working on my announcement video, I ended up scanning in a lot of my old clips to pick out which ones to use. So, in the interest of time for anyone who would like to do some background research on me, I am posting all those clips here. Think of it as my own personal Newseum exhibit.
Or if you just have about 3-4 minutes to spare, you might check out this video I made to get a quick overview of what it was like to be a reporter and how I got here.
Cheers!
Monday, May 7, 2018
Congressional Primary June 26 - Democratic candidates
I've been knocking on doors, talking to people in my district about the upcoming New York primary for the 23rd Congressional District on June 26.
Five candidates are on the ballot on the Democratic side:
• Linda Andrei
• Ian Golden
• Tracy Mitrano
• Max Della Pia
• Eddie Sundquist
I have met and/or listened to all of these candidates. They all have their own strengths. I became a volunteer for Linda Andrei back in March because as a retired cardiologist, she can speak authoritatively about the health care system. My initial impression of her was she had an intelligence and empathy that had been shaped by a long career of making life-and-death decisions.
All of these candidates support health care reform in some measure, and it is high time to realize this country needs a single-payer system.
A few anecdotal reasons why I think so:
• Chicken dinner fundraisers
As admirable as it is for members of a community to band together and raise money for a family with a kid sick with leukemia or a dad injured in an accident or a mom with some form of cancer, you have to realize there is something wrong when families have to go to such a struggle to pay hospital bills. These would not be needed with a single-payer system.
• The recalled ambulance
As a reporter, I'd sometimes hear about a car accident on the newsroom scanner. Then we'd hear the ambulance dispatched to the scene. Then, a few minutes later the ambulance would be recalled. The injured person has declined care. They didn't want to go to the emergency room because they couldn't afford it.
• My $34,000 hospital bill
In 2006, I was hospitalized for two weeks with a clot in my liver. At the time, I was covered by Blue Cross, provided by the Star-Gazette. But a few weeks after I came home from the hospital. they sent me a bill for $34,000. Sticker shock! This had been caused by a billing error, and after repeated calls between Blue Cross and the Arnot Ogden billing department, it eventually got resolved. But I would not forget this lesson on how it felt to not have health insurance. Scary!
• My sister Jane, who has Multiple Sclerosis
In March 2017, I was headed to a town hall meeting with Congressman Tom Reed. I asked Jane to toss me some facts to throw at Reed. She said, "It's very scary to have a disease that can knock you out of life without warning. It's scarier still to worry that you won't be able to get the treatment you need. There's no cure (yet) but there are meds and treatments that can help folks live an easier life, but meds can cost $50-80k annually. It's difficult to communicate the level of fear, but it's very real."
• The numbers
The costs of public vs private insurance coverage can be debated, but Medicare operates with a much smaller overhead (about 3 percent) than private health insurance (about 10 percent to 20 percent). Why does private health insurance cost so much more? Bureaucracy -- at both the insurance companies - who often require patients to jump through hoops to get their treatment approved - and at the hospitals and doctors offices where staff must fill out the documentation to get the bills paid.
Old habits die hard, so when I attended the debate of these congressional candidates in Elmira a couple of months ago, I jotted down some observations.
"Tracy spoke with an authority and expertise and used compelling devices to capture our attention. 'Call me progressive' over and over effectively. Punctuating every point she made."
[... I make a big distinction between "progressive" and "liberal." I don't like the word liberal because in any kind of fiscal equation, liberal means "I will waste your money." But I do believe it is possible to be careful with money but also be socially progressive. The slogan for this blog "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are," comes from Teddy Roosevelt, the original progressive president ... and a Republican. I do like the way Linda describes herself as a progressive because she believes we still need to make progress.]
"Linda still brought through her commitment and compassion for health care reform ... The only contentious moment of the night was when Tracy said Linda was attempting a straw man/dog attack on single payer. Both support single payer, but Linda insisted it could happen immediately. Tracy argued for a plan to implement it in 5 years to avoid a tax impact. It seemed an attempt to artificially create division. I think either Tracy or Linda could do the job. They are both well-educated, insightful in their own way and hard working."
"Ian was the common man who displayed an undeniable compassion for others. He offered a lot of insight into issues. He would be an excellent Congressman. He might have more of a problem of overcoming the "Ithaca liberal" label when going against Reed. Tracy and Linda have the same issue, but Tracy overcomes it with a diverse and impressive educational resume. Linda, because of her education and experience, but also because she worked as a doctor throughout the Southern Tier, including Arnot Ogden."
"Eddie always came across as smart and well-prepared. I liked that he was able to talk about growing up in farm country with guns as part of the family tradition. He is quite far from an 'Ithaca liberal' but he was the one who adamantly embraced the "extreme liberal" label."
I have had a few conversations with Max, and I have been impressed with him because of his military and legislative experience. He commands a respect that goes across party lines, and that would serve him well in a general election. That one fact may be the deciding factor.
So, I'm volunteering for Linda, but I'm not going to tell people who to vote for in the primary. We have nearly two months until the June 26 primary, and I would encourage everyone to do research on these candidates and decide who you would prefer. The links to their websites are above.
Here's a copy of the flier handed out in advance of the candidate's debate in Elmira:
Five candidates are on the ballot on the Democratic side:
• Linda Andrei
• Ian Golden
• Tracy Mitrano
• Max Della Pia
• Eddie Sundquist
I have met and/or listened to all of these candidates. They all have their own strengths. I became a volunteer for Linda Andrei back in March because as a retired cardiologist, she can speak authoritatively about the health care system. My initial impression of her was she had an intelligence and empathy that had been shaped by a long career of making life-and-death decisions.
All of these candidates support health care reform in some measure, and it is high time to realize this country needs a single-payer system.
A few anecdotal reasons why I think so:
• Chicken dinner fundraisers
As admirable as it is for members of a community to band together and raise money for a family with a kid sick with leukemia or a dad injured in an accident or a mom with some form of cancer, you have to realize there is something wrong when families have to go to such a struggle to pay hospital bills. These would not be needed with a single-payer system.
• The recalled ambulance
As a reporter, I'd sometimes hear about a car accident on the newsroom scanner. Then we'd hear the ambulance dispatched to the scene. Then, a few minutes later the ambulance would be recalled. The injured person has declined care. They didn't want to go to the emergency room because they couldn't afford it.
• My $34,000 hospital bill
In 2006, I was hospitalized for two weeks with a clot in my liver. At the time, I was covered by Blue Cross, provided by the Star-Gazette. But a few weeks after I came home from the hospital. they sent me a bill for $34,000. Sticker shock! This had been caused by a billing error, and after repeated calls between Blue Cross and the Arnot Ogden billing department, it eventually got resolved. But I would not forget this lesson on how it felt to not have health insurance. Scary!
• My sister Jane, who has Multiple Sclerosis
In March 2017, I was headed to a town hall meeting with Congressman Tom Reed. I asked Jane to toss me some facts to throw at Reed. She said, "It's very scary to have a disease that can knock you out of life without warning. It's scarier still to worry that you won't be able to get the treatment you need. There's no cure (yet) but there are meds and treatments that can help folks live an easier life, but meds can cost $50-80k annually. It's difficult to communicate the level of fear, but it's very real."
• The numbers
The costs of public vs private insurance coverage can be debated, but Medicare operates with a much smaller overhead (about 3 percent) than private health insurance (about 10 percent to 20 percent). Why does private health insurance cost so much more? Bureaucracy -- at both the insurance companies - who often require patients to jump through hoops to get their treatment approved - and at the hospitals and doctors offices where staff must fill out the documentation to get the bills paid.
...
Old habits die hard, so when I attended the debate of these congressional candidates in Elmira a couple of months ago, I jotted down some observations.
"Tracy spoke with an authority and expertise and used compelling devices to capture our attention. 'Call me progressive' over and over effectively. Punctuating every point she made."
[... I make a big distinction between "progressive" and "liberal." I don't like the word liberal because in any kind of fiscal equation, liberal means "I will waste your money." But I do believe it is possible to be careful with money but also be socially progressive. The slogan for this blog "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are," comes from Teddy Roosevelt, the original progressive president ... and a Republican. I do like the way Linda describes herself as a progressive because she believes we still need to make progress.]
"Linda still brought through her commitment and compassion for health care reform ... The only contentious moment of the night was when Tracy said Linda was attempting a straw man/dog attack on single payer. Both support single payer, but Linda insisted it could happen immediately. Tracy argued for a plan to implement it in 5 years to avoid a tax impact. It seemed an attempt to artificially create division. I think either Tracy or Linda could do the job. They are both well-educated, insightful in their own way and hard working."
"Ian was the common man who displayed an undeniable compassion for others. He offered a lot of insight into issues. He would be an excellent Congressman. He might have more of a problem of overcoming the "Ithaca liberal" label when going against Reed. Tracy and Linda have the same issue, but Tracy overcomes it with a diverse and impressive educational resume. Linda, because of her education and experience, but also because she worked as a doctor throughout the Southern Tier, including Arnot Ogden."
"Eddie always came across as smart and well-prepared. I liked that he was able to talk about growing up in farm country with guns as part of the family tradition. He is quite far from an 'Ithaca liberal' but he was the one who adamantly embraced the "extreme liberal" label."
I have had a few conversations with Max, and I have been impressed with him because of his military and legislative experience. He commands a respect that goes across party lines, and that would serve him well in a general election. That one fact may be the deciding factor.
So, I'm volunteering for Linda, but I'm not going to tell people who to vote for in the primary. We have nearly two months until the June 26 primary, and I would encourage everyone to do research on these candidates and decide who you would prefer. The links to their websites are above.
Here's a copy of the flier handed out in advance of the candidate's debate in Elmira:
Sadly, Rick Gallant has since dropped out of the race. As a teacher and union organizer, he brought a lot of useful perspectives to the issues.
I would also be remiss if I did not mention there are two independent candidates in the race:
- James Classy
- John Hertzler
Hertzler poses a problem of loyalty for me, only because I am an avid Star Trek fan. Hertzler played General Martok, a Klingon warrior, on Deep Space Nine. He was a popular and brash character as a Klingon, and he is just as colorful when you meet him in person.
K'plah!
Friday, May 4, 2018
Press release on 'May the Fourth Be With You'
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2018 – HORSEHEADS NY
Ed Bond, a Horseheads resident, entrepreneur and inventor, announced May 4, 2018, that he will be pursuing the Democratic nomination for the 4th District of the Chemung County Legislature.
Bond is also a former reporter for the Star-Gazette in Elmira who had spent 25 years in journalism as a writer, copy editor, page designer or journalism professor. After getting his master’s degree in journalism from Indiana University, his first full-time job was to cover the Steuben County Legislature and other local news for the Star-Gazette. That experience had been an invaluable education in public affairs, Bond said.
His next job was to cover the city of Burbank for the Los Angeles Times. He then took over a series of columns for the Times about the people in the community who made a difference in the world. He left the Times to become a community college journalism professor, but in the meantime he also helped launch a newspaper in Santa Monica called The Observer.
He had met his wife, Amy, in the newsroom of the Star-Gazette, where she had been an editorial assistant. In 2001, they moved from Los Angeles to Horseheads, where Amy had grown up. Ed took a job as a copy editor at the Star-Gazette and occasionally wrote opinion pieces and columns for the paper. He also taught at Ithaca College on either part-time or short-term assignments.
“I’m running for office because unchallenged elections – or elections decided only in primaries – are unhealthy for democracy and open government. People deserve a choice. In uncontested elections, large segments of the population do not get a chance to be heard. Many don’t bother voting. They feel like their votes don’t count. They feel helpless.”
“If you want to ensure openness in government, improved communication and have a representative willing to listen to people, elect a former reporter,” Bond said.
FUN FACTS
• Ed and Amy have two sons, John [Jack], a student at Corning Community College, and Liam, an eighth grader at Horseheads Middle School.
• They also have four cats, one dog and a pirate ship treehouse.
• He’s also been an activist, trying to save the lives of dogs with canine distemper.
• Ed has a patent for a board game called MetaCheckers, which combines checkers, chess and dice. He will be launching a Kickstarter for a new version of the game, MetaCheckers: Soccer, later this year.
• Ed co-wrote a story for “Star Trek: Voyager,” which aired in March 1996. In the episode, one of the characters uses the skills of an investigative reporter to expose a spy and save the ship.
• Ed is an unapologetic sci-fi nerd, which is why he has launched his campaign on May 4: “May the FOURTH be with you!”
-- END --
Talking points
[My notes as I was getting ready to film the video announcement]
Hi, I’m your neighbor, Ed Bond, and I’m running for the Chemung County Legislature – 4th District.
Hi, I’m your neighbor, Ed Bond, and I’m running for the Chemung County Legislature – 4th District.
Yeah, I know
most people around Horseheads know me as another dad,
Or as a board
game inventor
Or a sci-fi nerd
Or from when I
was a volunteer with the Boy Scouts
Or as an
advocate for animals …
But before I was
laid off in 2009, I had spent 25 years in journalism.
I’d been a
reporter in 5 states.
I’d covered
stories at all levels of government from school board and zoning boards up to
state and federal government. My first job out of school was to cover the
Steuben County Legislature for the Star-Gazette. I then went on to cover the
city of Burbank for the Los Angeles Times.
I met a lot of
people who made a difference in the world. They taught me that democracy works
if ordinary people are willing to step up, get involved and work together to
find solutions to problems.
To be a
journalist, I had to listen, to learn and get my facts straight. And when I
made a mistake, I had to correct it. People relied on me to get them the right
information.
But I’ve grown
tired of sitting on the sidelines. I want to make use of all the memories, the
people I’ve met, the meetings I’ve gone to, the events I’ve covered, the
lessons I’ve learned as a government watchdog.
So, this is me,
jumping in. I’m not saying I have all the answers. That will come from
listening and learning to the residents of the 4th legislative
district like you.
But I think my
starting point is this:
We need openness
in government, fiscal transparency,
better
communication within government and between governments
and better
communication between the government and the people.
Want to hear my
campaign slogan?
Well, we’re in the
4th District...
And I am a
sci-fi nerd…
So … May the
FOURTH be with you!
What I've written
So as I get ready to make my first run for public office -- Chemung County Legislature -- here's some of my opinion writing as published in the Star-Gazette.
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