Op-Ed: This Isn't Bipartisanship, It's Acquiescence
Instead of boycotting President Trump's latest disinformation superspreader event, Congressman Pat Ryan brought along his MAGA-loving pal, Crooked Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus.
Pictured Above: Crooked Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, and Congressman Pat Ryan. Both men are frequent subjects of our coverage here at The Monroe Gazette. Neuhaus because he likes to tell his constituents tall tales. Ryan because he is your standard-issue Corporate Democrat. For example: The guy who funds JD Vance — evil billionaire Peter Thiel — is a big Pat Ryan campaign donor. As of this writing, the national Democratic Party, the New York State Democratic Party, the Orange County Democratic Party, and the Monroe Democratic Party have refused to pledge support for banning corporate donations and other PAC money from their primaries.
The photo above comes from President Elon Musk’s recent publicity tour stop, disguised as “President” Donald Trump's address to Congress. Steve Neuhaus was Congressman Pat Ryan’s guest for the event, instead of Ryan boycotting the speech like a man with any balls would have.
Instead, by inviting MAGA Diehard Steve Neuhaus, and attending the event himself, Pat Ryan again signaled that Corporate Democrats don’t want to step up and stop the coup. They’re giving us lip service instead, and are following failed political consultant James Carville’s strategy to “Do nothing.” Carville’s claim to fame is getting Bill Clinton elected, but if you remember your presidential politics, the person you should thank for getting Clinton elected is Ross Perot. Not James Carville. And given how poorly Clinton’s policies have aged, I don’t think anyone should be thanking James Carville at all.
You know what happens when you “do nothing”? People die. That’s going to be on Corporate Democrats like Pat Ryan.
So, I was talking to a Monroe Gazette reader who lives in South Blooming Grove. We reviewed how the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has repeatedly refused to intervene in South Blooming Grove. Including today as I write this.
Pictured Above: Turbitiy in the Creek. As of today, 3/6/25, continued turbidity is observed in Satterly Creek. Residents near the Clovewood construction site are concerned about runoff. The photo above comes from the bridge on Round Hill Rd. The DEC continues to ignore emails from residents concerning Clovewood, will not cooperate with FOIL requests about whether or not they believe the “Village of South Blooming Grove United Jewish Community Emergency Response Division” exists (it doesn’t), and is now in court with the Town of Blooming Grove over the development. Your local elected officials are nowhere to be found on this situation.
We also discussed how Attorney General Letitia James’s office, which oversees not-for-profits, can’t be bothered to examine Joel Stern’s United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove's activity.
How State Senator James G. Skoufis has approved, according to Stern, building an illegal road through Orange County owned Gonzaga Park.
And how Governor Kathy Hochul has, again according to Stern, has essentially given Stern her blessing to do whatever the fuck he wants down here.
That reader told me, “I hope they all get what’s coming to them.”
But hope isn’t a strategy. If you hope something will happen, it will not. Here’s what you can do instead.
Hope Is Not a Strategy, But This Is
If you hope the Democrats will suddenly, and universally, support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United, and a second amendment overturning Trump v. United States, it will not happen.
You have to force them. And if they refuse? You need to take over their local committees, their county committees, and start running candidates who will put the people ahead of the money.
Let me briefly recap what those things are and why I mention them:
-The John Lewis Voting Rights Act is a bill that would restore much of The Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the Supreme Court struck down in Shelby County v. Holder. The gutting of the Voting Rights Act has led to a lot of bigoted gerrymandering and other electioneering, which has given us the kind of extremists that empower dictators like Trump. You want the MAGA Nazis gone? This is the first, and easiest, step the Democrats, united as a party, can take to defeat them in Congress.
-A constitutional amendment overturning Trump v. United States and Trump v. Anderson. The first case is the one that granted the president of the United States, any president, absolute immunity from prosecution for all “official acts.” The second case is one you might have missed. It’s the one that said Congress has to enforce the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause, not the states, when it comes to federal office holders. Instead of, what many had assumed, was something that applied automatically.
We need to make it clear that the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause applies automatically, and that the president of the United States is not above the law. If you do an insurrection, you are disqualified from holding public office. Period. If you commit a crime as president, you can and should be prosecuted. Period.
Nobody is above the law. That’s a message Democrats should send on the federal level. And it’s also the message the Orange County Democrats should send here regarding Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein in South Blooming Grove. So far? Their message is, “We’re very concerned.” Oh yeah? Isn’t the guy you’re running for County Executive an attorney? Well maybe he should do a little bit more than say he’s concerned and start filing some lawsuits.
-I suspect most of you reading this know what Citizens United is. But the case is Citizens United v. FEC. As brief as I can make it, this court case took an already broken campaign finance system, and allowed virtually limitless spending by corporations and other wealthy people in our elections. There are a few different ways to tackle this, but the easiest is prohibiting private money in our elections. (Whether or not you want to overturn Corporate Personhood is dicey and the subject of multiple books. I recommend Adam Winkler’s “We The Corporations.” Think of this amendment as the Campaign Finance Reform Amendment.)
You need both constitutional amendments and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act in place to ensure you don't get another coup—assuming, of course, we survive this one.
If you hope that we will survive this one, you are wrong. “Do nothing” like “hope” and posting memes on Blue Sky and Facebook, will not fix this.
Get off the Internet and get in the streets.
As long as the Corporate Democrats pose for Prom Photos with MAGA Chuds like Steve Neuhaus, they demonstrate that they do not take this situation seriously. They may say they do on Zoom calls, but like we keep saying here at The Monroe Gazette: Action is what matters. Not words.
And right now, all we’re getting from New York State Democrats is a lot of talk. And that talk is being driven by big money. This weekend, I will give you an example including a local Democrat repeating talking points on behalf of the oil and gas lobby. If that person thinks they’re about to launch any sort of political career, they are sadly mistaken, because you and I are going to stop them.
No more Corporate Democrats. Not on our watch.
So What Can You Do?
Every single Democrat needs to commit to accomplishing these three things (2 amendments, 1 bill).
Will it be easy? Fuck no. But is it possible? You bet.
What it takes is action. Not words.
If Congressman Ryan won’t commit to supporting Representative Pramila Jayapal’s constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, you should primary him.
If the Committee to Elect Woodbury Democrats endorses local Bigot and January 6th truther Brandon Calore for Mayor, then you should chase every member of that committee out of town with pitchforks.
You have to do this.
You can’t just hope that someone is going to come along and fix it for you. Because someone isn’t coming. That’s what James Carville told the Democrats. “Do nothing.” Well if they’re going to do nothing, who is supposed to help you exactly?
It’s not the Republicans. They’re too busy acting like a bunch of bootlickers for Vladimir Putin.
You know why the Democrats can get away with that philosophy? Because most of the Democratic party today represents the wealthy. They don’t represent you or I. We can’t cut them a big enough check.
Hope isn’t going to change any of that. You are going to change that. And the first step is to get your ass offline and onto a local committee meeting. Because the people we got right now? They’re on the “Do Nothing” train, putting the wealthy and well-connected ahead of the rest of us.
If you’d like that to change, this is the first and easiest thing you can do: Kick them all out.
Yup. I name checked Sussman in our previous post. :-) I just didn't do it here. We will be watching what he does, not says, especially as it relates to South Blooming Grove.
Wondering whether you've heard that Civil and Human Rights attorney Michael Sussman will be running for County Executive. Here's his announcement, on his FB site:
February 24 at 5:18 PM ·
It was a great honor to accept the Democratic Party endorsement for County Executive last evening and to receive the strong support of a united party. I appreciated the strong endorsement from Senator Skoufis and his encouragement for our entire slate. Today, the incumbent county executive told News 12 that "if you a rapist or murdered, Michael Sussman is your candidate; if you're for safety and lower taxes, I am." This summarizes what we can expect - pure unadulterated nonsense from a pretender. I will address all the critical issues which county government should focus us and have attached a copy of my acceptance speech for those who could not join Lee and me last evening. I want to give a special shout-out to Lee who spoke eloquently and whose collaboration is and will be a very critical part of this campaign. This what i said last night in accepting the endorsement.
"Many thanks for your endorsement, commitment and confidence and I look forward to the next grueling eight and a half months as we campaign together and seek the opportunity to implement ideas that serve all our people and represent our best ideals and values.
I am proud of the slate of legislative candidates who have joined together to offer our county's voters a deserved choice and a new direction.
As our nation is under attack by those who do not believe the law applies to them or their legions and as our county deals with a compromised District Attorney, I am thrilled that Alan Joseph, a distinguished lawyer with great personal integrity, has stepped forward to serve as an example of what a District Attorney should be. We sorely need that!
I want to recognize and thank our party's leading elected officials who fight for our values, whether in Goshen, Albany or Washington, and to each of you serving as district leaders and to pledge my desire to collaborate closely with each of you. I cannot succeed without you. Thank you Senators Schumer and Gillebrand, Congressman Ryan, Senator Skoufis, Assemblymen Jacobson, Kaye and Eachus, and those county legislators who represent us.
So why 24 years later, am I back here? Because I have in my heart a strong desire to do more to leave our children a county which embodies the best we can together create and I know that has not been done and that we can be so much more. Our people deserve better and we can deliver.
Our county needs a viable two-party system. We need to end to pay and play. We need a full-time county executive not someone content to delegate the duties of his office to a deputy credibly accused of using bigoted language against a long-time aide.
Our county government must develop and implement a plan - with our trade unions and our city leaders - to use our substantial capacity to re-build our cities brick by brick while we train the workforce of the future and provide workforce housing for our people.
Our county government must stop warehouse madness which already has re-defined too many of our communities, accelerating substantial air pollution and wear and tear to our roads while providing jobs which do not sustain entry into the middle class.
Our county leaders need to be far better stewards of our shared environment, actively opposing undeserved air and water quality permits for CPV in the Town of Wawayanda and promoting sustainability through every form of alternative energy and conservation.
Our county executive has not appointed a representative to the MTA for or two and one half years. Instead of such irresponsible abdication, we must force the MTA and the State to invest in transportation networks that allow our residents to access major work hubs, whether in our county or beyond, and to stop viewing our residents as a captive audience to tax as they see fit with so little benefit.
Our county must assure equal employment opportunity in our work force and, as its leader, I will create a climate which rejects all forms of bigotry and promises everyone a seat at the table.
Our county must end the revolving door of health commissioners and meaningfully address the increasing loneliness and alienation many feel by creating community-based empowerment centers to better serve our youth and others whose lives will be enriched by
having a place dedicated to building friendship and community.
We have much to do together and I intend to assemble a team of talented, committed leaders to realize these and other objectives.
As I have in leading the legal fights to save Valley View, to renovate, not destroy, our government center, to block the CPV power plant which silently impairs our health and our lands and to represent those Democratic county legislators who, with Senator Skoufis,
revealed corrupt and non-compliant county contracting and purchasing practices, I will fight every day, here and beyond, for Democratic values, that is for a system of progressive taxation to decrease reliance on regressive property taxes; for school aide
formulas which help reduce, not exacerbate, income inequality; for fair union contracts which recognize that those who work here deserve wages which allow them to live here; for accountable policing which promotes the integration of police officers in communities and ends the polarization between police and communities they serve.
Friends and neighbors: I truly believe that our party can marshal the best in each of us, what is common and what is good, and that we can champion a government borne not of self-interest but of the still resonant ideals of service, sacrifice and community.
Opportunity, love, and justice should be the currency of our party and our government.
Our coalition is and will remain diverse, inclusive and equitable and I am proud of that. We shall always stand for inclusion, never for exclusion.
I am prepared for the challenges of this campaign and know that as a united party, we can offer a better vision of government than those who govern for self-interest and for the privileged few.
It is to the task of victory that I summon each of your contributions.
I look forward to listening and learning from each of you as we proceed."
I welcome the support of all regardless of party and regardless of the level of your skepticism. Give me the chance to formulate with much input a way forward.