Chuck Schumer’s lame Brooklyn excuse
As I write this in the middle
of the week, a number
of Brooklynites have
already been identifi ed as having
the Coronavirus, though
for now I could still count the
number on my fi ngers and
toes. The infected are diverse
in age, location, and profession,
with at least one being an
Emergency Medical Services
worker.
We have been told the
best way to slow the virus’
rapid spread is “social distancing,”
which is a polite
way of saying “avoid other
people whenever possible.”
In reality, we have been
practicing social distancing
for years — now we just
have to ramp it up.
My household already orders
more delivery than we
go to restaurants. A large
majority of us are used to
getting most of our social
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Bob Capano
interaction through screens
now. So, it will just be more
of the same: more telecommuting,
COURIER L 16 IFE, MARCH 13-19, 2020
more huddling together
(or apart) in our
houses and apartments, and
more binge-watching whatever
feeds our anxieties.
For the short-term, we
will be playing out the predictions
of dystopian science
fiction, though for
many of us, it probably won’t
be particularly uncomfortable.
I recognize the necessity
of these measures, but I
also realize that in doing so
we are sacrificing our most
vulnerable.
New York City public
schools are unlikely to close
anytime soon. Why? Over
a hundred thousand homeless
children rely on them
for regular meals. College is
cancelled, but many college
students lack the means to
go home. Cruise ships don’t
sound too appealing to me,
but they still sound better
than a homeless shelter or
a jail.
Employers and workers in
the hospitality and events industries
are taking it on the
chin, while so many of them
lack a social safety net to
fall back on. Some of Sunset
Park’s dim sum restaurants
— extraordinarily community
minded businesses —
have already closed, even
though very few or none of
New York’s infected, so far,
are Chinese.
For years, our public
spaces — or our “commons”
— have been shrinking and
dying while we play Farmville
or Candy Crush and
watch Netf lix. It’s easier
to snipe at someone online
than face-to-face. All the
while, the commons not
only house our most vulnerable,
they are central to
who we are as a democratic
people, and that’s been true
since the Ancient Greeks
invented democracy 2,500
years ago.
Eventually this pandemic
will end. When it does, we
must commit to rebuilding
our commons. We’ve got to
put more resources into our
schools, our libraries and
our community organizations.
We must remember to
eat out more, to travel, and
to rub shoulders and talk
face-to-face.
In the meantime, we
need a government that is
committed to protecting the
most vulnerable with new
programs, because this crisis
will be replaced by another
soon enough. And the
only way that happens is if
most of us commit to caring
more about our fellow
humans — especially the
ones we try to ignore or lock
away.
OPINION
Brooklyn is known for
many things, but it
should not be known as
Senator Charles Schumer’s
lame excuse for threatening
two Supreme Court Justices.
Last week, outside the
United States Supreme
Court building at an event
hosted by the Center for Reproductive
Rights, Schumer
said, “I want to tell you,
Gorsuch, I want to tell you,
Kavanaugh. You have released
the whirlwind, and
you will pay the price. You
won’t know what hit you if
you go forward with these
awful decisions.”
That day the Court was
hearing oral arguments in
a case regarding who can
perform abortions in Louisiana.
Specifically, the Supreme
Court will decide
whether a Louisiana law
that requires doctors that
perform abortions have admitting
privileges at a local
hospital is constitutional.
A lower federal court ruled
that this law does not create
an “undue burden” on a
woman seeking an abortion
and is therefore permitted.
The Supreme Court now has
the final word.
Of course, Americans
and elected officials will
have different opinions
about how the Court should
decide cases, especially ones
about abortion rights. However,
for a leader of the legislature
to directly threaten
members of another branch
of government is outrageous.
Schumer’s logic for his
harsh words is “I’m from
Brooklyn. We speak in
strong language.” He should
not use Brooklyn as an excuse
for his clear mistake.
As a long time political science
professor from Brooklyn,
I believe there is no
excuse for the disrespect
Senator Schumer demonstrated
for the two most important
principles of our
government — separation of
powers, and checks and balances.
The Senate Minority
Leader then dug himself
deeper in excuse making by
saying, “Of course I didn’t
intend to suggest anything
other than political…consequences
for the Supreme
Court.” This makes no
sense. Any first-year government
student knows that
there are no “political” consequences
for a Supreme
Court Justice that makes
decisions one disagrees
with because they are appointed
for life after being
nominated by the President
and confirmed by the U.S.
Senate.
In a rare public statement
of rebuke, Chief Justice
John Roberts appropriately
responded by saying, “Justices
know that criticism
comes with the territory,
but threatening statements
of this sort from the highest
levels of government are not
only inappropriate, they are
dangerous.”
The Senate is now considering
passing a resolution
censuring Schumer for his
remarks, which would make
him just the ninth U.S. Senator
in our history to meet
this fate. If this happens,
Senator Chuck Schumer
has only himself to blame —
not our beloved borough of-
Brooklyn.
Bob Capano has worked
for Brooklyn Republican and
Democratic elected officials,
and has been a professor of
political science for over 15
years. Follow him on twitter
@bobcapano.
for Supreme Court gaffe
Thoughts on ‘social distancing’ and
rebuilding our ‘commons’
WORDS OF
RIZZDOM
Nick Rizzo