12 AUGUST 23, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
What were they thinking?
This last week, politics in Queens
and New York state were fi lled
with truly cringeworthy moments
from candidates who ought to
know better.
Locally, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez —
the 28-year-old juggernaut who ousted
Congressman Joe Crowley and became a
Democratic Party sensation overnight —
took fl ak for holding a town hall meeting
in Corona that was closed to the press.
One of our competitors reported on
the matter and the story quickly went
viral. Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to,
at fi rst, call the situation a “non-story,”
and then to explain that the town hall
was closed to the press “to protect +
invite vulnerable populations to PUBLIC
discourse: immigrants, victims of
domestic abuse, and so on.”
That’s a completely understandable
reason — but one that should have been
made clear from the beginning (the
press ban went public just two days
before the town hall meeting).
Moreover, if a public official or
candidate is going to hold a closed-tothe
press event for such a reason, then
at least do something to highlight what
happened. Hold a gaggle with reporters
aft erward or connect the media with a
willing participant or two comfortable
with telling the press their story. But
don’t completely shut the press out.
Last week, we condemned President
Trump for actively working to disparage
and diminish the press. We stand
by those remarks, and add our belief
that no politician should constrain our
ability to do our job.
In the aft ermath of this imbroglio, Ocasio
Cortez indicated that future press
events will be open. We’re going to hold
her to that pledge to do better — and the
voters should, too.
The other frustrating moment was
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s remark that
America “was never that great.” You
may have heard that one soundbite, but
here’s the full quote: “We’re not going
to make America great again; it was
never that great. We have not reached
greatness. We will reach greatness
when every American is fully engaged.”
Immediately, Cuomo’s opponents
pounced on his poor choice of words.
The stiff est critics, not surprisingly,
were Republicans who supported
Trump, whose campaign slogan was
“Make America Great Again.”
That slogan implies that the country
had been great, was no longer great and
somehow needed to be made greater.
That’s just as insulting as someone
saying America “was never that great.”
Yet few Republicans have called Trump
out for that same ignorance which they
giddily threw Cuomo under the bus.
Right is right, wrong is wrong and
(unlike what Rudy Giuliani said on the
Aug. 19 “Meet the Press”), truth is truth.
We voters in Queens need to reject the
toxic brew of 21st-century politics (hypocrisy,
soundbites, half-baked explanations
for wrongdoing) and hold our
elected offi cials, regardless of party, to
higher standards.
And if they keep making us cringe,
then they need to be shown the door
the next election.
EDITORIAL
SNAPS
SUNSETS AT THE UNISPHERE
PHOTO VIA INSTAGRAM @ktamadarasz
The Q52/Q53 select bus service route will see
improvements along Woodhaven and Cross
Bay Boulevards this month.
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