Four things I learned today

-I learned that Glens Falls' (NY) Democratic mayoral candidate Roy Akins actually took a position on something. A real, concrete position, not just his usual vague platitudes. Akins came out in favor consolidating the Glens Falls Police Department's dispatching services with those of the Warren County Sheriff's office. He is the only one of the five candidates (yes, there are five) to take that position. This should guarantee him the endorsement of The Post-Star newspaper, which apparently sees no other campaign issue worth running snarky editorials on. (Though in fairness, the paper rightly came out against a police captain who smeared two Public Safety Board officials for taking the "wrong" position on the dispatch consolidation debate.) Disclaimer: This blog endorses Esmond Lyons for mayor

-I learned that many of those who oppose Harriet Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court are sexist. At least according to President Bush's wife. Of course, it can't possibly be because Miers is too conservative or not (demonstrably) conservative enough or because she's seen as a crony of the president. Opposition can't be related to her having too little experience in authoring legal opinions... a fairly important quality for serving on the high court. Frankly, Mrs. Bush's assertion that female judges should be immune from scrutiny is more sexist that any criticism made against Miers.

-I learned that those who oppose state murder, euphemistically known as the death penalty, are not entitled to be governor. The Republican candidate for governor of Virginia made that allegation against his Democratic opponent, who was once appointed by a court to defend a death row inmate a decade ago. Virginia kills more of its citizens than any other state in the country besides Texas. The Democrat explained his opposition by noting that "God grants life and God should take it away"... though surely that won't satisfy folks who invoke God in every other circumstance.

-I learned that multipartyism is more radical than same sex marriage. Some of you may remember a controversy last year when Jason West, the Green mayor of New Paltz (NY), started marrying gay couples. He was rebuked by the state and forced to stop. West has been savaged... by none other than one of the men he married. Billiam Van Roestenberg is Democratic candidate for the county legislature. Roestenberg denounced West because the Green Party had the audacity to run its own candidates instead of giving the Democrats their perceived God-given right to every left-of-center vote. "It's not the job of the Green Party to get Democrats elected – that's not what we're here for – we're here to get Greens elected," West pointed out. Van Roestenberg countered, "It's a terrible thing to do. Jason West thinks this election is all about Jason West, and I'm sorry, it's not. I've come to believe Jason West's Green Party is a little too radical for me." Apparently the idea of having more than two parties involved in an election is more radical than allowing two men to marry.