December 30, 2022
wiffij resolution
Dear friends,
Even if you reject the convention of making resolutions, the spirit that Johnson embodied was a lovely combination of gratitude for the chance ‘to begin another year’ and the desire to do better.
Johnson’s determination to resolve on in spite of his failures is undoubtedly an explanation for all he managed to achieve. It’s not hard to find parallels in other great lives and in our own lives as well. His was the familiar case of two steps forward and one step back, a halting progress, to be sure, but progress nonetheless. When is progress, even revolutionary progress, anything other than uneven and incremental?
And so, I want to applaud the wiffijistas — readers of the wiffij — who managed to take 20 actions on yesterday’s post, the most active day this month. We resolved to do better, and that’s how we bumble onward.
Another Samuel, the playwright Beckett, wrote:
"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
Let us bumble ahead, friends, with gratitude for the opportunity to begin another year.
I hadn’t paid a great deal of attention to Hochul’s nomination of Hector LaSalle to lead the New York Court of Appeals. Dozens of law professors wrote an open letter to say that
LaSalle's past decisions have reflected a "cavalier attitude towards reproductive rights, hostility to organized labor, and a worrying insensitivity to due process."
Yesterday, the progressive opposition came to a head. There are now 12 Democratic senators who oppose LaSalle’s nomination, including Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris. Governor Hochul is sticking with LaSalle, which is both bad politics and bad policy.
Tell the Governor to listen to progressive voices and make a better choice to lead New York’s highest court.
The George Santos spectacle, an unfurling textile mill of lies (a tissue will not cover it) and astonishing excuses is causing difficulty for Republicans, who have demonstrated a high tolerance for lies.
If you’ve managed to miss the undoing of the representative-elect from NY-3, you should also know that Santos is under scrutiny for some dubious campaign expenditures. The plot seems to thicken about every 12 hours.
The Gothamist contacted Republicans in New York’s delegation to get them to go on the record about their support for Santos. It’s a fun read.
If you live in a Congressional District held by a Republican, it’s time to call your representative to briefly explain why you expect them to protest the seating of George Santos.
If you took action yesterday, you can skip down to my best wishes. If not, please, please read about what’s happening to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers:
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal program that is administered through state and local governments. Because of understaffing at NYC’s Human Resources Administration (HRA), 53 percent of applications are not being processed in a timely fashion.
This unconscionable failure has resulted in people going hungry.
The NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) could issue a waiver so that recertification requirements can be suspended to relieve the backlog, but doing so may risk penalties and a loss of federal funding.
Contact the Governor and let her know that OTDA must grant a temporary waiver. Then, give Mayor Adams some necessary feedback.
I wish you all the best in the coming year. I am grateful to begin another year in such good company and I resolve to write posts with greater focus and coherence. If I can, I would also like to make you laugh.
with love,
L