News Sparks: Dick Gottfried Retires, Democratic AG Candidates Flee Upon James’ Return to Race; Dem. Colorado Governor Says No More Mask Mandates

By Yehudit Garmaise

Assemblyman Dick Gottfried, Chair of Powerful Health Committee, Retires After 52 Years

Assemblyman Dick Gottfried, 74, who is New York’s longest-serving state lawmaker, and a longtime influential progressive within the state’s Democratic Party, announced he will be retiring when his term ends Dec. 18, 2022, after serving the city’s Upper West Side in Albany for 52 years.

As a 23-year-old law student in 1970, Richard Gottfried was one of the youngest lawmakers ever elected in New York, however he quickly developed a reputation as a champion of liberal causes that were unpopular at the time, but have become mainstream within the Democratic party.

“It was a difficult decision because I so love what I do,” said Assemblyman Gottfried, who was the Chair of the Assembly’s powerful Health Committee. “It’s really a privilege to have spent your life doing work that you really love and to be able to retire when you still love doing it.”

Field of Democratic AG Candidates Scatters After Incumbent Letitia James Re-enters Race

A week ago, Assemblyman Clyde Vanel; Maria Vullo, an insurance regulator, Fordham Associate Law Professor Zephyr Teachout; and state Sen. Shelley Mayer were expected to run for attorney general of New York, however, after current AG Letitia James ended her run for governor, everyone else suspended their campaigns.

In addition, while there was talk that state Sen. Michael Gianaris and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who had appeared to perhaps begin campaigning with local communities over the summer in the Catskills, might enter the race for attorney general, their offices have also said that they will not be running.

 Clearly, challenging James, whose investigation into the wrongdoings of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo forced him to resign one week after she made her findings public, would be an uphill battle. James remains popular among both party leaders and voters, according to a Siena College poll released last week.

US Troops Not Disciplined for Killing Seven Afghani Children and Three Adults in Errant Drone Strike Amidst Hasty August Withdrawal

During the US’s hasty and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, on Aug. 29, US troops inadvertently killed seven Afghani children and three Afghani adults with a drone strike, however, the American troops involved will not be disciplined.

US troops initiated the drone strike after commanders mistakenly believed they had identified an Islamic State operative driving a car that was packed with explosives, however, sadly, military leaders later acknowledged that, in fact, the driver of the car was a longtime aid worker for a U.S.-based group who was hauling water cans for his family.

While such inadvertent deaths that occur in “the fog of war” are often euphemistically called “collateral damage,” in this case, the US Defense Department initially defended the deadly drone as a “righteous strike.”

Israeli Airstrikes Targeted Chemical Weapons Facilities in Syria

Israeli warplanes streaked across the country’s northern skies to conduct a mysterious airstrike deep inside Syrian territory, just after midnight on June 8, the Washington Post reported.

The jets fired missiles at three military targets near the cities of Damascus and Homs, killing seven soldiers, including an engineer who worked at a top-secret Syrian military lab.

The Israel Defense Forces, of course, declined to comment on their mission, however, intelligence analysts, who noticed that while previous Israeli attacks in Syria nearly always targeted Iranian proxy forces and arms shipments, the June 8 strike was aimed at Syrian military facilities that all have links to the country’s former chemical weapons program.

Now officials say that the June 8 strike was part of an Israeli campaign to stop Syria’s attempt to restart its production of deadly nerve agents.

While Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad tragically used chemical weapons against his own citizens dozens of times since the start of the country’s civil war, Syria’s once-vast chemical arsenal was originally intended for use in a future war with Israel.

Colorado Gov. Polis Says, “If people aren’t vaccinated at this point, it’s their own fault if they get sick”

"If you haven't been vaccinated, that's your choice,” said Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. (D). “I respect that. But it's your fault when you're in the hospital with COVID.”

Gov. Polis explained that he will not be implementing another statewide mask mandate in response to the spread of the Omicron variant because at this point, he said, “if people aren’t vaccinated at this point, it’s their own fault if they get sick.”

"Everybody had more than enough opportunity to get vaccinated," said Polis, who also lamented the “alternate universe of misinformation that causes people not to get vaccinated.” "Hopefully it's been at your pharmacy, your grocery store, a bus near you, [or at] big events. At this point, if you haven't been vaccinated, it's really your own fault."

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