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We’ve got protesting truckers in Ottawa, Canada, saying they’d rather wave signs, hang out in a parking lot with their loaded vehicles or block bridges and traffic than have the government do you know what: make them get COVID vaccines to just maybe save them and others they could infect from sickness, hospitalizations and possibly death. 
To hear a number of anti-mandate-obsessed Fox News hosts and others gab about it, you would think the truckers are equivalent to the brave American farmers standing at the top of Bunker Hill in 1775 as Englanders in red coats marched their direction with ready-to-go muskets. 
Yes, look at them on TV and you see convivial, humble souls no doubt sick and tired of being pushed around by their supposed betters, not least of all the angry, self-appreciative Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threatening inane emergency retributions. 
But while they may be aiming at the good as they see it and normally serve their communities through their hard work, we have also seen them blockading a bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit. This did serious harm to businesses and all kinds of everyday folks and was far worse than paying nothing for a thin, painless pin poked in your arm for three seconds. 
And that’s just the beginning of the harm when you think of how those avoiding the pin are many times more likely to become infected than the vaccinated and to spread their infection to others, sometimes killing them. Something like 90% of all the truckers in Canada have had vaccines and not a few have been critical of their protesting brethren. 
The unvaccinated can also kill the vaccinated who are not themselves perfectly safe, just many times safer than the unvaccinated. The unvaccinated in Dallas, for instance, are 85% of those who die from COVID. That still leaves 15% of those who die who have been vaccinated. It does not follow you should prefer to be more at risk. Vaccines can have side-effects that are rare and mostly minimal. Visiting a doctor to check on varied possibilities is not a bad idea for those who fear vaccinations. 
No analogy is perfect, but it seems to me the issue of "freedom" begins to disappear when you consider telling people they will lose their right to drive cars if they drive on the left side of the road and refuse to quit. Yes, people also have accidents and maybe get killed and kill others if they drive on the right side of the road, but that doesn’t mean driving on the left side is a better idea. 
Yes, it’s true that government has overreached. As the Supreme Court has ruled, President Joe Biden had no right going through a federal agency to tell certain large businesses that all workers should have COVID vaccinations before they get a job. The businesses themselves have that right and so does Congress and state and local officials, some of whom have, however, gone overboard with their demands. 
Not a few experts will tell you there has never been serious evidence that COVID was anywhere nearly as dangerous to young school children as denying them in-person education and the ill-effects of wearing masks for hours every day. 
Right now, most of us want to get back to normal, and the big variant of the moment, omicron, is relatively mild and said to be dying out, but get this: Although it is mild, it is infecting far more people than other variants and deaths have been going up with thousands still dying in the country every day. 
Vaccines are still a good idea, especially all the way to a booster for the most vulnerable, those with serious physical conditions and elderly, and those who bump into them.

Opinion

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WEBOP2220217

Yes, truckers, get a vaccine

Virus_Outbreak_Canada_Protests_99671

Start your engines, organize your campaign and submit your filing paperwork, ladies, because now is the time to run. Women are critically underrepresented in government, regardless of the level or branch. 
We are mere months away from the congressional midterm elections, which gives us the opportunity to vote on federal races, but there are many statewide elections that coincide with the Senate and House candidates at the top of the ticket. Even with the presidency not up for election this year, the COVID pandemic, rampant inflation, and Russia’s involvement in Ukraine give voters plenty of motivation to get to the polls. 
Female candidates should be motivated, too. The last two election cycles marked record-breaking numbers of women running for office and ultimately winning. Research in political science (like the work of Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox) shows that when women run, they win — but they do not run as often as men do. This disparity in declaring candidacies leads to the gender gap in politics. 
Women are substantially underrepresented. At the federal level, women account for just 27% of members of Congress and are one-third of the Supreme Court. Though we have our first female (and person of color) vice president, our country still has never elected a female president. State government fares somewhat better in terms of women in public office, with 30% of state legislative seats occupied by women and nine states having female governors. Some politicians begin their careers in state government and then climb to the federal level, giving hope to the difference that could serve as a pipeline. 
If these numbers alone are unconvincing in the need to cultivate more diversity in public office, the statistics only get worse when racial and ethnic differences are added. Women of color comprise a much smaller subset of elected officials. According to the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University, there are three women of color currently serving in the Senate (and five ever historically), one woman of color is governor of her state (Michelle Lujan Grisham, the first Latina to hold that office) while four hold the office of lieutenant governor. A record-breaking number of women of color ran in 2020 and projections based on candidate declarations show that record will again be broken in 2022. But the disparity still remains. 
This gap is often the topic of conversation immediately before and following the election itself. While there is never a bad time to analyze underrepresentation and consider the causes and consequences, nothing can be done then about attracting more candidates. Candidates need to file with their elections manager (usually the secretary of state) by their state deadline in order to be listed on the ballot. Write-in candidacies do not require filing but they are largely unsuccessful. Filing opened up across the country this month and the window to declare a candidacy is slowly closing, with most state deadlines set for February and March. 
To file, a prospective candidate must meet state qualifications (usually including age minimums and residency requirements), organize a campaign committee (notably a campaign finance chair who will need to navigate complex but critical laws), and, in some cases, pay a filing fee. These fees were used historically as a way to deter candidates who weren’t serious in their pursuits, though "indigent" candidates who cannot afford the fee can collect signatures as dictated by state law to forgo the financial barrier. 
Traditionally, parties and political organizations led the charge and still play a large role in the recruitment, training and campaign organizing for candidates. In an era of candidate-centered elections and where primaries, not conventions, select the names that will be on the ballot in November, prospective candidates should consider running, regardless of whether they are approached or groomed by a party. Waiting to be tapped on the shoulder is not going to cut it. If you are thinking about running, you can start by yourself. 
In most arenas of public service, women are the minority. And, despite two great record-breaking cycles leading up to this election, they remain the minority. From a symbolic representation perspective, this can be harmful. But it is even more damaging when considering substantive representation, where differences of experience and perspective can have on an actual impact on policies. Research has shown that women contribute in different ways than their male counterparts, confirming the value of their presence in leadership. Having institutions that resemble the people they represent is essential to an effective democracy. 
If our democratic institutions do not reflect their own constituencies, one has to question the extent to which they are truly democratic with regards to representation. After all, a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" must include the people who aren’t men. 
Laura Merrifield Wilson is an associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis and a public voices fellow at The OpEd Project.

WEBOP1220216

For women, the time to run is now

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<h2>Daily Point</h2> 
<h3>Conventional tests ahead for Suozzi, Williams</h3> 
A budding source of insider suspense ahead of next Thursday’s state Democratic nominating convention in Manhattan is whether Rep. Tom Suozzi — one of the party’s two insurgents for governor — will show up. 
While Suozzi’s camp is still weighing its strategies, the other challenger, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, "does plan on attending," his spokesman said Friday. 
Gov. Kathy Hochul is assured of being designated and thus exempt from a petition process. To get the 25% of a weighted vote needed to avoid petitioning, Williams and Suozzi would first need a specific number of signatures from committee members, which could be tough to do given the party leadership’s preference and clout. 
State and Nassau Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs says he isn’t considering a "gift" — which happens when convention leaders give candidates a pass on the weighted vote. Sources on all sides said that in a video conference of the Democratic State Committee’s progressive caucus this week, Suozzi and Jacobs clashed over whether the convention’s rules were designed to unfairly bar challengers from competing or even addressing the hall. 
One obvious sign that this is undoubtedly Hochul’s convention is the as-yet-unconfirmed report that ex-New York Sen. Hillary Clinton will address the party at the Sheraton New York, possibly on Wednesday. When Hochul succeeded Andrew M. Cuomo as governor last August, Clinton stated: "She’s a remarkable public servant, tough as nails, and cares deeply about the people of New York State." 
Suozzi, of course, offers a very different message about Hochul, saying she’s too focused on campaigning and fundraising and not enough on formulating the policies and coalitions needed to govern effectively. 
For his part, Jacobs continued to express the wish that Suozzi would have opted to seek reelection in the drastically redrawn CD3 as the best way to keep the seat Democratic. 
In his failed bid for the gubernatorial nomination in 2006, Suozzi didn't get enough support against Eliot Spitzer to earn a speaker’s spot at the convention, held that year in Buffalo. 
Instead Suozzi held a rally outside the hall — pounding his campaign theme that Spitzer wasn’t the person to change Albany’s failed ways. 
— Dan Janison <a href="https://twitter.com/danjanison">@Danjanison</a> 
<h2>Talking Point</h2> 
<h3>Nicolello's moving email</h3> 
When New Hyde Park resident Elisa Adams received an email from her county legislator, Richard Nicolello, that talked about a state proposal to expand accessory dwelling units that he said would "essentially end single-family zoning in Nassau County and across the state," she found the presiding officer’s language troublesome. 
"Mandating that an apartment may be placed in every single family home will increase the number of students in our schools," Nicolello warned in his email. 
But Adams said she knew that there would be no requirement for homeowners to install apartments in their homes, so she replied to Nicolello’s email, saying she "expected clearer thinking and more measured reactions from you." Her response didn’t indicate whether she favored ADUs or the state plan but did ask him for a counterproposal on how to add more affordable housing. 
But then came Nicolello’s response. After reasserting his view, he turned to Adams herself. 
"Since you live in a community that abuts New York City, my suggestion is that if you prefer to live with limited zoning and crowded neighborhoods, move a mile or two to the west," Nicolello wrote. 
Adams, who has lived in New Hyde Park on the Nassau County side of the community for 40 years and has raised two now-grown daughters there, said she was "shocked." 
"It seemed like he was saying, ‘You disagree with me. You don’t belong here," Adams said. 
Perhaps, she first thought, the email had been written by a staffer and not the busy presiding officer. But in an interview with The Point, Nicolello confirmed that he wrote the email and that he stood by it. He noted that New Hyde Park is split by the Nassau/Queens border. 
"The point I was making is that if you’re going to effectively end single family zoning, if you prefer to live under those circumstances, the community that’s immediately to the west of us has that type of zoning," Nicolello said. "But I was making a rhetorical point. I didn’t really expect the woman to move." 
And Adams, who noted that she doubted whether the proposal would have a significant impact since most Nassau residents might not want to add accessory apartments in their homes, said she has no plans to move. 
"The day before yesterday I put more siding on my house," Adams told The Point with a laugh. "I’m not going anywhere." 
— Randi F. Marshall <a href="https://twitter.com/randimarshall">@RandiMarshall</a> 
<h2>Pencil Point</h2> 
<h3>The winner</h3>

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For more cartoons, visit <a href="http://www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons" target="_blank">www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons</a> 
<h2>Puzzle Point</h2> 
<h3>In the news</h3> 
Welcome to this week’s news quiz, based on events that took place this week. As usual, provide the answer for each clue, one letter per blank. The first letter of each answer, taken in order, spells the name of the Washington politician who said about Republicans, "Take your party back from this cult. It has been hijacked." 
A link to the answers appears below. 
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _&nbsp; &nbsp; _ _ _ _ A Hilton Garden Inn will be built in this popular Nassau County waterfront strip. 
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ State which the Supreme Court said does not have to create a second mostly Black congressional district for the 2022 election. 
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _&nbsp; &nbsp; _ _ _ _ Utility company seeking more than $4.5 million in restitution from five former employees convicted of carrying out a multiyear bribery scheme. 
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _&nbsp; &nbsp; _ _ _ _ _ _ _ New interim president of the Long Island Rail Road after the resignation of Phillip Eng. 
_ _ _ _ University at which Nathan Chen, who won the gold medal in men’s figure skating in Beijing, is a student. 
_ _ _ _ _&nbsp; &nbsp;_ _&nbsp; &nbsp; _ _ _&nbsp; &nbsp; _ _ _ Movie that led in Academy Award nominations with 12 (with "The"). 
_ _ _ _&nbsp; &nbsp; _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Long Island town in which a ceremonial groundbreaking was held for the state’s first offshore wind farm. 
_ _ _ _ _&nbsp; &nbsp; _ _ _&nbsp; &nbsp; _ _ _ _ COVID-19 cases in many Asian countries are spiking after celebrations of this holiday. 
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Canadian province that is the epicenter of the Freedom Convoy trucker blockade protesting that country’s COVID-19 restrictions. 
_ _ _ _ _ _ One of the two budget carriers seeking to merge to create the nation’s fifth-largest U.S. airline. 
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ State in which a turkey farm will euthanize 29,000 turkeys after a deadly avian flu was confirmed to have killed about 100 of the farm’s birds. 
Click <a href="https://www.newsday.com/opinion/friday-quiz-answers-1.50507162">here</a> for the answers to the clued words and to the identity of the mystery politician. 
— Michael Dobie <a href="https://twitter.com/mwdobie">@mwdobie</a> 
<h3>Did you miss an issue of The Point? <a href="https://www.newsday.com/opinion/the-point-1.13955009" target="_blank">Browse past newsletters here.</a></h3>

OPTPOINT220211

Will Suozzi skip the party?

Democrats have been frustrated in their hopes to pass a comprehensive voting rights bill. But with Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on board, things are looking up for the most important voting rights legislation that is actually possible right now: the Electoral Count Modernization Act. 
The bill won't do anything about partisan gerrymandering. But it just might save the republic from another Jan. 6-style attempt to subvert the legitimate outcome of a presidential election. 
The point of the bill is to address the pressing problems created by the weakness and ambiguity of the 1887 Electoral Count Act. As I laid out in a column on Jan. 5, 2021, the law is in desperate need of reform. Its text opened the door to what happened the day after. 
The first problem with the existing law is that it says that both houses of Congress may reject a state's presidential votes if the slate wasn't "lawfully certified" by the governor or "regularly given" by the electors. Although the language may sound fine, the problem with it is that a large number of House Republicans in 2021 insisted, against the natural meaning of the statute, that votes from states that had gone Democratic had not been lawfully certified or regularly given. 
It didn't matter much in practice that this Republican interpretation of the law was so preposterous as to be essentially lawless. In this instance, because of how the law is written, it's up to Congress to say what the law means when it votes to certify the election results. 
As a consequence, the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 were trying to "persuade" or coerce Congress to vote to reject the states' presidential votes. That in turn was supposed to trigger a constitutional crisis, which was supposed to have allowed Donald Trump to remain president. Astonishingly, 147 Republicans did in fact vote to reject at least some electors - even after the Capitol riot, which one might have expected to taint the whole enterprise. 
In retrospect, we were lucky that Republicans didn't control both houses of Congress at the time. If they had, it might have been possible for them to generate enough votes to block certification of Joe Biden's election by using the 1887 law. 
It's hard to fix a statutory loophole like this one, because the problem isn't the language of the statute so much as Republicans' willingness to ignore that language. A draft version of the reform bill introduced by senators Angus King, Dick Durbin and Amy Klobuchar takes a smart approach. 
The draft bill drastically narrows down the grounds for objection to the electors. It says that the objection may say either that the certificate of identification sent in by a secretary of state is not in fact the valid certificate; or that a named specific elector is not permitted by the Constitution. These restrictions don't make it absolutely impossible for irresponsible members of Congress to cast unjustified votes against certification. But they do make it substantially harder. 
Then, to make the assurance double sure, the draft bill requires that three-fifths of both houses of Congress vote against certifying states' slates. Under current law, a bare majority of both houses is all that's required. 
Raising the threshold required to block electoral results protects against the possibility of an election steal carried out by a party with a narrow margin in Congress. It is imperfect, to be sure. Historically, partisan majorities in both houses have sometimes exceeded three-fifths. But those moments are far and few between. The higher threshold is perhaps the best possible solution right now. 
Another anomaly addressed by the proposed reform bill is to make it explicit that the vice president does not have the power to reject electoral slates on his or her own. To his credit, then Vice President Mike Pence said correctly that he did not have the power under the 1887 law. But Trump insisted that Pence did, and a future vice president might not be able or willing to resist presidential pressure. 
The new law addresses this problem in two ways. It says that the presiding officer in the Senate does not have the authority to resolve disputes about the validity of electors. And it adds that a vice president who either is running for president or vice president must be recused from presiding over the whole process. 
The recusal is a much needed and long overdue fix. Thomas Jefferson, who was the sitting vice president at the time of the 1800 election and also a candidate for president in the election, would have benefited from such a rule. He ended up presiding over vote-counting in the Senate, which turned out to be historically controversial in part because of uncertainty about Georgia's slate. 
The fixes don't end there. The draft bill also makes it explicit that states cannot appoint electors after Election Day. That provision is intended to stop state legislatures from trying to overturn the results of the popular election by invalidating the vote and substituting their own preferences. 
The Constitution gives each state the authority to decide how its presidential electors will be chosen. But that power should not extend to states choosing one method, namely popular election, and then substituting a different method if they don't like the results. Although this provision could conceivably be subject to constitutional challenge, on the theory that the states' authority must be absolute, it seems more likely than not that the courts would uphold it. 
The upshot is that the Electoral Count Modernization Act goes a substantial distance toward blocking the kind of proposed shenanigans that took place on Jan. 6, 2021. It would send the message to any future would-be protesters or rioters that Congress and the vice president can't reverse the results of the legitimate popular election. 
That would express the will of the voters - and protect their rights. 
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and host of the podcast "Deep Background." He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include "The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President."

WEBOP2220210

The bill that could save America from another Jan. 6

USCAPITOL210728_photos

<h2>Biden’s justice idea draws criticism</h2> 
Retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has served this nation with honor, dignity and distinction. His presence and application of the law have contributed to the growth and development of our country. For this, all should be grateful for his dedicated and distinguished service. 
When Breyer announced his retirement, President Joe Biden announced that, in choosing a successor, he would nominate a Black woman ["Biden seeks support for court pick," Nation, Feb. 2]. I laud Biden for considering nominating a female of color. To make gender and race the primary basis for his selection, however, is disgraceful. It’s both sexist and racist. It demeans the very foundations of our nation. The president should select a nominee whom he believes would best serve our country, period. 
— Bob Kersch, Great River 
  
I have a radical idea. Why not just look for the most qualified Supreme Court nominee? If we must pick a certain race, though, why not an Asian or Native American? 
— Judy Riccuiti, Farmingdale 
<h2>Different reactions to bail reform essay</h2> 
I supported Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon’s candidacy and was thrilled when he was elected. He is doing fine work for us. 
So, I am disheartened by his recent op-ed in which he unfairly touts bail reform as leading to an increase in crime ["Bail reform has been a tragic failure," Opinion, Jan. 31]. 
Our sheriff should know better than to imply that the shocking deaths of the two NYPD officers was a result of bail reform. There is no direct correlation. Public defenders have pointed to the economic turmoil of the pandemic as well as illegal gun trafficking, rather than bail reform. 
Addressing these causes would go further to reduce crime. We believe that suspects are presumed innocent, and imposing cash bail on people who have not been proven guilty goes against a person’s rights. Being imprisoned while awaiting trial puts terrible and undue financial and emotional hardships on a person and the person’s family. Nobody should be held in jail because they cannot afford to pay bail. 
— Michele A. Boccia, Bay Shore 
The writer is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Committee. 
Yes, there are better, more effective and economical ways to create beneficial changes in the criminal justice system that also support public safety and humanity. I thank Sheriff Errol Toulon for his well-informed, experience-supported overview of the failure of bail reform measures. His emphatic, practical suggestions to improve not only the system but the overall outcomes of those impacted — criminals and the public — represent sound, thought-provoking solutions. 
Daring to question reforms put in place by the party he represented during the election also identifies Toulon as a brave, dedicated public servant. 
— Kathleen Valerio, Lake Grove 
<h2>LI housing: What goes up must come down</h2> 
While there is much to debate about how to best diversify Long Island’s housing options, there is no denying that today’s "indestructible" housing market is anything but that ["LI housing another house of cards?" Opinion, Feb. 2]. 
The escalation in pricing that we have seen in recent years is far from sustainable, and it will eventually erode the region’s ability to attract new talent, businesses and investment. 
The great irony is that many communities that have seen this explosive pricing growth were first constructed to alleviate the nation’s post-World War II housing shortage. Decades later, our marked lack of housing supply further compounds the region’s other economic and environmental challenges. 
As we plan for the years ahead, my advice to policymakers is to remember, "What goes up, must come down." With this in mind, we must ask ourselves whether our current land-use policies are equipped to collectively chart a path forward when an eventual market correction takes place. 
— Richard Murdocco, Commack 
The writer is an adjunct professor of economic development in Stony Brook University’s public policy master’s program. 
<h2>It’s a free country, so live where you want</h2> 
To the reader who thinks that New York City teachers and police officers should live in the city, I say this: 
As long as this remains a free country, people in any profession have the right to live wherever they want to ["NYPD cops living in city still a bad idea," Letters, Feb. 1]. 
— Joe Cesare, Copiague 
<h2>A silver lining among the snowy clouds</h2> 
The best thing about the recent blizzard that blasted Long Island was that we had three days of local news with no mention of masks ["Island begins recovery from storm," News, Jan. 31]. 
— Rudy Rosenberg, Carle Place

Letters

OPLTR220207

Biden's Supreme Court plan, bail reform, LI housing and NYC police residency

Biden's justice plan, bail reform, LI housing and NYC police residency

LIKING220116

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