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Here are some of my thoughts and yes, my opinions, on recent happenings.
-- I understand that President Trump has barred Politico, CNN, and MS NOW from the White House for engaging in "fake news." While all three outlets have been unrepentant purveyors of fake news during both Trump presidential terms, I think it would be wise for the President to allow the three offenders access to the White House. I suggest this because in the future a Democrat could be elected President who might decide to bar Fox News, the Washington Examiner, or National Review from the White House.
-- Gov. Kathy Hochul's one year moratorium on new data centers is the dumbest in a long line of dumb ideas that she has come up with while in office. She is doing this to appease her left wing support down state and victims of Chinese government anti data center propaganda on social media.
We need data centers in our digital age for a multitude of things like smart phones, the internet, online shopping, streaming music and videos, to name but a few. A permanent ban or restriction on building data centers in New York State would cause long-term economic stagnation in tech sectors, lose billions in capital investments to other states, and risk lagging behind in AI innovation. Further local municipalities would lose out on substantial, recurring property tax revenues that typically help fund public schools, roads, and municipal services.
-- According to polls the Democrats will sweep the Governor's office, the Attorney General's office and the position of Comptroller. That Hochul will be reelected as Letitia James drives me to question the intelligence of some New York voters. Hochul sits near the bottom of any ranking of state governors I've seen. She plays to downstate liberal in the legislature and like them ignores the needs of upstate. Soft on crime James, except regarding Trump, has received $71,000 from the Soros family since 2025 plus substantial indirect support from far-left organizations Soros helps support, like the Working Families Party, a major contributor to James. However, I think that Tom DiNapoli has done the work of the Comptroller in a reasonably bipartisan manner. I may vote for him on Nov. 3.
-- At their home opener the Bills were criticized in some quarters for playing the Canadian National Anthem "O Canada" before the Star Spangled Banner. Let's not forget that the Sabres have been doing the same thing for as long as I can remember. Remember we live in a border region where many Canadians support both the Bills and Sabres.
-- I was shocked to discover that a legislative body controlled by Republicans can also play the nanny state game. The case in point is the recent passage of a county law requiring drivers to pass cyclists, pedestrians, Amish buggies, and riders mounted or horses with three feet of clearance. Unfortunately, they didn't tell us how to determine the required 3 feet.
Here is my solution. Require every pedestrian, bicyclist, and buggy driver to carry a spring loaded yard tape. As a vehicle approaches the pedestrian, rider or driver would be required to extend the tape to its full three feet. Once the vehicle passes, they could then retract the tape. Actually, that's a dumb idea, but so is the county law.
-- I had an interesting conversation with a young person recently about the conflict with Iran. They said the U.S. can't win there because we are attacking the Iranian people in their homeland and that they will fight hard. I told them the Iranian people are suffering under the Islamic clerical regime and that historically the Iranian people like the U.S. which is why so many are living in exile here. They were surprised when I added that in January some 30,000 civilians had been killed during protests by police and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards.
They countered by asking me why the U.S. bombed a school killing many young people, so I told them there is no proof that happened and that the school in question was right next to an Iranian naval base and until recently had been part of that base.
Then they asked me why the President and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had left the crew of the Carrier Abraham Lincoln near starvation. I explained to them that while fresh food was unavailable for a time they were still receiving an adequate diet consisting of canned and other rations. I explained that life on a warship is not like a cruise ship. I concluded by telling this person this conflict is necessary because a radical regime like Iran must never have nuclear weapons.
-- Star Parker's recent column on the growing acceptance of political violence on the left got me thinking. All the pretrial rigmarole perpetrated by the defense team of Tyler Robinson, the alleged assassin of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk culminated in defense attorney Richard Novak blaming Kirk for his own murder for inciting Robinson to violence through hate speech. Kirk did not hate. He thrived on giving his opinions on politics and religion. He invited those who disagreed with him to state their views also. That wasn't hate but a debate. After the shooting, Robinson told his boyfriend that "I had enough of his hatred. Some things can't be negotiated out." This after he had carried out the cold blooded murder of Kirk which was truly an expression of hatred.
That's it for now.
Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com