Gaughran ousted from St. Patrick's Day parade

Daily Point

Rain on Gaughran's parade

St. Patrick’s Day parades and cultural politics have long been intertwined, and in recent years that has led to disputes over the inclusion of gay pride groups and under which banners they could march.

But this year’s central fight is over abortion, at least for one Long Island parade, thanks to the recent passage in Albany of the Reproductive Health Act. For State Sen. James Gaughran, that means being stripped of a local politician’s bread and butter. Gaughran has been disinvited from this year’s Huntington St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 10, and had his membership in the local chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians revoked. The Rev. Msgr. Steven R. Camp, the pastor of St. Patrick’s Church in Huntington and chaplain to the local Hibernians chapter, sent the letter.

Gaughran made it clear on the campaign trail that he supported the bill and has said it only established in New York's statute protections for abortion rights already encapsulated in federal law. But Catholic dioceses in the state argue that the RHA expands abortion rights by making it clear an abortion can be performed at any time during a pregnancy if the health of the mother is a concern, and by moving abortion law from the state’s criminal code to its health code.

In an email to The Point, Gaughran wrote: “It’s disappointing that the local John F. Kennedy Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians now requires purity tests on policy issues as a condition of membership.” In a two-page letter to Camp, Gaughran pointed out that politicians who worked against Catholic Church teachings by, for instance, supporting the death penalty, have not been similarly excluded.

And Gaughran is not the only Democrat catching heat from the Catholic Church. At the Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church in Manorville, a sign by the road recently read: “CUOMO CATHOLIC? YOUVE GOT TO BE KIDDING”

Lane Filler

Talking Point

Rechler getting flak from the NRA

Scott Rechler is the newest television "star" for the NRA.

Rechler, a prominent developer and political player in the New York area, and his company, RXR Realty, have been featured in at least two spots on the organization’s internet platform, NRATV, after he signed an open letter to Congress supporting federal legislation that would require background checks on all gun sales.

Rechler, a long-time advocate of gun-control measures, is one of four chief executives who signed the letter, released last  week. The others: Levi Strauss & Co.’s Chip Bergh, TOMS’ Blake Mycoskie, and Dick’s Sporting Goods head Edward Stack.

The chief executives wrote that they had “a responsibility and obligation to stand up for the safety of our employees, customers and all Americans in the communities we serve across the country.”

Rechler told The Point on Monday that he thought this was a chance for business leaders to join the discourse. “The broad spectrum of four different types of CEOs who were outspoken… shows the level of concern,” Rechler said. “If this picks up momentum, it could help change the dialogue and people’s perception of this.”

The letter drew the ire of the NRA and its  spokeswoman. Dana Loesch used her own program, called “Relentless,” to throw up pictures of the four company chiefs as she criticized the letter.

“My guess is that they actually have no idea that they’re wasting millions of dollars on passage of a bill that’s literally going to do nothing to lessen so-called gun violence,” Loesch said.

Rechler, for one, hadn’t expected to become a face on NRATV. “I was surprised this became so controversial,” he said. But he said he hoped there’d be more opportunity for business leaders to increase their visibility on this issue going forward.

Rechler might make a particularly good punching bag for the NRA, especially if the association makes a connection between Rechler and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, to whom Rechler has been a big donor and supporter.

After all, the NRA filed a lawsuit against Cuomo and the New York State Department of Finance last year, claiming that the state violated the association’s constitutional rights when it prevented New York  insurance and financial companies from doing business with the NRA. In response, the NRA argued in court that the state’s actions could force it to shut down some of its programs -- including NRATV.

Randi F. Marshall

Pencil Point

"Kim was here"

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/opinion

Quick Points

Warped messaging

• As national elections approach, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is the only one who can keep Israel safe, even as he faces a potential corruption indictment. You don’t have to look too hard to see a parallel.

• A Tulsa police officer who killed an unarmed black man because she claimed he was reaching for a weapon when video showed he had his hands on his head will not face federal civil rights charges. Two Sacramento police officers who shot an unarmed black man in his grandmother’s backyard will not face criminal charges. And nothing changes.

• President Donald Trump, at the CPAC conference: “And this is how I got elected — by being off script. And if we don’t go off script, our country’s in big trouble, folks. Because we have to get it back.” Go ahead, you figure it out.

• Amid talk about fixing the LIRR’s most dangerous grade crossings, a modest suggestion: Why not have arms come down from both sides and completely block the roadway? Just a thought.

• With the cost of teacher pensions due to fall substantially in 2019-20, school district officials are saying that’s good news for taxpayers while warning that other expenses will rise. Why is it that when pension costs go up districts call for higher taxes, but when pension costs go down taxes never drop?

• The U.S. House is slated to vote this week on a sweeping ethics package that would require, among other things, presidential nominees to release their taxes. Directed at President Donald Trump, you say? Well, there’s also the reluctant and minimal releaser, Bernie Sanders.

• President Donald Trump says Democrats who held the Michael Cohen hearing as he was in Vietnam for nuclear talks with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un might have led to the collapse of negotiations. Given that Trump also said he was the one who walked, perhaps he was referring to himself as being distracted by Cohen.

Michael Dobie