In TOH mailboxes

Daily Point

TOH postal promotions ride again

Political campaigns in the Town of Hempstead come and go. But the empowered Republican Party’s use of taxpayer-funded mailings to boost the public relations of their incumbents, under the aegis of nonpartisan civic announcements, endures.

Arriving in the mailboxes of town residents this week was a piece of a kind residents have seen before. On one side: several dates and locations for TOH Narcan training. On the other: small photos and ID’s for Town Supervisor Don Clavin and the local council member, and a larger photo with larger type announcing the trainer as Rep. Anthony D’Esposito. Unsurprisingly, he will be on the ballot this fall.

Critics say former and current Democratic members of Congress like Carolyn McCarthy, Kathleen Rice and Tom Suozzi, whose federal districts also overlapped with that of the town, have not appeared in such mailings over the years. The latest Narcan mailings are addressed to individuals and households in the town, which largely overlaps D'Esposito's Fourth District. Exactly what mailing list is used and the overall cost are unclear.

Reached for comment, Brian Devine, the town spokesman, emailed that D’Esposito “launched our Narcan training program when he was a Councilman on the Town Board. As Congressman, he has continued to volunteer his time to continue the mission to save as many lives as possible through Narcan training.”

Devine concluded: “Congressman D'Esposito is not only passionate about saving lives, but, most importantly, he is certified to teach the training, and personally has taught over 11,000 individuals life saving techniques.”

Democratic detractors have been griping about GOP mailing habits for years, with the trademark good-news materials coming more frequently toward election time about everything from tax grievance seminars and services for the aging to parks improvements and recreation events.

One of those critical Democrats was incumbent Don Clavin’s predecessor Laura Gillen, who is seeking a rematch against D’Esposito, who defeated her in the CD4 race in 2022 by capturing 52% of the vote. Keeping the seat is known to be, perhaps, the top priority for Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo.

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Columbia Class of 2024

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Reference Point

50 years ago

The headline on the editorial — “Truth and Untruth in the Oval Office” — has a modern feel utterly appropriate to a time that has been marked by attacks on the veracity of whoever is the occupant of the White House.

But the editorial appeared 50 years ago on May 2, 1974. The year should be an enormous clue to the topic: Watergate. And the opening line left no doubt as to the stance of Newsday’s editorial board.

“The first White House transcripts demonstrate conclusively that President Nixon hasn’t been telling the whole truth about the Watergate cover-up,” the board wrote.

On April 11, Nixon had been subpoenaed by the House Judiciary Committee for the tapes of 42 conversations in the White House. Instead, Nixon released 1,200 pages of edited transcripts of those conversations.

The editorial board’s opinion appeared under quotes from Nixon in which he professed in televised appearances to be doing everything in his power to pursue “justice” in the Watergate affair. The board wrote that “it would be rash if not downright gullible to assume that these transcripts, personally selected by the President and personally expurgated by him, necessarily ‘tell it all,’ any more than his previous declarations did.”

In addition to saying the transcripts damaged Nixon’s credibility, the board also found fault with the transcripts themselves. In one passage in which White House counsel John Dean says he is troubled by what might happen if the House Judiciary Committee finds there is a criminal case against Attorney General John Mitchell and White House aides H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and Dean, Nixon responds: “If it really comes down to that, we would have to (unintelligible) some of the men.”

“Dare any member of the Judiciary Committee — and all are lawyers — accept testimony of such ambiguity without demanding the original material to see if the crucial word can be reconstructed? We think not; we hope not,” the board wrote.

“Because the transcripts are so damning, even in their edited form, we can readily understand why some people — congressmen included — might feel that the President has made sufficient disclosure. Indeed, this seems to be the whole purpose of Tuesday’s exercise: to convince Americans that it’s all out now and they should leave the President alone.”

As the board predicted, the release of the transcripts was not enough to assuage the American public or Congress. Another subpoena for 64 conversations was issued and Nixon again refused it. On July 24, the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to release the tapes in a unanimous decision.

The White House finally complied and a tape that came to be known as the “Smoking Gun” tape showed Nixon and Haldeman devising a plan to block investigations into the Watergate cover-up. Remaining political support for Nixon immediately cratered and on Aug. 8, he announced his resignation.

It was a denouement Newsday’s editorial board saw coming in that piece three months earlier.

“These transcripts do not eliminate the suspicion of wrongdoing in the Oval Office, they multiply it,” the board wrote. “Even in incomplete, unverified form, the transcripts make impeachment more urgent than ever.”

— Michael Dobie michael.dobie@newsday.com, Amanda Fiscina-Wells amanda.fiscina-wells@newsday.com

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