NYT Columnist’s Incredibly Shortsighted Decision
[guest post by JVW]
We’ve been kind of hard on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof over the years, calling him out for his namby-pambysm and his gullibility in service of the progressive narrative, among other sins. At times, however, we have shown him at least some modicum of love when he’s been willing to deviate away from his newspaper’s incessant editorial direction and to challenge the wisdom of some deeply-held leftist beliefs. All in all, I think that Nick Kristof is less of an outright blowhard than his colleague Thomas Friedman, less of a spittle-flecked partisan than his colleague Paul Krugman, less of a smug and sanctimonious scold than his colleague Charles Blow, yet, alas, a little bit (though thankfully just a little) of all three.
But one thing that I did want to salute Mr. Kristof for is his recent decision to follow Teddy Roosevelt’s exhortation not to be the critic but instead be the man in the arena, by announcing his candidacy for governor of his native state of Oregon. At long last, one of the elite opinion makers from big media would descend from his lofty perch at the Indispensable Newspaper in the Greatest City on Planet Earth and deign to lead the citizenry in a far-flung state, albeit one that is achingly progressive. To set aside the snark for a moment, Mr. Kristof, who grew up on his family’s farm, has pledged that a main focus of his would be to bridge the ideological chasm between rural, conservative Eastern Oregon and the western part of the Beaver State which is dominated by the Portland-Salem-Corvallis-Eugene stretch of Interstate 5. Given that the Kristof family farm is located in suburban Portland, it’s not a stretch to imagine the candidate envisions cajoling the rubes in Pendleton and Baker City to adopt big government and woke agenda items, in return for the city sophisticates not making fun of them and maybe agreeing not to kill the timber and mining industries through environmental legislation right away.
Unfortunately for the campaign, Mr. Kristof and his political team appear to have made a big miscalculation:
Shemia Fagan, Oregon’s secretary of state, notified longtime New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof Thursday morning that he was ineligible to become Oregon’s next governor.
Fagan’s office issued a press release after informing Kristof of her decision to reject his filing, citing the fact that “Article V, § 2 of the Oregon Constitution requires a candidate for governor to have been a ‘resident within this state’ for three years before the election. ”
“The rules are the rules and they apply equally to all candidates for office in Oregon,” said Fagan.
Whoopsie. You would think that a guy who was chock-full of policy advice for Presidents, Premiers, Prime Ministers, Popes, Puppets, Paupers, Pirate, Poets, Pawns and Kings (sorry — really got carried away there for a moment) might have ensured that he was indeed eligible to run in the election before resigning from his enviable gig, but I guess the smartest people in the room are forever assuming that they can outmaneuver the local yokels in something as basic as state constitutional law. Mr. Kristof argues that because he has owned property in Oregon for several years and because he visits his place now and again, why, that ought to satisfy any of your provincial old residency requirements. His campaign may yet win out in court, and even if they lose it’s pretty likely that Times Square will accept him back in their good graces, so let’s not worry for a moment that Mr. Kristof will end up in the bread lines any time soon. But if the Kristof Team can’t handle the most basic of rudimentary campaign tasks, what would make anybody think he has what it takes to be chief executive of the state?
– JVW
I suppose that despite his disorganization, at least Nick Kristof is likely to be somewhat less sleazy than John Kitzhaber turned out to be.
JVW (ee64e4) — 1/6/2022 @ 7:15 pmAnd oh, hey, I left this out of the post, but Mr. Kristof plans to run as a Democrat. I know: you guys never would have guessed at that development!
JVW (ee64e4) — 1/6/2022 @ 7:17 pmIf only the rubes could understand how wonderful it would be to be ruled by me, they’d change all the laws.
My opinion is that Kristof would widen the divide between Eastern Oregon and the Communists
steveg (e81d76) — 1/6/2022 @ 8:06 pmThem’s some top men at the Times. Top men
frosty (f27e97) — 1/6/2022 @ 8:08 pmHas he been paying Oregon state income tax? All Oregon residents have to, I believe.
That was one of the (proposed?) impeachment articles against Nixon. (No, not Oregon! The State of New York.) Kristoff can stand out as having been impeached before being elected, eh?
nk (1d9030) — 1/6/2022 @ 8:18 pmBTW, wasn’t Eastern Oregon settled by unreconstructed Confederates?
nk (1d9030) — 1/6/2022 @ 8:20 pmThis brings to mind the saga of former San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew, who was convicted of perjury charges for lying about where he lived when he ran for office. (He really lived in Burlingame, a city in San Mateo County, further south on the peninsula.)
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Ex-Supe-Ed-Jew-guilty-of-lying-about-residence-3184347.php
norcal (d4ed1d) — 1/6/2022 @ 8:41 pmHas he been paying Oregon state income tax?
If Oregon state income tax is lower than New York’s, then I’m guessing yes. New York might want a say in this.
norcal (d4ed1d) — 1/6/2022 @ 8:44 pmIf Oregon state income tax is lower than New York’s, then I’m guessing yes. New York might want a say in this.
Not to be mean (oh, who am I kidding? I relish in it!) but wouldn’t it be kind of funny if all of this led to some sort of tax contretemps between Mr. Kristof and either New York or Oregon (or perhaps both of them)? It would serve a progressive “the rich ought to pay more” advocate just right.
JVW (ee64e4) — 1/6/2022 @ 8:53 pmJVW (ee64e4) — 1/6/2022 @ 8:53 pm
Oh please, oh please, oh please.
norcal (d4ed1d) — 1/6/2022 @ 9:04 pmEither Kristof is that incompetent, or it was just for show. Weird.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 1/6/2022 @ 9:09 pmHe raised a boatload of money
EPWJ (0fbe92) — 1/6/2022 @ 9:15 pmWhich state you pay income tax to is no longer optional, and if there are two possibilities, you usually pay the higher one.
States like CA and NY tax all income based on its source, not where you live. If you live in Nevada but get paid as a consultant by a Wall Street firm, NY will want its income tax money. If you get stock options while working at Google, execute the options then quit and move to Texas and sell the stock in a year you never lived in CA, CA will still come after you to tax your gain, since the options were compensation for work done in CA.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/6/2022 @ 9:36 pmBTW, Kristoff wasn’t being a total idiot. In the past Oregon has looked the other way on the residency issue when the deficit was a few months. Apparently this was too much to swallow (or the other candidates were not amused).
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/6/2022 @ 9:38 pm3 years?! Just another example of Establishment parties ‘gumming up the works’ from the ground up.
Rattle the cage; storm the castle.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/6/2022 @ 10:00 pmEastern Oregon is the less woke Western Idaho.
lurker (59504c) — 1/7/2022 @ 12:00 amRIP Sir Sidney Poitier (94).
Rip Murdock (9ff85d) — 1/7/2022 @ 7:50 amSOMEBODY MORE EXPERIENCED IN OREGON POLITICS HAD TO KNOW.
I suspect that somebody enticed him into running in order to stop somebody else so as to help a third candidate. Kristof was not wary enough to check and make sure that he was not being used by a political operator.
Something he came up with after the fact or possibly before?)
Generally residency for these purposes means at least registered to vote there.
Sammy Finkelman (c49738) — 1/7/2022 @ 12:01 pm12 EPWJ (0fbe92) — 1/6/2022 @ 9:15 pm
And preented another person from doing so.
That’s why I say the whole thing could be a political dirty trick.
Sammy Finkelman (c49738) — 1/7/2022 @ 12:03 pmOff Topic, but On Brand
Trump’s SPAC; ticker symbol DWAC has a market cap of $2.2B
steveg (e81d76) — 1/7/2022 @ 12:46 pmYou all still have time to buy.
Buy in order to have standing to sue when the inevitable happens
You still have 15 minutes left to trade
I’m also assuming some people are already suing over the drop from $175, but the real fun will begin when Trump actually starts sending loose cannon missives over his new platform.
Can Trump keep himself out of trouble with the SEC?
steveg (e81d76) — 1/7/2022 @ 12:51 pmMy bet says no.
His naive savior complex has always grossed me out. But as far as his nascent political career,
> what would make anybody think he has what it takes to be chief executive of the state?
Exactly.
Although I look forward to articles about how we need to bring running for government executive positions into the 21st century! Why can’t I apply online, fergawdsake?
john (cd2753) — 1/8/2022 @ 10:01 amTrump’s SPAC; ticker symbol DWAC has a market cap of $2.2B
So that’s where the legal defense fund money for the 1/6 defendants went!
nk (1d9030) — 1/8/2022 @ 10:27 amRIP: Marilyn Bergman (93), Oscar-winning lyracist
“The Way We Were” and “The Windmills of Your Mind”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/8/2022 @ 10:39 am