Originally Posted by Sidney Lanier

Only occasionally do I read threads in the Political Forum and virtually never post, but as a New Yorker snowbird I did begin to read this one, thinking that I would read some thoughtful opinions about my home state from fellow New Yorkers who will be the ones affected by Governor Patterson's choice to replace Senator Clinton. Instead I was 'treated' to an ongoing diatribe. I am curious to know how many NEW YORKERS are included among the posters to this thread. It's a long thread and I think I saw only one mention being a New Yorker. Are there others, or are all the others posting solely for political partisanship and themselves have nothing to do with New York State?

I would like to correct one misconception posted in this thread. When our small town in the Mid-Hudson Valley underwent a townwide reassessment, I discussed it with the town assessor. Among the questions she asked me was whether I am a veteran, because, she explained, there is a partial property tax exemption for veterans. 'Yes, I am a vet,' I replied, 'but I didn't serve in a theater of war.' 'But EXACTLY WHEN did you serve?' she asked, and I told her (during the 1960s). 'You're eligible for the Vietnam War, the years of which are from 1959 to 1975.' 'What?! Vietnam started in 1959?!' I exclaimed. 'Yes, indeed!' was her reply, and I received that military exemption in New York until I became a Florida resident. Eisenhower was president in 1959, not Kennedy....