Anonymous Ossining Resident Responds to Laura Houston

For those of you who are saying to yourselves, “why is she talking about his/her Aunt Lydia?” Let me explain who Aunt Lydia is, and why she is so terrifying.

Aunt Lydia is a character from the book “The Handsmaid Tale." It tells the story of an alternative New England where a military dictatorship has taken over the United States and implemented strict laws that are mostly aimed at the subjugation of women. However, the most terrifying character, in my opinion, in this book isn’t the cruel Commander who dictates these laws. No, the most terrifying character by far is Aunt Lydia, a woman who’s role is to decide what behavior is right, honorable and ethical for other women, and then, with a complete lack of compassion, implement acts of cruelty and humiliation as punishment for those who either disagree or do not adhere.

How is this relevant to Ossining? Well, we have an Aunt Lydia problem.

There are members of the Ossining Democratic Committee who have assumed ownership of the moral high ground. And just like Aunt Lydia, it is they who decide who should run for office here in Ossining, who and what is honorable, or conversely, what is sinful, and who is and is not worthy. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, whatever… if you speak out in disagreement with these Aunt Lydia’s, then you are labelled uninformed, or a racist, or you are a misoginist. Some of these Aunt Lydia's will troll your social media feed and try and find something you have said that does not fit their moral code, and then they will send those tweets or posts out to the wider community and yell at the top of their morally superior lungs. Or maybe you have made a legitimate mistake, I know I have made mistakes. But based on that mistake, the Aunt Lydias determine that you are done. You are labelled “bad” and placed in the “needs to be punished” group.

Judge Mike Tawil is a perfect example of this. He is a good man. WE ALL KNOW THIS. He has an amazing record as a judge. He has been an active positive member of this community for years! He has two children in the Ossining schools. He is kind. He is compassionate. And yes, he is HUMAN. He has made mistakes. Just like the rest of us. He said something culturally insensitive, and then apologized for his mistake and opened himself up for discourse and conversation to understand and help others also understand, that mistake. THAT is what we need.

I find it concerning that some of the members of the democratic committee are implementing a strategy of divisiveness and deliberate shaming to discourage discourse. They have decided who you are going to vote for for judge. I also find it concerning that these members are supporting a candidate who has only lived here for 3 years, doesn't know our community, and HAS NEVER BEEN A JUDGE. And lastly, I feel it shows a great lack in judgement that their candidate continues to allow his supporters to use shame as a campaign weapon.

Instead of focusing on what is best for the community, the committee is engaging in a purely selfish self-affirmation effort to be perceived as non-racist nobility. I am sad to say they are more concerned with the perception of their committee than the well-being of this community.

I celebrate the changes happening in our society right now. I also agree that we need to hold ourselves, as a community and as individuals, accountable to a higher standard when it comes to systemic racism. HOWEVER, this is exactly why we need Judge Tawil. We need guidance on the bench from someone who knows and understands this community, who is COMPASSIONATE and FAIR, which he has demonstrated for years.

Mistakes happen. Shaming and divisiveness will not solve anything. Barack Obama addressed it late last year. "The idea of purity,” he said, speaking at the annual Obama Foundation Summit, “and (that) you’re never compromised and you’re always politically woke and all that stuff— you should get over that quickly.” He continued… “The world is messy,” he said. “There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws.”

There are good people out there who make mistakes. In fact, I would say that describes the majority of, well, people in general. I’ve made mistakes. And whether you like to admit it or not, SO HAVE YOU. Will Aunt Lydia come after YOU next? If we deliberately use public shaming as a strategy, people become afraid. And once you reach that level, where fear deters engagement, well, now you are in a Margaret Atwood dystopian novel, where a regular liberal democratic community member, and good person, like me, is too afraid to put his/her name on an opinion letter. This, I fear, is where we are headed.

Please vote to re-elect Judge Mike Tawil. He is right for our community right now.