Earlier today we wrote about how two of the candidates vying for the GOP nomination to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand were sniping over the issue, with lawyer Wendy Long accusing GOP chair Ed Cox of using the issue to buck the campaign of Congressman Bob Turner, and Mr. Turner's spokesman Bill O'Reilly--who, it should be noted is related to Mr. Buckley--tweeting that the Long campaign is residing in "Bizzaroland."

A spokesman for Ms. Gillibrand--who Mr. Turner is calling on to introduce the resolution in the Senate--called the matter "a stunt," a response that set off Mr. Turner, who threw the accusation back at the junior senator.

It is unfortunate that Ms. Gillibrand would choose to politicize something that should be 100% nonpartisan. Senator Jim Buckley served this state and nation for decades as a senator, undersecretary of state, president of Radio Free Europe and as a long-time Federal Appellate Court justice. Senator Buckley deserves some recognition for his service to this state -- he currently has none-- and naming the Jamaica Bay Refuge Visitor Center for him is a perfectly appropriate and modest gesture of gratitude for the man who helped create the Refuge in 1972.

 

"As the current occupant of the Buckley senate seat, it should be a natural for Senator Gilibrand to support this modest naming. One has to wonder if Ms. Gillibrand would consider this a 'stunt,' as her office called it today, if this naming were for a liberal Democrat.

 

I am hopeful that Ms. Gillibrand will eventually put aside partisanship and join me on this appropriate naming.