April 19, 2023
Kaylin Gillis didn’t have to die.
She didn’t have to catch a bullet for driving up the wrong driveway. She didn’t have to die slowly, without proper intervention, while her friends struggled to find mobile service.
This happened because of political priorities, actions, and inactions.
A hidden factor in Kaylin’s death is the lack of mobile coverage for a 911 call. That should not happen in 2023.
It happens in Elise Stefanik’s district, because instead of fighting for things that matter in her district – infrastructure, drug use mitigation, better local health care, better education, better economies – she fights for more guns, and for Donald Trump’s revenge tour.
Cellular and mobile data must be ubiquitous. Free wifi everywhere it’s feasible.
But in Elise’s district, it’s easier to get an AK than a good data stream, and easier to catch a bullet than catch cell service. Easier to get hooked on meth or opioids than it is to find a hospital or urgent care, easier to get pregnant than learn why not to. Easier to find a Dollar General than it is a bank to keep your dollars in, easier to find a sporting good store than it is a decent grocery store.
And for her, easier to keep pretending that’s all ok, while doing performative, emotional politics that benefit her district in no real way. Easier to tout a new missile site at Fort Drum, on her website, today, instead of making a statement about this tragedy.
Easier to hide.
Politicians must accept ultimate accountability. Stefanik is accountable for the bullet, the availability of the gun, the mentality that pulled the trigger, and the inadequate infrastructure that left this girl to die unnecessarily.
The good congresswoman was in fact pursuing a reduction in crime. In NYC. To defend Donald Trump. Meanwhile, in her County, a fired up patriot shot blindly into a car, not 24 hours after a gun-wielding homeowner shot an unarmed kid in the head for the crime of ringing the wrong doorbell.
The citizens of Washington County deserve data, voice, health, core services, recovering economies, and flourishing futures for their youth. Elise has not delivered anything resembling that (nor did Trump).
Hold her accountable. Make her the VP … of Mars-A-Lago, as an acolyte in the Court of Trump, alongside the Gaetzs, MTGs, and Boeberts of the world. Pave her path to Dancing with the Stars, or the Masked Singer, or Pro Wrestling.
But don’t take her seriously as a Representative of Washington County, unless catching bullets is preferable to surfing the internet.
