The State Senate Dems may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least they’re enjoying the ride. Dean "The Dog" Skelos, sent a lovely thank you note. DSCC Redirects Staff To Eric Schneiderman's Attorney General Campaign www.cityhallnews.com
Does this meet Potter Stewart's definition of obscene?
Candidate Tradd Schneiderman gives $850,000 of his considerable personal fortune to his own campaign; his only charitable donation is dues to the Synagogue he joined at the time he decided to embark upon a public life on the Upper West Side and, coincidentally, also decided he was Jewish (he'd been raised Episcopalian).
Instead of putting an annex to the House of Justice in the AG's office, why not a pushke?
Once can’t real call it “Hit and Run Giving,” because no one got hit. http://www.cityhallnews.com/newyork/article-1545-coffey-takes-schneiderman-to-task-for-low-charitabl ww.cityhallnews.com
Shirley Huntley is right. Lynn Nunes must be stopped from getting to the City Council!
The only jobs the GOP is interested in are seats in Congress Where is GOP's plan for jobs? - Times Union www.timesunion.com
How could anyone read about the hunger for money displayed by Elzanaty and then call him un-American? Backers of Lower Manhattan Mosque Appear Divided www.myfoxny.com
It amazes me when those who would try to use the strong arm of the law to impede the legal rights of those trying to build the Young Men's Islamic Association facility proposed to be located at the Holy Mother Coat Factory try to clean their hands by also trying to impede the legal right of bigoted lunatics to burn books. All they prove is their continued insensitivity to upholding the Bill of Rights. Get An Injunction | The New Republic www.tnr.com
A fairly constant refrain in this year’s NYC primaries is the failure of the City’s local papers to cover local political contests in their print editions.
In particular, two challengers to seemingly entrenched incumbents have made this complaint a centerpiece of these campaign. One is Wellington Sharpe, running (with my strong support) for the State Senate against incumbent Kevin Parker and the other is Doug Biviano, running (with my medium level opposition) for the Assembly against Joan Millman.
A fairly constant refrain in this year’s NYC primaries is the failure of the City’s local papers to cover local political contests in their print editions.
In particular, two challengers to seemingly entrenched incumbents have made this complaint a centerpiece of these campaign. One is Wellington Sharpe, running (with my strong support) for the State Senate against incumbent Kevin Parker and the other is Doug Biviano, running (with my medium level opposition) for the Assembly against Joan Millman.
The argument has best been explicated in print by Rock Hackshaw, a supporter of both Sharpe (strongly) and Biviano (in passing).
As I’ve noted before, I don’t really buy the premise of this argument. The NYC press has never covered local races, even before the national trend toward dumbing down set in. But that fact is neither here nor there, because the local press has become is less and less important over time.
Even article after article of constant attention in the local press would not win Biviano, a janitor, a seat in the Assembly representing Brooklyn Heights. What might win it for him is mail and the elbow grease of door knocking. When the press (though generally not the dailies) sees evidence of that, they do tend to show some interest, and in actuality, Biviano has done better than many. Last year, Biviano’s Council race got a him a full blown post-election profile in the Observer, when that Paper had previously refused to acknowledge any of the race's serious candidates, except for Vito Lopez’s handpicked choice Steve Levin. (Biviano ran six in a field of seven, but was by far the most aggressive in attacking the only candidate who could have beaten Levin).
Some more funding and a bit more door knocking might also prove useful for Sharpe, who, last time I checked, was not without personal resources, but does not seem to have applied them as zealously to his campaign as he might (a great pity, given the great gobbling turkey he is running against).
The press is in business to make money, and, except when it comes to selling ads (at the local weekly level) local races don’t make them money.
This is especially true at the level of the dailies, where, except on Staten Island, too little turf is involved to interest readers even when a race has become hot.
Moreover, even with the limited number of primaries to cover, resources, which have diminished with each passing year, are such that covering every race is probably beyond the capabilities of the dailies. They will sometimes cover a race, but only after triage ascertains that it meets certain metrics.
Frankly, the press is not going to notice people who can't get noticed on their own. It may be unjust that the press doesn't cover races where little or no money is being spent, but it is not their job to create viable candidacies.
If a candidacy is viable, it will break through to the public, press coverage or not. And I should add that, these days it is easier than ever to break through the filter. Even a dimwit like Biviano recently managed to do so with a video tackling this very issue
One would think the dailies and better weeklies would at least go through the efforts of doing what Larry Littlefield suggested a “special election supplement section, referenced from a banner headline on Page 1...” The Times and Newsday used to put together such supplements. Which would require not much more than a sending out a questionnaire and compiling the results, but these days such efforts are virtually non-existent.Why do I not expect more? Why do I think the press is, to some extent, justified in triaging its coverage of local politics (even though I would set the bar for coverage far far lower than is the current practice)?
Let me provide just two examples:
In the 50th Assembly District, longtime incumbent Joe Lentol is opposed by Andre Soleil.
Back in 2006, a column by Jerry Skurnik called “Who's Running?” inspired the following Room 8 colloquy:
SKURNIK: On Thursday, July 10, Party designating petitions were filed at the New York City Board of Elections.
This is the list of possible upcoming contested Primaries, based on the petitions filed. This list will be changed as candidates withdraw and/or removed from the ballot. There also may have been some errors made in compiling the list. I am including some commentary about some of the races. As usual, most contests are on the Democratic side....
...Brooklyn
Democrats...
...Assembly
...In the 50th AD, Assemblyman Joe Lentol is challenged by Andrei Soleil...
...State Committee
...50th AD Incumbents Steve Cohn & Linda Minucci are opposed by Assembly candidate Andrei Soleil & Andrea Jones....
GATEMOUTH: WTF is Andrei Soliel?
ROCK HACKSHAW: ANDRE SOLEIL ran for office before. He ran against Velmanette Montgomery on every line but Democratic (1996) for the State Senate.
GATEMOUTH: Thanks. So I assume it's some jerk from Ingersol or Whitman who thinks the entire district is in Fort Greene and Bed-Stuy, when in actuality the district's population is 58% white and 12% black. If he were at all serious, he would have at least found an Hispanic to run for female leader.
So, either a loon, or possibly put up by Tony Herbert (hence the Republican connection) or Kevin Powell to juice primary turnout in a particular area (or maybe by Ed Towns to wake up the Hasidim by giving Lentol and Cohn races).
But probably nothing that sophisticated, probably just a nut.
JERRY SKURNIK: Still another non-barker. I don't think the candidate running against Lentol has anything to do with Anthony Herbert. Since he did not file petitions to run for anything from any Party.
CHRIS OWENS: Andre Soleil has been around for years ...He was also involved with Community School Board elections in District 13. Remember those?
GATEMOUTH: Of course I remember them Chris, I even urged people to write you in .
ANDRE SOLEIL: No, I am neither "put up by Tony Herbert, Kevin Powell or Ed Towns. No, I am not a "jerk" from Walt Whitman or Ingersol who thinks the district is Black. I am very aware that the district is not a "Black" district. I am also aware that I am not limited by my racial characteristics, and that the new demographic of the 50th AD is also NOT limited by racial profiles. As to "jerk," I have been called worse things by better people.
As far as seriousness goes, I unsuccessfully looked for a Hispanic female; since race' effect on politics remains reality. We however, ran a Jewish male for State Committee, I am just a substitution for the nomination to that office. Yitchok Cohen, a friend of mine, declined nomination because he is honest, discovering that he was not in the district (missed it by two blocks in Williamsburg). Steve Cohen (sic) suffers the same problem, he has been out of the district for 10 years.
Your information is old. Andrea Jones, my friend and a Black woman, has also declined the State Committeewoman nomination and has been replaced by Rebecca Roy.
GATEMOUTH: Perhaps you are correct, Erik, ..but before I'm convinced, I'd like to have ACS inspect for welts.
Sadly, in 2008, Andre’s petitions turned out to be of the same quality as his intellect, so we were deprived of opportunity to see whose theory of the primary race was correct.
This year, Andre’s petitions, if not his IQ, seemed to have improved exponentially in quality, though I have an alternative theory.
It is the regulars who are jumping for joy about Soleil’s candidacy. In order to beat back the rapidly changing demographics of the area, they need a big Hasidic turnout, and a challenge to Lentol will certainly spur Hasidic interest exponentially. Lentol’s presence on the ballot doesn’t hurt bringing out the other regular-leaning oldtimers either.
The regulars persuaded Lentol not to challenge Soleil’s petitions. NKD would have been hard-pressed to appears as reformers if they did so themselves, and so did not do so either.
On his campaign website (on which Soleil can’t seem to make up his mind who his running mate is for State Committee) Soleil calls himself a lawyer, artist, and entrepreneur. Elsewhere, he says he is an attorney, realtor, Broadway producer and ordained Pentecostal Minister (in the Church of Jesus Christ) Soleil‘s MySpace page refers to him as "Reverend Counselor” with his name in parenthesis, while on his campaign website he refers to himself as "Apostle Soleil."
He goes on to note:
"I beleive (sic) in the active Spirit of God that heals, delivers and that signs, wonders and miracles follow those who beleive that Jesus is Lord. I am single, truthful and honest, and yes very sexually freaky, satisfying and enduring (or so I have been told). However, I have decided to save it for my favor - my eventual wife.
I am looking for my queen, but I am taking it a day at a time. Whatever comes natural is what happens, no lies, no manipulation. Just me.
I like SciFi, the fine arts and entertainment. In fact, my legal practice is focused on religious, entertainment, and recreation law.
So, drop me a note or sign my G-Book. May Yehushua Immanuel, Adonay, El Shaddai, El Elyon, Tsaddik Ha`Olam, Jehovah Jirah, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Tsinkinu, the Memra Ha Eloah, whom came to us as Jesus, the Bridegroom of the Shekinah (the Church), the Son of Elohim, who now sits in Zion and is given all power and authority bless and keep you. "
Although one should rest easily in the knowledge that Andre is currently using his endurance to preserve his precious bodily fluids, one cannot help notice that some of his excess juices have inadvertently spurted out in his prose.
According to his campaign website, Mr. Soleil is founder of L’arts Soleil, LLC., the theatrical production company that produced the 2009 off-Broadway play "Billie’s Blues, " and is also developing New York City’s soul noveau gourmet restaurant experience, "Ra" along the East River waterfront of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Andre also says he is an former employee of both the Giuliani and Pataki administrations, proving his candidacy has the ability to cross cultural barriers and unite Yuppies with minority groups (albeit in revulsion).
Of course, if the Massachusetts plan qualifies as single payer, than so does the national plan just enacted, so why would New York need to adopt its own plan?
But Soleil does not merely proposes several new massive government programs, he also complains about the “lack of urgency” in Albany concerning “frugality when it comes to tax payer dollars has seemingly, ” adding, “The budget situation in Albany is just another example of how the government has lost its way.”
Actually, despite his protestations to the contrary, Soleil’s campaign strategy seems mostly to be about attacking Lentol for paying to more attention to the 58% than to the 12% (even specifying Ingersoll and Whitman Houses), an assertion which is actually unfair. Soleil attacks Lentol for lack of concern about “stop and frisk”, even though as Chari of the Codes Committee, Lentol was a key player in passing the bill limiting police use of information gathered in such stops. Further, Soleil attacked Lentol, Lentol for lack of interest in HIV and Hepatitis C, even though Lentol’s record on those issues has been praised by advocacy groups concerned with those matters.Thus, Soleil is a candidate of questionable sanity and major league ignorance, who is totally outside of any sort of ideological affinity with virtually anyone in the district, and possessed of no discernable resources, issues (except ones which contradict each other), or even address (Ed Koch could not locate Soleil to find out if he were a "Hero of Reform," or an "Enemy of Reform," and Soleil apparently made no effort to take the two minutes it would have required to find Koch).
But even Soleil shines like a mackerel at moonlight compared to Mark Escoffery-Bey (hereinafter “E-Bey“), who has filed petitions to run against State Senator Jose Marco Serrano (a fellow “Room 8” contributor, but then again, so is Ruben Diaz, Sr.)
The records mostly concern the visit by agents to a building owned by Dr. E-Bey to attempt a "station inspection." They reflect that Dr. E-Bey, admitted that he allowed his friend Shawn to install and operate a radio station on 87.9 MHz in his building, but that he refused to allow agents to inspect the station.
Last year, E-Bey attempted to run for City Council against Councilwoman Helen Foster. "I made the ballot but then it was challenged and I was taken off...I take responsibly for that. I was new to the process and I didn’t know all the little nuances, so my signatures lacked integrity.”
E-Bey missed the Board of Elections hearing where he was knocked off the ballot and his lawyer was allegedly in and out of the room. "I guess that’s the game," E-Bey said at the time. "Even if I win the appeal, there’s no time to run a campaign. On the other hand, it’s not my nature to give in." E-Bey soon went on to prove this.
The minutes note that the General Counsel reported a correction involving the September 15, 2009 Democratic Primary for City Council in the 16th City Council District in Bronx County reflecting a missing write-in vote.
The Board had been served an Order to Show Cause returnable in Federal Court the day before its meeting by Brother T. Williams-Bey and Mark Escoffery-Bey, alleging the Board failed to give them the opportunity to write-in votes.
In preparing to defend the Board, it was found that Mr. Williams-Bey was not eligible to vote in that Primary because he resided in the 15th City Council District. Mr. Escoffery-Bey who was a candidate on the ballot, but removed by court order, stated that he wrote in his name. The Bronx Borough Office was directed to recheck the write-in canvass rolls in the 20th Election District of the 77th Assembly District.
The Bronx BOE staff determined that they recorded Mr. Escoffery-Bey’s name as a candidate for Mayor, Public Advocate and City Comptroller, but failed to include the City Council write-in which was at the bottom of the paper roll. Mr. Escoffery-Bey stated that as long as the Board records his write-in vote he was willing to discontinue the proceeding. Counsel advised the Federal Court that the Board would correct the inadvertent error. The Bronx Deputy Chiefs submitted an amended certification for the September 15, 2009 Democratic Primary in the 16th City Council District to show one write-in vote for Mr. Escoffery-Bey.
"I have no political friends," said E-Bey, poignantly (perhaps Mr. Soleil can direct him to Blackplanet.com) . "At political functions no one wants to be in a photo with me. I eat the food and go home."
Given the gregariousness of politicos in trying to win everyone they can over to their side, it may be that E-Bey is just shy. Evidence indicates that it was not only Ed Koch who could not find him. He has apparently failed to answer any candidate questionnaires from any group. Further, while most challengers complain that it is their opponents who refuse to debate, in this race, it was E-Bey whose busy schedule would not permit him to show up.The film concerns a man forced to take a paternity test who discovers that he fathered an eight-year-old boy with a woman that he has never met. Despite the film’s length, its trailer tells you everything you need to know about E-Bey’s non-existent talents as a writer, director, cinematographer, editor and actor (he plays the lead role in an extremely convincing imitation or rigor mortis), as well as his non-existent empathy for women and children.
Unlike Soleil, who is as generous with his opinions as he is frugal with his bodily fluids, it is hard to put one’s finger on what E-Bey stands for. There is almost no evidence whatsoever, beyond this video remnant of his aborted Council race, of E-Bey’s thoughts on any matter of publicly policy From the evidence on the video, E-Bey’s platform best summarized as “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” and his demeanor is best described as “Alvin Greene with pretensions.”In E-Bey’s words, “we can have it all, right now.” E-Bey says he is “a bold leader” who will “touch, move, and inspire us to create a future where we can have anything we want for ourselves, our families, our communities and our district.” He favors efforts to “build good credits and keep money in our pockets.” He wants to “usher in an era of service and abundance.”
Most importantly, E-Bey is “committed to removing any barriers which gets in the way of your joy, happiness, freedom, full self-expression, safety and security, without compromising one for another.”
Perhaps he’ll even help Reverend Counselor find his Queen.
So, I submit, the decisions by the local press not to expend their resources examining Andre Soleil and E-Bay's pathetic masturbation fantasies (to clarify, those related to their quests for elective office) are totally justified by the facts on the ground. As to other candidates with what they think are better cases for breaking out of the field, think of press coverage as a “Field of Dreams.”
If you build it, they might come.
Incidentally, Gatemouth endorses Lentol and Serrano.
I think that, for the time being, “The Gateway” will now be done weekly.
This one is done very weakly.
The best argument against a "Rape by Deception" statute: it facilitates bad plea bargains. A rapist who dodged jail, or a man unjustly accused because he was Palestinian? | Lisa Goldman lisagoldman.net
I think that, for the time being, “The Gateway” will now be done weekly.
This one is done very weakly.
The best argument against a "Rape by Deception" statute: it facilitates bad plea bargains. A rapist who dodged jail, or a man unjustly accused because he was Palestinian? | Lisa Goldman lisagoldman.netNo one is asking that the Buildings Department treat the Park51 developer any different than any other developer. In fact, what we are asking is that he be treated the same as any other developer. If that's a problem for him, c'est la vie. Ground Zero mosque developer has bad history with city Buildings Department: records - NYPOST.com www.nypost.com
When will "progressives" stop making excuses for this guy? Venezuela's Jews turn to Chavez over state media's anti-Semitism www.haaretz.com
Barrett makes the case against Schneiderman; great reading and great thinking:
"While I was away on vacation last week, Al Sharpton, one of the worst tax scofflaws in New York, endorsed Eric Schneiderman for the state's top law enforcement office. No big deal. Any one of the four other Democrats running for attorney general would have, oddly, welcomed the endorsement of the man everyone presumes has great influence with New York blacks even though he got eight percent of the total vote in the state's 2004 presidential primary, barely nosing out Dennis Kucinich, and only a third of the black vote, a universe away from the 85 percent Chicago's Jesse Jackson got in NY a decade before him.Here's what astonished me. Schneiderman could have just said "Thank you, Rev." Instead, obsequious Eric said how great it was to get "the Good Housekeeping seal of approval from the man from the House of Justice," which is what Sharpton calls his National Action Network (NAN) headquarters in Harlem. Schneiderman cited Sharpton's pursuit of justice and said he would "seek to follow that model as AG," adding: "The House of Justice will have an annex in Albany for the first time in the history of the state." It was craven excess, an unconscious declaration of how transactional Schneiderman actually sees the office he seeks. No one really expects a Sharpton cubicle in Schneiderman's office, but the AG-to-be was declaring that an organization that the current officeholder, Andrew Cuomo, investigated just two years ago would have an inside track with Schneiderman because its leader was helping to make him AG. The Federal Election Commission recently levied its largest fine ever on Sharpton's presidential campaign -- $285,000 -- and one reason was that the House of Justice's NAN, and other Sharpton entities, had illegally covered $387,192 of Sharpton's campaign expenses. Sharpton went nuts when federal subpoenas were served on his ex-chief of staff and many others in the NAN posse. Federal prosecutors wound up indicting no one but forced Sharpton to agree to a payout plan on his taxes. NAN is one hell of a strange annex for a top law enforcement officer. Republican Dan Donovan, who salivates to face Schneiderman in the fall, will throw the tape up in a statewide TV ad and probably win his own Good Housekeeping seal in November. The seal, by the way, just celebrated its 100th anniversary, and it guarantees a replacement for any defective product. Donovan may well replace the devastatingly defective alliance for justice that Schneiderman and Sharpton are peddling." Al Sharpton and the 'Times' Endorse Eric Schneiderman: You Gotta Be Kidding blogs.villagevoice.com
But somehow, in a manner resembling my current obsession with the Young Men’s Islamic Association proposed for The Holy Mother Coat Factory, I became obsessed with passing health care reform, and specifically with the idiotic left wing efforts to sabotage it because the achievable was not good enough.
But somehow, in a manner resembling my current obsession with the Young Men’s Islamic Association proposed for The Holy Mother Coat Factory, I became obsessed with passing health care reform, and specifically with the idiotic left wing efforts to sabotage it because the achievable was not good enough.
I eventually found that I had become a popular aggregator of slightly left of center news for an ever increasing bunch of people I’d never met, who wanted the Gatemouth they were not getting on Room 8.
What should have been longer thought-pieces on Room 8, turned into snarky one liners with appropriate links, and pretty much killed off my publishing on this site. Unfinished pieces started piling up on my G drive like planes over LGA.
But the reality was, I was dealing with virtually all of those matters, in bite sizes pieces, on my Facebook page.
The solution seems obvious, and I changed formats.
Now the same people who used to complain about the length of my pieces are griping instead about how I no longer write pieces of length (though I do).
My goals in this undertaking were two-fold. I kept missing important topics, and wanted to cover more of them with less effort. And I wanted to cut down the time I spent writing.
One of those goals has been met. I am missing fewer topics, and saying more with less. But the effort to do this right has ended up taking more time than the old essays ever did.
This is too bad; at the national level the not quite left, not quite right is represented in similar endeavors by Jonathan, Chait, Jeffrey Goldberg, Rich Hertzberg, Andrew Sullivan and the once (and I suspect future) Mickey Kaus. Locally, this sort of opinionated news aggregation from a writer on my point of the spectrum (or any other, for that matter) seems to be sorely lacking.
It should be done, I’m just not sure how long I will be able to continue doing it--at least in its proper manner.
So, now that my vacation is over, I suspect there will be a drop, and maybe more, in Gateway activity.
For those who dislike this format, this in itself should be its own reward, though I cannot promise it will lead to a rise in the number of longer essays (which for some will be icing on the cake).
In the meantime, for those who do like the format (which I’ve worked hard to improve over the months of its existence), I thought I would finish the trip though The Gateway pre-history, I posted in several columns in May and June, and document the year 2009, which chronicles how this feature evolved:
Listening to “Mingus, Mingus, Mingus,” and wondering what the velvet Underground would have sounded like with him instead of John Cale. January 2, 2009.
Gatemouth is a George Clinton Democrat: One Nation Under a Groove. January 3, 2009.
Wondering why I was obsessed for so many years with getting the State Senate a Democratic majority. January 7, 2009.
Nostalgic for the days when kid’s programming ended at 6:00 PM. January 14, 2009.
Contemplating the end of a three day weekend and the beginning of a new era. January 19, 2009.
Thanking Dybbuk for reminding me how much I hate homework. January 27, 2009.
Running around in circles looking for corners to cut. January 28, 2009.
Appalled to have participated in a trend reported in the Times Style Section (which has nothing to do with the revival of vinyl). February 5, 2009.
Wondering what it would be like to watch the President live, instead of Scooby Doo. February 9, 2009.
Regretting that Spirit Air did not see fit to put barf bags anywhere near Dybbuk’s seat (and so is Spirit Air). February 14, 2009.
Learned one does leave a six year old untended on YouTube watching the Mr. Bill Show. February 21, 2009.
Flipping between Boomerang and NY-One, just noticed that Shelly Silver and Droopy Dog were separated at birth. February 27, 2009.
I miss politics; may need to adjust my meds. March 19, 2009.
Twitter is to Facebook as whambangthankyoumam is to a happy ending. April 1, 2009.
Preparing a Seder is a lot like departing from Egypt, except Scotto’s has a better choice of wines. April 6, 2009.
It’s been a long time since Leib Glanz invited me to a wedding. June 13, 2009.
Just found out that, after figuring heavily in the original cut, virtually all my footage in the documentary film about Paul Newell, “Excuse Me, Mr. Speaker,” has ended up on the cutting room floor. Now the world will never see my Shelly Silver imitation. June 16, 2009.
I’ve so many gay friends that Facebook suggested I become a fan of Margaret Cho and Kathy Griffin. June 22, 2009.
With Michael Jackson’s death, I’ve already forgotten about the shady lady from Argentina, and wonder if Sky Saxon of the Seeds (alev ha-sholem) has just become the Aldous Huxley of June 25, 2009. Glad Jeff Goldblum has a better sense of timing. June 26, 2009.
In local news, I witnessed Buddy Scotto, practically in tears, begging Chuck Schumer to kill the Gowanus Canal Superfund cleanup, “You’re the only one who can stop this.“ Chuck explained to him that he doesn’t intervene in local issues where the community is divided. June 26, 2009.
Beach Boys Coolness Ranking: 1) Brian; 2) Dennis; 3) Carl; 4) Glen Campbell; 5) Blondie Chaplin; 6) Ricki Fataar; 7) Al 8) David Marks; 9) Bruce Johnston; 10) What his name? July 18, 2008.
Roots music lesson of the day: Ellington is brilliant, but I still prefer Basie, because the blues and the beat are always present, rather than just implied--truly a forefather of R&B and Rock and Roll. Hampton, on the other hand, frequently is R&B and Rock and Roll. August 23, 2009.
What better time than during remembrances of Camelot to have a moment of silence, this one without caveats, for Ellie Greenwich: Do I love you my oh my, River deep, Mountain High; if I lost you I would cry, oh how I love you baby, baby baby. August 26, 2009.
Despite my skepticism about the Ted Kennedy beatification, the story linked here contains perhaps the loveliest anecdote ever told about the late senator; I hope that it is true: http://www.forward.com/articles/112893/ A Lion Who Roared for the Least Fortunate – Forward.com www.forward.com’August 31, 2009
So little time, so many people to piss off. September 9, 2009.
Democracy is so tiring. September 14, 2009.
Gatey nationally linked as a Democratic critic of ACORN/WFP: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0909/ACORN_allies_score_big_win_in_New_York.html?showall ACORN, allies score big win in New York - Ben Smith - POLITICO.com www.politico.com September 16, 2009
Primary results sucked, and my car got towed too. September 16, 2009.
Predictions: DeBlasio 56%, Liu 55%. Hope I’m wrong. September 29, 2009.
Attended a City Hall News party honoring 40 overachievers who are under 40--most of whom proved how they earned the title by not attending. I’m planning a party for New York’s 50 most notable underachievers over 50, so I can get a little recognition. September 30, 2009.
Listening to Count Basie do "Green Onions." Booker T surely was flattered. October 17, 2009
Dybbuk had a dream he saw a Thompson ad (a thing which only happens in a dream) and now he keeps ranting that "Enough is Enough!" and "Mayor Mike Must Go!" October 25, 2009
Rabbi Yoffie shows "J Street" the real meaning of "Pro-Israel and Pro-Peace." The speech includes well deserved rebukes to the left, the Jewish right and most of the Arab leadership: http://blogs.rj.org/reform/2009/10/rabbi-yoffie-speaks-at-first-n.html
Rabbi Yoffie Speaks at First National J Street Conference - Reform Judaism blogs.rj.org October 26, 2009
Listening to Nappy Brown, even though it’s morning and he said “Night Time is the Right Time.” October 30, 2009
Last night, six year old Dybbuk told his Aunt Feige that Bloomberg was for McCain, so he was for Thompson. While technically not the case, it spoke a higher truth, so I did not correct him. November 3, 2009
They say a miniature schnauzer is "the dog with a human brain," our problem is that out new puppy Cerberus’ human is George W Bush November 9, 2009
This article about the politics of the Stupak Amendment should please absolutely no one: http://www.tnr.com/article/stupak-stupak-does?utm_source=TNR+Daily&utm_campaign=b3ef4f8475-TNR_Daily_111309&utm_medium=email Stupak Is As Stupak Does | The New Republic www.tnr.com November 14, 2009
Listening to "The Great Gates," who is not to be confused with Gatemouth Brown (or Gatemouth Moore): http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2008/03/great-gates-west-coast-r-n-b-1949-1952_9942.html November 19, 2009
Room 8 was "hacked." Some would say it was from the day I joined it.
If I wasn't already taken, I might just propose Senator Savino speaks on Marriage Equality www.youtube.com December 2, 2009
Almost as good as Diane Savino on Same-sex Marriage "The Hebrew Mamita" Vanessa Hidary (Def Poetry) www.youtube.com December 2, 2009
Tiger is great at sinking his putts: Topical Song of the Week http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xubpu_muddy-waters-tiger-in-your-tank_music Dailymotion - Muddy Waters - Tiger In Your Tank - a Music video www.dailymotion.com December 8, 2009
Celebrated the Jewish victory over assimilation (Hellenization) with four different Christmas Ales and seven gentiles (four of them Hellenic) December 13, 2009
Thoughts of Dead White European Males Department: An Adam Smith-type analysis of Hanukah--wonder what Karl Marx would say Can Hanukkah save the Jewish faith from assimilation? - By Ray Fisman - Slate Magazine www.slate.com December 14, 2009
Mickey Kaus argues for the Nick Lowe method of passing health care reform: "Bash it out now; tart it up later." I think I may agree.Kausfiles : Pong, You're Dead: The Dems' Secret Weapon
The case for passing the damned thing, no matter what's in it (or isn't), part two: Why liberals won't get anything for giving up the public option. - By Timothy Noah - Slate Magazine www.slate.com December 15, 2009
Listening to "Well I Got Troubles" by Johnny Powers (the only artist to record for both Sun and Motown), possibly the only rockabilly song ever produced by Marvin Gaye. December 16, 2009
Worked the room hard at Skurnik's party, because, even after all these years, there were still some people I had yet to piss off, and if there's one thing I am better at collecting than vinyl LPs, it is enemies. December 17, 2009
The case for passing the damned thing, no matter what's in it (or isn't), part three: Op-Ed Columnist - Pass the Bill - NYTimes.com
Worst Facebook Suggestion of all time: “Pedro Espada; Add as friend” He sure ain’t my Amigo. December 18, 2009
When has starting all over ever helped anyone get medical care, Doctor Dean?: Steven Pearlstein - Kennedy Saw Health-Care Reform Fail in the '70s; Today's Lawmakers Don't Have To www.washingtonpost.com December 19, 2009
The case for passing the damned thing, part five Op-Ed Columnist - The New Perils of Pauline - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com December 19, 2009
There are those who think I'm a conservative, because I liked Obama's Nobel Prize speech, support him on national security issues and want to pass health care. If that's what being conservative means, I'll cop to the rap. December 19, 2009
If one disqualified everything involving George Clinton, James Brown or Allen Toussaint, Could this be the all time funkiest instrumental over? DUSTY NUGGETS: RAW, FUNKY & RARE SOULFUL GOODIES: OFF INTO A BLACK THING dustynuggets.blogspot.com December 19, 2009
The case for passing the damned thing, part six Why I Still Believe In This Bill | The New Republic www.tnr.com December 20, 2009
Listening to the complete Aladdin Recordings of Charles Brown; essentially what the King Cole Trio would have sounded like if they were black December 20, 2009
Perils of Parenthood: watching Flintstone specials celebrating the birth of an historic figure Fred and Barney surely anteceded. December 20, 2009
HCR passes Senate: Well, we've watched the sausage being made, and now we must remember that the Rabbis told us that it is better to eat pork than to starve--as long as one does not suck the marrow from the bones [I think the Rabbis weren't really worried about manners, but about getting unnecessary enjoyment from something necessary, but sinful. Hence the urban myth about the hole in the sheet].
The House should now pass the damned thing as is, lest their attempts to improve it make the damned thing even less palatable You may not like the meal, but it the only one being served. The Repubs will never give us a single vote, so the only way to get to 60 was to the right. What were we supposed to do, scare Lieberman by threatening his renomination? Obama tried appealing to the grassroots, but jerks like Dennis Kucinich were too busy whining about single payer (which Obama had repudiated before his election) for the netroots to get excited about the public option. So there was no other route available but to go right in search of vote. WTF were we supposed to find the votes? By scaring Ben Nelson?
Thirty million more Americans covered; no more refusal to cover pre-existing conditions, dozens of incremental improvements. And, as LBJ might note, this particular cherry has now been busted.
Remember, the last time we blew this chance, it took 16 more years before we could even get it on the table again. If we blow this, it will be another generation before Congress will even touch it.
J.J. Goldberg continues to serve no master but the truth; something to tick off both the anti-Israel left and right-wing Zionists
Four Myths About the Mideast and Real Estate – Forward.com
Do we celebrate Giuliani's taking the dive, or do we mourn the opportunity to kick his butt? December 21, 2009
Actually, we celebrate Christmas with our gentile relatives (what, you don't have any?) Hulu - Saturday Night Live: Christmas for the Jews Song www.hulu.com December 23, 2009
Poker, but don't poke her; an alternate way to celebrate (and celibate) Christmas eve The little-known Jewish holiday of Christmas Eve. Seriously. - By Benyamin Cohen - Slate Magazine www.slate.com December 23, 2009
The only question is whether Steely Dan will now cover "The Bear Missed The Train" The man who told A Christmas Story. - By Donald Fagen - Slate Magazine www.slate.com December 23, 2009
Post, then duck. The fight over abortion insurance is smaller than it looks. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine www.slate.com December 23, 2009
Stop whining already! And The Rest Is Just Noise | The New Republic
Listening to Billy Chinnock, a Jersey Boy who put together a band with Danny Federici, Gary Tallent, David Sancious and "Mad Dog Lopez," but lost them during a long illness to another local. Verdict: the boy had talent, but his sound never got much beyond "The Wild, The Innocent.." On the other hand, some may find this his greatest virtue.1
Right character; wrong holiday Hanukkah Harry Video by Saturday Night Live - MySpace Video vids.myspace.com December 24, 2009
Who will object more; the right or left? Year One | The New Republic
Are local political blogs dead in New York? Exhibit One. The Albany Project does an end of the year survey and gets 45 participants.the albany project:: End of the Year Poll: Who Was the Worst Albany Embarrassment of 2009? December 29, 2009
This article documents the ridiculous conservative objections to every social reform of the last century and a half.
Nonetheless, this assertion about banning child labor does have the indicia of truth, at least in my house: “[T]he child will become a very dominant factor in the household and ...might refuse perhaps to do chores before six a.m. or after seven p.m. or to perform any labor.”
Women’s Suffrage And Other Visions Of Right-Wing Apocalypse | The New Republic www.tnr.com December 29, 2009
Not sure I agree with it all, but it is a clear-eyed assessment The Foreign Policy Awards | The New Republic www.tnr.com December 29, 2009
My FB friend AJ Weberman, most famous for going thru Bob Dylan's garbage, wants you to vote that he is indeed annoying. Take my word for it, it is true AmIAnnoying.com www.amiannoying.com December 29, 2009
Dog bites man story: Republicans engage in intellectual dishonesty and the press swallows it whole. President Obama takes the heat President Bush did not - - POLITICO.com www.politico.com December 30, 2009
Kean commission members complains about FIVE YEARS OF INACTION. No reasons for Dems to feel proud or vindicated, but one must ask where that puts 80% of the blame. Sounds familiar - Ben Smith - POLITICO.com www.politico.com December 31, 2009
The White House on Cheney: "The difference is this: President Obama doesn’t need to beat his chest to prove it, and — unlike the last Administration — we are not at war with a tactic (“terrorism”), we at war with something that is tangible: Al Qaeda and its violent extremist allies. And we will prosecute that war as long as the American people are endangered." White House: We know we're 'at war' - Ben Smith - POLITICO.com www.politico.com December 31, 2009
Joe Klein: "The denizens of the left blogosphere consider themselves the Democratic Party's base. But they are not. For Democrats, as opposed to Republicans, the wing is not the base; the legions of loyal African Americans, union members, Jews, women and Latinos are. In the end, the sillier left-village practitioners a...re stoking the same populist exaggeration — the idea that Washington is controlled by crooks and sellouts — that conservative strategists like Bill Kristol believe will bring the Republicans back to power. The perversity of this is beyond comprehension."
As I noted during the campaign, the Obama promise to do a non-single payer plan without mandates may have been his lowest moment as a candidate. Without mandates, the cost of a non-single payer plan would be astronomical. I didn't mind so much the dishonesty in and of itself, but when he attacked Hillary for it in his advertising, I was appalled, since she was just being honest.
I submit that Klein's conclusion about health care is correct. This bill improves on the status quo. As someone who'd prefer single payer (which was never promised during the campaign, and in fact, explicitly rejected), I am disappointed by the flaws, but the status quo is vastly improved, and once the law is in place, reconciliation will allow a lot of changes (though probably not, as far as I read the rules, a public option) to be made with just a majority.
Sadly, this plan appears to be close to the best we are going to get. And sadly, the idea that we should destroy the village in order to save its purity appears to be worthy of the sneers.
Those who would kill this plan because of its flaws would surely be burying health care for another generation Bloggers Left and Right Agree to Hate Health Care Reform - TIME www.time.com December 31, 2009
Comptroller John Liu’s office brings up the prospect of tax free financing for the Young Men’s Islamic Association. My question here has nothing to do with religion; I would fight to the death for the rights of those who want to build this facility, but regardless of their religion, anyone who is asking for tax free financing had better meet the empirical standards for such a program. Ground Zero Muslim center may get public financing | Reuters www.reuters.com Further, there seems reason to believe they might not qualify (though to be fair, they've already done more with the Coat Factory than the Port Authority has done with Ground Zero) http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mosque_big_owes_tax_rNN0l21LN43U6WhTmIawSP?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME
This article is more of the usual Post agitprop, but it does includes the startling revelation that Iman Rauf favors a one-state solution, an utterly despicable position he happens shares with Dov Hkind. However, if this is going to be the basis upon which the City judges religiously affiliated facilities with swimming pools, it is going to have to close down the Sephardic Community Center. and if it applies this standard to facilities without swimming pools, it will have to close down the NY Post. Organizers collect first 10G for Ground Zero mosque - NYPOST.com www.nypost.com
As much as the mayor's been great on this Islamic Association issue, one cannot help but notice the monumental unlikeliness of his assertion that every 9-11 victim’s family he’s spoken with favors the facility proposed for the Holy Mother Coat Factory. The only thing which might exceed this unlikeliness is the Mayor’s foolishness in making such an assertions. Burlingame says Bloomberg 'misrepresents' families, calls him 'disgrace' - Maggie Haberman - POLITIC www.politico.com
A winner from Daly; won't say more, as it speaks for itself. Time of unity at Ground Zero seems long gone now as Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck play politics www.nydailynews.com
It takes one to know one department: Wright: Obama Muslim myth believers 'sycophants' - Times Union www.timesunion.com
Leading neo-con thinker bemoans the late John McCain, and the imposter who's doing a bad impersonation of him. McCain's lost cred in border debate - NYPOST.com www.nypost.com
While in the current atmosphere, I can sympathize with the desire to pander by taking shots at a guy who should really learn to put a sock into it, I really wish Democrats would do the same and shut up about firing Alan Simpson. Something does need to be done about Social Security, and Simpson serve a useful purpose in getting to that goal.
As to what should be done, Gail Collins is so dead-on that I think Obama should instead fire one of the commission's Dems and replace them with Ms. Collins. Gail Collins: Fixing Social Security www.nytimes.com
Dispatch from the Big Sleazy: The Republican Senate primary contestants in Louisiana do their drilling on-shore; and like their neighbors, have trouble staying dry. Scandal Takes Surprising Turn in Louisiana’s Republican Senate Primary www.nytimes.com
Could it be a coincidence that the guy with the inflated resume who was involved in the hit and run accident is the one who wants a truce on negative campaigning? Schneiderman's Letter Fails to Civilize AG Race | The New York Observer www.observer.com
While I would rather drink bathwater than support either Adam Powell or Jonathan Tasini, and Vince Morgan and Joyce Johnson seem highly unlikely victors, this article accidentally makes the case that any vote cast against Rangel is a vote which has not been wasted. Big margin in primaries could strengthen scandal-plagued Rep. Charlie Rangel against ethics panel www.nydailynews.com
"A singer who performed in front of a “mixed audience” of men and women was lashed 39 times to make him 'repent.'"
Can you believe those crazy Muslims...What? He was sentenced by a bunch of Rabbis?
Umm...never mind.
Shabbat Shalom everyone! FailedMessiah.com: Rabbinic Court Gives "Sinning" Singer 39 Lashes failedmessiah.typepad.com
"A singer who performed in front of a “mixed audience” of men and women was lashed 39 times to make him 'repent.'"
Can you believe those crazy Muslims...What? He was sentenced by a bunch of Rabbis?
Umm...never mind.
Shabbat Shalom everyone! FailedMessiah.com: Rabbinic Court Gives "Sinning" Singer 39 Lashes failedmessiah.typepad.com
But did he get a Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray? Obama: Hold the Mayo | NJDC Blog www.njdc.org
Lesson for the day--don't post a column without reading the obits first to catch any gratuitous passing insults to the recently departed. Oh well, at least there’s one Queens elected you can tell “Rest in Peace” without risking arrest. Queens City Councilman Thomas White, Jr. Dies at 71 (Updated) www.nydailynews.com
Rice comes to a boil; gives the Schneid the Schneid. Rice calls Schneiderman a liar, never held law enforcement position - Capitol Confidential blog.timesunion.com
Brett Schundler's conservative ideological principles win the race to the bottom. Conservatives for government assistance - Ben Smith - POLITICO.com www.politico.com
Kinsley channels Lazio: "Will the mosque be built out of poisonous cheese? Maybe it won't be, but how can we know for sure if Andrew Cuomo refuses to investigate?" The Art of Staying on Message | The Atlantic Wire www.theatlanticwire.com
I'm sorry, but while my position of opposing the lunatics, imbeciles, ignorami and opportunists who oppose the Young Men's Islamic Association proposed to be located at the Holy Mother coat Factory remains unchanged, I defy anyone to read this article and still believe this thing is ever going to happen. Islam Center’s Builder Is Only at Square One www.nytimes.com
LEON WIESELTIER: …The New York Times published a warming story about the rage for charter schools among hedge-fund managers. It appeared in "Sunday Styles," and was a fine glimpse into the current fashion of "social entrepreneurship" and "philanthrocapitalism“….But what irked me… was the usurpation of the moral prestige of the public sector by the social prestige of the private sector…one of the most effective methods for the delegitimation of government in our day has been the notion that charity may do the work of public policy, that private wealth is the answer to social crisis.
LEON WIESELTIER: …The New York Times published a warming story about the rage for charter schools among hedge-fund managers. It appeared in "Sunday Styles," and was a fine glimpse into the current fashion of "social entrepreneurship" and "philanthrocapitalism“….But what irked me… was the usurpation of the moral prestige of the public sector by the social prestige of the private sector…one of the most effective methods for the delegitimation of government in our day has been the notion that charity may do the work of public policy, that private wealth is the answer to social crisis.
To put it another way, the story of the chic charterists was a study in Bloombergism. "Private money can help solve even the most difficult public problems," Michael Bloomberg declared in a blurb for Philanthrocapitalism: How the Rich Can Save the World, a book by Matthew Bishop and Michael Green…"There are limitations to what the state can do," they write, and so it is "no wonder governments, of both right and left, seem increasingly keen for wealthy individuals to give them a helping hand." …It follows, as they write later in their billet-doux to billionaires, that "a growing number of philanthrocapitalists are realizing that one of the most effective ways to leverage their money to change the world is to use it to shape how political power is exercised……the Times reported that Bloomberg's first deputy mayor will now serve simultaneously as the chairwoman and chief executive of Bloomberg's foundation. Bloomberg's political use of anonymous charitable gifts through the Carnegie Corporation has been amply documented. This is not philanthrocapitalism. It is philanthrogovernment.
…The signature contribution of the philanthrocapitalist to the American political tradition is the idea that social problems have market solutions. In the midst of our present troubles, however, there is much evidence to justify a new look at the grip of American business upon the American policy imagination.
DIANE RAVITCH: [T]here is something fundamentally antidemocratic about relinquishing control of the public education policy agenda to private foundations run by society's wealthiest people [who] "represent an unusually powerful force that is beyond the reach of democratic institutions.
WIESELTIER: To whom, really, are they accountable? Right now there is no more pressing task for the renovation of our sense of our society than the critical examination of our attitude toward the very rich and the nature of their influence upon our public life.
Yes, yes, yes, I cannot argue with that philosophically, but tell that to a parent zoned for a failing or even mediocre public school (I am one such parent). As Fred Astaire said on “The Bandwagon”, “you cant’s spread ideals on a cracker.”
So, while I care about principles, I care more about what works.
RAVITCH: As No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) accountability regime took over the nation's schools under President George W. Bush and more and more charter schools were launched, I supported these initiatives. But over time, I became disillusioned with the strategies that once seemed so promising. I no longer believe that either approach will produce the quantum improvement in American education that we all hope for……When charter schools started in the early 1990s, their supporters promised that they would unleash a new era of innovation and effectiveness. Now there are some 5,000 charter schools, which serve about 3% of the nation's students, and the Obama administration is pushing for many more.
But the promise has not been fulfilled. Most studies of charter schools acknowledge that they vary widely in quality. The only major national evaluation of charter schools was carried out by Stanford economist Margaret Raymond and funded by pro-charter foundations. Her group found that compared to regular public schools, 17% of charters got higher test scores, 46% had gains that were no different than their public counterparts, and 37% were significantly worse.
Charter evaluations frequently note that as compared to neighboring public schools, charters enroll smaller proportions of students whose English is limited and students with disabilities. The students who are hardest to educate are left to regular public schools, which makes comparisons between the two sectors unfair. The higher graduation rate posted by charters often reflects the fact that they are able to "counsel out" the lowest performing students; many charters have very high attrition rates (in some, 50%-60% of those who start fall away). Those who survive do well, but this is not a model for public education, which must educate all children.
NAEP compared charter schools and regular public schools in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009. Sometimes one sector or the other had a small advantage. But on the whole, there is very little performance difference between them.
Given the weight of studies, evaluations and federal test data, I concluded that deregulation and privately managed charter schools were not the answer to the deep-seated problems of American education. If anything, they represent tinkering around the edges of the system. They affect the lives of tiny numbers of students but do nothing to improve the system that enrolls the other 97%.
OK, you have a point,
Still, charter school are a fact of life. Between the piles of cash enticing submission to the temptation exemplified by President Osama’s “Race to the Top” funds, and the pressure of Mayor Bloomberg multi-tentacled bankrolls, charter school in New York are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.
In large measure, those opposing charter schools, most prominently the teachers’ and other educational unions, have themselves to blame of this situation.
Barring being caught naked in a classroom en flagrante delicto, it is easier to legally smoke a Camel through the eye of a needle than to fire a tenured educator in the city of New York.
The nightmare that is our public school system was exposed, like a nubile and horny teacher at Madison High School, largely through the efforts of the much demonized (and I reserve the right to do so myself) former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz, who conducted hearings where, in the words of New York Magazine:“She grilled and filleted bureaucrats from the DoE on their sickly science and art programs, the back-of-the-bus Regents-diploma rates for minority students, the pervasive shortage of toilet paper in what was then a $13 billion–a–year operation….In 2003, she torched the teachers union with hearings on seniority rights and work rules…The proceedings, complete with hidden witnesses using voice-distortion technology, were explosive.”
Moskowitz’s hearings, despite their one-sidedness and other elements of unfairness, shined a light on the problems of the system. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and exposing the problems is a necessary first step to solving them.
Sadly, we shall likely not see such City Council hearings again. The response of the unions was a perfectly legal and totally despicable Working Families Party money laundering operation to ensure Moskowitz’s defeat when she ran for Manhattan Borough President.
It worked, and the lesson was not lost on our City’s pols.
Truly, public schools, teachers, administrators and other personnel need to be held accountable.
Sadly, this is not what is occurring. Instead, we are getting charter schools.
Charter schools are the opposite of accountability. As New York Magazine noted, charter school are funded with public money, but autonomously owned and operated, but largely free of government oversight. Schools showing adequate student progress, as defined by state tests, which are notoriously taught to, can pretty much do what they please.
“According to government sources, the city’s co-located charter schools receive, on average, nearly as much per-pupil taxpayer support (within 5 percent) as the zoned schools, in addition to whatever they rake in from their private benefactors”
The current City administration’s attitude seems to be to give charter schools carte blanche. Anecdotal evidence indicates the administration is more interested in helping them obtain private funding than they are about obtaining such money for the rest of the system. They seem to get more favorable treatment as well in the war for school space.
As New York Magazine documented, Moskowitz, now a charter school entrepreneur, exemplifies such activities at their most intense:
“Police were called…when she brought movers to take another floor at P.S. 123, piling the zoned school’s belongings in the gym after it neglected to vacate on time…In July 2007, …Moskowitz identified five zoned schools that had declining enrollments “and suck academically.” In October 2008, she informed Klein that she was “most interested in” P.S. 194 and P.S. 241 in Harlem. Two months after that, the DoE moved to shutter those two schools and pass their buildings in toto—a first—to [Moskowitz] But there was a problem: [Moskowitz’ schools] could not accept all the children to be displaced. For one thing, the network has no self-contained classrooms for the profoundly disabled; for another, it takes in no new students after the second grade…When [Chancellor] Klein stayed the closings in the face of a UFT lawsuit, he also advised the zoned schools’ parents to “seriously consider” moving their children to [Moskowitz’] Harlem Success.”
The New York Magazine article chronicles a test prep regimen at Moskowitz’ schools that is nearly maniacal and renders its effectiveness as a measure of real achievement virtually meaningless. Similarly documented are the means in which those who fail to meet the schools standards (which might lower its aggregate scores) are hounded and intimidated out of the schools:
“If students are deemed bad “fits” and their parents refuse to move them, the staffer says, the administration “makes it a nightmare” with repeated suspensions and midday summonses. After a 5-year-old was suspended for two days for allegedly running out of the building, the child’s mother says the school began calling her every day “saying he’s doing this, he’s doing that. Maybe they’re just trying to get rid of me and my child, but I’m not going to give them that satisfaction.”…[a] Harlem Success teacher says, at least half a dozen lower-grade children who were eligible for IEPs have been withdrawn this school year. If this account were to reflect a pattern, Moskowitz’s network would be effectively winnowing students before third grade, the year state testing begins. “The easiest and fastest way to improve your test scores,” observes a DoE principal in Brooklyn, “is to get higher-performing students into your school.” And to get the lower-performing students out.”
This is not just a “Moskowitz" issue, as the New York Magazine article notes:
“Studies show “selective attrition” in the KIPP chain, among others, with academic stragglers—including those seen as disruptive or in need of pricey services—leaving in greater numbers. In one flagrant local example, East New York Preparatory discharged 48 students shortly before last year’s tests, among them seven poor-scoring third-graders.”
Also documented is an atmosphere of dictatorially imposed conformity I doubt the elitist boosters of such schools would tolerate being imposed on their own (read “white”) children.
There are other problems with charter schools. Many are nests of corruption and nepotism, the flavor of the day for the modern poverty pimp of the 21st Century. In many places, charter school have allowed fringe groups with strange ideologies to use public money to dubious purpose. Even in New York, there has been a disturbing trend toward setting up academies of ethnic cheerleading, some of which barely skirt First Amendment establishment clause issues.
I find some of the concerns raised about charter schools less than compelling. Yes, the students are self selected. There is a lottery, but the applicants for the lottery are motivated parents, and children of less motivated parents are left out in the cold.
But that is almost always the case, in any system. Children of less motivated parents rarely thrive. In fact, studies show that children not chosen in charter school lotteries score much better in testing than the public school children whose parents did not enter such lotteries.
But parents desperate for their children to get a good education have a right to schools which afford their children that opportunity. The fact that so many of our school do not do so is exactly why charter schools have become the flavor of the month. It is exactly why charter school are here for the foreseeable future.
The question is no longer “Should charter schools exist,” but rather “how shall charter schools exists?”
Some (though not all) of these concerns were addressed in hearings recently held by State Senator Bill Perkins.
Perkins’ hearings publicized the manner in which children were often pushed or “counseled out” of charter schools. They exposed the lack of inclusion by some charter school of special needs children and English Language Learners. They exposed the war for space and resources. They exposed corruption and nepotism; they exposed lack of parental input.
Like Moskowitz’s hearings on the public schools at the City Council, Perkins’ hearing were largely one-sided and often unfair. And like Moskowitz’s hearings, Perkins hearing were, even with their flaws, an excellent example of sunlight as the best disinfectant.
As I said, charter schools are here to stay. Someone had better keep an eye on them. Even the threat alone of more hearings like those held by Perkins helps keep abuses in line and allows for accountability the system does not otherwise provide.
As a result of conducting such hearing, Perkins has a big target on his back. The financially well-endowed pro-charter school network does not want more hearings, and they know if they can kill off Perkins, like the unions and the WFP killed off Moskowitz, such hearings will be highly unlikely in the future.
They are "leverag[ing] their money to change the world is to use it to shape how political power is exercised…”
Not only has Perkins been targeted, but two other charter school critics as well. State Senators Velmanette Montgomery and Shirley Huntley.
Unqualified success for such efforts would be a very bad thing. We need more (though perhaps fairer) hearings about the problems with both public and charter schools.
I’ve known Bill Perkins for 25 years, and I dislike him intensely. While Perkins is capable of thoughtfulness on a public policy level, as I‘ve documented previously, his well-cultivated aura of independence is as credible as a three dollar bill. Sometimes, Perkins does rail against the Harlem establishment which has nurtured both him and his wife, a high ranking administrator at the Board of Elections (as was once Perkins); but that is only at those times when that establishment has told Perkins to wait his turn.Perkins has a well financed (courtesy mostly of Charter school and/or Bloomberg connected sources) from another member of the Harlem establishment, Basil Smikle.
Smikle is smart, and possibly less of a snake than Perkins (as my link shows, that would not be difficult), but the monumental insincerity of his effort to portray himself as some sort of reformer is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that he, along with Perkins, showed up at Charlie Rangel’s birthday party (Smikle’s also attracted the support of the County Leader’s political club).
In other word, in electing Smikle, we would be trading Bill Perkins for a politician who, in cultivating his own false image of independence, seems to have chosen Perkins for his role model.
I am thus renaming Smikle as Basil “Faulty.”
Normally, I would join any committee to rid people like Bill Perkins from our polity, but the price of Perkins’ defeat would be an abrupt end to Charter School oversight by our State Legislature, and any other legislative body in our state, and that is far too great a price to pay, so I will hold my nose and support Bill Perkins’ re-election.
In parts of Brownstone Brooklyn, Bed-Stuy, Brownsville and other nearby areas, incumbent Velmanette Montgomery faces a similar primary from another smart, but well connected young man named Mark Pollard. Pollard has built a broad coalition, attracting not only Bloomberg/Charter school money, but support connected with developer Bruce Ratner as well. There are also reasons (albeit, somewhat ambiguous and not conclusive) to suspect that he is the preference of Brooklyn County Leader as well.
Velmanette Montgomery sometimes seems a bit spacey, but she serves a usual purpose. She is largely divorced from political maneuvering, and serves pretty much as the Senate conscience, a voice for the voiceless, fiercely independent and spotlighting issues involving children and other humanitarian concerns.
Mark Pollard would probably be a craftier legislator, but an increase in effectiveness alone would not justify replacing the unique Montgomery with more one smart careerist. Further, outsiders with a vested interest in a specific project, like Bruce Ratner, should not be encouraged in their efforts to game the political process, and folks like the charter school lobby should not be so encouraged either, barring some other compelling reason.
But in the last race targeted by the Charter School Lobby, that compelling reason does exists.
It is time to dump Shirley Huntley.
Though not given to violent outbursts (though she once administered a not totally unmerited smackdown to the charter school lobby’s favorite sock-puppet, State Senator Daniel Squadron), Huntley is my own female version of Kevin Parker, in that I‘ve twice endorsed her without regard to her own personal qualities, because the alternatives were so dire. . In 2006, incumbent Ada Smith, had recently taken a plea to charges of attacking an aide with a hot caffeinated beverage. “Javagate” was only the latest in a long series of such incidents beginning while Ms. Smith was serving as a Deputy City Clerk. Smith had won her first election to the Senate by beating a convicted felon and a man who’d once attacked a political opponent with a baseball bat, and her luck in drawing quality opponents continued unmatched until Parker and Huntley came along.So, by 2006, I concluded that it was time for voters to “wake up and smell the coffee” and noted that the “remaining candidate against Senator Smith is Shirley Huntley. I know almost nothing about Ms Huntley, and if I were a voter in this district I’d make sure to learn as little as possible, thereby making a choice a lot easier.”
Huntley won, and in 2008, her luck continued. As I noted in endorsing Huntley‘s re-election:“Two years ago, voters in the District did the State a favor by ousting the deeply disturbed Ada Smith for the adequate Shirley Huntley, significantly raising the State Senate’s level of mental health. This year, Huntley is being challenged by former Councilman Allen Jennings (who managed the miracle of making Tom White look preferable to something). Compared to Jennings, Ada Smith looks like Dr. Phil. Despite the fact that my specialty is writing humor, I beg voters here to return Huntley.”
But this year, Huntley has an opponent who is sane. Also smart, like Basil Smikle and Mark Pollard, but without any evidence of pretending his is something he is not. Last year, Lynn Nunes gave voters a chance to have the highly mediocre Tom White face a sane, rational and smart opponent, rather than an Allen Jennings, and Nunes shocked everyone by coming within six votes of victory.
Like White, Huntley is another mediocrity, without any notable achievements, other than helping to direct state funding to her family. Yes, despite the cries of the charter school crowd, it appears that Senator Huntley does favor government funding for privately-run educational programs, as long as they do it in the privacy of her home.Huntley has not cast sunlight where darkness needs exposure, in the manner of a Bill Perkins, and she has not served as a voice for the voiceless or a pillar of independence like Velmanette Montgomery.
She will not be missed.
Yes, Lynn Nunes supports charter school. But, as I think I’ve demonstrated here, what we need are articulate and brave voices on both sides of this issue to keep everyone honest.
Losing Bill Perkins in this context and in the manner threatened would be a very bad thing. Losing Shirley Huntley would make little difference. Likely, the charter school forces would not even get the credit.
The lobby most likely to get the credit would be the one in favor of same sex marriage, which Huntley vehemently opposes. The message such a defeat would send is worthy in and of itself.
But even if one does not care much about same-sex marriage, Huntley’s response to being targeted has provided an even better reason for her defeat.
Huntley’s opposition to same-sex marriage is at least based upon principle (albeit misguided), but her efforts to exploit the issue and demonize the LGBT community have forsaken principle for hatemongering.
Recently, Senator Huntley has complained of receiving threats, including some flowers on her doorstep telling her to “Rest in Peace."
She responded by holding a news conference featuring a tableaux of multi-cultural supporters, including a Minster who spoke about how “those who condone it [the harassment] need to be taken off the ballot.”This is nothing but pure unabashed and despicable gay baiting.
The defeat of Basil Smile and Mark Pollard would be desirable, but there victories would not be tragic.
However, Shirley Huntley’s defeat has now become a moral imperative.
I think Cuomo will have to recuse himself from the Lazio investigation Six degrees of desperation: Lazio should be careful whom he accuses of terror links www.nydailynews.com
Someone said to me that they couldn't understand why Lazio won't debate Paladino, since it's almost certain Carl'd say something totally crazy and outrageous (even when compared with the stuff Lazio is saying). I responded that, given the composition of the Republican primary electorate, that was what Lazio was afraid of. Lazio Won’t Debate Paladino on NY1 / YNN (What About YouTube Debate?) | The Empire empire.wnyc.org
TRADD AND TRUE: "But even over the distance of 31 years, [Schneiderman] said, if people want to know what to expect if he is elected the state’s next top law enforcement officer, they need to understand his time in Berkshire County."
I guess that means ludicrous exaggeration and efforts to mislead and misdirect.
In Yiddish, Schneiderman means “tailor,” meaning one who works with the material he has to transform it into something new and unrecognizable.
The Senator is well-named. Attorney General Candidate Eric Schneiderman’s “Law Enforcement” Role As Deputy Sheriff Was Teaching www.cityhallnews.com
Given Adam Powell's uselessness as a legislator, his absence from his duties probably causes little harm to the legislature, but given the nature of his extracurricular activities, perhaps spending more time on legislating would keep be the better course. Powell’s Attendance | The Empire empire.wnyc.org
I think the last politician to brag about his mom's endorsement was fictitious (but, then again so are Doug's chances)--Festus "Mother" Garvey in Edwin O'Connell's "The Last Hurrah," a title which would deliver an important lesson to Doug, if he had any sense (which he does not). The title might also be of some future use to Doug's opponent, but that is a discussion that can wait at least two years, as this year, the only alternative is Doug.
BTW Dougie, it is not Joan Millman's fault that your mom lost her pension--it is probably your dad's (alev ha-sholem) for not choosing an lower-paying option with the right of survivorship. A dumb move, like running for Assembly with $10 grand in the bank, probably assuming that there were matching funds, like in the pointless race you ran last year for Council.
About time someone did this article (I’ve been putting it off myself); too bad Errol totally botches the 52 AD contests, leaving Vito's guy out of the male leader race, and ignoring the female leader race entirely. Will Vito veto Brooklyn voters? Upstart challengers vs. the borough boss www.nydailynews.com
Walk right back. Donovan says 'no mosque' near Ground Zero www.silive.com
Pissed off and pissed on. Drunken man urinates on mosque floor - NYPOST.com www.nypost.com
Where TF is it anyway?
"'The changing geography is purely symbolic,' said Nelson Warfield, a national Republican strategist who has worked extensively in New York. ‘It’s a mixture of geography and conceptual issues,' he said. 'The concept of an Islamic community center in close proximity to the scene of the greatest attack... by Muslim extremists on this country is hard to delineate in terms of lines on a map.'“
But if you you're asking it to move, the least you can do is delineate those lines, no?
Never thought I’d be linking the ponderous Mort Kondracke, but he gets it almost all right, including the part about Spain. CQ Politics | Bush Had It Right on Islam After 9/11 www.cqpolitics.com
As someone who's not been uncritical of the behavior of the Islamic Street, or its apologists, I have no problem with the major thrust of Dothan’s column. He's dead-on about not holding moderate Muslims to unrealistic standards, and he's right-on about holding them to realistic ones. Even with what appears to be an admirable record, Rauf is not exempt from criticism (although some of Rauf's harshest critiques of America echo comments made by people like Bill Kristol and even Glenn Beck), and I reserve the right to criticize him myself (for something other than naiveté).
Ingraham morphs into John Kerry--she supported The Young Men’s Islamic association before she opposed it. Stringer and Ingraham | The Empire empire.wnyc.org
Does the First Amendment apply to medical malpractice?
Don't worry about the answer; Laura Schlessinger's not a real doctor anyway--she just plays one on the radio. Doctor Feel-Heinous | The New Republic www.tnr.com
How far is far enough? Perhaps Jersey--no that's within the site lines of the old Trade Center. Perhaps Mexico would do.News finds alternate sites for Park51 but they don't pass muster with mosque opponents ww.nydailynews.com
At last, a liberal even angrier than I am about the Coat Factory imbroglio. Stephen Budiansky's Liberal Curmudgeon Blog: Victimization and vengeance budiansky.blogspot.com
It's not prejudice, but it would be insensitive to build so close to the hallowed ground where Lundy's once stood. Three, Four ... Twenty Blocks? Ctd - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com
Carl Paladino can't tell the difference between sending six million poor Jews to their death and sending six million dollars to poor Jews (AKA Met Council). GOP Gov. hopeful Carl Paladino compares Dem. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to Hitler, Antichrist www.nydailynews.com
The man who once accused State AG Robert Abrams of masturbating over Tawana Brawley's picture is now promised first dibs instead of sloppy seconds, with his own Annex in the House of the Rising Sum. Eric Schneiderman: Al Sharpton's House Of Justice Will Have Albany Annex If I Become Attorney Genera www.nydailynews.com
Will any of the politicians who formed the backdrop to Senator Huntley's press conference about the purported threats on her life (an event at which she took no questions and had a Minister say “those who condone it need to be taken off the ballot.”) condemn her effort to link the supposed threats to the LGBT community.
Senators Sampson, Smith, Klein, Stavisky and Kruger, and Assemblywoman Pfeffer, are you going to remain silent in the face of this gay baiting? State Sen. Shirley Huntley Mailer Links Death Threats To Gay Marriage Supporters www.nydailynews.com
Wayne Barrett's article rehashes many, but not all of of the points I’ve made previously in my many pieces posted on Room 8 (sure I missed a few), so of course I love it. Reshma Saujani's Road to Congress? Right Down Wall Street. Let Me Be Your Guide. blogs.villagevoice.com
Rangel on Obama: “Frankly, he has not been around long enough to determine what my dignity is,...For the next two years, I will be more likely to protect his dignity.”
Leave Blakeman alone, his wife left him for the cute Beatle, and he's just feeling a bit randy. Gillibrand challengers debate, one calls her ‘attractive’ - Capitol Confidential blog.timesunion.com
Five years later and New Orleans Levee System is nearly complete, but in nine years we can't even rebuild a Greek Orthodox Church. In New Orleans, Ring of Protection Is Close to Completion - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com
I think we've gotten an answer to the "why there?" question from the develop of the Young men's Islamic Association ("This is New York; no matter who you are, you just don’t choose a building, move in, and take over. Do you know how many places I looked at? I looked at Chambers Street. I looked at Vesey Street, Broadway, Greenwich Street, Warren Street, Murray Street. Maybe half a dozen more, I can’t even remember now. It was only after all that that Park Place came up").
Clearly, with all the five-time a day praying Muslims who work in Lower Manhattan, and prayer space already overflowing, they need more and better facilities, and this is where they found them.
What we haven't gotten is an answer to the "Where then?" question from the opponents.
Rauf's latest book "What’s Right with Islam is What's Right with America", was published by HarperSanFrancisco, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch. And it ends with a fatwa issued by five Muslim clerics on September 27, 2001, at the request of the most senior Muslim chaplain in the American armed forces, “Permitting U.S. Muslim Military Personnel to Participate in Afghanistan War Effort.”
Saletan says the call for "sensitivity" is underlain entirely by foundations of “group blame" and "a failure to distinguish Islam from terrorism," and that that being the case the "sensitivity argument" is nothing more than an appeal to feelings we can't morally justify. Is a mosque near Ground Zero "insensitive"? - By William Saletan www.slate.com
For Democrats, liberals, “progressives” and reformers, this year’s elections for New York State Senate usually are thought to involve achievement of three goals:
1) keeping the Democratic Majority
2) Actually making the Democratic Majority Democratic (with a large “D,” though small “d” would be nice too).
3) Ensuring the passage of same-sex marriage.
There are surely other aims as well, but (4) general liberal public policy goals (provided we can agree what they are, and (5) process reforms, get talked about far far less, though they are usually thought to go part and parcel with goals (1) and (2).
For Democrats, liberals, “progressives” and reformers, this year’s elections for New York State Senate usually are thought to involve achievement of three goals:
1) keeping the Democratic Majority
2) Actually making the Democratic Majority Democratic (with a large “D,” though small “d” would be nice too).
3) Ensuring the passage of same-sex marriage.
There are surely other aims as well, but (4) general liberal public policy goals (provided we can agree what they are, and (5) process reforms, get talked about far far less, though they are usually thought to go part and parcel with goals (1) and (2).
Let us stipulate for the sake of this argument that all these goals are worthy. Given the record of the Senate Democrats on (3),(4) and (5), number (1) is itself is a big hump, as are many of members of the Senate Democratic Conference.
However, if goal (1) seems of less importance than it used to, it is at least in part because goal (2) has not been achieved, as was demonstrated with last year‘s various Amigo imbroglios.
One could argue that things could not be worse under the Republicans, but that would require that we pretend that the world began in November of 2008.
Yes, the Senate Dems are fiscally irresponsible, have members who are personally corrupt and are sometimes even socially reactionary.
In which of those measure did the Senate Republicans prove themselves as superior?
The Democrats failed to pass same sex marriage. Can anyone believe the Republicans would even bring it to a vote? In fact, when they were holding negotiations during last year’s month long “Time of Troubles,” the Senate Republicans promised Tom Duane a vote on the bill, but would not promise to pass it.This year, various groups independent of the Senate Democrats have been working to achieve the three goals I outlined. “Progressives” have hailed these efforts as if they were united in purpose.
But sometimes they are at cross-purposes.
In Buffalo, Bill Stachowski, though often fairly conservative, has been a steadfast party loyalist (or at least as much of one as any of his colleagues), while his opponent, the fairly conservative Tim Kennedy is an open Republican collaborator, as well as the hand-picked choice of Steve Pigeon, a upstate fixer who was one the architects of last year’s Coup.
But Kennedy, a staunch “Right to Lifer” (even in comparison with the anti-choice Stachowski), does support same-sex marriage.
In three NYC races, incumbents are being challenged by opponents supported by a network of Charter School supporters with heavy ties to Mayor Bloomberg, who is the Senate Republicans’ main financial backer, while the Working Families Party and other labor tied groups have rallied to the incumbents
This is a stark contrast with two years ago, when the WFP joined with Bloomberg in helping to elect the Charter School Movement’s sock-puppet, Daniel Squadron.
There is no indication that any of the Charter Democrats is a potential Amigo. In fact, there is no particular one to one correspondence between being a charter school ally and being a potential deserter. Long Island’s Craig Johnson, a Charter School supporter, has been as loyal as any member of the Democrat’s conference, while Amigo Carl Kruger is seemingly a pretty steadfast ally of the Teacher’s Unions.
On the other hand, we know that during the worst days of the Coup, Dan Squadron was seen late nights in a hotel bar in an animated discussion with the Mayor’s consiglieri, Kevin Sheekey, and Tom Golisano’s butt-boy, Steve Pigeon, though we can only guess whether it was by accident or design. However, as he proved with Al Sharpton, the Mayor’s money buys access.In that regard, is it the “progressive” choice to support anti-same sex marriage, but anti-charter school incumbent Shirley Huntley, or .pro- charter and pro-marriage challenger Lynn Nunes? Meanwhile, the most likely to be defeated (and most worthy defeat) target of “progressives” is Pedro Espada, whose defeat will not add one vote to the Senate’s tally in favor of same-sex marriage.
Topping this all off is the very real possibility that regardless of who the Sen Dems nominate in their contested races, the Republicans will end up controlling the Senate anyway. For instance, in Buffalo, the likely victor is neither Stachowski nor Kennedy, but Republican Jack Quinn.
The bad economy may not be the Sen Dems’ fault, but they did have something to do with the late budget and their record has often been quite abysmal; top that off with legal problems, scandal or the whiff thereof (sometimes quite real and sometimes just stink and fury signifying nothing real bad) surrounding Senators Sampson, Smith, Espada, Diaz, Peralta, Kruger, Huntley and Parker and the Republicans can paint an ugly (and not totally inaccurate) picture, even if their own housekeeping was no better.
Still, the Republicans never promised to improve the place, and the Democrats did.
It is with all that in mind, that I begin a series of endorsements in this year’s often sorry series of Democratic primaries for State Senate.
And it is with that in mind that I endorse in a race, the results of which will have almost nothing to do with what would seem to be the sine que non of this year’s primary season, the aforementioned goals (2) and (3).
Kevin Parker supports same sex marriage, and, as I’ve noted before, Kevin Parker has never made common cause with Republicans.Twice, despite Kevin’s multiple failings as a legislator, a community ombudsman and a human being, I’ve felt compelled to endorse him for Senate.
In 2005, Parker was charged with punching a Capitol traffic agent and was ordered to undergo anger management counseling., but I endorsed him against Former City Councilman Noach Dear (now a judge), because of Dear’s right wing positions, his own ethical issues, and because I believed that, if Dear was elected, and the Majority in the Senate was ever at stake, Dear would surely have conference with the Republicans, and his vote would have always been available for their purposes in any event.Dear was a disreputable reprobate who made Parker look a solid citizen. By contrast, in 2008, Simcha Felder was Parker’s clear superior in every way but his stance upon the issues, while Kendall Stewart pulled the neat trick of combining the worst features of both his opponents, so I endorsed Parker again. I’d
previously predicted that, given the state of Brooklyn politics, I’d probably have to endorse Parker again this year, but God smiled and gave Kevin a one-on-one primary against a candidate with decent civic credentials who will not conference with the Republican, nor vote against same-sex marriage, so there is no chance of doing worse, and probably a good chance of doing better.As such, I am endorsing Wellington Sharpe. He may be a perenial candiate, but he is a good man whose time has come.
So let me outline why I want to get rid of Parker.
As an elected, Parker seems to fly from the seat of his pants. He projects an air of being unfocussed, and he’s categorically refused to face up to why voters might be concerned about his issues of personal behavior. Many observers say that Parker often seems over his head legislatively, less than aggressive in bring home the bacon and less than zealous in delivering constituent service.
But that's not why voters should dump him.
Voters should dump Parker because he is an embarrassment to the Senate, The Party and the State of New York.
Despite the fact that I’d do it again under the same circumstances, I am personally embarrassed to have supported Kevin Parker.
Back in 2006, while pulling together a well deserved last minute diss of pretentious woman-beating psychopath Kevin Powell, I made a Freudian slip and called him Kevin Parker. Even in endorsing Parker, I had felt the need to make the distinction between Parker and Powell, which was made somewhat more difficult by the fact that Powell, if anything, seems more willing than Parker to face his demons.At the time, I admitted with small comfort that while Parker clearly had a bad temper, unlike Powell, there seemed no evidence of gender issues. Then, shortly after that piece ran, a female staffer accused Parker of shoving her and crushing her glasses when they fell to the ground.
In June 2009, during the “Times of Troubles,” State Senate Republicans said they might file criminal and ethics charges against Parker for allegedly threatening one of their lawyers. Attorney John Conway said he was on the Senate floor when Parker, who then (and currently) faces felony assault charges, (which I will not discuss, because the man is entitled to his legal presumption of innocence and his days in Court, and because I find it far less relevant than the matter I will discuss) tried to disrupt a farcical Republican-controlled Kabuki proceeding which was disrupting the Democrat’s similar commedia d’ell arte.
According to Conway, "He said to me, 'What are you looking at, punk? Do you know who I am and don't you read the newspaper, punk?"
Conway was intimidated. I guess he read the papers.
But Conway shouldn’t feel the victim of excessive partisanship, for Parker seems far harsher with Democrats than Republicans. Remember, his staffer worked for a Democrat. Then, there was the matter of our Governor.
Parker has been admirably free of the race card. In fact, Parker’s early made clear in no uncertain terms his complete contempt for David Paterson, his joy at Paterson’s dismal re-elections prospects, and his desire to be well rid of Paterson (and who can really blame him for holding such sentiments?).
Then, Parker gilded the lily by calling Paterson “a coke sniffing, staff-banging Governor.”
Well, perhaps Parker's never considered the fact that there‘s something to be said for banging with your staff, rather than banging at them.
For hours, Parker stood by his words, and then, after cooler heads with bigger muscle prevailed, Parker changed his mind.
Parker’s statement of contrition began with these poignant word:
"My conduct today was reprehensible and regrettable. I apologize…"
Parker could save himself a bit of time and money if he just had those words pre-printed in the boilerplate on his press release paper.
Certainly, this would have helped during the Senate’s handling of L’affairre Monserrate.
Not unexpectedly, Parker found expelling a Senator convicted of a violent misdemeanor to be a frightening prospect.
Still, he went above and beyond the call of duty; behold:
“[the Senate will have engaged in ] double jeopardy by punishing (Monserrate) a second time."
But surely that made no sense. If convicted instead of a felony, Monserrate would have lost his seat by operation of law.
Was Parker saying that that would have been double jeopardy as well?
And when a cop in a case like Amadou Diallo‘s or Sean Bell’s is acquitted of police brutality, because of a finding that his conduct was not criminal, was Parker saying that the officer should then be exempt from job loss or other departmental discipline for non-criminal misconduct and/or incompetence which may have or may in the future endanger the public?Was Parker saying that that was double jeopardy too?
And then there was the matter that Monserrate is appealing his conviction.
"I don't see how it helps this conference or the state of New York to rush to judgment when the legal system hasn't rendered a final verdict,"
Nonsense. There was once an Assembly Speaker named Mel Miller, who once represented a good deal of Parker’s district in the Assembly, until convicted of a felony. Despite the fact that Miller also appealed his conviction---successfully, in fact, he was forced to forfeit his position by operation of law.
Was Parker advocating a double standard, did he really believe that convicted felons should also be allowed to keep their positions until they’ve exhausted their judicial remedies?
But Parker had no clue, while Monserrate has and is using his right to appeal, his presumption of innocence ceased to exist the day he was convicted.
In opposing expulsion, Parker also cited the sacred nature of the Soviet style election (no opposition in either primary or general election) which ordained Monserrate as his district’s Senator.
Some of Parker’s other comments on the case have shown he’s just got no clue at all. In fact, Parker was so clueless that he fails to understand that, by elevating the importance of the conviction, or lack thereof (which the Select Committee which recommended expulsion specifically stated was NOT the reason for its recommendation) Parker was actually potentially undermining his own position,As someone who could theoretically be convicted of a misdemeanor, by plea or trial, Parker would actually have set a better precedent for himself by adopting an analysis in which actual conviction for a misdemeanor was irrelevant. And, such a rationale was only provided by the Report calling for immediate expulsion, and not by the Sampson compromise Parker supported, which, by postponing any expulsion until after Monserrate’s appeals were exhausted, actually would have made such a conviction dispositive.
But most ludicrous were Parker’s self-serving descriptions of his concern about violence against women, even as he voted to spare Monserrate:
:
“Historically, I have stood with women’s groups and groups fighting against domestic violence, and for women’s issues. I am a member of the Majority Task Force on Domestic Violence, and I have introduced several bills aiding victims of domestic violence, including one that provides victims of domestic violence with anonymous telephone listings, so their batterers will not be able to track them down through the telephone book.”
“That bill passed the Senate last year, and will do so again this year and hopefully become law.”
“I, too, agree with the passion of my colleagues about the need for the Senate to send a strong signal about domestic violence, and to aid the countless thousands who have been battered. Today, however, despite my commitment to end domestic violence, and despite the fact I have always stood with the women’s groups who fight for this cause, I feel I must vote to uphold the principle of due process, no matter how much I wish to stand shoulder to shoulder today with those groups, and against domestic violence, as I have always done.”
In the context, of Parker’s current indictment, as well as other allegations have not resulted in convictions (leading, at worst, to agreements to seek treatment), some might ask whether Parker’s concern about violence is restricted only to the fairer sex?
I think that such an assertion would be unfair. It is clearly narrower than that.
First, there was that incident where a female staffer accused Parker of shoving her and crushing her glasses when they fell to the ground.
Then there was his conduct in the Senate Democratic Conference meeting leading up to the Monserrate expulsion vote.
In an incident no one denies, and for which Parker has since apologized, Parker is said to have charged towards State Senator Diane Savino during a Senate Democratic Conference set up to discuss the potential Monserrate expulsion.
Parker is said to have taken several steps toward Savino (D-S.I.) as the two argued over Monserrate‘s expulsion.
Senator Parker apparently used the word ‘fuck,” a word not unknown to Senator Savino’s vocabulary, or necessarily offensive to her delicate sensibilities. Parker is also said to have called her a “bitch,” which may have offended her far more than would the word “fuck.”
Rock Hackshaw has also raised the possibility of Parker’s use of the “C” word as well, but there is no verification of this, so why raise potentially false rumors when the truth will suffice?
According to one witness, Savino attempted to explain why Monserrate would be immediately expelled with Republican votes, and Parker "went a little ballistic, swearing and screaming that the Republicans have no right to dictate what goes on in our house."
In a moment fraught with irony, three opponents of immediate expulsion, Eric Adams, Ruben Diaz, and Carl Kruger - started yelling and egging Parker on.
And I thought it would be a cold day indeed when Ruben Diaz and Carl Kruger started to complain about Republicans dictating what went on in the New York State Senate.
Maybe, their objection was to the Republicans doing so without their own personal cooperation.
Savino then apparently told Parker to stop interrupting her, followed by the exchanged of reciprocal "Fucks yous.”
Parker is then said to have stormed at Savino.
Senate Jeffrey Klein then jumped up. Parker responded by swearing at Klein and asking, "Do you want a piece of me?"
"If that's what it takes to stop this," Klein answered, while Parker was held back by John Sampson (perhaps sparking Diaz‘s complaint that day about Sampson‘s leadership).
I think it is therefore fair to conclude that Parker’s concerns is not all violence against all women, but ONLY Domestic Violence. Parker not only lacks concern over violence against women in the workplace, he seems to favor it.
Then there was the time Parker blew a gasket (minutes 19-23 on the attached video) during a confirmation hearing being conducted by the Senate Finance Committee.Parker objected to the way Republican Senator John DeFrancisco was treating a nominee to the Power Authority, Mark O’Luck, who was not only black, but who had made some strong and controversial statements in favor of affirmative actions programs.
Parker described DeFrancisco’s the treatment of the nominee as racist. Some may object to the substance of Parker’s remarks here; I will leave that be. In the year 2010, to say Republicans are engaging in racist tactless is often to speak the truth, and DeFrancisco, while not being racist in my view, was at least being patronizing, and perhaps being clueless in whining about the hurdles faced by working class white men like his father, especially since the remarks DeFrancisco so objected to were quite obviously talking about “well connected” white people.
Some will object to the lack of euphemism in Parker‘s choice the of word “racist” (as opposed to some less inflammatory synonym for bigot), which could be called inappropriate and counterproductive, but I will leave that be. In his mind, Parker was calling a spade a spade (perhaps not the best choice of words).
It is the volume of Parker’s remarks that is so striking and disturbing. Committee Chair Carl Kruger, perhaps shocked that such an outburst was taking place in public, rather than behind the closed doors of a Party Conference, suddenly found distressing the sort of Parker cuteness for which he’d previously expressed his enjoyment. He told Parker to calm down and Parker responded rudely. Kruger reprimanded Parker for showing him disrespect.
Now, I am certainly not going to criticize anyone for showing disrespect towards Carl Kruger, but when Kruger told Parker he might need to step outside, and Parker responded that Kruger should bring some people for that, things had clearly gone a bridge too far.
Parker is actually a perfect illustration of a point I‘ve made before. Senate sanctions do not necessarily need to be imposed in every case of misdemeanor criminality, but there are other times when they should be imposed for behavior that is not criminal at all.
Parker’s conduct in the DeFrancisco/Kruger incident was certainly not criminal. His conduct in the Savino and Conway incidents was probably not criminal, at most rising to the level of a violation.
But all this conduct was both in the course of Parker’s duties, and ethically reprehensible. One of these incidents alone might not justify sanction (though I think the Savino incident does, all by itself), but all three (along with the one with the one involving the traffic agent, which was also arguably in the course of Parker’s duties) taken together are probably clear and convincing evidence of a pattern of official misconduct.
On the basis of this conduct, Parker should be expelled from the State Senate, or, at the very least, censured. Since the Senate refuses to even inquire into such matters, it is up to the voters do this instead.
Be sharp, vote Sharpe.
Maybe Espada didn't report the cost of the food he gives away because he grows it himself; he certainly has an ample supply of fertilizer. Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada runs afoul of state Board of Elections over food giveaways - NYP www.nypost.com
Maybe Espada didn't report the cost of the food he gives away because he grows it himself; he certainly has an ample supply of fertilizer. Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada runs afoul of state Board of Elections over food giveaways - NYP www.nypost.com
Schneiderman internal memo may be the one thing that could convince me to support Rice.
One must also note that with the WFP and its interlocking allies supporting him, the actual size of the Schneiderman campaign chest is unknown. Eric Schneiderman Campaign Memo Says Times “Earthquake” Eliminates Eric Dinallo, Sean Coffey And Ric www.cityhallnews.com
Calling Marty Connor! Wyclef Jean Says He’ll Challenge Election Ruling - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com
This race keeps getting stranger and stranger.
Coming up next, “Muslims for Lazio.” Charter School Parents FOR State Sen. Bill Perkins www.nydailynews.comDan Donovan, mensch; whodda think? Republican Candidates Not in Accord on Mosque - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com
Snarkiest unspoken point of the week:
"When I wrote that the two most obvious explanations for opposition to the mosque were bigotry and political opportunism. I should have made clear that I don't think Charles is a bigot."
Lots of other good snark here as well. Sensitivities Don't Override the Constitution | The Atlantic Wire www.theatlanticwire.com
WHY THERE? Ground Zero: The real estate perspective, and for those who've purchased anything in this City, entirely credible:
Rupert Murdoch a terrorist? Stewart breaks it down A Dangerous Game of Guilt by Association - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com
While the points here are cogent ones, I do think the writers go too far, especially in their criticism of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Frankly, any woman who's had her clitoris cut off and has been credibly threatened with a violent and gruesome death has earned a little latitude. Secondly, because, while genital mutilation is not mentioned in the Koran, it is a practice that much (though certainly not all) of the Islamic world has adopted as a religious rite.
I know it is not a religious doctrines per se, but, being a Reform Jew, I incline to the idea that a religion is, de facto, composed of those beliefs actually held by its professed adherents, rather than what's contained in some ancient text. The "Good Ones" Are Not Ones - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com
Fox is giving aid and comfort to the enemy; don't we call that treason? Op-Ed Columnist - How Fox Betrayed Petraeus - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com
A devastating column which kills, burns and scatters the ashes at sea of any idea that there can be another site in Lower Manhattan for the Young Men's Islamic Association.
Michael Goodwin, winner of the Coney Island Whitefish Award:
Goodwin's complete and totally despicability is exemplified by the joke which begins this column: "I just applied for a building permit for a new house. It was going to be 100 ft tall and 400 ft wide with 9 turrets at various heights and windows all over the place and a loud outside entertainment sound system. It would have parking for 200 old cars and I was going to paint it snot green with pink trim. The City Council told me to f- -k off. So I sent in the application again, but this time I called it a mosque. Work starts on Monday."
Unlike his colleague, Andrea Peyser, there is no evidence that Goodwin is mentally retarded, so therefore he must realize that the NYC Council had no right of approval over the Young Men's Islamic Association proposed to be located at the Holy Mother Coat Factory. Unlike the atrocity proposed in this joke, the so-called "Mosque" is an as of right facility.
Further, Goodwin must realize that the proponents of this facility asked for and received no special treatment (at least so far). In fact, as Goodwin surely knows, it is only the opponents of this facility who've called for special treatment, sometimes benign (government provided land somewhere else) and sometimes malignant (misuse of eminent domain and land use, landmarking and public utility laws, to be applied differently than to any other landholder, in order to stop the project).
Fox is giving aid and comfort to the enemy; don't we call that treason? Op-Ed Columnist - How Fox Betrayed Petraeus - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com
A devastating column which kills, burns and scatters the ashes at sea of any idea that there can be another site in Lower Manhattan for the Young Men's Islamic Association.
Michael Goodwin, winner of the Coney Island Whitefish Award:
Goodwin's complete and totally despicability is exemplified by the joke which begins this column: "I just applied for a building permit for a new house. It was going to be 100 ft tall and 400 ft wide with 9 turrets at various heights and windows all over the place and a loud outside entertainment sound system. It would have parking for 200 old cars and I was going to paint it snot green with pink trim. The City Council told me to f- -k off. So I sent in the application again, but this time I called it a mosque. Work starts on Monday."
Unlike his colleague, Andrea Peyser, there is no evidence that Goodwin is mentally retarded, so therefore he must realize that the NYC Council had no right of approval over the Young Men's Islamic Association proposed to be located at the Holy Mother Coat Factory. Unlike the atrocity proposed in this joke, the so-called "Mosque" is an as of right facility.
Further, Goodwin must realize that the proponents of this facility asked for and received no special treatment (at least so far). In fact, as Goodwin surely knows, it is only the opponents of this facility who've called for special treatment, sometimes benign (government provided land somewhere else) and sometimes malignant (misuse of eminent domain and land use, landmarking and public utility laws, to be applied differently than to any other landholder, in order to stop the project).
[IN ADDITION, IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT GOODWIN'S WIFE USED TO CHAIR THE LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSIION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. It is indisputable that he does not know better ]
Since Goodwin knows the joke is the exact opposite of the truth, one would think he'd correct this big lie instead of celebrating it.
One would think wrong.
I have a joke too:The seeming glee that opponents of the Young Men's Islamic Association proposed for the Holy Mother Coat Factory show every time a Muslim opposes the facility puzzles me; does not this very disunity give lie to their efforts to paint all Muslims with the same brush? As any rate, though I'm no prude, I think I'll give more credence to the views of the guy who proclaimed himself a Jew at Daniel Pearl's funeral than I would to those of the chick who likes poll dancing (even if I'd rather watch her dance than him speak). Miss USA Rima Fakih, a Muslim, says she's against the proposed Ground Zero mosque - NYPOST.com www.nypost.com
If anyone can read this article and still attack Rauf, they are either an Al-Qaedist, a bigot or an opportunistic dirt bag (or possibility some combination of the foregoing).Feisal Abdul Rauf’s Balancing Act in Mosque Furor - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com
Must say that while I do not agree with every single solitary word posted here by this Upstate conservative Catholic commentator, this post ended on a lovely note:
Al Qaeda: "Stop a Mosque? Make my Day!" Anti-Islam Protest in U.S. Bolsters Extremists, Experts Say - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com
Q: When will the Arab/Moslem world stop treating Palestinians as their Jews?
Satmar burning garbage? Well, at least they're leaving the Israeli flag alone Kiryas Joel, NY - Community Disputes Turn to Garbage Wars -- VosIzNeias.com www.vosizneias.com
Basil Smikle is an Anti-Establishment Candidate in the Same Manner in Which Shelly Silver is a Muslim Key Harlem Democratic club backs charter-school proponent Basil Smikle in race against incumbent Sen www.nypost.com
Despite the cries of the charter school crowd, it does appear that State Senator Shirley Huntley does favor government funding for privately run educational groups, as long as they do it in the privacy of her home. State-funded group shares same address as Queens Sen. Shirley Huntley www.nydailynews.com
I do think Rice's record of non-voting is worthy of derision; but no more so than, say, a hit and run accident. Call this a hit and run endorsement. Editorial - Democratic Choice for New York Attorney General - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com
Saujani's mindset is exemplified by the rachmonis she has for her friends laid off from law firms and media companies. In another article Saujani proposes to help such people start their own businesses by calling for creation of a “national innovation bank” to provide initial seed funding to start-up companies (disregarding the fact that the marketplace probably does a better job at picking winners and losers, but, after all, these people are her friends and went to The Right Schools, so they are surely already winners, even despite the temporary setbacks they've suffered). ‘What is it that you need to start your next company?’ says Saujani, "It’s that first $50,000 or $100,000 they need.”
But don't worry, she's not forgotten those out-of-work construction workers in their 50s; “We help them take a course at community college to learn how to do solar panel installation and get a better paying job. You should be able to get a loan from the Department of Labor to do that.”
Let them eat Solar Panels! The underdog - NYPOST.com www.nypost.com
“Historic district regulations sometimes don’t make a lot of sense,” said the article in a Brownstone Brooklyn weekly, quoting a gadfly on a local Community Board.
The gadfly was me.
I was reminded of this recently when someone pointed out to me that, despite my recent nasty, vicious, and obsessive crusade against the NY Post’s prime purveyor of anti-Islamic hatred, Andrea Peyser, Peyser and I shared a common bond: our aggressive but Quixotic crusades against two of Brownstone Brooklyn’s sacred cows, bicyclists and landmarks’ preservation.
“Historic district regulations sometimes don’t make a lot of sense,” said the article in a Brownstone Brooklyn weekly, quoting a gadfly on a local Community Board.
The gadfly was me.
I was reminded of this recently when someone pointed out to me that, despite my recent nasty, vicious, and obsessive crusade against the NY Post’s prime purveyor of anti-Islamic hatred, Andrea Peyser, Peyser and I shared a common bond: our aggressive but Quixotic crusades against two of Brownstone Brooklyn’s sacred cows, bicyclists and landmarks’ preservation.
For instance, about the only difference between Peyser’s recent fatwa against cyclists and my own from 2006, is that mine’s funnier. Peyser is dead-on about the sanctimonious self-righteousness of cyclists and their obnoxious lobby, Transportation Alternatives. In fact, she’s inspired me to list a new outrage. Recently Williamsburg Bicycle Maven Baruch Herzfeld opined on Facebook that cyclists need not obey red lights, and should only be required to treat them as they do stops signs.Query: has anyone in NYC ever seen a cyclist stop their bike at a stop sign?
At least until recently, Peyser and I also both shared a skepticism about the City’s Landmarks Law. In fact, before her recent change of position, Peyser was far more vehement than I. I feel the Landmarks Commission’s enforcement should be far more pragmatic, while Peyser seemed to have wanted to gut the law itself like a freshly caught bluefish.
But in Brownstone Brooklyn, our differences paled before the unyielding stridency of the local bluenoses.
For a short time before I quit the Board to avoid a ponderous public battle, when, as seemed inevitable, Marty Markowitz was surely going to can me, I was perhaps the leading gadfly in the landmarking ointment on Brooklyn’s Community Board Six, a notorious den of landmarking absolutists exceeded in their vehemence only by the old ladies and elderly gentlemen of the Cobble Hill Association.
Kane Street Synagogue thought the borders on the windows of the office and classroom building adjoining its sanctuary would look better in green. They did look better in green.
The Board said they had to be made black. I dissented.
A block of Canarsie-style double deckers incongruously stuck in the Cobble Hill Historic District wanted to continue its record of pink flaminingoed, early Louis Prima era bad taste.
The Board thought it had to be stopped, despite the fact that the block was already irredeemable. I dissented.
Then there was the 2004 case of Little Luna, documented in the New York Times and elsewhere. Someone had it in for the little antique store, which for about two decades, without a single complaint, had used an old fashioned metal security gate.Though not old fashioned enough.
There are only two Landmarks inspectors in the entire City. They pretty much never act sua sponte, and instead respond only to complaints. This makes them a great means of settling scores.
Following the example of peasants in Communist era Poland, someone with an unrelated score to settle with Little Luna’s owner decided to denounce Luna to the apparatchiks, and the store was ticketed. The fine hurt, as did the inability of the property owner to legally rent an apartment in the building; then there was the $3000 it took to install new gates.
Strangely, the deli about two doors down with the same type of gate was left alone. No one had a grudge against the deli owner’s landlord (at least not anyone who knew about the gate‘s illegality). But once the pesky reporter from the Times called Landmarks and asked a few questions, he too was issued a ticket.
The story had legs. As the Daily News reported, Luna’s owner, Denise Taormina had come to the Community Board seeking a variance. It seemed to me that after 20 years of open and notorious existence in the face of the Cobble Hill Association’s vigilance, the gate had acquired the moral equivalent of an easement, and the community had forfeited its right to object to it. But while Taormina did find a few allies on the Board (myself among them) she found no relief from those good offices.Among the Board Members who shed no tears for her plight was the deli’s landlord, Greg O’Connell, a local developer most noteworthy for wearing the wire that was used to strangle the career of former Councilman Angel Rodriguez and send him off to the hoosegow. O’Connell had a well-justified reputation as a straight talking guy which he took this occasion to squander.
Before he’d been issued a summons, O’Connell had voted to force Taormina to remove her gates. Shortly thereafter he’d been issued his own summons. O’Connell told the News that he had not voted on the Luna resolution, or even attended the meeting, and that his gates pre-existed the Landmarking Law and were therefore grandfathered in.The News printed these assertions as facts, when, in fact, they were all false. A gadfly who’d attended the meeting dropped a dime. The Community Board was called by the News. . According to the Daily News, the Board’s District Manager, Craig Hammerman, to whose 2001 Council campaign O’Connell had contributed, stonewalled for a while, refusing to disclose how O’Connell voted, but eventually the truth came out.
Battles over landmarking in Brownstone Brooklyn are often portrayed as a war between ethnic Oldtimers and Yuppie Newcomers, but this is sometimes less than accurate. For instance, in the recent and well publicized skirmish over the windows of pop sensation Nora Jones, it was the Newcomer who wanted to do as she pleased, and the Oldtimers who wanted to wield the Procrustean mold.
And, despite my 21 years in Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens, I pretty much qualify as a Newcomer, and so does Peyser, a Cobble Hill resident.
In Cobble Hill, the Oldtimers are the genteel poor (at least in the context of Brownstone Brooklyn), Jews and WASPs, often retired from jobs which paid moderate salaries, who bought cheap and live inside magnificent chocolate-colored mountains of equity. The Newcomers are often power players with high salaries and jumbo mortgages, who, now that they own homes within walking distance of the Smith Street Restaurant District can no longer afford to eat there. The Oldtimers have wealth, but no income; the Newcomers have income but no wealth. The Oldtimers love the Landmarking Laws, which ensure both their gentility and their equity.
In Carroll Gardens, it is a different story. The Oldtimers are mostly working class Italians. They prize their equity, but not as much as they prize their freedom. They believe in the right to bear arms, shoot off fireworks, and install ugly metal awnings.
There is a lovely section of Carroll Gardens running from approximately 1st Place to 4th Place, which features large front yards, often with magnificent “Gardens” which give the area the name bestowed upon it by the remarkable Buddy Scotto.I may sometimes be skeptical of the way the Landmarks Law is enforced, but the landmarking of this area is long overdue. However, as can be expected, it has spawned a battle.
There are two unexpected things about this battle.
The first is that Buddy Scotto is siding against the Oldtimers and with the Yuppies, in favor of .landmarking (perhaps not so surprising, if one factors in his financial interests).
The other unexpected thing is that Buddy is right.
Peyser had a different take, in an April 1st column, she sides with the Oldtimers, invoking the specter of “Big Brother.”In the course of her article Peyser called the Landmarks Preservation Commission names like “bullies” and “government goons,” portraying their pitiful army of two inspectors as a veritable Gestapo on the run, trampling the rights of the poor peasantry.
Moving with her usual scrupulous disregard for the facts, Peyser tried to gin up fear by talking of a move to “expand the entire nabe into a historic district,” when far less than half of the neighborhood would actually be covered.
Peyser thought that Landmarking has gone too far, or as she put it, “In recent years, the city has grown drunk with power as it slaps ‘Landmarked‘ signs on buildings and neighborhoods, ensuring that homeowners can't change doors -- or, in the case of my building, a $2 light bulb -- without drawing up plans and applying for permits that allow one to hire contractors charging three times the going rate.”
It should be noted that Peyser’s landmarked building is apparently engaged in an epic struggle with the Landmarks Commission over the right to change its light bulbs.
Go figure.
Peyser noted with extreme displeasure that "The city has landmarked 26,700 buildings since the mid-'60s, when Jackie Kennedy saved Grand Central Terminal. Some of it makes sense. But buildings where famous people once walked are now being protected, too. Last week, the city scooped up Midtown's Brill Building, where hit records were recorded decades ago. Addisleigh Park in Queens, where jazz greats once lived, is now a historic district -- though its houses are not architecturally special.”
But what a difference a mere four months makes. On August 4, 2010, Peyser suddenly decided that “architectural significance” was not the point at all.
She was, in fact outraged. She called the decision by the Commission not to landmark an ugly but old commercial property of no architectural significance, a “fix.”
She compared the long and extensive hearing--a far better day in Court than what was given to Denise Taormina--the equivalent of the landmarking proponents having ball gags stuffed in their mouths. Her rationale for this was that, after the long hearing, the Landmarks Commission decided the position held by proponents of landmarking the building in question had no merit, based upon the landmarking criteria embodied in the applicable law. The was the very criteria Peyser felt the Commission had been abused and disregarded at Addisleigh Park and the Brill Building.
Now she was advocating such abuse and disregard herself.
In Peyser’s new world view “Neighbors have a right to know what the devil is moving in next door,” and the Landmarks law must be used as a hammer by the “bullies“ “government goons” and forces of “Big Brother” to implement that “right.”
Despite my desire to give this story an O. Henry Twist, it is probably no surprise that Peyser’s rapid and extreme mood swing, on landmarking (bordering almost upon dementia in its ferocity) is entirely related to the fact that the owners of the building in question wanted to build a mosque there. In stating her case for landmarking this building, she makes no landmarking related arguments whatsoever.
While Peyser states that she is merely calling for the Islamic Community Center proposed for the Holy Mother Coat Factory in Lower Manhattan to be moved elsewhere, one must doubt that this is really her position. As I’ve noted before, it appears that Peyser actually believes that anywhere in the Five Boroughs is too close (and, I suppose, should therefore be landmarked, just in case), for later on the same page, she hails the quashing of a proposal to build a Mosque on the Hallowed Ground of Staten Island as "a victory for the right to protest."In Robert Bolt’s “A Man For All Seasons“ young Roper tell Sir Thomas Moore he’d tear down every law in England in pursuit of the devil and Moore responds "Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide…the laws all being flat? This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast -- man's laws, not God's -- and if you cut them down -- and you're just the man to do it -- do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake."
In the lands in which most Muslims live, pursuit of the devil has left man’s laws flat (the lack of such trees perhaps accounting for the desert-like conditions), and the result has been world-wide tragedy. But even now, people like Peyser want to emulate Roper and turn our city into an Islamic Republic in order to pursue the “Devil” they call Islam.
Any day now, I expect a column from Peyser defending the right of cyclists to run over people wearing burkas.
I myself prefer to give the “Devil” the benefit of the law, and instead suggest to Peyser that she might just want to try moving the Young Men’s Islamic Association to 2nd Place to save the Oldtimers from the dreaded scourge of Landmarking.
Some prefer to cover the iron fist in a velvet glove...and then there's Vito, who eschews any artifice. Sad to see that Brian Honan was given the "your signature or your brains" treatment, though the protestations by this former Assembly staffer and District Leader candidate that he's somehow a political virgin did give this somewhat appalling story its element of comic relief, as did the idea of Lopez challenging someone's residency.--And actually, I apologize to Vito for the Godfather comparison--the Godfather would have had Tom Hagen make the call. Vito's 'abuse' of power! Lopez called city worker to get goods in political case - NYPOST.com www.nypost.com
I am trying to put together a Bernie remembrance piece--you can help by sending your memories to Gatemouthnyc@hotmail.com, or posting them here. Bernie Catcher, Alev Ha-Sholem | Room Eight www.r8ny.com
Fabulous story about the disconnect between the politics of Ground Zero and its reality. Mosque debate: New Yorkers take dim view of rabble-rousing outsiders www.washingtonpost.com
Rangel's praise of Muslims "sticking to their guns" (As Gatemouth often says, perhaps not the best choice of words) would be of mixed value even if his use of metaphors weren't so unfortunate. Well, at least he didn't say the opposition was "plane nuts." Rangel: ‘Proud’ Of Mosque Supporters ‘Sticking To Their Guns’ capitaltonight.com
Rudy comes out against divisiveness and in favor of sensitivity.
Congressman John Hall's statement about the mosque is so tortured. that even in print, he can barely get the mealy mouthed dissembling off his tongue. Sort of reminds me of his own lyric:
Dean favors the "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” approach. It is OK to go ahead and do that, but please move far away when you do. I always thought it was clear he'd lost it after that hog calls in Iowa. Dean Stands By Mosque Remarks, Charges Liberal Critics With Being Inflexible www.huffingtonpost.com
Liz (crediting the work of Ben Smith and Maggie Haberman) makes the interesting point and perhaps accurate point that "The Mosque" debate may in reality be a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. However, it should be noted that David Frum made the same point before anyone, making me wonder why Liz says "I had bee...n wondering when someone was going to write this story." Still, even if it is all just a big snark hunt, sometimes such escapades end up revealing an awful lot (and a lot that is awful) about character.Mosque Project Pie In The Sky? capitaltonight.com
Fact check? i've been doin nuthin but fact checks. Still, nice to have. FACT CHECK - Islam Already Lives Near Ground Zero - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com
Wow! Did anyone realize Rauf spoke at Daniel Pearl's funeral? 'Ground Zero' Imam: 'I Am a Jew, I Have Always Been One' - Politics - The Atlantic www.theatlantic.com