Anyone who could possible understand all your political references, couldn't possibly get the musical ones, and vice versa. You need about 1,500 footnotes. You could reach as great an audience by looking in the mirror and save us the trouble of wading though this crap.

But, as musically challenged as I am, I am among the 200 people on earth who gets all the Boxley jokes, so let me add one more.

Q: Did you hear about the chemical compound that prevents a woman from being raped by Michael Boxley?

A: Melanin.

Gatey,

You do know that Michael Boxley is black, right?  No reason for he and Gallagher to fight over the nickname "Vanilla Ice" as Gallagher is the only white one in the group.

http://www.newscopy.org/images/boxley.jpg - Boxley's the black guy next to the very high priced hooker.

I know J. Michael Boxley, and he's the whitest man I ever met, and I do not mean that as a compliment. And I know at least one sistah serving on the City Council who will say that I'm being way too charitable. Michael was incapable of an act of simple humankindness or charity unless he could calculate that it would result in some tactical gain. This apparently applied to his love (sic) life as well as his work life.

Back in the day, J. Michael would come down to Silver's New York office and say hello to everyone but the African-American female who worked as receptionist, whose existence he refused to acknowledge. The day Michael was arrested, the receptionists'  daughter went out and brought six copies of the Daily News; an acquantance witnessing her joy scoled her, "you wouldn't be laughing so hard if this were happening to a black man."   

Vanilla Ice--the name is perfect. It sums up both Michael's world view and the tempature of his heart.

When conservatives accuse liberals of defining deviancy down and excusing unacceptable behavior, they are talking about situations like the case of Kevin Powell, an author and community activist currently mounting a long-shot bid to unseat Congressman Ed Towns in Brooklyn's 10th District.

As I wrote in 2006, Powell has a long history of directing physical violence at innocent people - yet big-name left-wingers like Gloria Steinem, Dave Chappelle and George Soros are going ga ga over him.

When I interviewed Powell last week, he gave the same response as last time: that he's really, really sorry for his thuggery and has put it behind him with the help of therapy and an analysis of the social roots of violent behavior.

He says this eloquently and with conviction. I don't buy it.

While Powell attempts to make his violence sound like a long-ago nightmare, the truth is that he has repeatedly hit, beaten and (yes) bitten people - mostly people smaller and weaker than him - in incidents documented over a 17-year period.

In the mid-1980s, according to Powell's account in his book "Who's Gonna Take the Weight," he was a "student leader pimp" at Rutgers University who mistreated women - including physically - and was eventually expelled after brandishing a knife during an argument with another student ("My intent was to scare her into submission," he says in the book).

According to a 2003 article in Newsday by Katti Gray, there was at least one other time Powell menaced a woman with a knife at Rutgers.

The pattern continued after Powell's expulsion, when he ended up on the MYV show "The Real World" in 1992, and another cast member accused him of brandishing a heavy candlestick and threatening to break all her fingers.

In 1996, Powell got fired from his job as a writer at Vibe magazine after an outburst in which he had to be physically restrained. Five years later, in 2001, he got arrested for attacking Brooklyn writer Knox Robinson (Powell believed he'd been misquoted).

And in 2004, according to an item in the New York Post, Powell "sucker-punched" a writer named Bart Graham in the course of an argument. "After security pulled me off, he crawled over and bit me in the shin," Graham told the Post. That was four years ago.

On page 65 of his book, Powell compares himself to "a recovering alcoholic or a crack fiend who has righted her or his ways," and warns that "I can lapse at any time."

At any time?

A rational, reasonable reading of Powell's rap sheet leads to the conclusion that he lacks the stability and self-control required of a member of Congress.

Yet he has been embraced and endorsed by an A-list of Hollywood celebrities and liberal establishment figures - people who, in my opinion, are either completely out of their minds or surprisingly careless about extending their names, reputations and money to an ambitious pol with a dubious past.

Especially those who consider themselves heroes of women.

There's billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who donated $500 to the Powell campaign; feminist icons Gloria Steinem and Susan Taylor, whose names appear on a support group called Women for Kevin Powell; and comedians Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock.

Some of Powell's support stems from a desire to hit back at incumbent Rep. Towns, who has angered liberals and unions by supporting free-trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA and endorsing Rudy Giuliani for reelection in 1997.

But liberal reformers should realize they only hurt their cause and make themselves look ridiculous by failing to take a stand and acknowledge that the violent personal conduct makes an otherwise attractive pol completely unfit for office.

Shame on all who support this thug. I learned a long time ago that sometimes a bully only understands one thing. No therapy will cure Mr. Powell's predisposition, only getting his teeth knocked out. Watch how quickly he changes then.

 As for Silver, there's not enough time in the day to accurately express what a napoleon he is. i wish the media would hammer him endlessly on his indifference in employing a rapist on his staff.

With Bruno gone, we now have the opportunity to rid ourselves of the the two men most responsible for the greatest inefficiency and corruption in modern nyc political history.

Hey Shelly, put some more shite covered marbles in your mouth for your next god-awful press conference, you trickster.

You got them both down to a tea.

My only question is why is Newell sending checks to Powell? It would seem likely that he could put the money to a better purpose than to undermining his sincerity on the matter of J. Michael Roofies, Esq.  

Is one of my favorite albums ever. For once I am going to stay away form political commentary, and bask in the joy of having Paul's Boutique used in reference to our campaign. Thanks Gatemouth!

-Evan Hutchison

Newell for Assembly - AD64

from Newell raised my eyebrow. Thanks for the post.

ROLMFAO when I read it.  

Newell is such a rare jewel.