I would be the last to minimize the fact that the President couldn't hit 60% in the West Virginia primary against an incarcerated felon.

In addition to giving new hope to Carl Kruger, the results shed uncomfortable light on Obama’s problems with the culturally conservative white working class.  

But the results mostly speak to what happens in elections no one any longer cares about.   

Let us not forget that Ron Paul recently logged victories in caucuses and other delegate selection events in Nevada, Maine, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Alaska, Iowa, Minnesota and Washington, after Mitt Romney was already the presumptive nominee.

BTW, the West Virginia totals were Obama 105,833; Romney 77,477 and Keith Judd 72,459. www.politico.com www.politico.com   

While he seems otherwise committed to the abolition of Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal, I now can't think about Mitt without saying "Bully."

When NYC politicians like David Storobin and Ben Akselrod campaign against teaching tolerance, this is what they are implicitly endorsing.

"Atta Girl, Mittens." Romney’s bullying: How bad was the “vicious” incident reported by the Washington Post? www.slate.com   

Romney: Back in high school, I did some dumb things & if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize. I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school and some might have gone too far and for that, I apologize.

Glad to see that, after being fired by Ydanis Rodriguez, David Segal landed on his feet and got a job speechwriting for Mitt. "That's Wrong. Just Look At Him!" www.slate.com 

Just when you thought there was nothing that could make the State Senate Dems look even more ridiculous, it appears that they dodged a bullet named Ydanis (or perhaps we should be calling Rodriguez a burning rag).

Actually, the saddest part is that the Sen Dems have already reached the point where no one would have noticed (not that anyone ever notices them anyway). | City & State www.cityandstateny.com     

This item about The Ghosts of Burning Rags Past is posted here for the colossal chutzpah of Diane Savino complaining about four Democratic State Senators “kneecapping” the Democratic Party Conference.   

It is also included for Eric Adams quote at the end, which is included to shock his admirers into thinking "say what?!?"

Adams: “Our caucus, unlike the Republican caucus, we don’t look alike, sound alike; it’s extremely diverse...I don’t think they hurt our conference; they added flavor to our conference, a flavor that’s missing from the guys across the aisle.”   

Although, if Adams’ admirers were paying attention, they would not be shocked.  For Three New York Lawmakers, Falls From Grace After an Attempted Coup www.nytimes.com    

In this article, we learn that Carl Kruger is an Orthodox Jew.

An Orthodox Jew who likes dining at the Palm, Sammy’s Noodle Shop and Joe’s Place. 

In the absence of any political intervention, it would have been utterly predictable that Ulster County authorities, confronted with two application to its Board of Health from competing entities claiming to have authority over a summer camp, were going to issue the permit to the group they had dealt with for years rather than to the new clamant.  

Which they did in the end anyway.  

This was what was going to happen all along, unless an inspection found the camp unfit for human habitation (a far more likely possibility than a permit being issued to the new applicant).        

Between the Hasids this fight was only about power. There were no white hats on either side (perhaps not the best choice of words).  

Vito Lopez raised the stakes by making it look to the Zalis that the authorities could be bent to his will by use of his awesome power.

Nydia Velazquez then jumped in on behalf of her allies, helping to elevate the appearance that this was simply about who had the most power.  

In the end, a victory for the perception of baksheesh.

My thought is that, politically, Nydia solidified herself with her allies, who much as they hate Vito, now have a reason to be enthused about backing a Latina.  

But a wise Hasidic friend agrees with Orthodox Pundit that not only has imbroglio made allying with Lopez look more appealing, but energies a vote for Dilan from a group that now has reason to be enthused about backing a Latino.  

That being said, I think Orthopund overstates the numbers.  

Past performance indicates a 65/35 split between the factions, and I think the Aronis are now also energized and loaded for Sholem Bear. Assemblyman Vito Lopez wins control of four upstate Hasidic summer camps www.nypost.com    

Although I think she took a couple of bad votes, I don't think one can fairly call Velazquez, whose record has been largely pro-Israel, an "anti-Zionist."

In fact, it is my understanding these days, she takes her cues on Israel from Jerry Nadler (more than sufficiently Zionist for all but the district’s most right wing Jews) and has put her Jane Hancock on every pro-Israel letter that someone has bothered to submit to her (the letters in question apparently were not), which is may be why AIPAC is remaining silent.

Just to put things in perspective, this issue will not affect the vote among the non-Zionist Satmar one iota, and will have little impact among most of the rest of the district's very liberal Jews, except perhaps for a couple of apartment complexes at the edge of Brooklyn Heights (provided they don't actually get to meet Dilan) and the district's newly added parts of Grand Street (who, because of this issue, will probably vote for Dilan even if they meet him). B'klyn Congressional candidate calls opponent 'anti-Zionist' www.nypost.com