Richard Brodsky (forgotten but not gone) on Cuomo's appeal: Don't underestimate the power of the idea of a candidate hard right on economics and hard left on social issues.

Gate: Actually, "hard right" is a bit of an exaggeration (as is “hard left”). "Soft right" sums it up far better. Cuomo is not Scott Walker; he doesn't want to euthanize unions; he wants to geld them. Walker is the bad cop; Cuomo the good one; "tell me what I want to hear and you won't have to deal with him." Cuomo doesn’t kill unions; he makes them an offer they can't refuse. With Cuomo, they have a choice: “either their brains or their signature can be on the contract.” Cuomo, Pot and Obama: Progractionary II www.huffingtonpost.com    

Michael Benjamin says the Barron/Jeffries race "might be a glimpse of the future of black politics in New York."

Perhaps, but the really unique thing about this race is how sui generis the candidates are. There is seemingly no one else in NYS black politics at all like Jeffries, while there is seemingly no one else in the world quite like Barron (Th-nk G-d). Barron v. Jeffries www.nypost.com    

A strong endorsement of Jeffries by the Daily News, which voters should re-read every day until the primary.

A couple of quibbles:  

1) Don't be calling Barron a “clown”; Barron's serious as a heart attack and twice as dangerous.

2) While it is fine for the News to cite Hakeem's taking on the organization when he first entered politics, it is a lie to describe Hakeem's first victory in 2006 as "beating the bosses," when "the bosses" were backing him. And, so sorry that the truth does not comport with the News’ black and white (perhaps not the best choice of words) view of the world.  http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/vote-hakeem-jeffries-article-1.1092467?localLinksEnabled=false www.nydailynews.com   

Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens are all fired up over the election, but unfortunately for Nydia, it's not the one for the US Congress.  

Any bets on why a similar and far longer standing phenomena concerning Dominican politics in Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill doesn’t draw the Times’ attention?  

When I moved to Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens in 89, you’d still find people speaking the Romance language of their country of birth on the Street.  

They still do, but it is no longer Italian. In Cradle Hill and Carriage Gardens, bocce has given way to petanque.  

Meanwhile I’ll share with you my Provence En Boite story: 

Polish Accented Domestic Partner: Excuse me, is that a brioche? 

French Accented Counter Clerk: On no, that is a challah for Passoveur. In New York City, French Politics Is Local www.nytimes.com    

Lunch yesterday with Joe Hayon of the Brooklyn Tea Party (We did not go to Provence En Boite).

Neither of us drank Hayon’s beverage of political choice (I pointedly drank coffee; Joe swallowed his usual Kool-Aid), but Hayon did buy me a piece of kugel in honor of my 2010 piece predicting the Nakba for Dems in southern Brooklyn.

In other words, unhealthy food combined with unhealthy politics.

Cultural Highlights: I explain stuffed derma to Joe (who wretched); he explains lahem bajeen (which, after 20 years living near Atlantic Avenue, I was already quite aware of).

Strangest Moment: Joe offers to set up a lunch between me and David Storobin (this time, it was I who wretched).  

Areas of Agreement: We both oppose stop and frisk (actually, he's a bit to my left on the issue). We also share at least one common enemy (common being the operative word). I won’t reveal his name, lest the Jig be up.  


 

OK, I admit that, in the linked article, I did say, as an aside, that David Storobin's "early voting operation" was "disgusting," and that it "PROBABLY should be the subject of an investigation."

But two separate reporters have now described the piece as a call for an investigation; Liz Benjamin actually uses the says that I cited "voter fraud"-- a term that I rather pointedly did not use to describe the operation (perhaps I shouldn’t complain; I think this may have been my first link from her during the entire Cuomo administration).
To be clear, the article was a call for a "no excuse" absentee ballot law, and the Storobin case was cited to call out Senate Republicans as hypocrites for not supporting such legislation (as well as for the fun of giving them a well-earned bitch-slap). No Excuses for David and Dean | Room Eight www.r8ny.com   

Sully asks if MLK would have supported marriage equality.

I think Bayard Rustin might have convinced him. Will The Black Church Evolve On Marriage Equality? andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com   

Farewell to Pete Cosey, the guitar sound behind Miles Davis' Agartha, Pangaea and Dark Magus, which I've always considered the best Jimi Hendrix albums ever. Pete Cosey, Guitarist With Miles Davis, Dies at 68 www.nytimes.com