JUSTICE WILLIAM ERLBAUM: The American verdict of 'not guilty' can indicate one of two things,…Innocence, or the case is not proven. In the case of these [felony assault counts], the case has not been proven.

Agree with the verdict or not, Justice Erlbaum’s words, with their implicit acknowledgment of what he likely thought actually occurred (even if he did not think it beyond a reasonable doubt) are, since the matter’s inception, among the few things said about the Monserrate case by someone who has attained their job by election, which are actually at least arguably defensible.

Yet, in spite of this fact, McMillan is enjoying an unprecedented run of free and largely favorable publicity, much of which portrays him as a feisty but lovable eccentric.

The Atlantic Antic had been a triumph for six year old Dybbuk.

Already having persuaded Domestic Partner to buy him $50 worth of toy MTA trains, he climaxed the afternoon by sneaking behind the Police barriers in front of the Waterfront Alehouse, treating those watching the second set by the Black Coffee Blues Band (featuring Popa Chubby, whose is to French Blues fanatics what Jerry Lewis is to their cinemaphiles, but with far more justification) to a half-hour demonstration of exotic dancing which drove the audience into a frenzy and got Dybbuk at least one invitation to join a comely cougar for a nite-cap (“every woman is watching him,” she told Domestic Partner, “and every man is jealous”).

I happen to like Bill Thompson just fine; he’s a smart and thoughtful guy who has served our city well at the Board of Education and as Comptroller.

To the extent that Mike Bloomberg’s educational policies have been about unclogging the deteriorated arteries of 110 Livingston to do an emergency bypass (as opposed to being about absolute power providing proof of the validity of the theorem propounded by Lord Acton), Bill Thompson pretty much served as Bloomberg’s John the Baptist.

Before Thompson-initiated reforms set the stage for Mayoral control, one could not get there from here. With Mayoral Control now having gotten us to a somewhat different destination than reformers anticipated, Bill Thompson may be one of the dozen or so people in the City who has some idea how to mend this beast in the manner real reformers intended.

…Barack Obama is a Peter Beinart Democrat; someone who can restore American Leadership because he believes in American Honor, someone who understands that the first step in leading any alliance is to listen to your allies if you want to keep them….

Neil Young on Gatemouth: 'You're all just pissin' in the wind, You don't know it but you are."

Actually, I knew it all along. Two weeks ago, I said:

"this day is bound to be repeated shortly in Citywide form as Mark Green spends the next two weeks of his life preparing for an ass-kicking he can do nothing to prevent, as he become this year’s Liz Holtzman about to get the stuffings taken out of him by this year’s Alan Hevesi (possibly in more than one manner)."

“And some (like, it seems to me, our friend Gatemouth) simply think all candidates are pretty much the same and despair of finding excitement in supporting a candidate...in fact they seem disdainful of anyone who actually shows some enthusiasm for a candidate.” --MOLE333

Though I’ve long disdained the oldtime hacks and their admirers, who measure accomplishment only in terms of bringing home treasure, I’ve not been impressed with the late models either.

With our pension system operating like a runaway bus which might explode if it slows down, what is called for is a City Comptroller with a reputation for honesty and integrity so shining that we are blinded by the bright light of their integrity.

Instead, we are facing a choice between two competitors--arguably, the two best competitors who sought the office this year--who’ve not blinded our vision with the bright light of their integrity, but rather, blurred it with the fog they’ve generated.

John Liu is seemingly incapable of admitting the simple truth about the most basic details of his own biography. By contrast, David Yassky has never lied about his personal history, preferring instead to confine his distortions to where he stands on any issue he may have to vote upon.

Dateline: 7/8/09 Washington DC

“The man…had brought the MTA into the 20^th Century and just last year endeavored to bring it into the 21st;….

Today, in a stunning act of audacity, [The Governor] named him as Lieutenant Governor.

Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A DAILY GOTHAM WRITER (7/25/08): I don't go out of my way to trash people to my left. I don't do that, despite the occasional temptation to do so, for the simple reason that I don't consider it strategically wise, and because I'm more interested in beating republicans. This is the Overton Window.

You, by contrast, invest copious amounts of effort into tearing down people who are on your side. When I critique Democrats, it's usually from the left or on the basis of good-government arguments. You do so from the right. What you do with that is validate rightwing frames. Congratulations if this has never occurred to you before.

Our Parent, Our Ruler; I have sinned before thee.

For the sin of endorsing worthy candidates, who seemed to have been jinxed as a result.

For the sin of failing to endorse and write on behalf of candidates I should have, because it was the path of least resistance.

For the sin of listening to imbeciles about who the strongest prospects were in districts I knew too little about (yes, Steve Behar did end up runner-up to Paul Vallone in that he ran fourth to Vallone’s third).

The first is that our outrage has inconveniently coincided with Republican outrage mostly focused on ACORN slovenliness, as opposed to illegality. Even I have defended ACORN from such calumny in the past, though Republicans may have a point about ACORN’s failure to adequately separate the not-for-profit sectors from the political sector. Of course, Republicans may want to reflect upon the fact that their insistence on privatizing so many government functions is what led ACORN to be the recipient of so many government contracts during their administrations.

Earlier in the year, it became clear that personal circumstances were going to keep me from endorsing in the 33^rd Councilmanic District, where I happen to live.

But nothing is going to stop me from saying who you shouldn’t vote for.

There are SEVEN candidates in this race. Only three of them (Steve Levin, Jo Anne Simon and Evan Theis) have any grasp on reality. The other four are running for a seat in the Borough of Oz.

Ken Baer is a pathetic little round-faced man , without a friend or a clue, constantly smiling without reason or comprehension and walking around in a lonely fog as other people cruelly laugh at him.

Dybbuk, shortly to enter the first grade, had just finished a week of drama camp, and was now set to return to the spa for children founded years before by a front group for the Communist Party.

“Bubbe” he asked his maternal grandmother, “did you go to camp?”

“No,” she sighed, “thank G-d we had an attic.”

Years later, Bubbe‘s cousin tried to get Yad Vashem to honor the Polish family who’d valiantly hidden them for four long years, giving them food when they barely had enough for themselves. Sadly, the only surviving member, who was but a child at the time, was too afraid of what the neighbors would think if they learned her family had hidden Jews.

Back in the 1970s, Jerry Brown swept to power in California with a new-agey challenge to traditional Democratic liberalism that repackaged fiscal moderation with environmentalism and some “small is beautiful” rhetoric, and then sold it as innovative, even radical change.

San Francisco punk rockers The Dead Kennedys saw right through the malarkey, but overreacted with a song called “California Uber Alles.”

Then came 1980 and the election of Ronald Reagan, and suddenly the DK’s realized they made a slight error in the object of their fury. They took the tune and chorus, but added new lyrics about President Bonzo and called the re-written song “We’ve got a Bigger Problem Now.“