When I write my some of my columns many folks get angry, but most times all I am trying to do is highlight the trials and tribulations of innocent challengers to the political status quo, while listing the affronts to democracy which take place everyday, and which gets more pronounced during primary (silly) season. Maybe someone needs to go to the federal court under the Ricco statutes, and show that the New York City county organizations are no different to the friggin Mafia. The way they try to keep people off the ballot is nothing short of criminal.
In Queens (34th AD) Marlene Tapper challenged Ronald Reagan’s elder brother Ivan Lafayette. Word on the street was that residency issues were involved with the incumbent. Maybe someone got wind of whatever Ms.Tapper was cooking up, so they got Lafayette to resign and take some job with the current administration. Ms.Tapper was then shafted because the Queens county political machine did a substitution. I am told that they have put up a former garbage-collector as their candidate now. He was put up over the objections of Lafayette’s faithful and loyal female Chief of Staff (COS), who had worked with him for more than 20 years. It looks like she was good enough to be COS, but not good enough to handle the reigns of the district. Or maybe the garbage man had been collecting dirt on the organization for enough years, to turn the dirt into gold.
Whatever the truth, the fact remains that there will be no guarantee of female representation from this assembly district, unless Marlene gets lucky and whip the county machine in the primary. But then, I might just be getting ahead of myself: Marlene Tapper’s petition has been challenged by the county machine. They are trying to knock her off the ballot as they usually try to do.
Although the Board of Elections ruled her on the ballot, the county machine is now intent on tying her up in court with frivolous challenges, making all sorts of bullshit allegations about her petitions and petition effort, scrutinizing her signatures with a fine tooth comb and intimidating her no end. That’s just how the game is played. The intent is simple: make her spend scarce monies and resources in the court or at the board, rather than have her out there on the streets campaigning. Their larger overall objective is to knock her off the ballot, so that there is no challenge to their sanctioned candidate. This is not democracy folks.
Minions from the county machine are intent on knocking Marlene off the ballot because they are scared that she pulls off an upset. This is a district where about four thousand people show up to vote in a democratic primary, and where less than thirty thousand are registered as democrats -out of about one hundred and twenty five thousand residents (not including the many many illegal aliens there).
These minions have been questioning people like it was a murder investigation. They have gone after subscribing witnesses and signers of the petitions with impunity. This stuff needs to be stopped. This isn’t democracy folks: this is autocracy.
In Brooklyn’s 56th AD -an Attorney and also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)- Cenceria Edwards, is running against another Neanderthal representative: Mrs. Annette Robinson. Mrs. Robinson is a graduate from Brooklyn’s old-school of politics since way back during the “War of Jenkins Ear”; so you know how long that is (or ask Gatemouth if you don’t know). Ms. Edwards is going through exactly what Ms. Tapper is going through and worse. Coincidentally both Tapper and Edwards supported Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton -as opposed to both of their opponents. Both candidates are also calling for change in the politics of their respective districts.
I have written on some of the challenges, hardships, trials and tribulations of Ms. Edwards’s candidacy before; see my column entitled “Challenges to Two Brooklyn Dynasties”-and also a couple others- by going to my archives. Twice there have been rocks thrown through her home windows. The police can’t seem to find the culprit(s). One large rock landed on her younger daughter’s bed; fortunately that day, the girl was abroad (Argentina)representing her country (USA) at the game called chess. Her subscribing witnesses claim to being routinely harassed. The signers to her petitions are claiming the same thing. Some people are claiming that money is being offered for them to flip on Ms. Edwards or to lie.
In filed court papers, the opposition is even claiming that the candidate’s own signature is fraudulent; although she didn’t sign off on a single sheet as an “SW”. The board gave her over six hundred good and valid signatures (out of about 1400 filed/ 500 needed to qualify), and yet the opposition is coming after her like she was a bitch in heat. Tomorrow morning the Board of Elections will rule her on the ballot as a candidate, but she knows that the struggle continues.
So earlier today Ms. Edwards called me; and now I have been retained to beat back this challenge at both the board and court levels. So let the games begin. I realize now more so than even before, that insurgents all over the city depend on people like me to help them withstand county’s unfair challenges. And for them: I have gun and will travel. Thank you Mr. Paladin.
Stay tuned-in folks.