The Gateway (Thinking of Changing the Name to “The Daily Chutzpah” Edition)

Chutzpah of the day: Barron calls Fidler a racist without cause, and then says Fidler is the one who needs to apologize. Councilman Lew Fidler Abandons Challenge To Freedom Party Petitions: Updated www.nydailynews.com

 

I think Cuomo will have to recuse himself from the Lazio investigation Six degrees of desperation: Lazio should be careful whom he accuses of terror links www.nydailynews.com

 

Someone said to me that they couldn't understand why Lazio won't debate Paladino, since it's almost certain Carl'd say something totally crazy and outrageous (even when compared with the stuff Lazio is saying). I responded that, given the composition of the Republican primary electorate, that was what Lazio was afraid of. Lazio Won’t Debate Paladino on NY1 / YNN (What About YouTube Debate?) | The Empire empire.wnyc.org

TRADD AND TRUE: "But even over the distance of 31 years, [Schneiderman] said, if people want to know what to expect if he is elected the state’s next top law enforcement officer, they need to understand his time in Berkshire County."

I guess that means ludicrous exaggeration and efforts to mislead and misdirect.

In Yiddish, Schneiderman means “tailor,” meaning one who works with the material he has to transform it into something new and unrecognizable.

The Senator is well-named. Attorney General Candidate Eric Schneiderman’s “Law Enforcement” Role As Deputy Sheriff Was Teaching www.cityhallnews.com

 

Given Adam Powell's uselessness as a legislator, his absence from his duties probably causes little harm to the legislature, but given the nature of his extracurricular activities, perhaps spending more time on legislating would keep be the better course. Powell’s Attendance | The Empire empire.wnyc.org

 

I think the last politician to brag about his mom's endorsement was fictitious (but, then again so are Doug's chances)–Festus "Mother" Garvey in Edwin O'Connell's "The Last Hurrah," a title which would deliver an important lesson to Doug, if he had any sense (which he does not). The title might also be of some future use to Doug's opponent, but that is a discussion that can wait at least two years, as this year, the only alternative is Doug.

BTW Dougie, it is not Joan Millman's fault that your mom lost her pension–it is probably your dad's (alev ha-sholem) for not choosing an lower-paying option with the right of survivorship. A dumb move, like running for Assembly with $10 grand in the bank, probably assuming that there were matching funds, like in the pointless race you ran last year for Council.

Also Doug, you might ask you consultant, supposed history meister Gary Tilzer, about the precedent for governments using pension fund loans to balance a budget during a fiscal crisis–for instance, doing that is what saved the City and State from bankruptcy during the 70s.

Doug Biviano: would you trust this man to be your janitor? (Actually someone already does) Assembly Hopeful Doug Biviano Trashes Joan Millman… Via His Mom www.nydailynews.com

 

About time someone did this article (I’ve been putting it off myself); too bad Errol totally botches the 52 AD contests, leaving Vito's guy out of the male leader race, and ignoring the female leader race entirely. Will Vito veto Brooklyn voters? Upstart challengers vs. the borough boss www.nydailynews.com

 

Walk right back. Donovan says 'no mosque' near Ground Zero www.silive.com

 

Pissed off and pissed on. Drunken man urinates on mosque floor – NYPOST.com www.nypost.com

 

Where TF is it anyway?

"'The changing geography is purely symbolic,' said Nelson Warfield, a national Republican strategist who has worked extensively in New York. ‘It’s a mixture of geography and conceptual issues,' he said. 'The concept of an Islamic community center in close proximity to the scene of the greatest attack… by Muslim extremists on this country is hard to delineate in terms of lines on a map.'“

But if you you're asking it to move, the least you can do is delineate those lines, no?

Republicans are refusing to answer the “where then?” question, because they are afraid that any naming any spot of dry land in the continental United States (Hawaii, the home of our first Islamic President, might be OK with GOP moderates) would infuriate their very base base. recordonline.com – The Times Herald-Record, serving New York"s Hudson Valley and the Catskills hosted.ap.org

 

Never thought I’d be linking the ponderous Mort Kondracke, but he gets it almost all right, including the part about Spain. CQ Politics | Bush Had It Right on Islam After 9/11 www.cqpolitics.com

 

As someone who's not been uncritical of the behavior of the Islamic Street, or its apologists, I have no problem with the major thrust of Dothan’s column. He's dead-on about not holding moderate Muslims to unrealistic standards, and he's right-on about holding them to realistic ones. Even with what appears to be an admirable record, Rauf is not exempt from criticism (although some of Rauf's harshest critiques of America echo comments made by people like Bill Kristol and even Glenn Beck), and I reserve the right to criticize him myself (for something other than naiveté).

My problems here is Douthat's application of this point to the current Young Men’s Islamic Association controversy. My response after reading this column is "and therefore, what?"

What does trusting, but verifying Rauf have to do with Rauf’s right to have the laws applied to him without every tin pot Republican demagogue calling for the use of any and every governmental weapon at hand to stop him?

For a conservative, Douthat is OK, but when it comes to his good faith, I'll trust but verify. Imam Rauf and Moderate Islam – NYTimes.com douthat.blogs.nytimes.com

 

Ingraham morphs into John Kerry–she supported The Young Men’s Islamic association before she opposed it. Stringer and Ingraham | The Empire empire.wnyc.org

 

Does the First Amendment apply to medical malpractice?

Don't worry about the answer; Laura Schlessinger's not a real doctor anyway–she just plays one on the radio. Doctor Feel-Heinous | The New Republic www.tnr.com