The Gateway (A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bushwick Edition) [Revised-item added]

The Post endorses the State's complete freeze of funding for Ridgewood-Bushwick and chastises the Mayor for his freeze only on new contracts. Forgetting for a moment the mayor's complicity in much of this mess, Bloomie's position still makes sense. As he's pointed out recently, he's accountable for day to day service delivery and here people's lives are really impacted.

It would be one thing to close some Senior Centers (though some would surely be left without lunch) quite another to shut down a home attendant program without first ensuring continuity of service. Good, Bad or Ugly (and probably a bit of all three), the services provided by Ridgewood-Bushwick include some in the life or death range, and we should not be cavalier in calling for immediate action without first gauging its possible impact. Neutering Vito – NYPOST.com www.nypost.com

This is not as unusual as it sounds, back in 1983 I was put on a bus with about two dozen junkies in various stages of treatment to run an election day phone bank. When we got to DC 37, they rushed the newsstand and bought out every chocolate bar and cigarette in the place. Witnesses: Drug addicts pressured to work in Assemblyman Vito Lopez's get-out-the-vote push – NYPOST www.nypost.com

This was a big surprise to me. I thought Vito was still claiming he lived at Tillie Tarantino's house in Italian Williamsburg. He was always seen over there, stopping to use the facilities after having a bit of zabaione at his favorite pastry shop. Guess the area got too yuppified for him. If he ever visited his digs at Stanhope Street, he might notice the same thing happening over there. I got an idea–maybe he could move to Ridgewood. Brooklyn Dem boss Vito Lopez is hard to find at Bushwick home, but spends much of his time in Queens www.nydailynews.com

The Sheriff of Mayberry More Murder, Rape, Major Theft, Hate Crimes On Staten Island On Dan Donovan’s Watch As District Atto www.cityhallnews.com

This article is truly G-d's punishment to Gatemouth, coming as it does the day after I posted an item putting some of the blame for the primary day fiasco on school janitors; now it turns out that even that was the fault of the Board of Elections.

Serves me right for offering even a qualified defense of the BOE.Late Notice Added to New York's Voting Problems in Primary Election – NYTimes.com

Although I agree with Jonathan Chait’s criticism that this piece minimizes the role of unions in ensuring that it is almost impossible to fire a bad teacher once they are tenured, I otherwise agree with most of it.

Most especially I agree with this: "In fact, a study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes found that only 17 percent did a better job than the comparable local public school, while more than a third did “significantly worse.” I’m still haunted by a debate I stumbled across in the Texas Legislature a decade ago in which conservatives repelled any attempt to impose accountability standards on the state’s charter schools, even after only 37 percent of the charter students passed state academic achievement tests, compared with 80 percent of the public schoolchildren. There’s something about an unfettered school that lifts the hearts of the Born Free crowd."

People have told me I'm self contradictory on this issue. How can I praise both Eva Moskowitz's revealing but biased hearings on the problems in our public schools and Bill Perkins' revealing but biased hearings on the problems with charter schools? How can I warn against dumping both charter school critic Perkins and tenure critic Jonathan Bing? What side am I on anyway?

That's easy, there is a common thread in my apparently contradictory positions; I am on the side of accountability. Only accountability will ultimately save our schools. Waiting for Somebody www.nytimes.com

A responsible conservative makes the case for Obama. "You Elected Me To Do What Was Right" – The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

Republican promises to get the government off our backs and restore local autonomy does not extend to the District of Columbia "The New Boss" – The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

A reminder to my South Carolinian friends: Jim DeMint disgraces the memory of (did I say this?) Ronald Reagan, and even Alvin Greene (who I swear moonlights selling newspapers at the Warren Street entrance of the Bergen Street subway stop) would be preferable About That Libertarian Tea Party Movement … – The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

I swear this was a bogus headline used by some writer for hire on an old "Lou Grant" episode.Liberal 'One Nation Working Together' rally leaves Lincoln Memorial ridden with trash, much dirtier. dailycaller.com