In the particular comment linked here, a poster name Winston takes me to task for what he perceives to be my preference for Republican Comptroller candidate Harry Wilson.
I have not endorsed Harry Wilson and may not do so, though I will admit I have been considering it. The article to which the comment is appended is, I think, the third mention I've made of Wilson, and my least positive so far. I think Wilson’s failure to endorse a change in the "sole trustee" status of the Comptroller casts doubt on his credentials as a potential reformer.
But the commentator did hit one nail upon the head; part of my reason for being reluctant to endorse a Republican is my record of outspoken opposition to Democratic Party officials doing so.
But, I am not a Democratic Party official (not even a County Committee member), I’m a blogger. And unlike Democratic Party officials, I have no fiduciary obligation to the Democratic Party.
Still, having to explain this distinction each and every time I criticize a Dov Hikind or Inez Barron for disloyalty may be too much bother for it to be worth the schtuss. Especially since Wilson is refusing to say the things which need to be said.
A few years ago, I let concerns about my credibility on the matter of Party disloyalty by Party officials (among other concerns) keep me from endorsing a qualified Republican (James McCall) for Judge against Noach Dear, and I have regretted it ever since, even though Dear as not turned out the be the disaster on the bench some (myself included) had predicted.
Still, I may yet take the plunge this year, if I conclude it is merited. But, given all the post which follow castigating others for party disloyalty, let me be clear. Even if I myself endorse Harry Wilson, I will call for the resignation from their Party position of any Democratic Party official who does so. http://www.r8ny.com/blog/gatemouth/eyes_on_the_treats_aka_trustee_but_verify.html#comment-1419245
Perhaps the most shocking thing in the attached article is the allegation that a lawyer holding credentials from the Kings County Democratic Party showed up at a polling site to argue against the interests of the Democratic candidate.
Absolutely shameless (and no one will likely even bother to deny it, because that would require an understanding of why it was wrong).More election fraud alleged against Vito Lopez www.brooklynpaper.com
The How soon they forget award winner:
COUNCILMAN VINCENT GENTILE: "Senator Golden and I are hosting a rally to protest our bus service cuts and the recent fare hikes on Tuesday, October 19th from 5:30 to 6:30 on the corner of Bay Ridge Avenue and 3rd Avenue, and again on Thursday, October 21st at the Kings County Supreme Court on Cadman Plaza west side of the building. For more information, call my office at (718) 748-5200. Come out and protest!"
What the Fuck is Vinnie Gentile doing helping make Marty Golden look good during his re-election campaign against a Democratic challenger? Doesn't Gentile remember how it felt when fellow Dems did this to him during his 2002 Senate Campaign against Marty Golden?
As I’ve documented, Gentile’s 2002 race set new precedents for how far then Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno could go in buying off local Democratic party officials, with no one taking any steps to enforce discipline. This was the race where Gentile, then the incumbent State Senator, had his district decimated in reapportionment, as the Republicans prepared to beat him with then Bay Ridge Councilman Marty Golden.
The 2002 race where Golden won election was an historical landmark. It was nothing new for Brooklyn Democrats to endorse Republicans for President, Governor and Mayor, but never had Brooklyn Dems jumped ship, en masse, to desert a local incumbent.
Nonetheless, one had to forgive them, for they only gave up their support after hours of torture being forced to contemplate huge piles of cash, pork and patronage. Five members of the Democratic State Committee jumped ship, as did an incumbent Councilmen, Assemblyman and, incredibly, a Democratic State Senator. And no one was punished.
In fact, the conspirators prospered; one (may his fat ugly carcass continue to burn in hell) became a judge. Efforts to punish the transgressors were frustrated when David Paterson promised to quash them as part of a deal to get transgressor Carl Kruger’s vote for Senate Minority Leader against Marty Connor.
The next year, to show there were no hard feeling, some of the conspirators actually backed Gentile for the remainder of Golden’s Council term. How perfect. Much better to have a Democratic Councilman and a Republican State Senator than the other way around. Good for the neighborhood. Good for Brooklyn.
Unlike, the other transgressors named herein, Gentile is not a party official. But one would think that the clusterfuck he underwent in 2002 would lead him to show a bit more rachmonis for this year’s Golden opponent, Mike DiSanto. Instead, “Gamberetti” Gentile has shown that his integrity matches his stature and that he has joined this year’s gangbang.
A few months ago when Dov Hikind defended Mike McMahon against what I thought were unfair insinuations of anti-Semitism, I was skeptical, and implied Hikind had been bought (the item was called “Soda Bread With a Schmeer”)
I now apologize. Hikind cannot be bought.
Only rented. Throw this chazar off the Democratic State Committee! Hikind For Grimm? | The New York Observer www.observer.com
Senate Democratic Floor Leader John Sampson removes a staffer from a targeted race to help a safe but nervous Sampson loyalist win his sure re-election. Apparently, Sampson cares more about staying Leader of his Party's conference than about whether or not that conference stays in the Majority. Mailer Hits Thompson On Monserrate capitaltonight.com
We end with an item about a man who once proved his Party loyalty above and beyond the call of not only duty, but human decency. The man I speak of is Pete Seeger, and the Party the CPUSA, aka The Reds. These days, like many refuges from the old Communist Party, Seeger now waves the banner of the Working Families Party.
Seeger appears to be a very nice man, who done some wonderful work for many good causes, but his judgment has often been highly questionable.
Since I had a grandmother who was a fellow traveler, "Pink bleeding Red”, I don’t care to redbait romantic 30s Communists. During the 30s, the Communist Party was often one of the few courageous voices willing to stand up for causes like racial justice.
But that romance ended for most decent people in 1939, when Stalin and Hitler collaborated on the invasion of Poland.
However, Seeger drank his Stalinist Kool-Aid lock, stock and barrel, so that, in 1941, he was still busy serving Hitler’s useful idiot “Uncle Joe” by recording Stalinist pro-Isolationist and functionally pro-Hitler propaganda like “Songs for John Doe”, which features a song in FDR's voice where he sings "I hate war and so does Eleanor, and we won't be safe till everybody's dead", which I'm sure had ‘em rolling in the aisles at meetings of the German-American Bund and the Silver Shirts.
I guess FDR must have been what American Communists, in other contexts, referred to as a “premature anti-fascist.”
Seeger did finally manage to apologize for his appalling bad judgment about Stalin about seventy years later, and one cannot gainsay his good works, but I think I’ll get my political advice from those who didn’t make common cause with fascist fellow travelers like Charles Lindbergh. Pete Seeger Strums For WFP | The New York Observer www.observer.com