Here’s a brutally frank assessment of the new rules and the old hypocrisies by former Congressman Artur Davis
“Weiner learned a brutal set of lessons about the chemistry of Washington politics. First, rank-and-file House members are expendable: the House is not the club that is the Senate, where personal relationships are more durable and there is a…n institutional aversion to pushing a member out. Second, unlike Charlie Rangel, Weiner had no race card to play. Finally, the Bill Clinton rule of survival applies best to second-term presidents with 65 percent approval ratings and a track record of 7.5 percent GDP growth.
And of course, Weiner got caught not only lying but doing it with gusto and indignation. False allegations do happen in politics, and it does not take much for baseless rumors to spread. Weiner has just complicated the task of any public figure who denies an allegation and for that reason alone, this saga has contributed to the cynicism around political life.” Artur Davis's response to 'Anthony Weiner set to resign Plus, Libya military strikes – constituti www.politico.com
Ezra Klein gets it right.
Like Chris Lee, Weiner is paying because his "crimes" were so media friendly.
Bill Clinton or David Vitter could not have survived cell phone shots either. Does Weiner’s punishment fit his crime? – Ezra Klein – The Washington Post www.washingtonpost.com
Sullivan admits he got it wrong about Weiner by forgetting about Chris Lee, but then Sully enumerates differences between them which are also wrong.
One is that Lee was different because he was a hypocrite who crusaded about internet security for kids.
But, as I noted the other day, Weiner himself introduced legislation to keep the internet safe from sexual predators. In Sex Scandal, Congressman Resigns For Not Having Sex, Ctd andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com
Incredibly stupid piece.
Weiner’s seat would sooner elect a Nazi then a Muslim, and given some of the local Republicans, they might get the opportunity. Anthony Weiner's Wife Should Run for His Seat – Politics – GOOD www.good.is
Interesting scenario.
Some have pointed out that nominating an obvious placeholder (like my choice Manny Gold) risks losing the seat to someone young and aggressive like Eric Ulrich.
But what about a placeholder who doesn't look like one?
Much of the speculation has centered on Councilman Mark Weprin. But a vacancy on the Council is filled by a non-partisan special election where anyone can run. If Mark Weprin won, and his seat was eliminated, there'd be nothing to go back to.
By contrast, the nomination for an Assembly vacancy in Queens is determined by the area's Democratic District Leaders, who are a wholly owned subsidiary of the Weprin family.
Assemblyman David Weprin goes to DC; loyal District Leader Martha Taylor fills out his term in Albany. The Congressional seat gets eliminated and Martha takes a dive, and David goes back to Albany, with the lifetime honorary title Congressman in the manner of Al Waldon.
This is exactly why I advocated Weiner announcing he would not run again (a la Larry Craig and Mark Sanford), rather than resigning (a la Chris Lee).
If Democrats lose this seat now, it will be their own damned fault. Democrats look for placeholder, Republicans seek a winner in Anthony Weiner New York City special el www.cityhallnews.com
For those who are puzzled, let me parse the distinction between my Weiner and Kruger positions.
With Kruger, I thought it was wrong for pols to call for him to resign, but I was hoping that he would (I was hoping that he would even before he got into trouble). I've now modified my hopes, and now wish Kruger would stay until he votes for same sex marriage, and then leaves.
With Weiner, I was less distressed about pols calling for his resignation, because one is not constitutionally guaranteed due process in the Court of Public Opinion, and one surely never gets it. However, I did not want Weiner to resign, though I eventually modified my opinion, concluding that it was OK for him to do so if he couldn't take it anymore (though I still wished he instead just declined to run again).
In the end, though I know most pols disagree, I think Weiner did what was best for himself, rather than what was best for the party. But, as I've stated before, it has laways been thus with weiner.
Dog bites man: State Senate Dems fuck up again. Assembly Democrats Hit Senate Democrats as ‘Foolish’ and ‘Grandstanding’ | PolitickerNY www.politickerny.com
Without realizing it (or maybe she did) Diane Savino suggests eliminating the WFP. Facing Conservative Threat on Marriage, Savino Suggests Nixing Fusion Voting | PolitickerNY www.politickerny.com
Inez Barron's staff probably pulled the MLK Day quote off some leftie website without reading it. The Brooklyn Politics Blog www.thebrooklynpolitics.com
This article so misstates the history of the Amigos (or as I called them, “Carl and the Passions”) with regard to same sex marriage that it obscures an otherwise interesting discussion about outing anti-gay gay pols.
Back in late 2008, for reason of power madness and money hunger, four State Senate Democrats played a game of chicken with the party leadership threatening to turn the Senate over to the GOP if their ransom was not paid.
On of them was Ruben Diaz, who threw same sex marriage into the pot as part of the bargain. The rest of them could have cared less.
Here’s how I described it then:
Which brings us to the refreshing figure of the Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr; and when I say “refreshing,” I am only half-joking.
There is no doubt that Ruben Diaz shares his fellow conspirators’ hunger for perks, pork and the engorgement to his pinga brought by the ego gratification of being at the center of attention. But, unlike the others, Ruben believes in something larger than his own self- interest.
At the center of Ruben’s beliefs is opposition to same sex marriage. While all of the Passions threaten to put the legislature into an entirely self-generated paralysis, leaving it unable to deal with a fiscal crisis (which the legislature only partially self-generated), at least Ruben, unlike his compatriots, has done so over a matter of principle (or at least partially for those reasons).
But since (pending recounts), the Passions cannot deliver the leadership to any candidate without Ruben’s cooperation, his priorities have become their priorities. Thus, when Ruben said that a promise not to bring same sex marriage to the Senate floor was part of his price, the others were forced to join his crusade.
His co-conspirators do not share Ruben’s enthusiasm.
Former Passion Hiram Monserrate represents a district with a large gay constituency–could this have been one of the reasons he left the group? [Ed note: Apparently not]
Pedro Espada, who’s long palled around with "Doctor" Fred Newman, a "therapist" who gleefully admits to sleeping with his patients, has forfeited his right to moral outrage about something so boring and conservative as expanding the right to matrimony, and indeed, Espada has long favored same sex marriage.
As with any issue, Carl Kruger is probably most interested in cost-benefit analysis, which, in this case, means ascertaining whether the funds he could raise from gay groups would offset any losses from his Orthodox Jewish contributors–although one gets the feeling that, all things being equal, Carl would just as soon change the subject. [Ed note: Wonder why?]
Holding their noses, Kruger and Espada joined Diaz in opposing any floor vote on same sex marriage, instead proposing a referendum.
Despite the lip-smackingly delightful opportunities such a scenario would undoubtedly afford in allowing observers the chance to watch some supporters of term limits engage in Yassky-like efforts to explain seemingly contradictory stances about the sacredness of the popular plebiscite, I must nonetheless express my outrage over this effort by three petty little thugs to deny the LGBT community the opportunity, afforded to all other citizens, to bring to their elected legislators their concerns in the hopes of having them addressed.
Only recently, in the Hernandez v. Robles case, the Court of Appeals ruled that there was no state constitutional right to same sex marriage, and that the proper forum for addressing such a matter was the Legislature, not the Courts.
Whatever I may think of that decision, it is not facially unreasonable, and many good people who support same sex marriage agreed with the Court’s logic. Some (even on “The Daily Gotham”) also argued that society, and the LGBT community, was ultimately better served by this decision being made through the legislative process.
Fine; in response, the LGTB community effectively organized and sold the State Assembly on same sex marriage, even getting the votes of a few Republicans. Many believe that if this bill is let on the Senate floor, something the Republicans have so far prevented, it will pass, even with the opposition of some Democrats, because enough Republicans will support it. Perhaps they are right; perhaps not.
But, now, Kruger, Espada and Diaz have promised that they will gum up the organization of the Senate unless, among others things, they are given a promise that a law to give state recognition to same sex marriages will not be allowed to come to the floor.
So, the Court of Appeals says "leave us alone, go to the Legislature," but Kruger, Espada and Diaz say, "You can’t do that, because even if you have the votes, we won’t let it come to the floor."
This is plainly an outrage. Those who say they favor same-sex marriage, but agreed with the Court, should be the most outraged of all at this attempt to tie up an entire state in an effort to deny to a minority group the opportunity given to all citizens to seek legislative redress of their concerns.
But, at least Ruben Diaz is acting out of a sincere but misguided belief in a wrathful God.
By contrast, since he forsook Fred Newman, it is doubtful that Pedro Espada believes in any deity, let alone the God of Wrath.
And , Carl Kruger, though embracing Wrath as an organizing principle (as he does unto others before they do unto him), is impressed only with superior beings he can see with own eyes, and even then, knows that even a County Leader (who he must sometime present with burnt offerings) is not truly omniscient.
Once Carl Kruger followed, as his guiding light, a politician named Tony Genovesi.
Although condemned by the likes of Gary Tilzer as the embodiment of evil, Genovesi, though one tough and often ruthless cookie, was also a Christian as devout as Ruben Diaz, who was guided by his moral center–a morality so unyielding that Genovesi stood up even for the constitutional rights of repugnant pedophiles like the North American Man Boy Love Association, because he considered it the right thing to do, even though Assemblymembers from far more liberal constituencies were voting the other way.
Devout Christians ask, WWDJ–What Would Jesus Do?
Carl, why not ask WWTD—What Would Tony Do?
He’d say: “Carl, be a fucking mensch!”
Contrary to the article, Kruger and Diaz were not openly part of the later coup staged by Espada and Monserrate, though they do seem to have helped serve as their intermediaries. And while during the coup Espada did use same sex marriage as one of the many tool in his arsenal, it was offered as an inducement to both sides. Espada was just as happy to pass it as to kill it to enhance his power. So, the Amigos were never about same sex marriage, and whatever the article’s other merits, it dumbs down our history to the point of meaninglessness. War Room: The case for outing closeted politicians www.salon.com
The recent death of my dad's friend, former Greenville SC Mayor Max Heller, the first victim of Lee Atwater, coupled with the rise of Herman Cain (and Allen West & Tim Scott) make this a timely movement to reprint this article about "The New Tolerant Intolerance" Baby Scratch My Back– I Got Love if You Want It (Michael Steele and The Politics of "The New Tolerant www.r8ny.com
Although the old kind of intolerant intolerance also survives.