Memo to OK Occupy Wall Street (and Occupy Albany): The Governor tried to fuck you; will you now at least endorse the "Millionaire's Tax?
Remember, revenge tastes sweet at nearly any temperature.
The Governor has a long history of inflicting nasty wounds, but rarely has he so effectively inflicted one upon himself. Capitol Confidential » Is Occupy Albany about Cuomo? Is it now? blog.timesunion.com
A wonderful cartoon (courtesy of those reactionaries at “Daily Kos”) which illustrates the neat point that winning elections tends to increase the influence of those who backed the winners.
It is the suspicion of many liberal who are skeptical of Occupy Wall Street that the movement is intent upon sending exactly the opposite message. Daily Kos: Midterm Exam www.dailykos.com
Though it cites Doug Schoen's observation that "The demonstrators believe in redistribution of wealth, government-provided health care and education no matter what it costs, increased regulation and protectionist trade legislation," this article actually refutes it:
"The picture that emerged is a motley conglomeration of people with widely varying goals—and some with no clear-cut goals at all other than to denounce greed. The movement is centered on unemployed or underemployed college students and college dropouts whose refrain is that their American inheritance has been squandered and their prospects are bleak. But there also is a tolerance—and, sometimes, sympathy—for causes well outside of the mainstream."
In other words, nothing that we did not already know. Democrats Face Dilemma Over Protests online.wsj.com
The Arab Spring begets the American Autumn, which begets the Islamic Winter. Occupy Wall Street Spreads to Iran | PolitickerNY www.politickerny.com
Cohen eviscerates those crying wolf about OWS anti-Semitism (and takes a few slaps at OWS in the process):
"Kristol's cri de wolf…was taken up by Jennifer Rubin, The Washington Post's conservative blogger, who noted the Kristol group's “eye-popping ad”…she fashioned a veritable pogrom out of pretty close to thin air and demanded, “Where is the outrage?” I have a better question: Where are the anti-Semites?….
…This right-wing attempt to discredit both the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Democratic Party's hesitant embrace of it is reprehensible. It's made possible, however, because no one this side of the moon knows precisely what the Occupy Wall Street movement is trying to do. On a daily basis it marches off to some location to highlight what we all know – that Wall Street guys are rich – and their slogans suggest a tired socialism that is as repugnant to me as the felonious capitalism that produced the mortgage bubble and the impoverishment of millions of Americans…
…On a given day, I decide that Occupy Wall Street is about nothing and then I decide it is the Herman Cain campaign in aggregate, just a media event that has captured the flea-thoughts of many Americans. Then I decide it is an incoherent articulation of anger at the institutions that have failed us, including – by way of both self-pity and self-flagellation – the media. It seems above all a conspiracy to have left-leaning writers make jackasses of themselves by imparting grave and grand meaning to what is little more than a vast sleepover.
The imputation of anti-Semitism, however, adds gravitas to this lighthearted event….It produced alarm on the Internet, Jewish smoke signals alerting the ethnically twitchy to the presence of enemies and the demand that Obama, already suspected of harboring furious anti-Israel sentiments, do something. But there is nothing to be done – except to condemn anyone who uses anti-Semitism to advance a political agenda. To quote some of them: Where's the outrage?" No sign of anti-Semitism at Occupy Wall Street encampment www.nydailynews.com
In a stunning burst of ignorance (even for her), Andrea Peyser condemns Abe Foxman for being insufficiently sensitive to anti-Semitism.
But the stoopidest thing here is her complaint about the Hasidic run bus line, which forces women to sit in the back, being ordered by the City to halt the practice.
Her complaint is that the likely-to-be-evicted Mosque near Ground Zero has a fantasy of one day building a swimming pool which will be gender segregated, and that the Mosque segregates people who come to pray according to religion. And that no one is complaining.
Peyser: "Mosques, evidently, are excluded from the law requiring all people to be treated equally."
Yes, Andrea, Mosques are excluded; also Churches and Synagogues. It’s called “The Religious Free Exercise Clause” of the Bill of Rights.
On the other hand, religiously affiliated private athletic facilities not receiving government funding are a somewhat trickier, more fact specific inquiry.
But, there's no trick about a bus line operating under a government franchise. Such an entity cannot discriminate.
Nonetheless, the Post deserves kudos for its pioneering efforts to give employment opportunities to the brain dead. The hate in Zuccotti www.nypost.com
Chait puts Rovevellian strategy under the microscope and finds it toxic. Karl Rove’s Blueprint for Stopping a Jobs Bill nymag.com
Wish I'd written this. How to Speak Republican www.huffingtonpost.com
Wish I'd written this, part two (There's also an article attached to the photo; I have no idea if it's worth reading) The Untold Story Of The Actual Obama Record, Ctd andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com
Even without a smoking gun (and I didn't see one), this article implying a Markowitz regime of “pay to play” involving the Beep’s charitable groups is not unfair, and raises questions worth asking, even though they aren't really answered (having watched the powerless Senator Markowitz once try to whine some money for his concerts out of my brother, I think it can be argued that rather than “pay him to play”, Markowitz’s real technique is “pay him to leave me alone, already.”
Moreover, the article is squishy soft on Bloomie, actually saying "Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a billionaire, has his own charity that does extensive work in the city, but it is largely self-financed."
However, if I recall correctly, in the past, issues have been raised about so-called Bloomberg "pay to play", where those seeking favor were supposedly "encouraged" to contribute to some of the Mayor's favorite causes.
I don't have the time, but surely this is a topic worth looking into for someone without a life.
Calling Gary Tilzer. For Brooklyn Leader, Marty Markowitz, Mix of Business, Charity and Power www.nytimes.com
From a Slate collection of the best articles by and about Woody comes this 1977 Allen gush over "Earl The Pearl" Monroe.
Unlike Woody, I actually got to meet with Earl in 77. I was a cashier at Alexander's department store in Paramus (which housed the world's largest and ugliest outdoor mural).
Vernon Earl Monroe Jr. came to my register with over a thousand bucks worth of purchases, and his credit card was rejected. The manager waved the sale thru regardless. The whole store came to my station with basketballs for Vernon to autograph.
For my trouble, I was given a Xerox copy of the credit card receipt, which the store manager eventually came to take away before I left for the day.
All in all, I did better in 1981 meeting Dick Nixon, who I recognized from the rear (the jowls):
"You're from Bergen County, too son; where from?" said the most notorious man in America. "Paramus," I replied. "Paramus," said Nixon, "that's where all the great shopping centers are."
I not only got the autograph, but got lucky from showing off it off that night (incredibly enough, to another worker in a Democratic campaign). SportsFeat : A Fan’s Notes on Earl Monroe www.sportsfeat.com