I pass on an email from a political wise person entitled "What all the geniuses missed":
"The Assembly did not pay 103k to the woma(e)n represented by Gloria Allred. That was her fee ("legal services"). Since the attorney was not a state employee they needed a voucher against a contract to pay her. If the press corps was not brain dead one of them could go to the Comptroller's Office and find out to whom the $103k went—they won't redact the name the way the Assembly did. The women (I've been told there were a few) as employees or former employees can be (and undoubtedly were) compensated simply by Assembly personnel submitting a big number for each of them to the Office of the State Comptroller (along with the payroll numbers for the other 1500 Assembly staffers.)"
Cuomo: Well that happens all the time, right?…You have a car accident. The state driver was negligent, the state pays damages. So the state often pays for damages of public officials.
Cuomo has a point; who can argue that the Assembly has not played a large role in allowing the legislature to become a hostile environment for women. Certainly, the state should be paying out some cash to the victims.
But, the malefactors should not be allowed to have the existence of such settlements suppressed from public scrutiny. Cuomo declines a chance to comment on the Assembly's Vito Lopez bailout | Capital New York www.capitalnewyork.com
And guess who agrees?
Suddenly, Shelly Silver has come to the blinding and seemingly self evident conclusion that it is wrong to secretly settle sexual harassment claims against an elected official without disclosing the facts of such a settlement’s existence, the factual allegations against that official and the factual findings as to whether those allegations are credible.
This is a guy you don't have to tell twice.
Four or five times will do.
Silver Regrets Making Settlement A Secret capitaltonightny.ynn.com
A very good vote counter privy to the grapevine says Seddio already has the votes to become the new Brooklyn Democratic Leader.
One might arguably call Seddio "Vito with a Human Face"–Frank knows how to smile and say "Thank You". Another big difference is that Seddio wants everyone to love him (Chris Christie would not be pleased) and Vito wanted everyone to fear him. Even if it was in Seddio’s nature to want to impose his will, one doubts it is within his nature to actually do so. Seddio lives in a mostly black neighborhood and his political club is perhaps the most integrated one in the City.
Anyway, the link is to Colin’s take on Seddio and presents “Five Facts” about him.
Does anyone really believe that Colin will be posting "Five Facts About Jo Anne Simon" anytime soon?
Colin Campbell like this. Five Facts About Frank Seddio, a Leading Candidate to Replace Vito Lopez politicker.com
Karim Camara as the "Reform/Progressive" candidate for County Leader?
Is he getting a sex change operation?
On his Facebook page, “reformer” Chris Owens seems appalled:
IT'S AMAZING HOW FOLKS CAN GET A HEAD OF STEAM IN THE MEDIA! MANY QUESTIONS YET TO BE ANSWERED …
Sorry Chris, but my guess is that, if there is any real threat to Seddio’s ascension (and I’m not sure there is), this is it. With the WFP behind it, the Camara move involves a few folks who actually have some real power.
However, the fact that Seddio's most serious opponent is someone who is ineligible to serve under the current rules tells you a lot about the current state of the race.
Further, the fact that the protege and handpicked Assembly successor of disgraced County Leader Clarence Norman is the candidate of the "progressives" tells you a lot about the state of the "progressives."
However, Camara has been a steadfast ally of the Governor, and if anything could change the results, it would be the Governor's intervention. Whether the Governor would want to further empower the WFP is an open question.
Camara’s record offers something for everyone. The first time the legislature voted on same sex marriage, he was undecided and missed the vote. The second time he missed the vote, but was against it. The third time, he voted yes, and offered a pretty useful explanation for his evolution.
To Camara’s credit, in his role as head of the legislature’s Black Hispanic and Asian Caucus, he fought valiantly against the egregious reapportionment bill. However, in the end, his own members voted 21-8 (with two excused absences) in FAVOR of the bill (and then had the chutzpah to file an amicus brief against what they had just voted for).
It may be Camara’s nature to want to impose his will, but like Seddio, one doubts it is within his nature to actually do so. It seems best to regard Camara as a work in progress.
Another thought; if the leaders of the Working Families Party want to help choose the Leader of the Democratic Party, perhaps they should consider becoming Democrats. Karim Camara Being Recruited As "Reform" Brooklyn Party Leader braggblog.com
Lincoln Restler should stop whining about Vito not resigning his Assembly seat and find a credible write-in candidate to run against him.
Here's a suggestion.
Lincoln, if Vito listened to your advice, he would be allowed to handpick his successor. If you want him out, isn't it preferable to try to beat him? Party’s over! Vito Lopez cedes Democratic party post amid harassment allegations www.brooklyndaily.com
Ray Donovan famously said "where do I go to get my reputation back?"
Vito Lopez seems to be asking the same question.
The Governor has helpfully provided an answer; he’s called for a JCOPE investigation.
Vito's response should be to ask for a JCOPE investigation himself (of the allegations against him, not just of the cover-up).
Given his protestations of innocence, Lopez should welcome the opportunity to clear his name and agree to testify under oath.
Failing that, he should stop whining about people drawing their own conclusions.
Gov. Cuomo: JCOPE Should Investigate Sexual Harrassment Allegations Against Vito Lopez www.nydailynews.com
Here's something novel: a Juan Gonzalez accusation about the Rangel/Espaillat race which is actually credibly sourced.http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/manhattan-democrat-leader-board-elections-sabotage-adriano- www.nydailynews.com
Dan Halloran continues "yellow-baiting" Grace Meng, and makes up outrageous accusations from whole clothe.
Did he mistake her for a Sanitation worker? Halloran Insinuates Meng Would Have Been Complicit in Father’s Alleged Crimes [Video] politicker.com
Chris Bragg documents the inextricable links between David Storobin, whose platform can be summed up as "a vote for Simcha Felder is a vote for Obama and is thereby a threat to the Jews,” and Dan Halloran, who wants Israel-bashing Ron Paul to be the Leader of the Free World. Would-be congressman Dan Halloran campaigns big, on a shoestring | Capital New York www.capitalnewyork.com
The Forward joins Gate in endorsing informed consent for metzizah b’pen (even making some of the same arguments), calling it "a practice Jews started abandoning about 150 years ago, when medical knowledge and communal sensibilities persuaded even many revered rabbis to sanction safer alternatives to clean the wound."
Money point: "It’s clear that this controversy is more than a public health dispute. It is about the autonomy of religious leadership and the imperative of maintaining tradition. It is also reflects deep anxieties about the broader circumcision debate — a worry that allowing government officials to have a say over one religious practice would open the door to more robust interference.
In fact, it may have the opposite effect. “Making metzitzah b’peh about the fight about circumcision has implications for the entire Jewish community,” [said] Marc Stern, general counsel of the American Jewish Committee…
…In Europe, where fervent secularists are pushing governments to ban circumcision, where a German rabbi was criminally charged for doing what Jews have done for centuries, the argument is about the pain and disfigurement experienced by the infant boy. It’s an argument that is easily refuted, by weighing those real consequences with, in our mind, the far more important value of maintaining a singular religious tradition, one that actually has serious health benefits to the infant.
But if metzitzah b’peh is inextricably linked to Brit Milah and has been proven to be potentially dangerous to the infant, then opponents of circumcision have a far more potent argument in their arsenal." Do No Harm forward.com
Room 8 Line-Up Change:
Rock has been benched from Democratic Convention coverage by family medical issues (send him and his your prayers).
Whether someone will be pich hitting and playing long relief seems to be a work in progess.