Gate: Dybbuk, be a mensch.
Dybbuk: I don't want to be a mensch; I'd rather be a mamzer.
Exhibit one in rebuttal to my criticism of the Queens GOP for not running candidates.
Given the hateful, lying, bags of puss they do run, perhaps their restraint is actually a public service. Queens Crap: GOP candidate is kinda nuts queenscrap.blogspot.com
Exhibit two in rebuttal to my criticism of the Queens GOP for not running candidates.
Given the dubious company this character keeps, he may actually be the first subject of a Curtis Sliwa diatribe who does not arouse my sympathy. John Gotti, Jr. Attends State Senate Candidate's Fundraiser www.cityandstateny.com
I once worked for a candidate who had the misfortune to have a Yiddish translator use a word for trash incinerators which was also used for gas ovens, so I'm not sure one can entirely blame Simcha Felder for the contents of his flyer (though he is surely more fluent in written Yiddish than Joan Millman).
However, even in its most innocent interpretation this piece is so repugnant that is almost disgraceful enough to have come from the campaign of his opponent, David Storobin. Simcha Felder's holiday newspaper | Capital New York www.capitalnewyork.com
Without taking a position, one has to note that, unlike Abe George, potential Hynes challenger Kenneth Thompson appears to be a legal heavyweight and potentially a heavyweight opponent for the incumbent DA. Kenneth Thompson, attorney for D.S.K. accuser, considering run for Brooklyn D.A. | Capital New York www.capitalnewyork.com
Don't Ban Pamela Geller.
Answer Her! Pro-Muslim Ads Begin Appearing In NYC Subway transportationnation.org
Goldberg: Extremist Jewish groups and individuals are pushing for a change in the religious status quo on the Mount. For many years after the Six Day War, religious custom, and the warnings of rabbis, kept Jews off the Mount (the general belief is that walking atop the Mount risks treading on the spot over the Temple's Holy of Holies), but messianic feeling has infected a portion of the religious Jewish population, which would like to see the Third Temple rise on the site….Jews, of course, have a right to pray atop their holiest site, but exercising that right in an explosive atmosphere is foolish and counterproductive, and the Israeli government needs to do all it can do to preserve the status quo….this is not fair…if the Palestinian leadership, and the broader Muslim leadership, would simply recognize that Jews have a deep connection to the Mount, much of this fever would dissipate, on both sides. But we also have to deal with the reality we are in, and we also have to face the unfortunate fact that exercising this "right" in the current political and theological atmosphere could get people — Jews and Muslims — killed. The Flashpoint of the World www.theatlantic.com
Chait describes the slow painful death of moderate Republicanism in excruciating detail.
Highlights:
1) Michigan Governor George Romney (with his teenage son, Mitt) storming out of the 64 GOP convention and subsequently penning a twelve-page letter to Goldwater (a candidate whose views would put him to Mitt's left) explaining why he had not endorsed him.
2) Nixon screwing over Mitt's mom
3) "Alumni of the Ripon Society—the most influential of the moderate Republican organizations of the 1960s—took an informal poll of themselves in 2002… and they discovered that three-quarters identified themselves by this point as independents or Democrats." How the GOP Destroyed its Moderates www.tnr.com
The problem with focusing on Romney as a flip-flopper is that is actually the image he wants and needs to sell: The hardcore super-competent pragmatist wed to no ideology but whatever works.
If Romney is portrayed as a soulless coldblooded opportunist whose allegiance is entirely ruled by expedience, he wins. http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/can-obama-discredit-the-new-romney.html nymag.com
Sully: Lies work when they are unrebutted live on stage. And momentum counts at this point in the election… And after Romney's convincing Etch-A-Sketch, convincing because Obama was incapable of exposing it, Romney is now the centrist candidate, even as he is running to head up the most radical party in the modern era. Did Obama Just Throw The Entire Election Away? andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com
Sully follow-up: And if a fast-backfiring Sesame Street ad was the Obama campaign's response to the implosion of last week, I'm not reassured. Seriously: after your entire agenda has been stolen from you by one of the most shameless con-men in politics on live TV, you decide that the way to come back is by playing the Big Bird card? That's why I'm worried. Obama's Implosion Update andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com
Rock: Since 2006, I have written around 500 columns that are still in my archives here. Back in 2007, I predicted that Barack Obama will be the next US president. Two months prior to the Iowa caucus I predicted he will win it, on the way to the presidency. I still feel deep down that were I some white-male political commentator (and not just some obscure Negro adjunct university-lecturer in politics, media and communication theory), those predictions would have been heralded way beyond Hilary Clintons’ campaign manger’s glowing tribute, at the 2008 Dems convention….
…Now, let’s be conscious of the fact that I have written and spoken on this before. For almost two years now, I have predicted that the Republicans will nominate Willard Mitt Romney with disastrous consequences for their political party: go search my archives for the column published on April 4th, 2012 (“It Won’t Even Be Close”).
If I had a gun placed against my testes and was forced to predict the results of the Presidential race, I too would say "Obama," (mostly because the smartest man in America still says so) and this is certainly the result I hope for, but at times like this, when Rock wields his credentials and his record as a prognosticator, I feel compelled to take up his suggestion and search his archives.
This is what I found (from 10/18/10):
Rock: I am sure you have heard all the recent predictions from so-called political experts: of gloom and doom for democrats in next month's nationwide elections. They have been saying that polling results are showing a large enthusiasm gap between democrats and republicans in near every state, which would translate into gains for republicans in both federal and state legislatures. They say more republicans will turn out to vote than democrats, and that this has been fueled by the Tea Party movement. I caution people to consider this: polls are just snapshots in time, and as such they are subject to overnight change. I also caution people that the same movement (Tea Party) ostensibly driving republican turnout, could likewise motivate Dem turnout. Perceptions that President Obama is being disrespected by certain elements within the Republican party, will surely spur turnout in this midterm election, and as such I expect that there will be a slightly higher nationwide voter-turnout than what historically occurs in mid-term elections. I predict that election-night results will show democrats in surprisingly good shape compared to the predictions: there will be some hemorrhaging as expected, but it wouldn't be a bloodbath as the pundits predict. I expect Democrats to retain both houses of Congress.
FreedomParty: Wow… You went out on a limb with that one bruh. I say that there will be a bloodbath in November, with the head of the dumbocrats in the senate getting knocked off by Sharon Angle. Are the unemployment and FRAUDclosure numbers just a snapshot in time? On top of that, here's the October surprise: Ben Bernanke's QE2 hyper inflation the dollar.
Rock: Can we make a little wager? I say Democrats hold on to both HOR and Senate; what do you say? A bottle of scotch whiskey? Or sherry? If you win both I pay up. If we hold the House you pay up. LOL
Gate: Did you do a Nate Silver here Rock, and individually analyze all 535 races before coming to your conclusions?
Rock: not really………I have been on top of the key races for weeks now and I don't see a wipe-out like they are calling. I see some minimal repugnican gains that's all. They have a hard way to go to get the senate. And getting the house is just as hard. Obama has more support than the polls are showing.
Gate: The US Senate is relatively easy…and I agree with your conclusion. There are potentially 100 house seats in play, less than ten currently held by Dems. I think a seat by seat analysis would be in order before one prognosticated based on hunches about the national trend.
Rock: Gatey: I have lectured on politics,media,marketing,communications,black studies and such for over 20 years. I do pay a lot of attention to these areas my friend. I have to. I read a lot. I watch and listen a lot more. I am not just guessing. After all, we both bring many extraneous things to our analysis don't we? I rarely ever question your analysis because I respect that you know what you are doing,and also know exactly what you are writing about -way beyond speculation and gut-feelings (which sometimes help/BTW). I have been following the 2010 mid-term elections (academically) since I went to Washington last year January. One of the reasons is because I have had to lecture in a new area over the last 18 months (Public Policy and Congress). I don't see this wipe-out that MSM seems to be projecting. Losses by a new president in mid term elections are easily predictable; in fact that's what history has shown many times over during the last century. Contrary to what many say, Barack Obama is a different kind of president no matter how much he pisses off people all over the political spectrum. He has loyal followers who love and adore him. Their perceptions are that he is being unfairly attacked and disrespected because of his race. The media folks aren't filtering-in the fact that many are going to show up to help him stem the bloodletting. Blacks and Hispanics are going to show up and save a few seats for democrats -all over this country. Maybe I am just reading the tea-leaves from a different angle when compared to most other media types (including you?). A COLUMN FOR EVERYONE INTERESTED IN THE OUTCOME OF NEXT MONTH’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. | Room Eight www.r8ny.com
After that, A Peace Offering For Rock:
Obit for the first Trini born member of Congress Mervyn Dymally, Who Broke Racial Barriers in California, Dies at 86 www.nytimes.com
FYI Top 10 Vulnerable Members : Roll Call Special Features Election Preview www.rollcall.com
CORRECTION:
Gate: Unreported, except probably in the Advance, where it counts, is 61st AD Assembly incumbent Matt Titone’s Independence Party victory against his Republican opponent, Paul Saryian, 58.82% to 41.18%.
In actuality, the Advance didn't notice until a day later.
Coincidence? Titone declared winner over Saryian, by 15 votes, in Staten Island Independence primary www.silive.com
CORRECTION: According to Joe Hayon, I owe Abe Tischler an apology for saying that if elected to the State Senate, Tischler would vote for Skelos to be Leader, because, most likely, Tischler would abstain or vote for Ruben Diaz.
I’m not sure which is more preposterous, the idea of promising not to cast a vote for leader (or throw one away), or the idea we should waste any time worry about what will happen if Tischler is elected to the State Senate (he’s still running on the School Choice ticket).