In a recent appearance on “The Perez Notes,” I was asked why local NYC political blogs no longer attracted the enthusiasm they commanded during the halcyon Golden Age of the Politicker back in the ancient days of 2005. There were many things to blame and I repeated my usual suspects–which is that fragmentation, mostly caused by Ben Smith, had destroyed the community which Ben Smith had created. It seems these days the only way to get a good thread going is to have a trivial snit with a psychopath over practically nothing.
But I also cited a macro cause. People had moved on.
If Facebook existed in 2005, virtually no one who read the Politicker had a clue about it (although it could be argued that virtually no one who read the Politicker had a clue about anything). By the time people learned about FB‘s existence, the real hipsters had moved onto Twitter. Rob Perez asked me to predict the future, but I knew that I had no clue about the present. I told him that wherever the trends were moving in the future, Gatemouth would be there ten minutes after everyone else had already moved on to the next big thing.
As I’ve sometimes observed, I’ve been spending too much time on Facebook, tracking down every woman I ever desired who had failed to reciprocate, which in my case has yielded over 700 friends. Hour upon hour of catching up with people who never wanted to see me again has taken a tool on my writing and raised such questions as why did the first two girls I ever felt up both become Chabadniks?
Eventually, after discovering one too many just missed love connection, and pondering again how it would have changed the course of a life so altered, I eventually found that I had become a popular aggregator of slightly left of center news for an ever increasing bunch of people I’d never met, who wanted the Gatemouth they were not getting on Room 8. A former member of the Democratic State Committee put it thusly:
“Gatey, thank you for reminding me that there's a whole world of ideas out there apart from local politics. You make a great teacher!”
What should have been longer thought-pieces turned into snarky one liners with appropriate links, and pretty much killed off my publishing on this site. As I’ve noted more than once, unfinished pieces concerning Israel, Iran, nuclear arms, Republican insanity, health care, the implications of the 44th Councilmanic race, and the entire state government recusing itself from accountability and reality were piling up on Gatey’s G drive like planes over LGA.
But the reality was, I have dealt with virtually all of those matters, in bite sizes pieces, on my Facebook page.
The solution seems obvious.
A change of format.
I will still be posting longer pieces when the fancy strikes and the time is present to complete them, but for the time being, aggregation and aggravation will be my major mode of communication on this blog.
MEMO to SLATE: I am available to take Mickey Kaus’ slot. My quixotic run for the US Senate is over.
Here is a sample, some of it now dated, of what I’ve been up to lately. What follows is selections from my archive for this month, up to the present.
What does one do with a seven year old who requests blinis and caviar?–
May 3
Obama's disgusting pandering during the primaries against individual mandates was part of why I supported Hillary (http://www.r8ny.com/blog/gatemouth/ishtar.html). He was wrong then, and Mitt Romney was right–funny how they've now switched positions
Common Sense | The New Republic
I've been pretty outspoken against Bibi lately, but Mearsheimer's "if only the Jews would behave like good Christians” argument is veering very close to anti-Semitism here
Why Can't Jews Be More Like Noam Chomsky? | The New Republic
A good definition of what Pro-Israel & Pro-peace really means; harsh on Bibi, but also hard on left critics of Israel; money quote: "There are those on the European (and sometimes on the American) left that have moved into a simplistic, black-and-white worldview governed by what I call SLES, short for "Standard Left Explanatory System." SLES is a remainder of the guilt that many Europeans feel about their colonial past. Its algorithm is very simple: always support the underdog, particularly if non-Western. If the underdog behaves immorally (9/11; 7/7; Hamas hiding weaponry and fighters in civilian buildings), always accuse the West, and preferably Jews, for having pushed them to do this. Never demand non-Western groups to take responsibility for their actions, but instead masochistically look for ways to make the West responsible."
Strenger than Fiction / Jewish liberals from all nations, unite – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel N
www.haaretz.com
Though the right is surely worse, this phenom persists on both sides of the aisle–and as a liberal who's been bashed again and again by my own, I feel David Frum's pain. Moreover, closure is just stupid –the only way to win a battle is to understand the other side's mindset.
How to escape a partisan echo chamber. – By William Saletan
Is there a hole for me to get sick in?
Iran's election to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women is a joke. – By Anne Applebaum
www.slate.com
Some interesting observations here which might discomfort rightwingers, the ACLU and those from the anti-Brooklyn Bridge Park crowd who made fun of the "eyes on the park" argument. (Luck with a capital F to Dorothy Siegel and Danny Squadron)
Three lessons from the Times Square bomb. – By Fred Kaplan
www.slate.com
Let's applaud–a conservative Republican is making hamburger of their sacred cow
The GOP's Secret Speech | The New Republic
www.tnr.com
Sadistic and cruel, but fun: hung up on a pollster ten minutes into the interview
Bonus fun: it was Schneiderman's poll
G-d forbid we should make anyone wait until they purchase a gun, given it's such an impulse buy
Op-Ed Columnist – Congress, Up in Arms – NYTimes.com
www.nytimes.com
At last, some good news from the British election: Let's give this constituency's voters some RESPECT!
Election result: Poplar and Limehouse | The Jewish Chronicle
www.thejc.com
Like Stalin and Vito Lopez, the Republican Party finds nothing more intolerable than schismatics
Bennett Ousted at Utah G.O.P. Convention – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com
thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com
Who cares about judicial experience, or which kind of legal liberal she is–the real question is, did go out with client #9, and if so, did he wear socks?
LaurenceJarvikOnline: Elena Kagan's Hunter High School Yearbook Photo May 10
It maybe misogynistic to compare people to feminine hygiene products, but Boehner makes it hard to resist the temptation
Republicans Insert Name 'Kagan' Into Speeches Opposing Obama's Supreme Court Pick
www.huffingtonpost.com
Great choice–Malek knows where the bodies are buried (as long as the bodies have no foreskin)
Virginia Politics Blog – Democrats attack McDonnell's selection of Malek as government reform chairm
voices.washingtonpost.com
One would think supporting the Deficit Commission would be seen as a win/win by real conservatives; but they are more interested in their own version of a free lunch than they are in the good of our nation. If I were a conservative I might say "None dare Call it Treason"
Why Do Conservatives Hate The Deficit Commission? | The New Republic
www.tnr.com
Looking for the alternate power center in Brooklyn politics? This is it!
Fidler Rising | The New York Observer
I'd still allow the guy to go to his grandkid's bar mitzvah, but he's the most unlikely left hero since Steve Harrison
Goldstone And Apartheid (The Real Kind) | The New Republic
www.tnr.com
Why Goldstone gives me gallstones
The Goldstone Illusion | The New Republic
www.tnr.com
Gee, what were there, 43 presidents, and how many have been Protestants? 42? Poor Protestants, my heart bleeds borsht.
The real question, with Justices from Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and now Manhattan, is when is Obama gonna give Staten Island its due?
Put Bobby Gigante on the US Supreme Court, and poor kids from all over the country will get Teddy Bears at Christmas!
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: The Protestant-Free Court
www.fivethirtyeight.com
Alabama Republican accused of not being an ignoramus, denies it as a pernicious slur.
Alabama candidate denounces 'lie' that he believes in evolution – Ben Smith – POLITICO.com
www.politico.com
Even though I belong to one, I'm not reflexively pro-union (though I liked Andy Stern–which actually seems to have pissed off most of my pro-union friends); but this is both totally on-point and hilarious
Obama Pushes Thuggish Anti-Democratic "Majority Rule" Vote For Union Goons | The New Republic
www.tnr.com
No reason even a first to the post parliamentary system should bestow the government on the party first to the post. In Israel (not a first to the post system), it is the second place party which leads the government. I may despise Bibi (and I do), but who can doubt that this better reflects the will of the public? About 60% of Brits voted center/left. Why not a center left government?
Labor And Lib Dems: Why Not? | The New Republic
www.tnr.com
My G-d, this is the most brilliant thing I've ever read, and sums up the reason for 90% of the reason for my household’s sporadic bouts of marital tension. Any guess who asks and who guesses?
Ask, Don't Guess | The New Republic
www.tnr.com
All those on the left bitching about Kagan please note, Silver says she's mathematical preferable even if she proves more conservative (though perhpas she should shed a few pounds just to be on the safe side)
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: Value Over Replacement Justice
www.fivethirtyeight.com
I would say gunug (enough already) if the Upper West Side milieu didn't make it such a Seinfeld episode–not that there's anything wrong with it! Anyway, one wonders why she hasn't tried J-Date. Worked for Congressman Rothman (perhaps too nerdy and needy for Kagan) and it worked for GatemouthElena Kagan's friends: She's not gay – Ben Smith – POLITICO.com
www.politico.com
Not that there's anything wrong with it? (is it because she's from the UWS that I keep getting reminded of Seinfeld?)
Right seizes on false claim that Kagan's thesis shows she's a socialist | Media Matters for America
mediamatters.org
Maybe Steve Levy should just run for Governor of Arizona
Kinsley says the same old things he always says, but 1) he says them so well and 2) he's right
My Country, Tis of Me – Magazine – The Atlantic
www.theatlantic.com
Michael Steele uses 3/5ths of a brain to defend the constitution as originally witten.
The Plum Line – Michael Steele attacks Kagan's praise of Thurgood Marshall
voices.washingtonpost.com
Why did we not get a super-liberal justice; not because of politics, but because it is his preference. And those on the left shouldn't act surprised, because he's been saying it since even before he was in politics.
What Obama's choice of Kagan tells us abouthis judicial philosophy. – By Dahlia Lithwick
www.slate.com
The case against Arlen is surprisingly mostly pragmatic rather than principled, which is poetic justice (see also: http://www.r8ny.com/blog/gatemouth/born_on_the_first_of_april_a_film_by_oliver_stone.html
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: White House Case for Specter Support Unpersuasive
www.fivethirtyeight.com
Buchanan joins Fred Malek as another Nixon alumni specializing in Yid-counting (maybe he could help his friends in the Holocaust Denial community get their numbers right)
Pat Buchanan, Quota-Meister | The New Republic
www.tnr.com
Real friends don't let friends drive drunk
Obama's Campaign Theme Emerges | The New Republic
www.tnr.com
Doing the kiddush while Nina Simone sings "Mississippi G-dd-amn" in the background. Another shabbus in Brownstone Brooklyn.
A real find; in March, former future Vice Preisdent Dipstick complained that Obama wasn't enthusiastic enough about offshore drilling. Lord, please save me from saying something misogynist
Stall, Baby, Stall – Sarah Palin – The Corner on National Review Online
corner.nationalreview.com
Great Britain becomes Jersey City (home of the simultaneous mayoral run of the Manzo family, recently decimated by Dwek-gate)
Query: If there are two Milibands, will we next being seeing two Balls?
Britain's Labour Leadership Race: A (Mili)band of Brothers
www.time.com
Hamas and Hezbollah favor a "One State Solution," so any real friend of Israel should favor two (or three)
www.forthesakeofzion.org
The leading American intellectual voice making the liberal case for standing up to Islamist terror now makes the case for saving Liberal Zionism (for Israel's own good)
The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment | The New York Review of Books
www.nybooks.com
Some fairly spontaneous quibbles and comments.
The essay is not perfect, but it is approximately accurate
Interesting line: "this latter, liberal-democratic Zionism has grown alongside a new individualism, particularly among secular Israelis, a greater demand for free expression, and a greater skepticism of coercive authority. You can see this spirit in “new historians like Tom Segev who have fearlessly excavated the darker corners of the Zionist past and in jurists like former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak who have overturned Knesset laws that violate the human rights guarantees in Israel’s “Basic Laws.” You can also see it in former Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s apparent willingness to relinquish much of the West Bank in 2000 and early 2001."
I should note that moving some Israel Arab villages into a Palestinian state was actually discussed by Arafat and Barak–Lieberman is a stone racist, but the idea is not inherently evil, if those villages consent to it
One point I need make–I have little problem with Israel's Gaza policy–when a fiend is trying bleed you to death by means of small but seemingly inconsequential cuts, overwhelming force is not an unreasonable response
and it galls me when my own member of Congress endorses a reso saying Israel should be more liberal with the wall.
Two states I say; two states and good fences
it must also be noted this coalition's composition is pretty much the fault of Tzipi Livni, who could have joined it, and saved it from Lieberman as Foreign Minister and Shas as a partner
I'll also note I recently linked a highly critical article about "Human Rights Watch" whose record here is extremely problematic
the recent expulsions in East Jerusalem where not only wrong, they were stupid. Yes, there is some cogence to the claims of Jews expelled in 1948–but only if one goes down the slippery slope which leads to the Palestinian right of return.
I am perhaps more sympathetic with Israel's action is pursuit of security than is Beinart (shocking). But, that highlights even more where I think a line needs to be drawn–why piss off an American administration over housing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank? That housing has no strategic purpose. In fact, much of the settlement activity is an outright security nuisance. And why is Netanyahu pissing off