When I first heard the Chelsea for Congress story, my response was “this reeks of bullshit,” as Nita Lowey does not appear to be retiring, though perhaps there are some who'd like to push her out.
Subsequent follow-up proved this trial balloon was full of hot air, but not enough to keep it afloat.
For the record, Westchester is not particularly keen on giving its seat in Congress to carpetbagging female celebrities.
In 1986, they chose to keep lame brain Joe DioGuardi rather than elect Manhattanite Bella Abzug, whose Westchester CV was actually stronger than Chelsea's. It’s easy to elect a carpetbagger to the US Senate, but one generally wants their Congressperson to know the turf. Chelsea Clinton Mulls Congressional Run from New York State; 18th District in Westchester County Con www.newrochelletalk.com
Yes, I've been screaming that the Occupy folks need to make some demands, so I'm glad that Occupy Albany is calling for keeping the Millionaires' Tax, and I understand their position opposing layoffs of public employees, even though my take is somewhat more nuanced.
But no matter where you stand on legalization of marijuana and stopping hydraulic fracturing, official support by the Occupiers of those positions in this context is really taking one’s eye off the ball.
And creating a NYS Peace Department seems an awful indulgence, even if all our real needs were being met, which they aren’t.
Finally, there is a name for a proposal calling for fining the news media when they disseminate statistics someone finds misleading: “UNCONSTITUTIONAL!” (and perhaps “quasi-fascistic”). 'Occupy Albany' vs 'Governor 1 Percent' cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com
The picture accompanying this article indicates that among those who made Vito's march were members of the Buddy Scotto-Real Estate Industrial Complex; Buddy's daughter Debra will likely be challenging Reform District leader Jo Anne Simon next year as Vito's handpicked candidate.
And word is Simon made it as well, which surely drove Vito nuts, which might alone justifies her presence, though Lincoln Restler appears to feel otherwise.
I’m on record saying this rally, which embraced a very specific proposal, was a good idea, if only for that reason alone–so I can hardly criticize people for attending it.
But let's face facts; the whole purpose of the rally was flag wrapping, but a dead mackerel wrapped in American flag still smells, even if you salute it, and no matter how many condiments you put on a dead mackerel sandwich, its nature is not altered.
So if one feels as Simon does about Lopez, one probably would not want to assist him in attracting a crowd, even if it pissed him off.
And does anyone believe Buddy Scotto really wants to pay more in taxes? Vito Lopez Leads Occupy Wall Street Protest; ‘Write About How This Was A Successful March’ | The New www.observer.com
A few observations about Vito Lopez's so-called charm offensive:
1) What Vito considers charm, many folks find offensive.
2) Why would anyone express shock at the idea that Lopez favor's things like the "Millionaires' Tax"? Lopez favors government having sufficient resources. Lopez's political empire is built on government having sufficient resources.
3) Why is the press so infatuated with the idea that "New Kings Democrats" is the Brooklyn Reform movement? To cite one contrary example, Vito got his ass kicked by Reformers far worse in the Brooklyn Heights based 52nd AD than in NKD's Williamsburg stronghold, where Regulars still hold the Female District Leadership.
4) Vito can criticize "reformers" all he wants for backing Ed Towns for a vacant District Leadership, but Towns' election would have been a victory for pluralism. On a Party Executive Committee where Lopez already handpicks 11 members, "reformers" are quite within their rights to take pluralism any way they can get it.
5) I can personally attest that Lopez is not lying about the work he did for loft tenants, or the support he attracted from them. He also deserves credit for supporting same sex marriage given his socially conservative district, but credit there is mitigated by the fact that it is to his advantage to support it as a Democratic County Leader. On a charm offensive, misunderstood Brooklyn boss Vito Lopez plays defense | Capital New York www.capitalnewyork.com
A couple of observations concerning Reid Pillifant's article about Hakeem Jeffries:
1) Chris Owens continues to puzzle. He seems more concerned with who a candidate is allied with in local Party leadership struggles than who would make a better member of Congress or vote better on the issues. This is more the frame of analysis of a hack than a "reformer."
In that context, Owens comment "I think this would be a wholly unnecessary bloodbath regardless of the outcome, which could really distract from what we need to be building in 2012," is especially distressing.
2) Towns is in trouble, but Pillifant seems to overestimate how much.
Towns lost a race for District Leader? It was a vote among members of the Party's Countywide Executive Committee, not the voters. And actually, among those members whose districts overlap Town's Congressional District, Towns did relatipretty well.
Pillifant also says:
"And in July, Towns’ daughter Deidra finished third in a three-way special election to replace her brother, despite a vigorous push by the congressman to see her elected to the seat.
The 54th Assembly District is just one part of the 10th Congressional District, but the two candidates who ran against her—one supported by the country organization and another by the reformers and labor-backed Working Families Party—together accounted for just over 75 percent of the vote, with Deidra Towns receiving just 23 percent.
ASSUMING THAT'S ANY KIND OF INDICATOR OF THE STANDING within the district of Towns himself, the odds would have to be pretty good for anyone who's challenging him with undivided support from the antis."
Actually that's an awful big assumption.
Most of the 54th AD is outside of Towns' Congressional District. In the 2008 Presidential Primary, Towns' Congressional District accounted for 37% of the 54th AD’s turnout in the Presidential primary (and that is probably an exaggerated total, since black voters participation was accelerated by the Obama campaign).
Further, the small portion of the 54th in the Towns CD only account for 3.4% of the Congressional district's votes. Hakeem Jeffries musters a Bookeresque coalition for Congress: Reformers, machine and all | Capital N www.capitalnewyork.com
Redistricting: the foreplay is just beginning; in the end, reformers are going to be screwed silly. Cuomo: Redistricting Veto Could Create "Chaos" www.nydailynews.com
The delusional nature of Republican State Senate hopeful David Storobin (a man whose raving are sometimes linked on white supremacist hate sites) is perhaps best exemplified by his calling one of the NYC Council’s most moderate members, Lew Fidler, a "leftist radical" and an "extremist" and saying he "voted for every possible tax hike."
In actuality, Fidler steadfastly opposed congestion pricing (a matter on which we disagree) and has been one of the Council most strident voices against property tax increases, voting against them three times, and cutting the Mayor a new one in the process. Brooklyn GOP Vice-Chair David Storobin: The banks did not bailed themselves out. Politicians did. |. citizensmagazine.com Citizensmagazine
Ryan is a realist; he's a magical realist. The Ideological Fantasies of Inequality Deniers nymag.com
Fun list; this one alone speaks a truth too few dare to admit:
RACHEL MADDOW: MSNBC host Rachel Maddow gets a lot of credit for her quirky intellect. A fawning New York magazine profile began with a lengthy vignette about her on-air musings on Dadaism, as well as her impressive resumé—she’s a Rhodes scholar and an Oxford Ph.D., in case you didn’t know. But Maddow is a textbook example of the intellectual limitations of a perfectly settled perspective. She knows the answers even before she has the questions. The truth about everything is completely obvious to her. She seems utterly incapable of doubt or complication. Her show is a great tribute to Fox, because it copies the Fox style exactly. Reality Check: TNR Names DC’s Most Over-Rated Thinkers | The New Republic www.tnr.com
At last, someone tells the tale of legendary Brooklyn Political Scoundrel Miltie the Weasel. I believe Miltie's patronage job was to test horse urine at Aqueduct.
I'm proud to say that I once decked Miltie the Weasel and knocked him to the ground. Fidler was so impressed, he made me Sargent at Arms of his club. The Club talesfromthesausagefactory.wordpress.com
Great book falls into the hands of perhaps the worst possible director.
Anyway, I nominate Scorsese in stone’s place; he lived in Little Italy during the time of the Lower Manhattan Expressway and would bring real passion to the story. Oliver Stone to direct HBO film based on 'The Power Broker,' 1974 book about Robert Moses www.nydailynews.com
Well, that's a relief; I was afraid it was drugs. Amy Winehouse Killed by Alcohol, Not Drugs www.slate.com