What a waste–New York gets some worthless position on a second rate committee when we could have had Chelsea Clinton in Congress (an idea I shot down over a year ago). http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/12/04/nita-lowey-house-appropriations/1746723/
John Sampson's offer to step aside as NYS Democratic Leader if his party is allowed to organize the Senate is nearly as gracious as it is pointless.
For nearly two years, the IDC has made it crystal clear that it would not support John Sampson to be Senate Leader, and that they were perfectly open to a deal with Dean Skelos–they'd already made such a deal when control of the Senate did not hang in the balance.
The Sen Dems, many of whom were unhappy with Sampson themselves, could have taken action when it might have meant something. They failed to do so.
Alternatively, they could have taken a principled stand against blackmail and stood behind Sampson to send their own message. This option might have been less renumerative, but it did have some advantages of its own.
But the offer to dump Sampson now, is just as pointless as administering a dead man an enema–except that giving a dead man an enema causes no harm.
At this point, the offer to dump Sampson is not only too little too late, but a craven embarrassment. I think the effort to dump should have come sooner, but at this point, it's almost an act of integrity to thumb your nose at the Iguana conference and stand by your man, warts and all. http://capitaltonightny.ynn.com/2012/12/sampson-says-hell-step-down-if-dems-unite-in-senate/
Sharpton's lost a lot of weight, but apparently, there still enough of him left to play good cop and bad cop at the same time.
However, there are some indications that it may be working. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/love_for_gov_in_race_rift_lXU8JH0C5GmtFtRXXDk2xL
CORRECTION: I was annoyed to discover that, in retyping a quote I recently used from a Jack Newfield book, I accidently omitted some words so that the point I was trying to make (that the IDC’s deal with the Senate Republicans has no resemblance to Bobby Kennedy’s efforts in a 1965 leadership fight) got obscured. The article has since been corrected to reflect the actual quote:
“Although a majority of Democrats supported both Steingut and Bronston for leadership, Travia and Zaretski refused to accept the verdict of the party caucus and took their case before the entire legislature even though twenty one of the thirty three Senate Democrats voted for Bronston, and Steingut, at times, outpolled Travia by a vote for 52 to 35. With the Republicans voting for their own candidates, no one approached a majority”
Unlike many others, Josh Benson gets it concerning Chirlane McCrary’s former vegan diet: "This is of course not a scandal. And for that matter I actually don't see why it's any less likely to help de Blasio than it is to hurt him." http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2012/12/6787114/chirlane-mccray-political-asset
I was just thinking how much more popular I'd be if I could only learn to be as unfunny as Sean Delonas. http://politicker.com/2012/12/mayoral-candidates-blast-ny-post-for-cartoon-mocking-bill-de-blasio-and-chirlane-mccray/
In the Inbox:
MEDIA ADVISORY
CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
YETTA KURLAND TO MAKE MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
New York, NY – Civil rights attorney, educator, radio host, small business owner and community activist, Yetta Kurland to make a major announcement on the steps of City Hall on Monday, December 10, 2012 at 1pm.
Gee, I wonder what that could be?
Yetta nuther run for City Council.
Same Sex Marriage as the "The Triumph of the Conservatives" (Part 345,876)
George Will: “There is something like an emerging consensus…Quite literally, the opposition to gay marriage is dying. It’s old people.”
Gatemouth (4/18/09): In the long run, the fight to stop same-sex marriage is probably doomed. The foundations of this sort of cultural conservatism are crumbling as we speak. My five year old son already believes that gay couples can get married, because he’s seen two-mommy and two-daddy families in his religious-based nursery school, as well as at the public school he now attends. http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/12/09/1306251/matalin-unwed-marriage/?mobile=nc
Romney was the candidate of the 47% in every sense of the term. http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/12/three-counties-in-kentucky-151076.html
Politics imitates Art Department:
TIMES: You recently resigned as president of the Christian-affiliated King’s College after it was reported that you brought a woman to a Christian convention and introduced her as your fiancée when neither of you had actually divorced your spouses. Did you do anything wrong?
DINESH D'SOUZA: I exercised imprudent judgment. In Christianity there is no intermediate status of being separated. I asked an attorney if there is anything problematic with being engaged while separated, and I was informed absolutely not.
TIMES: You wrote, “I had no idea that it is considered wrong in Christian circles.” I am not a Christian, but I’d guess that it would be high on the list of wrong things.
D'SOUZA: What I meant was I didn’t know what rule of Christian morality it violates. I recognize that there would be people who might say Dinesh has only met this woman a few months ago, Dinesh is rushing into things. But that is completely different from saying Dinesh is violating one of the Ten Commandments. Imprudent is not the same thing as wrong.
Mr. Lippman: It's come to my attention that you and the cleaning woman have engaged in sexual intercourse on the desk in your office. Is that correct?
George Costanza: Who said that?
Mr. Lippman: She did.
George Costanza: Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorence on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing is frowned upon… you know, cause I've worked in a lot of offices, and I tell you, people do that all the time.
Mr. Lippman: You're fired!
George Costanza: Well, you didn't have to say it like that. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/magazine/dinesh-dsouza-looks-ahead.html?ref=magazine
Missy LeHandjob? http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2012/12/hyde_park_on_hudson_starring_bill_murray_reviewed.html