A funny thing happened on the way to part two of this column: it died. Beyond finishing up my post-election analysis with some political gems, I had hoped to bring some nuggets of insight into what has been happening to this district in the past 16 years; but at the last minute I realized that there is a level of futility to all this. Most of the residents-and also most of the voters- of this district are really not interested in any of this. Political issues aren’t really salient to their everyday lives. This is why our inept black-elected officials aren’t held accountable.
Look, I didn’t just come to this realization today; I have been aware of voter apathy and “citizen-civic-irresponsibility” for decades. I am no virgin to politics; I have been involved in politics all my life. Contrary to my detractors, I have been fuelled to political activism, not because of money, glory or power, but because of my roots and also because of my idealism. So instead of sending my editors a column on this past election, I sent them instead one month’s notice. Yes, in one month I will be leaving Room8.
For your edification, I believe that Room 8 will be celebrating its first anniversary on March 26th of this year. You see, last year I lost the argument amongst the pioneer bloggers here, as to whether to allow people to comment anonymously on this site. I (for one) wanted people to sign up with their name, address, phone numbers, e-mail, etcetera, so that those who cast aspersions from behind their cowardly masks would have no vehicle for their pusillanimous subterfuge. Any persons who wanted to comment had to expose themselves to public scrutiny. After losing that initial battle, I told my editors that I would revisit that argument in a year. So now I am. I am more certain than before that this policy should be introduced.
Week before last (Wednesday) a large snow storm hit NYC catching me in the midst of flying out of town to attend a backgammon tourney on the pro-circuit. Since I happen to play chess, backgammon and scrabble on the pro-am circuit, I am sometimes flying off to various places at strange times. At the airport I met someone who was a fan of my blog on Room8, and at the tourney I met another person (Republican, not from NY) who professed to be a fan of my columns also. This is nothing new, since I have encountered fans from as far away as Europe recently. It is obvious that Room 8 is read far and wide, but no matter how many profess to be positive about my writings, there are a few people (some of my detractors) who lack the moral courage to support my success without a certain measure of envy. They shouldn’t be allowed to perpetually attack me behind their “anonymous” masks. I put myself on the line when I take my positions openly; so should they.
For the past few days -ever since I did Part One of this article- I have been bombarded with hits on my lifestyle, integrity, character, morality and the like, from (as usual) “brave” anonymous people. Today, one even suggested that I was gay (boy, EnWhySeeWonk and Gatemouth sure would have a laugh at this one). Most of these vitriolic comments have been zapped by the editors (and I had hoped they wouldn’t have done that), since some were really over the top. For posterity I had kinda wanted them to stay on the site, but like many times in the past both here, and on other blog sites, the editors in their infinite wisdom chose to zap them. Thus if you follow the threads in a few of my columns you will see many “zaps”. If my editors allow them to roam free it then continues to takes away from the seriousness of this site. It’s time to take away their masks; they are no different to KKK night riders.
For the record: I have never shaken down any campaigns, nor have I asked any electeds for jobs (with the exception of Charles Barron and James Davis- both of whom paid me as a consultant). I have asked some electeds to circulate my resume, but over the years I have never even gotten an interview in this regard, so what does that tell you/lol. And I only did this because I know I have a lot to offer any elected, given my integrity, character, experiences and qualifications/ credentials; and at the end of the day and night, its all about “public service”. Further, I don’t approach campaigns for political work, most times it’s the reverse (they approach me based on some recommendation or such). Many times I refuse to charge fledgling campaigns for my advice or recommendations.
Let’s go further; I am not gay -never was- and at this stage of my life I could conclusively say that I will never be. To each his/ her own; but that’s not me. In fact, beyond having the human right to choose whatever sexual-lifestyle one wants, I don’t particularly agree with such a choice for reasons I choose at present to keep to myself. I could only wish a person well in their choices, that’s all.
Over the next three weeks or so, I may revisit the 40th council district and ask some hard questions of the political leaders there; I will also do the same for some other districts in Brooklyn. I could only hope that those who choose to enter into some type of dialogue will use facts and accuracies in attempting to defend their positions, not venomous lies meant only to intimidate and distort; as Shakespeare once said: “truth will out”. Black- Brooklyn has been horribly represented for decades; one day some of these so-called leaders will be called to account.
If the editors choose to change their policy then I will (re)consider writing more articles here; if not, then those brave “anonymous” commentors won’t have me to kick around anymore. To me it’s obvious that these commentors aren’t interested in intellectual discourse (they aren’t developed enough in that regard anyway), since they never use my arguments as reference points, they just perpetually try to ridicule me and the like. I have too many things to do with my life beyond all this. There are too many places to go, and many many people to see, greet and meet. Brooklyn’s politics is getting boring anyway; the voters don’t really seem to care for imaginative high-quality representation, and they seem to expect electeds to lie all the time. It’s really tragic.