Room Eight | Author | Gatemouth

To Hell It Doesn’t!

Gatemouth | August 23, 2008

“You can almost see the ads already: The Democrats should have reversed the ticket to put the experienced guy at the top. When there's an international crisis at 3 a.m., the phone doesn't ring at the vice president's house“—John Dickerson opining on Slate

Really?

Does Cheney have a mistress he stays with? Or is he in the hospital again?

Of course that's who they'd call; the other guy is too busy burning the midnight oil trying to finish "My Pet Goat".

To his credit, if they called McCain at 3:00 AM, he'd already be up (on his 36th trip to the bathroom).

Better Delaware than Unaware

Gatemouth | August 23, 2008

“I said I liked Biden because I do. I think he'd be a great president because he can critique Bush on foreign policy while still outlining a vision that deals realistically with the issues we face in the world, and does not shy from unpleasant realities many on the left of center would prefer to ignore.”

Gatemouth on “Daily Politics” July 8, 2006

“I'm a Clinton Democrat, but originally was "anyone but Hillary" because I thought she wasn't electable. I was hoping Gore would run on grounds of both electability and policy. Barring that, I preferred Edwards–but only on electability. On policy and gravitas, I liked Biden (Richardson almost qualified, but seemed too much a loose cannon–which is saying a lot when you are comparing someone to Biden)”

Scott Free (AKA “But What Have You Done for Me, LATELY?”): A Tale Of Manhattan

Gatemouth | August 21, 2008

The not-so-surprising flood of endorsements of State Senate candidate Dan Squadron by clients of the consulting firm with which he was once associated, Knickerbocker SKD, continued apace this week. Kavanagh, Bloomberg, and now Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (who shares Squadron’s experience as a bar owner).

Is it only a matter of time before we see an endorsement of Squadron by Joe Lieberman? Perhaps not made publicly, but instead quietly distributed under the doors with mezuzahs in the Grand street Co-ops the night before the election.

While unveiling the Stringer endorsement, Squadron took the occasion to unveil a package of legislative and process reforms remarkably similar to those proposed by Stringer when he served in the Assembly. Most of those themselves bear a remarkable resemblance to the package of reforms regularly proposed by the State Senate’s Democratic Leadership, even when they were led by Squadron’s opponent, Senator Martin Connor (other aspects resemble legislation currently being sponsored by Connor).

Recriminations [UPDATED]

Gatemouth | August 19, 2008

Yesterday, I posted a story taking to task various media outlets and bloggers for spreading a false story concerning a statement State Senator Marty Connor was alleged to have made about congestion pricing. The story meticulously documented a sequence of events which made clear that the real meaning (and punctuation) of Connor’s statement was quite different from what had been reported, and that, in fact, it was his opponent, Daniel Squadron, who’d been obfuscating concerning his position on the issue.

Among the media outlets I mentioned was the Brooklyn Paper. I publicly announced that I had emailed the piece to Gersh Kuntzman, the paper’s Editor, and asked whether he would have the integrity to print a retraction. In context, it was clear that I thought it was quite possible that he would do so, since I also named several outlets and bloggers who I did not email, because it wasn’t worth the bother.

Let Her Be Nominated (A Sentimental History Lesson)

Gatemouth | August 18, 2008

As some may recall, one of my political heroes is the late Arizona Congressman, Morris Udall, who ran a misbegotten Presidential campaign in 1976, logging a seemingly endless series of close-but-no-cigar losses, usually to Jimmy Carter (including a heartbreaking Dewey defeats Truman squeaker in Wisconsin), and sometimes to Scoop Jackson (including New York), before being eclipsed as Carter’s main rival in the late-going by Jerry Brown, Hubert Humphrey and Frank Church. “Ole Second Place Mo” struggled on to the convention, with Carter’s nomination a foregone conclusion.

Decongestant (revised: a blinding revelation has been added)

Gatemouth | August 17, 2008

As of late, an urban myth has grown up that Senator Marty Connor actually said at a candidate’s debate with his opponent Dan Squadron that he supported congestion pricing and kept it a secret. This myth has been spread by the Squadron campaign, its blog-world supporters like Michael Bouldin and the Brooklyn Heights Blog, and media outlets like the Rupert Murdoch (once a client of Squadron’s father) controlled Courier-Life chain and the anti-Connor Brooklyn paper.

But, in reality it is not Connor who kept his position a secret, but Squadron. Actually, that’s not quite fair. In Squadron’s case, first he was against it, then refused to talk about it in clear English, then came out for it.

The Doghouse Democrats

Gatemouth | August 13, 2008

“Dan Squadron is not a Bloomberg Democrat“.—-Michael Bouldin 8/8/08

“I am proud to endorse Daniel Squadron for State Senate, and strongly encourage Democrats in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn to vote for him in September."– Michael Bloomberg 8/12/08

Given the unpopularity among public school parents of continued Mayoral control of the school system, many thought that the assertion made a few days ago that the State Senate race between incumbent Marty Connor and challenger Dan Squadron was going to be a_referendum_on_continued mayoral_control_of_the_public schools looked to be wishful thinking on the part of supporters of Senator Connor.

Miserable Dirty Lying Sack of Excrement (a description, not a value judgment)[slightly modified]

Gatemouth | August 7, 2008

“For years, Senator Connor has failed to muster the funds and political will to get [Brooklyn Bridge P]ark built. He has had ample opportunity to display leadership that delivers results and has not done so”

–State Senate candidate Dan Squadron on Brooklyn Bridge Park

A Salute to Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein (Really)

Gatemouth | August 6, 2008

“At twenty-one or twenty-two, so many things appear solid, permanent, and terrible, which forty sees as nothing but disappearing miasma. Forty can't tell twenty about this. Twenty can find out only by getting to be forty”

–Joseph Cotten in “The Magnificent Ambersons”, speaking the words of Booth Tarkington as adapted for the screen by Orson Welles, who was pretty close to twenty at the time (maybe if he were forty, he wouldn’t have taken off for Mexico and points beyond, leaving the studio powers that be the opportunity to lop over a half hour off his masterwork).

I recently came to conclusion that I’d done the Kevin Powell thing to death, and that nothing good, and something bad (diminished readership) could come of wading in those muddy waters again. I was about to promise to refrain from posting any further Powell pieces, with one caveat–Powell would have to agree to do nothing stupid for the balance of his campaign. Given the campaign trajectory so far–even the left-centric “ Daily Gotham” is treating Powell as a joke, this was a hula hoop sized loophole. But hell, I was glad to cut Powell a break, especially after he promised to have Richard Pryor perform at his next fundraising event.

Whatever happened to the Establishment Clause?

Gatemouth | July 31, 2008

"In the end, Powell laughed off the “bring home the bacon” line as merely his way of saying that he would fight hard for Jewish concerns including affordable housing, health care, and the improvement of Yeshiva and technical education — community issues that he said Towns hasn’t addressed."

The Brooklyn Paper on Kevin Powell's meet and greet with a groups of Williamsburg Hasidim.

Actually, the problem is not merely with that pesky Bill of Rights.