Author: Gatemouth

"Well, listen, there is no doubt that Noach Dear … has some history of not exactly being, uh, an advocate of gay rights — that's sort of putting it mildly…He is, however, a religious Orthodox Jew, and just like [for] any other religious group, whether it’s Protestants or Catholics or Jews … crossing over and embracing gays and lesbians is a very difficult chore for them. I can’t think of one elected official that’s religious that has that ability to do it….[Dear] has assured me that as it relates to gay and lesbian rights — and women’s rights — that he will be sensitive and responsive and that he will look upon each case … on its merits."

Back in 2004, Domestic Partner and I made an offer on a house in Windsor Terrace, which was accepted; to make the barely relevant short, the deal fell through. Quite often, I think back wistfully about the driveway and the high quality public school we forsook for proximity to the hip and trendy (and an indoor swimming pool every time it rains). But now I am grateful, for I have no need to ever make a decision on who to support for Judge in the 5th Municipal Court District race between Democrat In Name Only (DINO) Noach Dear and pro-life Republican-Conservative, in name and views (Troglydite), James McCall.

The first candidate for whom I ever voted in a presidential primary was a member of the Church of Latter Days Saints of Jesus Christ (LDS, aka the Mormons); although he had but one eye, I’m not sure I’ve ever found anyone since whose vision so impressed me. His name was Morris Udall, he was a congressman from Arizona, and his impact on environmental legislation alone has changed for the better the lives of every American. As Doonesbury’s Jimmy Thudpucker said at the time “He might be obscure, this man with a cure, an other, but brother, he’s pure.”

There are many reasons to snicker at Mitt Romney, and I join with all those on the right, left and center who chose to cast an amused eye (or even two) on his empty suit (two sizes smaller than the one unoccupied by his rival, Fred Thompson); those clothes truly have no emperor. But, when asked to join my enemies on the religious right, or my friends on the secular left, in looking askance at him because of the religion with which he chooses to affiliate, I am somewhat less than comfortable.

On Erev Yom Kippur, when Jews around the world are busy forsaking the worldly to the extent of giving up food, which, not being for free, is far more precious to us than air, I topped off my Kol Nidre service with an episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher”.

The evening’s first interview featured a testy exchange between Maher and Michael Scheuer, author of “Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq”. Finishing the interview, Maher introduced his panel, and began with this question:

BILL MAHER: Okay. So, did anything Mr. Scheuer said upset anybody as much as the comments on Israel upset me?

At the request of Daily Gotham’s Mole333, I’ve come out of retirement for the rare cause on which we both agree.

The race between Noach Dear and Karen Yellen in Brooklyn’s 5th Municipal Court District is the most unambiguous choice available in this year's Brooklyn judicial elections, and it has been ignored for far too long in favor of a forest of dead trees written about the far more ambiguous Surrogate's race (I’m voting for Simpson, but to explain why would require more of my time than the race merits). Residents of Bay Ridge, Kensington, Sunset Park, Windsor Terrace, Dyker Heights, Borough Park and portions of adjoining communities should run, not walk, and vote early and often for Karen Yellen.

Effective immediately, Gatemouth has indefinitely suspended operations. This is a direct result of the efforts of persons who made complaints manifesting a desire to see this organization cease and desist. Because I am not without my obligations to others, they have successfully attained their goals.

These complaints did not come from right wing defenders of Joe Bruno, Marty Golden, Serph Maltese and Charlie Gargano. Nor did they come from regular Democratic politicians like Joe Crowley or Carl Andrews. Also not heard from were legislative leaders like Sheldon Silver and Malcolm Smith, nor were the extended families (political or otherwise) of Alan Hevesi or Andrew Cuomo. These, and many others of their kinds, all had manifold reasons to complain, but none did (at least not in a manner designed to compel the current result). Still, I suspect, at least some of them will not be displeased.

It has been 32 years since an outgoing New York Governor was of a differing party than his successor, but at the same time, of the same party as the Majority in the State Senate, the body which has authority over matters of advice and consent. Since the last three partisans transitions in the Governorship have taken place after periods of 12, 20 and 16 years, the resulting opportunity has created an atmosphere analogous to a going out of business sale, with Republicans picking away at the carcass of state like a pack of ravenous wolves, hungrily leaving nothing but a few bones, which they’ve then boiled down into soup, slurping up every last nourishing drop, and then, sticking their bread in to soak up any remaining excess.

Those who’ve followed my basically pro-Olmert writings on the topic of Israel may be surprised to learn that the recent ads taken out in Jewish newspapers by Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, calling for the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, do not bother me overly much. From one thing, such distractions keep Hikind from spending time defending the rights of local Jewish youth to beat up Pakistanis; they also serve the laudable function of making sure he does not have as much time to contribute his public policy input in places like Albany, where it might actually have an impact.

It is rumored that, when attending college, one of the members of our esteemed City Council took their oath of office for the Student Senate with his hand solemnly placed upon a copy of William Riordon’s “Plunkett of Tammany Hall’. Riordian’s book, like De Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America”, is a profoundly American historical document (and, unlike De Tocqueville’s, one which was written by an American), and it surely embodies many of the values of the political culture which are part and parcel of what conservative commentator Dennis Prager calls “American Civilization”. Would such an oath be acceptable to Mr. Prager?

Pick Hit

Chris Owens and the DDDB Hallelujah Chorus: Tis The Season (NIMBY Single ’06).

Sez Bouldin: “At the risk of Gatemouth sharpening every one of the knives in his drawer, here you go"

Sez Gatey: Don’t be callin’ me Ebenezer!

Chris has filled out and so has his voice; put a tatoo of the side of his face, and he could almost be Aaron Neville (although if he doesn’t lay off on the latkes and jelly donuts at his maternal family’s Chanuka party, next year’s comparison could be to Solomon Burke), and the performance itself is the funniest Christmas song by an African-American since Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run”, although in this case, not all the laughs are intentional (although, surprisingly enough, some are).

My objections are as follows: