Author: Gatemouth

This grab bag of leftovers brings to an end my 2010 primary endorsements.

MORE CONGRESS (5^th CD): I didn’t realize until today that Gary Ackerman had a primary. I’ve had my differences with Ackerman, but he plays a unique role in Congress, staking out the sort of First Amendment free speech and religion issues no one else has the guts to touch. He’s also been that rare unyielding supporter of Israel who’d stuck his neck way out in support of a Two State Solution and other pro-peace measures, which given the large number of Orthodox Jews he represents, takes real guts (compare Anthony Weiner and weep). Most importantly, Ackerman has a savage wit, which he uses to puncture the Republican balloon with more bravado than anyone but Barney Frank.

I thought I’d be done with endorsements by now, but twice during my weekend writing marathon, things got out of control and two articles emerged where there should have been one. I tried to save time on the first Amigo article by just stringing together everything I wrote before, and the damn thing ran 20 pages.

Anyway, the goal here is to quickly bang out the rest of my endorsements, or as many as I can before I go to work, and then pick up the slack after five. I’ve written about most of these races before, and I’ll try to provide some (but not all) appropriate links, but I’m in a rush.

This piece is meant to be part two of the column I just recently posted, charting the current state of Brooklyn’s Democratic Party organization. It is also meant to be the sequel to the piece I posted earlier this year, chronicling the races for Democratic Party District leader (AKA State Committee) in my home 52^nd AD.

It would be regarded by me as a great favor if you went back and read those pieces first before embarking upon this one.

“It has seemed that each time someone attacks Vito you are there to disagree…though perhaps with only a lukewarm defense.” Mole333 11/24/2006

“Here's what I'm curious about, Gate: you're clearly a smart guy; why do you go to all this trouble to defend a decaying machine that doesn't deserve you?” Nick Rizzo 09/16/2008

This summer brought the death by puddle jumper of former Alaska Senator Theodore “Ted” Stevens, one of the last examples of a Republican Senator of the old non-ideological school, and for those immune as I am to bleary and teary-eyed nostalgia, one of the most despicable persons to occupy a seat in Congress.

In our last episode, I outlined in great detail the complete and ugly history of the greed, moral corruption and irresponsibility of the rascals known as collectively in the press as “The Amigos”: State Senator Pedro Espada, Ruben Diaz, Carl Kruger and former Senator Hiram Monserrate, as well as their partners in crime bloviating billionaire Tom Golisano and his oily operative Steve Pigeon, and their enablers Senate Republican Leaders Joe Bruno and Dean “The Dog” Skelos.

Except for their monumentally unlucky ally, Hiram Monserrate, who got caught apparently trying to do to a woman what he’d done to the State Senate, these bastards made out like bandits, which is what they are. They held New York State hostage, and we paid the ransom.

As prelude to my latest set of State Senate primary endorsements, I’d like to rehash some history.

We who do not learn the lesson of history are doomed to repeat them, so I’ve cobbled to together some relevant history from my archives. If it seems like you’ve read it before, it’s because you have.

But you need to read it again.

It is a long and painful read about a long and painful roller coaster ride forced upon us by Joe Bruno, Dean Skelos, Tom Golisano, Steve Pigeon, Carl Kruger, Pedro Espada, Ruben Diaz and Hiram Monserrate.