The Gateway (Coat Factories, Shirtwaist Factories and Caudillos Edition)

|

Purely by accident Tom Friedman may have stumbled on the real reason for opposition to the Young Men's Islamic Association proposed to be located at the Holy Mother Coat Factory:

"When we tell the world, 'Yes, we are a country that will even tolerate a mosque near the site of 9/11,' we send such a powerful message of inclusion and openness. It is shocking to other nations. But you never know who out there is hearing that message and saying: 'What a remarkable country! I want to live in that melting pot, even if I have to build a boat from milk cartons to get there.'”

It's a good thing the building's not located in Arizona. Op-Ed Columnist – Broadway and the Mosque – NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com  

The Gateway (Mmm…McMahon Mosque Mop-Up Edition)

|

Verdict: Nelson is credible because she's clearly too dumb to lie; and therefore she is credible in her assertion that no one else in the campaign ordered her to say stupid shit to a reporter. Further, the reason she gives for the memo's existence rings true–in fact, it's a slightly cleaned up version of the reason I found most likely (she's says poaching the other guy's money; I said drying it up). Fired aide in 'Jewish money' flap speaks – Maggie Haberman – POLITICO.com www.politico.com

The Gateway (Chuck Schumer Morphs Into Amy Sohn Edition)

|

Clichés become that way for a reason; Real Estate is accurately called "The New Pornography" because it appeals to prurient interests and is utterly without redeeming social importance.

Much like porn, in this article we learn that something seemingly small and insignificant has grown to ten times its original size; and, like in the Senator's own love life, one can rest assured that the now engorged value will be shared only with Iris Weinshall.

Mazel Tov to them both.

And like the Senator's love life, most of us would prefer he keep the details to himself.

But instead, we learn that Chuck Schumer is not merely a real estate horndog (a discrete but secret vice of many seemingly normal folk) but an exhibitionist as well.

Previously, when he'd been accused of waiving his Weiner in public, we thought he was talking about Anthony (a native Sloper who could surely opine about the only "values" Chuck is seemingly interested in).

For once, Chuck's antennae (the political kind) has failed him grievously. One would think he would have noticed while waiting on the checkout line at "Back to the Land" that even many diehard opponents of Atlantic Yards have been cursing a blue streak about Daniel Goldstein's sweet buyout deal, and wondering when their pot of gold will ever come in.

Schedefraude is Brownstone Brooklyn's greatest spectator sport. The good fortunes of others (especially the monetary kind) are a stone buzzkill.

The Brownstone version of Schumer's mythical Bailey family will not be pleased. Chuck Schumer Paid $157,000 For His Park Slope Apartment | The New York Observer www.observer.com

 

Jess Say No!

|

I recently published a long, and I think somewhat damning analysis of the record of Kings County Democratic Leader Vito Lopez in the area of selecting Democratic Party nominees for judicial office. Given that it is a subject so sleep inducing even to the average insider that much of it can be forgotten instantly, I will rehash the high points.

For several years, the implementation of an Independent Judicial Screening Panel by the Kings County Democratic Party for its candidates has been considered by supporters of Lopez to be one of his crowning achievements, at least when his supporters are talking to the press. Even some of his critics will grudgingly acknowledge this.

The Gateway (Not Every Story is About The Jews, It Just Seems That Way Edition)

|

WHY AM I REMINDED OF ERNIE K-DOE? Strange, but this article supports two seemingly contradictory conclusions:

1) For many Israeli feminists, the “Rape by Deception case” has nothing to do with racism or Arabs, and those who condemn this conclusion as naive should remember that this is the nation that produced Moshe Katsav and Haim Ramon. The anger of Israel women anger is not without some good cause, and Jew of Arab, the bums are still males.

2) There is among some Israelis an almost Germanic desire for racial purity divorced from any mere religious belief, and far more insidious than the "Shiksas are for practice" admonitions of my great-grandmother (who, incidentally read the Forward everyday)

Conclusion by Stephen Stills: "nobody's right if everybody's wrong"

McMahon Gets the Full Nelson

|

"Congrats Gatey" read the comment from "Political Junkie," "You beat Politico.com by 5 hours."

Yes, in being the first to report that Congressman Mike McMahon’s re-election campaign had fired a staffer–spokeswoman Jennifer Nelson–who had compiled and circulated to a reporter a list of Jewish don0ors to the Campaign of one of McMahon’s Republican opponents–Michael Grimm, I’d even beaten Liz Benjamin by over an hour, while the Observer, which broke the original story, did not bother to note this development until the next morning.

Maggie Haberman’s story on Politico is more than a bit skeptical. She notes that the campaign’s Finance Director, who according to Nelson (a source of seemingly questionable credibility, if not sanity) assisted in compiling the list, "apparently is not being rebuked, but it is unlikely the compilation of "Jewish money" was either her or Nelson's brainchild…Nelson was the communications director, but she was not the brain trust of the campaign…”

How does she draw such a conclusion?

The implication is some sort of shadowy effort to exploit Jew hatred, or some sort of innate anti-Semitism among McMahon and/or his campaign staff.

You Heard it Here First: McMahon Fires Rogue Staffer

|

Congressman McMahon's campaign tells me that the staffer responsible for a press release outlining an opponent's receipt of "Jewish money" (primarily from the Kaballah community) was acting without authoriztion and has been fired.

Comparing this to last year's imbroglio in Council District 39, where a candidate in a similar situation denied responsibility, but refused to publicly rebuke the responsible party (and still has not done so), this extremely rapid response is a model of damage control (and maybe even accountability). McMahon Campaign Hits Grimm For Taking "Jewish Money" | The New York Observer www.observer.com

© Room Eight