Category: News and Opinion

There are few people who would deny that Elliot Spitzer has done a decent job as Attorney General of New York State. I would think only a handful maybe, and probably Republicans mostly. Some of his detractors say he is a bit aggressive and “macho”, others say he is a bully. Others yet claim that he is an “alpha–male” all the way, possessing too much testosterone. Point being, there is no real attack on his competency and/or capability. In most regards, this is good for Spitzer.

The only area where Spitzer seems vulnerable is the one where his relationship with Albany legislators can be gauged. The least you can say is that he has been quite accommodating. Can anyone find the public attacks on Albany (from Spitzer) in the past decade? And for sure, most elected officials are lining up in droves to endorse him. Not surprisingly, his endorsement list will be an Albany “who is who” list.

Last Thursday night, at the endorsement meeting of Brooklyn’s  Independent Neighborhood Democratic Political Club ( IND), Charles Barron almost did the unthinkable: he came within a handful of votes from winning the club’s endorsement for the 10th Congressional race. Observers ( both black and white) claimed that he blew away the group with his presentation. He did so well that it took 3 ballots for the club to end up with a " no endorsement". Don’t forget that the chairperson of this club is a Towne’s staffer.

Most people there were surprised that Barron could connect so well with a white audience, and this was dismaying to many of his detractors. If this is an indication of how tough this campaign could get for the incumbent, then it’s imperative that all of you in "out-here-land", keep your seat belts on.

“We must demand that the Speaker of the New York State Assembly and the Majority Leader of the New York State Senate be replaced, because they have failed to fight for the reforms that we seek. The current leadership in Albany has had ample opportunity to heed the message of reform and address the problems New Yorkers face, but they have spent far more energy making backroom deals to protect their own majorities. ..New York belongs to the nearly twenty million people who call our State home, not to three men in a room in Albany. With Governor Pataki on his way out, it is time to show Majority Leader Bruno and Speaker Silver the door, as well.” —- Tom Suozzi, speaking at a conference on government reform.

Here’s a headline designed to cause cognitive dissonance among the entire membership of "Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn" and most of their allies. I can’t wait to watch Chuck Barron’s Head explode when he tries to process this:

"California Town Uses Eminent Domain to Block Wal-Mart"- New York Sun, May 9, 2006.

Bertha Lewis was probably pleased. Marty Markowitz probably had mixed feelings.

Bertha, what will you do when Bruce Ratner tries to open a Wal-Mart?

The dichotomy in politics between what people say they favor and the contents of their actual agenda is often striking. Take the so-called “Right to Life” movement. As an article by Russell Shorto in today’s NY Times Magazine makes clear; the real agenda of many “Right to Lifers” isn’t preventing abortions, but preventing sex. That is not to say this is the agenda of all “Right to Lifers”. I have a gay Catholic friend, who when confronted with the dichotomy between his opposition to abortion and his sexual libertarianism, always smiles and says “blow jobs don’t kill babies”.  And certainly there are outspoken "Right to Lifers" like Nat Hentoff who strongly advocate access to contraception and comprehensive sex education as part of an effort to prevent abortions.

Ed Rollins remarks about John Spencer’s “affair” once again is a fine example of how the New York Times covers New York politics (as opposed to say, a parlimentary election in Ukraine)

They cover it badly!

Thursday’s  NY Times story on the remarks says –

“Mr. Spencer has never denied that while he was mayor, he had a long affair with his chief of staff while he was married, and had two children with her before they were married”

But the Times reporter or editors apparently didn’t read Wednesday’s Journal-News. The paper, which covers Westchester paper, had this to say–

If someone introduced a resolution at Park Slope’s Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID) to honor Lynne Stewart, an attorney convicted of aiding and abetting an Islamo-fascist terrorist group, it would undoubtedly pass with flying colors.

And while Stewart’s conviction does raise some troubling questions about what appears to be an effort by the Federal government to impede the rights of criminal defendants and their counsel, Ms. Stewart is clearly no hero.

Part of the frustrating nature of the continuing debate about Andrew Cuomo’s purported involvement in the 1977 Mayoral campaign’s infamous “Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo” posters is that the ambiguities in the story prevent serious discussion of the underlying question about how long the statute of limitations runs for candidate “bad acts”, and whether the statute should ever run. Instead we focus on questions like: Did the posters exist? If so, did Andrew have anything to do with them?  If he did, should we hold this against a 19 year old 29 years later?  If Andrew knew, how could Mario not? And, if Mario knew, how could people outraged in 1977, forgive and back Mario in 1982 (Allen Roskoff, this means you), and then hold it against Andrew in 2006?

Bill Weld in accepting the endorsement of the Libertarian Party said he disagrees with the Party on legalizing drugs and prostitution but he concurs that government should be "kept out of your bedroom". Isn’t this a contradiction?

Rock Hermon Hackshaw

Jerry Skurnik is probably the most academic of all the resident bloggers here, and that’s good. His columns are factual and insightful. He backs up his positions with stats and verifiable info. He hardly moves to those fudgy areas of innuendo, speculation and political gossip, where most bloggers move on occasion, and where a few actually reside permanently. And that’s good.