Category: News and Opinion

Senator John McCain’s repeated attacks on President Obama over the years shows the senator for what he is, a bitter frustrated old man whose legacy as a self proclaimed “maverick” is a thin veneer over a partisan right wing fanatic.

Seddio lashes out at Felder.

Does anyone recall Vito Lopez ever saying on solitary syllable in criticism of the Amigos? Suspicions at the time were that he was actually advising them.  

When the election adrenalin wore off, I collapsed in exhaustion.

These are breath taking times as great civilizations rise again and hopes of world union and world peace begin to move in that direction.

In the wake of the Frankenstorm disaster, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has called for New York to be built smarter, given the likelihood of rising seas and more powerful storms. But that is not the way rebuilding generally occurs. What you have, rather, is a rush to get shattered lives back to normal as quickly as possible, which usually means putting back a somewhat cheaper and worse-built version of what was there before. Witness the reaction, to politicians from elsewhere, to the assertion in 2005 that that parts of New Orleans should be rebuilt elsewhere, instead of below sea level, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Or, for those with less power and fewer resources, the consequence is often no rebuilding at all. As one sees in that city’s Lower 9th Ward.

Some combination of these two is what is likely to occur on the Rockaways and in Staten Island, more likely due to a series of non-decisions than to any decisions. Any suggestion of possible change in the current emotional post-disaster political climate is likely to provide an opportunity for a cheap political shot, and be about as popular as holding the New York City Marathon as planned. And by the time feelings have cooled, any available resources are likely to have been already committed. If people come back later with demands for more resources to rebuild a second time, this time differently, other needs elsewhere will almost certainly take priority. But what if it actually were possible to come with alternatives quickly? I spent 15 minutes thinking about it, just slightly less than those who might want to make (or even allow) changes would have, and here is what I came up with.

Everyone agrees immigration reform should be on President Obama’s second term agenda.  Such reform if done correctly could super charge the economy, strengthen the military and add new diverse ideas to the American mindset.

Not for nothing, but while the President's 69% share of the Jewish vote in the exit polling may look pretty overwhelming, this represent a whopping 9% drop from the 2008 exit polling which had him at 78% (later analysis had him at 74%, but it is best to compare apples to apples, and these apples have slightly less honey on them).

If the President had suffered a 9% drop among all white voters, it would have been a Romney landslide.

Funny thing, but Politico's post election Electoral College Map looks almost identical to Nate Silver's last pre-election map.  

In the September primary, where there was actually a race my vote could affect, I arrived at the polls at 1:30 PM and was the first vote in my tiny one square block ED. The polling place was otherwise empty.  

Today I addressed Dybbuk's 4th grade class about the election, emphasizing that Romney would end health care for at least 30 million people.

The first question came from a little girl who asked why we couldn't have single payer.