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The Mask Removed
By Michael Boyajian
The trials and tribulations of Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino continue now with his hateful homophobic remarks against the gay community that end with a statement by him which in effect he says do not dare call me a homophobe for that would be untrue. Yeah sure, so long as gays are kept down much in the same way blacks were in South Africa during Apartheid.
Many of us were raised on this tradition: “if you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.”
So borrowing a diplomacy page from the parental playbook, perhaps the nicest thing we could say is Cuomo is making Paladino look like a light weight. Further, quoting Republican strategist Ed Rollins, Rollins has labeled the Paladino campaign "absurd and irrational.” According to Rollins, “the Republican Party will take 10 years to recover from this candidacy.”
Let’s look at how Paladino has handled two subjects in the news recently. Marital affairs and debates.
PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS MR. PALADINO, don’t preempt your own negative attack.
You hit your opponent when you have the goods, or when you box your rival in, where he is forced to answer a question.
If you preempt your own negative attack, you are simply giving your rival cover. That is exactly what Paladino has done. He actually helped Cuomo.
How is this possible? What am I talking about? It’s simple. When Paladino claims Cuomo’s sexual “prowess is legendary," without providing any details, Paladino has effectively removed the issue off the table.
By sounding like he’s so out of control, so reckless, when reporters actually tried to ask Cuomo the question, Paladino has handled the matter so badly, that Cuomo can take the high road, and not be forced to answer.
In other words, Paladino swinging in the air aimlessly, by being so baseless in his claim without evidence, you could have predicted Cuomo response Friday to a possible affair question:
"I'm not going to get into the gutter with my opponent; we've gone through this before." Cuomo said.
Paladino has tried to explain to reporters his prior claim that the Democratic attorney general had multiple "paramours" while married to Kerry Kennedy. Paladino contends he made the unsubstantiated claim only to get journalists to ask Cuomo the same questions they had been asking of him.
But from now until the day Cuomo takes office… directly because of how Paladino handled the issue…Cuomo will simply say "I’m not going in the gutter with Paladino" and decline to answer any such question.
What Paladino didn’t consider is that he gave Mr. Cuomo more of an out than Cuomo’s own key advisers could have come up with.
On the issue of debates, Paladino has also badly handled himself. Frankly it’s the only issue Paladino has had left to throw at Cuomo, but even that didn’t work.
Paladino made the mistake of thinking he could attack and attack, without Cuomo giving in, but Cuomo has now agreed to share the stage with Paladino, AND ALL THE OTHER CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR, and simply play a game of “beat the clock,” during the one hour time. They will all gang up on Cuomo as the front runner, and he will simply “talk to the voters ignoring everyone.”
Thus, Paladino’s message and more importantly his attacks against Cuomo will be diluted.
Paladino came on strong in the final weeks against front-runner Rick Lazio, so this should be said, the potential for that to happen again is there, but Andrew Cuomo is no Rick Lazio.
It bears repeating Cuomo is no Lazio.
Paladino’s general election campaign has been so bad, at this point Paladino will be lucky to escape with his image and not damage his lucrative Buffalo real estate business.
-Children should not be "brainwashed" into thinking homosexuality is acceptable.
If New Jersey Governor Chris Christie thinks the City or State of New York, which have higher taxes as a share of personal income than New Jersey, will pay for ARC, forget it. Andrew Cuomo evidently said that ARC project is important to New York. It is in fact important to New Jersey, and New York is already paying for part of it via the Port Authority. Without ARC, those working at high wage jobs in Manhattan might be more likely to live in New York City or suburbs on the New York side of the river. With ARC, those workers are more likely to live in New Jersey. That is the difference.
If Governor Christie and other parties can come up with a less expensive alternative, more power to them. Were it up to me, the new tunnel would have hooked into Penn Station to start with, perhaps continuing on to the Sunnyside Yards so NJT trains could relay there. But otherwise, New York’s elected officials should work to get that money diverted to projects such as East Side Access and the Second Avenue Subway that New York is struggling to fund. Give Christie $1 billion of the Port Authority money to get through next year’s budget, and use $2 billion for New York’s long term needs.
While Crazy Carl & his merry men complain that their wacky statements have prevented voters from focusing on Carl’s platform, Crains Insider has done that on two of Carl’s plans.
From the archives of The Best of Gatemouth, an oldie about being betrayed by one you love.
This piece's anger is tempered by a bit of sentiment.
I will never again be so naive. Blowing the Chauffeur: The Mournful Sound You Hear Is Not Tekiyah Gedolah; It's Kaddish (Taps For Al www.r8ny.com
The Post endorses the State's complete freeze of funding for Ridgewood-Bushwick and chastises the Mayor for his freeze only on new contracts. Forgetting for a moment the mayor's complicity in much of this mess, Bloomie's position still makes sense. As he's pointed out recently, he's accountable for day to day service delivery and here people's lives are really impacted.
It would be one thing to close some Senior Centers (though some would surely be left without lunch) quite another to shut down a home attendant program without first ensuring continuity of service. Good, Bad or Ugly (and probably a bit of all three), the services provided by Ridgewood-Bushwick include some in the life or death range, and we should not be cavalier in calling for immediate action without first gauging its possible impact. Neutering Vito – NYPOST.com www.nypost.com
Multi Faith Learning Centers to Advance Civilization
By Michael Boyajian
A recent PBS special documented that Muslims, Christians and Jews working together in peace and scholarship were able to lay the seeds of the European Renaissance through the advancement and rediscovery of knowledge in Spain.
I long been a basher of the Board of Elections, but I’m not sure how much to blame them for what was bound to be a bad day under the best of circumstances; and frankly, the best of circumstances were unlikely to be present under a system dependent on, among others, 80 year old inspectors who work twice and year and cops and school janitors who couldn’t give a rat’s ass. So forums like this one are welcome; especially since it gives the Board of Elections a chance the novel experience of answering questions from folks armed with neither an agenda, nor a subpoena:
District Leader Lew Fidler
At first glance, it can be hard for a sensible person to decide who is telling the truth in the dispute between the Paladino campaign & the New York Post about whether or not the Post took pictures of Crazy Carl’s 10 year old daughter. But if we look at just one easy to check previous statement by the campaign, we might be able to judge their credibility on more difficult cases.
