93 posts tagged “politics”

The beer choices are set for tonight's "summit" at the White House. The President will have Bud Light (really???), Prof. Gates will have Red Stripe and Sgt. Crowley will have a Blue Moon.

This disappointed me (and not just because Obama has terrible taste in beer). I thought this night is suppose to be about coming together. Surely three grown men can agree on one brand of beer and split a six pack outside the Oval Office. But with three different tastes in beer, what should they choose?

Than answer is really simple: Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

After all, its from Boston so there is the "local" connection for the two guests, its named after a Founding Father, and its the standard "good" beer that everyone brings to a party. Never mind the fact that it is terrible stuff (for the record I prefer Pilsner or whiskey).

I'm so glad that we are all devoting time and energy to the important issue of what the President is drinking and not getting distracted by that silly health care debate. 

Alternate titles to this post:

"Maybe the Prof. just needed a time out"

"Obama opens mouth, inserts foot, takes eye off health care...again"

I saw Angry Young Dem in person tonight. Em and I had dinner with him, his wife and another old friend. It is a rare treat to be able to debate him in person on an issue, alas DMTU was in a mood (very typical these days) so the debate was cut short.

The gist of it is this: I disagree with AYD' stand on the "Henry Lewis Gates situation". And I am REALLY pissed at the President for once again using a (self admited) poor word choice and allowing an off-hand remark to become a distraction at a time when he really needs to be ONLY focusing on health care reform.

AYD, Em and most of my firends feel that Obama was correct in saying that the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" when arresting Prof. Gates. AYD backs this up with the law, which he knows, since he is a criminal defense attourney and that is his job.

I on the other hand take the position that if a cop is responding to a call, even if that call was eronious, the best way to placate the cop and the situation (if you are in the right which Gate was) is with respect and recognition of social constructs (even ones that are f-ed up).

I don't know what Prof. Gate's state of mind was that night, but I'd guess (this is an opion blog so I can do this) is that after getting home from a long international trip, and having probelms getting into his home, he was pissed off. Then when a cop shows up at his door he gets even more pissed off. After all, why the hell did someone call the cops? Who is this cop and what the hell is he doing in my house wanting to see my ID?

With this type of situation I would be pissed too. But, (and maybe this is just becuase I am an Eagle Scout raised in white upper middle class America) no matter how right I am and how wrong the cop is, your damn well sure I am calling him "Sir" the entire time. And that is NO way I am yelling at him.

Now, is that right? Should I have to call him "sir" in my own home? No. But the reality of the sitaution dictates that if I call him "sir" as I show him my ID he will leave me alone faster than if I yell at him and call him a racist.

If you believe even one quarter of the arrest report (a PDF that I have read), it seems clear that Prof. Gates was at the very least being somewhat rude. Cops are human beings, they are paid to do a job, they walk into situations not knowing if they are going to get shot at or called a racist or neither. Even if Sgt. Crowley was being rude to Prof. Gates, he is a cop responding to a call, and as such he has the dominant position in this situation.

Now I am not Prof. Gates. I am not a black man who has expireinced passive and active racism my whole life. And I have never had a cop come into my house and ask me if I live there or not. But I do know that some times you have to bite down hard and give a little away to get through a situation. And if that means calling cop "sir" and not yelling at him, then so be it. Keep in mind that my job is basically daily diplomacy, so keeping people happy is what I get paid to do.

As for Obama...STFU already. I am so pissed that you spent four weeks worth of YouTube addresses NOT foucsing health care, only to try and swoop in at the end with a sub-par press conference to save the bill (or bills) when you still will not comit to where you really stand on the issue. And then you f*** it all up by making this MORONIC statement about cops, taking the news cycle away from your key issue for two whole days!!!! F***!

The interesting thing is that both with Gates and with Obama there's the way things should be and the way they are. A man should not have to pander to a Police Officer in his own home, but sometimes he needs to. The nation shoud pay more attention to health care reform than to an off-hand ill-worded remark at the very end of a press conference on a small local issue, but it doesn't.

AYD, we can pick this up tomorrow or Sunday.

Well, I had been expecting this:

NY State Senator Tom Duane has given up (for now) on the Senate passing (or even voting on) the same-sex marriage bill.

Have I mentioned that I hate my state government? Oh, right, I have.

File this under "You have got to be f**king kidding me".

The coup is over as Pedro Espada has rejoined the Democratic Caucus and is now, wait for it...THE MAJORITY LEADER!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Of all the ways I could have imagined this crisis to resolve, including it not resolving at all, this is the LAST one I wanted to see. Espada is at best a shady character and at worst a crook. Now he leads the New York State Senate.

I suppose the only silver lining is that Malcolm Smith is Senate President so, assuming Paterson doesn't keep pushing for his fake Lieutenant Governor, Smith would become Governor if something happens to Paterson. But all that means is that we'd have another idiot running New York instead of an opportunist, self aggrandizing prick.

Of course. Paterson being Paterson I bet he WILL push to keep the Lt. which will of course just cause more bickering that those of you downstate will not hear about and those of us upstate will hear about every day.

So what do we learn from all of this?

Well, first there is the fact that the Senate Dems are capable of the worlds most bizarre press conference (unseating Sarah Palin and Mark Sanford). Second it tells us that this whole thing has always been about Espada and his quest for power, not the "reforms" that will likely be forgotten (however, Dean Skelos is not letting them go so quickly). And finally it shows us that this state need to throw out all the incumbents and overhaul the State Constitution.

These people f**king suck. They better pass the same-sex marriage bill. Oh wait, who am I kidding.

Oh boy.

So Gov. Paterson has ignored A.G. Cuomo and appointed a new Lieutenant Governor. Politically this makes sense. Paterson needs to score as many points as he can from this coup because lord knows he is not getting points from anywhere else.

Legally however it is yet another step in this whole process that will cause more "confusion and delay" (that's a shout out to all the parents out there). Paterson does not have a legal leg to stand on and the G.O.P will likely sue to block this action. Plus, even if he could appoint a Lt., wouldn't someone have to confirm him (like the State Senate)? With out the voters picking this guy are we just suppose to accept him by executive fiat?

Really I think Paterson is doing all that he can do in this situation. He could have called for a special election I suppose, but that is also extra-constitutional and would likely shine a light on Paterson's un-elected status as well.

The bottom line for me is that while this may one of the only things can do all it serves to do is drive up the tention levels in Albany even more. There is no way Ravitch will serve one day as Lieutenant Governor and now the G.O.P. has a NEW thing to be pissed about. I am so sick of this situation I can't even express it. All of these people suck.

One final note: Back in 2006 when we were dealing with the extra-constitutional situation around the Comptroller (yeah, like our Junior Senator, Governor and "Lt. Governor" he is also un-elected) A Mistake made the case that we needed a State Constitutional Convention. At the time I scoffed at him and said no good could come of that. I officially apologize for that scoff. He is right and I am wrong, our State Constitution is a mockery.

New York Congressman Peter King posted a slightly bizarre video on YouTube in which he calls out (someone? the media? all of us?) for paying more attention to death of "pervert" Micheal Jackson while ignoring everyday heroes like firefighters and members of the armed forces.

Now, Rep. King (who use to be my Congressman) is not "wrong" in that we should recognize and honor those who serve and especially those who give their lives in service. They are true heroes.

But, if Rep. King does intend to run for the U.S. Senate (I believe he last states that he would not), standing in front of a firehouse in Wantagh, while cars drive by, wearing a polo shirt and excoriating (someone? the media? you and me?) for clebrating the life of a black pop star and rehashing old (unproven) alligations about a dead man may not be the best way to kick things off.

Thanks for @jdickerson for this. Maybe Twitter is good for something after all. Oh, and Robert McNamara died (also via @jdickerson).

Happy belated birthday to the U.S.A.

Morris: Mr. Secretary, New York abstains, courteously.
Hancock: Mr. Morris, WHAT IN HELL GOES ON IN NEW YORK?
Morris: I'm sorry Mr. President, but the simple fact is that our legislature has never sent us explicit instructions on anything!
Hancock: NEVER? That's impossible!
Morris: Mr. President, have you ever been present at a meeting of the New York legislature?
[Hancock shakes his head "No"]
Morris: They speak very fast and very loud, and nobody listens to anybody else, with the result that nothing ever gets done. I beg the Congress's pardon.
Hancock: My sympathies, Mr. Morris.

(I'm out of coup puns)

A lot has been happening with our State Senate up here in the Capital Region. The long and short of it is that the Governor is forcing the Senate into session every day, a move that he can make now that the official session is over. The Senate is finding ways to simply hold a quick session and do nothing. 

Gov. Paterson has also been openly hostile to his former colleagues, accusing them of letting petty personal turf wars get in the way of "the people's work".

Then this afternoon this situation took just one more bizarre turn. Sen. Kevin Parker of Brooklyn, who less than a month ago was indicted for assaulting a New York Post photographer called the Paterson the "coke-snorting, staff-banging Governor". That's right now BOTH of the State Senators under indictment for assault have claimed the moral high ground.

Massachusetts is looking good right now.  

Gov. Sanford to Reimburse His State for Trip to Argentina

"[W]hile the purpose of this trip was an entirely professional and appropriate business development trip, I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with,” Mr. Sanford said. “That has raised some very legitimate concerns and questions, and as such I am going to reimburse the state for the full cost of the Argentina leg of this trip."

No, this is the LAST thousand mile booty call the the Governor took to South America in June of 2008.

Much like Angry Young Dem, I not only question the motivation of these guys, but I question their level of stupidity and how in the world they have time for elaborate affairs like this.

I'll give it 3-to-1 odds that this guy is out by the 4th of July.

South Carolina Governor Marc Mark Sanford admitted to an extramarital affair today.

This has caused me to reflect.

When Bill Clinton admitted to his affair ten years ago he was in the middle of an impeachment battle. I was one of many people who called him out on this affair and saw it as a flaw in his character and detrimental to our country.

Today we seem to have one gubernatorial or senatorial sex scandal every year. Sometimes we get more than one a year (or a month) and sometimes we even get a "freaky" sex scandal with gays or hookers (but not both...yet).

When thinking about the LONG list of unfaithful politicians over the last few years I am struck by what a f**king waste of time it was to impeach a man for getting a hummer in the Oval Office. I official apologize for being a d**k about that 10 years ago.

One last thing, this guy needs a better speech writer: