From the deaf, dumb and blind to the good, the bad and the ugly, the democrats have provided much entertainment in recent days.
The blind is the good. It comes in the form of the Lieutenant Governor of New York, and soon to be Governor, David Paterson.
I know nothing about this man. He reminds me of the late James B. Stockdale, Ross Perot’s 1992 running mate. Stockdale was the one who said in a debate, “Who am I? Why am I here?” Perhaps a better comparison would be that of the late Gerald Ford, the accidental President.
What little I do know about David Paterson is positive.
Most likely, I will not like his political views. He is more liberal than Eliot Spitzer, but willing to work with the other side. What Barack Obama is to Hillary Clinton, David Paterson is to Eliot Spitzer. Lt. Governor Paterson is admired by democrats and republicans alike as a genial individual that wants to get things done.
What a novel idea, a politician actually wanting to do the work. Mr. Paterson is obviously a workhorse and not a showhorse, since most people last week probably would not have recognized him on the street. One collegue described him using the Hebrew word “Mensch,” which describes a true kindly gentleman.
Mr. Paterson is also black. This should be celebrated. He worked hard, played by the rules, and through a quirk of fate, is going to lead one of the largest economies in the world. For the good of New York, I hope that his race becomes completely irrelevant. Yes, the black community should beam with pride, but he has to govern everybody. Also, republicans who disagree with him on issues should be willing to engage him. They should not be afraid of being called racists simply for opposing a liberal agenda. Also, black liberals should not hurl charges of racism when Governor Paterson runs into the normal opposition that any Governor will face in a demoracy that encourages gridlock.
As I said, I expect to disagree with much of Mr. Paterson’s agenda. Yet I have high hopes for him. He needs to heal a state, and healing is not liberal or conservative. It is human. I hope he can roll up his sleeves, and that the republicans work with him. Work with does not mean capitulate. Yet the current environment is toxic, and perhaps Mr. Paterson can alter that.
One other aspect of Mr. Paterson that must be acknowledged is that he is legally blind. He will be the first blind Governor. I personally think this is something to celebrate. I do not believe in politically correct terms such as “handicapable.” People who are handicapped cannot do things that others can do. Yet even with disabilities, people from Bob Dole to Bob Kerrey to John McCain have led distinguished political careers.
Yet blindness is tougher. I personally do not see any functions of being Governor that require eyesight. He cannot drive himself around, but perhaps society would have been better off had John Corzine and Ted Kennedy used their chauffeurs. A deeper question can be asked if Governor Paterson is successful. Is America ready for a blind President?
I personally would rather see a cure for blindness, but barring that, at some point the topic should be discussed. Even people with perfect eyesight have their mobility restricted by Secret Service agents.
The deaf is the bad. This comes in the form of Eliot Spitzer, who will hopefully have a lovely new orange jumpsuit and a 200 pound boyfriend named Maurice. Actually, minimum security prison means he will most likely improve his golf game, although he might be safer in a maximum security prison. After all, minimum security contains the people he helped prosecute.
I could go through all the reasons why Eliot Spitzer is one of the most disgusting human beings on Earth, but I will wait until he is officially gone to pile on with all the class and grace he showed towards me when he was in power.
Spitzer is going quitzer because he was deaf to the public. While he would have been very talented as a third world dictator, democracy reqires actually working with people who share opposing views. Like Hillary Clinton, he confuses, either deliberately or myopically, opponents with enemies. His downfall is not about prostitution. It is about a bully who made so many enemies and too few friends. When he fell, nobody wanted to lift him back up. To quote an old parable, because Eliot Spitzer destroyed so many people, when they came for him, there was nobody left to speak up.
Whatever I may think of Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy, enough people liked them. That is the reason they survived. Spitzer had his inherited billion dollars, his position of power, and his sense of entitlement. He felt no need to subject himself to the laws he was sworn to uphold. it was not sex tht undid him. It was arrogance.
The dumb is the ugly. In this case it comes in the form of the hag that got bagged. It is one thing to be a political candidate whose celebrity comes from being a minority. It is another thing to be a political has been from 25 years ago whose celebrity comes from having once been a celebrity.
Yes folks, Geraldine Ferraro is in the news for some reason. This is the same Geraldine Ferraro who freely admits what most Americans knew a quarter of a century ago, that her being picked as a Vice Presidential Candidate was a token appointment based on gender. The same Geraldine Ferraro who then 14 years later lost a democratic Senate primary because her candidacy had no rationale. The same Geraldine Ferraro whose husband was “allegedly” a mobster, and whose son was nicknamed “The Pharmacist,” because you could get any drug you wanted from him. This was the woman who lectured republicans.
I could give her credit for winning Minnesota, but she lost the other 49 states. Now she is taking her losing street to the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign. Given her expertise in candidacies with zero rationale except the Helen Reddy song, “I am woman hear me roar,” Ferraro is a perfect surrogate.
Yet even a campaign known for gutter politics, racially charged accusations, and a sense of entitlement, has lines that should not get crossed. Geraldine Ferraro stated that Barack Obama would not be where he was if he were white.
No, I am not calling her a racist. I am saying her comments were racially insensitive, and stupid.
The Clinton campaign is justifying playing the race card by stating that they need Obama to toughen up, because the republicans will play the race card in the general election. This is ludicrous. John McCain rejects racial politics, and most republicans do not want to go near the race issue with Obama. We want to defeat him on taxes, trade, and the Iraq War. These things are called issues, also known as ideas. Democrats are bereft of them, hence the need to slash and burn.
The republicans did not start with Willie Horton in 1988. Al Gore clubbed Michael Dukakis with it, and the republicans continued. So destroying your own side does not strengthen your team.
The Clintons are not playing the race card to protect Obama in the general election. They are playing the race card because they want to win at all costs. As long as they save the village, it is ok if they torch it to the ground first.
What Ferraro fails to grasp is that Obama has a compelling story to tell, and he tells it brilliantly. His race is a major part of his story, but Hillary’s…and Ferraro’s…genders are their entire story. They tell their stories badly, or at least with much less inspiration.
To say that people are only voting for Obama because he is black implies that voters are stupid, or worse, racist. Iowa is snow white. Wisconsin is lily white. Idaho is even whiter than that. Obama won all those areas.
Obama is not winning because he is black. He is winning because he inspires people, and he is likable. Hillary is losing for the same reason that Ferraro kept losing. It is not because they are women. It is because they often come across as hags.
Ferraro diminshed herself by claiming that she was a token. Therefore, nobody should listen to her. They never did, so why start now?
The best part of this is that liberals are using political correctness against other liberals. First Harvard President Larry Summers went down. Bill and Hillary Clinton, supposedly loved by black America, are getting pummeled by Obama. Now Ferraro is being silenced. Political correctness was fine when only republicans were being silenced, but now liberals are being battered by their own hostile attempts to stifle speech.
The Clinton campaign, desperate to show that a woman speaking on behalf of their campaign does not represent their campaign, has allowed Ferraro to again disappear, again a loser.
Spitzer went Quitzer and a hag got bagged. Now David Paterson and Barack Obama can try and unite people, not because they are black, or in one case, blind. They simply want to reach out to all Americans, and get beyond the politics of personal destruction.
Spitzer, Hillary and Ferraro cannot get beyond the politics of personal destruction, because they are the politics of personal destruction.
Good riddance to every member of this sorry lot.
eric
I’ve followed David Paterson’s career for years. He’s a good man and will make a good governor. Yes, he’s pretty “liberal,” but he’s really more of a progressive pragmatist first. I expect him to do well.
Ferraro has a point, whether or not you or I agree with it. Obama’s rise may well have had more to do with Hillary being a woman than himself being black, but I think the two are tied together. The facts; that Hillary is a woman, that she has a real shot to win it all, and that Democrats tend to be rather blithely idealistic; tell that no white man could have overtaken her in the primaries. That left only a few other possibilities, and a black man was one of them. So Ferraro does have a point, to that extent anyway.
There was no “personal destruction” here – just a little too much plain speech. Pols have to be careful these days as too many people are extremely sensitive and too many other people are all to willing to exploit that sensitivity. Obama should have ignored that whole mess. He made a big mistake playing into it. If I were Obama, I’d stay as far away from the race issue as is humanly possible.
As for Obama’s wins, when you look at the states he won you realize that the Dems won’t carry most of them in November. You’ll also note that a lot of Republican voters voted for Obama in open-primary states. Polls show that these Republican voters will mostly vote for McCain in November. And so we can see that these GOP voters in the opens voted for Obama because they think he will lose in November – they feared him less than Hillary.
If Hillary wins in PA, that would be a big hint for the Dems to take. Ohio, Florida, and PA will be key to the next election. Hillary could win those states. Obama? Who knows? In the generals I believe racism will trump misogyny, and so I do not believe Obama can win. Hillary could win if enough women come out for her. I hope I’m wrong about Obama, but I get the distinct feeling that America is still far too racist to vote for a black man for president, regardless of his history or politics. His only advantage is that he, like Colin Powell for instance, does not have a civil rights background and so he doesn’t scare white voters as much as say Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton.
JMJ
I run a blog that is aimed at the urban crowd and as a black man I’d like to go on record saying I don’t think Geraldine Ferraro is racist at all. At least not in the way we generally think of a racist. She see Barack being black as an advantage and not a disadvatage. In a way she is right. His race does get him noticed but in all honesty it is not going to help him get elected at all. One of the other writers over at Highbrid Nation says Geraldine Ferraro is evil not racist, lol. He might not be too far off.
“The best part of this is that liberals are using political correctness against other liberals.”
“Political correctness was fine when only republicans were being silenced, but now liberals are being battered by their own hostile attempts to stifle speech.”
I was watching Anne Curry and Ferraro duke it out last night and was thinking the same thing.
And I can only hope that more PC crap comes around to bite them all in the @ss.
But I think we can all agree that Obamas color is part of the exitement in his followers.
Everywhere I go people are more excited about a black man running our country rather than one who actually can do the job.
Hey, Geraldine didn’t carry NY for Mondale but at least he took his home state … more than you can say for Gore. Hey, if he took either Tenn. or Ark. then Florida would not have mattered? But don’t the liberals say Bush stole the election? That and Nader … but Perot had nothing to do with Bush 1 losing, that was all Clinton beating him. (!)
Pretty much off topic but thank you for the brief rant. I’ve been wanting to get that off my chest for a while.
In any case, I work with many people who have worked with or know the new Gov. – and universally they all say he is a nice guy, so at least he’s got that going for him. We watched much of his news conference online at work today (no I do not work for the state) and that went really well I thought.
David Paterson is black AND a liberal? …uh…..gee….I’m shocked I tell ya’….shocked.
Paterson is a brilliant man, Craig. You cons are in for a big surprise… hehehe
JMJ
A big surprise? Hardly. Those of us that have watched Ny Politics for years upon years know who Paterson is. If anything, I think you’re in for a disappointment. David knows the legislature, how it works, and its cliques and factions. He also knows that he needs to work with them to get anything done. He’s not going to advance or promote any sort of potentially controversial agenda (except Stem Cell Research), nor is he going to take on anyone with power or influence. I have no doubt he will be capable, but he’s not going to be dynamic.
“Those of us that have watched Ny Politics for years upon years know who Paterson is.”
Well, my friend, you’re talking to one of “us.” I’ve been following his career for years upon years as well. The “Jersey” in Jersey McJones ain’t from Cape May. I’m a native New Yorker and spent the majority of my life in the Metro area.
Paterson is very bright and very well connected. And you’re right about this: Paterson is very uncontroversial and bipartisan. He’s rides smooth down the line, so to speak – but really he’s just patiently progressive. He’s like Spitzer, but without the hookers (God, I hope!!!) and the tempestuousness (same disorder, I assume). He works without all the wrangling and hooplah. He’s an interesting guy. I like him. Always have.
As for ESCR – that’s not controversial in NY. New Yorkers are too politically mature for that silly “issue.” You should know that if you’re one of “us that have watched Ny Politics for years upon years.” A few scattered hicks Upstate and a few hard-core Guy Molinari-type Catholics may get their blood up (if even), maybe some of the pandering GOP richies in LI, some NYer’s care about silly issues like that, but most of the state is pretty liberal on social/religious issues.
JMJ
JMJ;
“The “Jersey” in Jersey McJones ain’t from Cape May. I’m a native New Yorker and spent the majority of my life in the Metro area.”
And now I’m playing shuffleboard in Florida.
Ahhh, so much becomes clear now. Jersey is a City-crat!
The proof is in misunderstanding what goes on Upstate, and how upstaters think. He’s too used to what passes for analysis from the NY Times, which is almost always off the mark.
Forget it micky, you’ll never reach him. Never. City-crats live in their own pretty little world. Which ends at Jones Beach to the East, the Hudson river to the West, and Yonkers to the North. Little outside of that matters.
Micky,
“And now I’m playing shuffleboard in Florida.”
LOL! And loving every minute of it!!!
Deacon,
I hate to disappoint (and once again show that you are not a very good judge of whom you speak), but I lived Upstate too, Deacon. Wappingers Falls. And I worked up in Eldrid too. I still have people in NYS and spent a lot of time up there. I have a pretty good fix on Upstate. It’s huge and diverse population, with old ethnic enclaves, decayed industrial towns, moneyed burbs and exurbs, poor and moneyed rural areas. I know NYS. That’s why I made the comment I made – “A few scattered hicks Upstate.” But as usual, you misstated what I said and said, “The proof is in misunderstanding what goes on Upstate, and how upstaters think.” I never lumped the dynamic demographics of Upstate into one group. I said “a few scattered hicks.” Many Upstaters are quite progressive and with-it. Most are just regular folks like everyone else. But I do know this – for all their issues and needs, ESCR is nowhere near the top of their concerns. They’re a more serious and adult electorate than that. On the other hand, when the “illegal license” issue came up, the racist nastiness came out of the basement of their souls. Oh well. Sometimes stupidity still trumps good sense.
JMJ
Wappingers Falls is not Upstate. It’s the Lower-Hudson Valley. Dutchess County is not Upstate, well, to City folk it is, but not to the rest of the State. And Eldred is more Southern Tier, but barely so, and definitely not Upstate. Try living North of Catskill and Hudson. Try going up to Warrensburg. Go out to Chittenango or New Hartford. How about Watertown? Rouses Point? That’s Upstate. Not the commuter communities that pretend to be “rural” to salve the conscience’s of those who work in the City but won’t live there. Rockland County is not Upstate. Putnam County is not Upstate.
No, I’ve got you pegged pretty good. I’ve been dealing with people like you all my life. You’re no different than any other City-crat who thinks that they know what’s best for the State as a whole.
Everything north of Westchester county is Upstate to us cityites. I have family in Hudson, Glens Falls, and Albany. I also know that without the revenues from NYC and the MEtro area, it may as well be Arkansas. I’ve got you pegged pretty good – you’re okay with stealing from the city but not listening to the city people without whom you’d be no better off than the Beverly Hillbillies without the oil.
JMJ
Deacon.
I probably never will reach Jersey.
But I like to keep him propped up in front of the world so we all know what to look out for.
Stealing from the City? HA! The bailout from the 70’s was only paid off a few years ago, and until very recently, the City acocunted for 48% of State rvenues, while eating up 54% of the State budget. Upstate dollars went to keeping NYC out of bankruptcy, all while Carey and Cuomo drove businesses and jobs out of Upstate like it was going out of style. So what happens when Upstate needs to get back on track economically? Whinging from City-crats. A high rise condo project some how is more important than the Luther Forest Tech Park, or the Rochester Industrial Park revitalization. We get how bad off the City is, and how it needs all this funding for hand outs and subsidies, while the property tax rates, and income tax rates keep going up. We get law suits by City-crats to force the State to pump more money into bad situations in NYC.
Then we get this list of people who make it all so much better:
Ada Smith, Efrain Gonzalez, Diane Gordon, Karim Camara, John Sabini, Clarence Norman, Gloria Davis, Roger Green, and Brian McLaughlin. How much corruption can we afford out of the City-crats?
And “it might as well be Arkansas?” Please. So we wouldn’t have runaway socialized hand outs. So we might actually be able to take care of our own problems, with out interference. So we might actually get people who care about the State of NY rather than corrupt City-crat machine bosses, rampant fraud, and qualified individuals.
Micky- You can prop him up all you like. Just be sure to offer him a blindfold and a cigarette first.