I guess it was just too much for me to hope that the quality of black and Hispanic electeds will get better in a post-Obama USA. After all, there was really nothing to base that on. And after years of frustration with the quality emerging from New York, I guess I was just grasping at straws, in hope that we could elect people, who are not only intellectually developed to tackle real issues facing the polity, but also possessive of the moral character and courage to do the right thing when the right time comes.

Look, there are no perfect politicians. In fact there are no perfect human beings anywhere. If we were all perfect, we would have nothing to strive for; so hopefully we keep reaching for the good within, hoping that one day we get to become the best we can be. I know that I am not perfect, but I do strive to be a better human being every day of my adult life. I also try to learn from my mistakes and not repeat them: to me, this is basic; this is fundamental for trying to live a decent life.  read more »

WFP and six local candidates, including Bill de Blasio (candidate for Public Advocate, ironically enough), Brad Lander, Daniel Dromm, et. al. broke campaign finance laws. That is a simple fact. WFP, and SOME (by no means all...John Liu for example did not participate) of their endorsed candidates played a little money scheme that allowed them to escape campaign finance laws that are designed to keep elections a tad cleaner and more transparent. They violated these laws, in effect using opaque and shady schemes to boost their effectiveness illegally.

Those are the facts and I personally think WFP needs to be held accountable for their violations...as do the candidates that participated.

Now some right wing nut cases (who I won't do the dignity of linking to) are picking up on this legitimate scandal and using it to show their attacks on ACORN (which WFP grew out of and is still connected with) were legit.  read more »

Watching Kieth Olbermann tonight I notice there are many ads by local politicians running for office. John Liu had a pretty good ad, but honestly it seemed a cookie cutter ad much like any other politician's ad complete with a voice-over voice I could swear I have heard in many other political ads. I think John Liu is his own best advocate and I suggest his campaign cut an ad that has John making his own case rather than a cookie cutter ad. But the ad that got my wife yelling at the TV was David Yassky's weasely ad. Utter bullshit.

Yassky is claiming he will close loopholes and watch every dollar the government spends, yet those of us who are actually in his district knows he has NEVER watched where dollars went unless they bought him endorsements. I think, in honor of Yassky's latest ad, I should remind people of a couple of sleazy moves Yassky has done that shows he either can't keep track of dollars at all or knows very well where dollars go and uses them to buy political favors. Let me repost what I wrote about Yassky's ties to scandals back in March:  read more »

I have been watching the unfolding WFP scandal with some interest, but have been waiting to comment. Partly I wasn't at first sure if we were talking minor technicalities that WFP ran afoul of or if we are talking about a deeper pattern of disregard for campaign finance laws. I am now thinking it is a deeper pattern of disregard for the law, or at least an attempt to skirt the laws, that we are talking about. [Couple of UPDATES added]

An article in City Hall News covers this developing scandal in considerable detail. Here is the breakdown they give of the scandal:  read more »

The latest brouhaha in the race to replace Bill deBlasio (who is lagging in the race for Public Advocate, but still in the running) was one candidate, Brad Lander, attacking another candidate, my friend Josh Skaller, for sending his kid to a private school even though the reason for sending him to a private school was due to special needs that the public school could not fulfill. Josh's wife's mother-bear defense of their choice to do what was best for their child has been covered both on Daily Gotham and on PolitickerNY. And it has been having at least some impact. [THREE UPDATES ADDED BELOW]

Over at Politicker, "Erik from the Slope" [UPDATE 3: I have been asked who this is...I have heard speculation but I do not know] had this to say about Lander's attack on the Skaller's decision to do what is best for thier child:  read more »