Actually, there's no punch line or joke forthcoming, because that's exactly what I did this Tuesday; head down to Staten Island for a blogger debate with my friend and sometime sparring partner Gatemouth, hosted by the Staten Island Democratic Association. Attention whore that I am, I said to myself, "Well, why the fuck not?", and got on the boat. In the dark. By myself.

Now, I like to flatter myself on my gleaming prose and the knife-like penetration of my intellect, which is perhaps an excess of vanity. But to tell you a not very well-kept secret, under the façade, the clipped upper-class English, the designer clothes and the chiseled face, lies a somewhat shy, sweet young man a bit unsure of his place in this world. Fine. The narrow surface part of me, however, the one you'll likely be dealing with unless I choose otherwise, is precisely that façade, and lives for the well-turned phrase or shocking statement, the aforementioned glittering knife in a verbal parry and thrust. If I'm known for anything, that would be it, and that's the part of me that blogs.

My physical comfort zone is also rather narrowly defined: some, not all, parts of New York City, Paris, London, some beach resorts. My world, by and large, ends at the Hudson. As far as my blogging is concerned, like most of my friends, the people who started and defined this medium, I do not shrink from controversy. That's the whole point, isn't it; to tell stories that no other medium will or can touch, and to do so in a voice that demands attention. If I had to give a definition of blogging, that would be it.

So how did I wind up on 'the rock', as it's affectionately called? What with everything else that's going on, Occupy Wall Street, the Netroots New York conference coming up, Thanksgiving, the Presidential campaign, what not else? And me, of course, being, well, me?

Very simple: I was asked. And I'm quite curious. Curious to see what it would be like to debate old Gatey in public, curious to meet these people who wanted to know more about what we do, and lastly, curious to meet a new friend, someone interesting and smart and, I think, special, I met via that Twitter thingie that's consuming altogether too much of my time. Curious, and a bit apprehensive; that whole comfort zone concept.

And you know what? I had a fucking blast. Staten Island Is gorgeous, and the cocktails are cheap. Gatemouth, say what you will, is probably one of the smartest people you'll ever meet in the world of New York politics. That new friend, one Daniel Bauer, is an amazing human being with a fascinating story, one he's just now beginning to tell. A story like that, and the many others like it unfolding day by day in this shining City, are why I started blogging in the first place. These stories are the very fabric of humanity, the messy stuff that makes us fully human. And while my relationship with most Democratic clubs is best described as one of deep and abiding loathing, the good people - and make no mistake, they are good people - at SIDA, could not have been more pleasant. Yes, they took rather pointed exception at my penchant for swearing like a sailor, but what of it? It was their home, not mine.

What I found again that night, when I walked out of that room and left the island, was something I thought I'd lost years ago in the tumult and agonies of my life: the sense of joy and sheer pleasure that writing on a blog used to give me. I have my voice back. There are so many stories to tell. Finally, I can tell them again.

But perhaps I'll swear a bit less going forward. Time will tell.

Gatemouth and Michael Bouldin are the guest speakers at Tuesday night's Staten Island Democratic
Association (SIDA) meeting

Who; SIDA. Gatemouth and Michael Bouldin
What: November Meeting
Where: Karl's Klipper 40 Bay Street, Staten Island, near the Ferry.
When: 8 p.m Nov 15.

The sheer blindness of Teabaggers (again, THEY chose that name, so they can stop whining about our using it) is really quite amazing. They say (may even believe) that they are for the average American, but then they do the bidding of the Billionaire Koch Brothers in opposing everything that actually helps average Americans and support everything that helps billionaires. Complete blind hypocrisy.

But then sometimes the hypocrisy is even more blatant. I mean sometimes it stares you in the face and yet the Teabaggers STILL are blind to it. Take the Staten Island Tebagger Supreme Frank Santarpia. This guy rants and raves against "sweetheart deals for the well-connected" yet he is part of the organization funded by the Billionaire Koch Brothers and supports tax breaks for the very rich, the ultimate "sweetheart deal for the well-connected" that is best known and reviled as "trickle down economics" or, in the words of an intelligent Bush, "Voodoo Economics."  read more »

One of my favorite things about NYC is the diversity and considerable (if sometimes reluctant) tolerance for that diversity. But there is a very disturbing trend in Staten Island that seems to reflect the growing intolerance across the country. This comes from BBC News:

Since April there have been 10 reported incidents of violence against Hispanic immigrants on Staten Island, a borough of New York City.

The attacks have all occurred on the island's North Shore, principally in the community of Port Richmond.

The most recent attack came on Saturday, when an 18-year-old student was beaten and robbed by a group of young African-American men while on his way home from working at a late-night restaurant...

Today the fastest growing minority group in Port Richmond is Mexican.

Mexico's Consul General in New York, Ruben Beltran, says he is "angry and frustrated" at the string of attacks.

Earlier this week, he sent a consular representative to support Mexican immigrants in the neighbourhood.  read more »

[UPDATED] Seems Vito Fossella is smarter than the Staten Island GOP. Vito Fossella has declined to run. I guess he wants to spend more time with his families.

Michael Bouldin already covered this, but the Brooklyn Papers hit the Staten Island Republicans pretty hard for it and it is worth quoting them. I should note that I have been suspicious and critical of the Brooklyn Papers since their take over by Rupert Murdoch, but this article shows they haven't completely lost their independence to Murdoch. From the Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 edition of the Brooklyn Paper:

GRAND OLD PARTY PANEL PICKS DRUNK-DRIVING, CHEATING, LOVE-CHILD-FATHERING FOSSELLA TO WIN HIS OLD SEAT BACK

The already divisive Republican effort to unseat freshman Rep. Mike McMahon took a bizarre turn last week, when a GOP committee on Staten Island nominated none other than Vito Fossella — the congressman who was run out of town after a drunk-driving arrest and subsequent revelations that he had a secret family in Virginia — to represent the party in the fall election

Thanks to Albany Project, here's Vito Fosslla's mug shot from his arrest:

I think this is typical of the blatant hypocrisy of the Republican Party. The same fools who wanted to impeach Bill Clinton for a fling continue to embrace Vito "Twice the Family Values" Fossella despite his actual virtual bigamy. Now I am no fan of Mike McMahon, but the Republicans are absolute sleazy hypocrites for picking Vito Fossella's sorry ass to run against McMahon.

I should note that there are two other Republicans running. The one candidate from Brooklyn, Michael Allegretti (owner of Bayside Fuel Oil, one of the many companies the EPA is considering responsible for Gowanus canal pollution), has the support of the Kings County Republican Party (no surprise) while Michael Grimm (like Drunken Luv Muffin Vito Fossella from Staten Island) has the support of the none too impressive Kings County Conservative Party.

Given the competition the Republicans are fielding, sad to say the rather unimpressive Mike McMahon is looking pretty good by comparison.