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This blog is the work of an educated civilian, not of an expert in the fields discussed.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Political News: Nation to Locality

And Also: I sometimes am upset that I don't consistently read good neutral news sources, especially since "non-MSM" perspectives worth studying just do not always lean a certain way. Take Democracy Now! It had a neutral story today, interviewing someone who had the same malady that struck the senator recently. I'm watching it a bit more of late, and simply put, this is atypical. But, it was very interesting and informative, not something I saw from those who covered the story. It seems the woman works in the media business, so probably it was serendipity that they found her.


Nation: A telling story noted that a Bush official did the ultimate sin -- spoke freely, saying that he thought the draft could be a good thing, especially if it is done in a fair way. This doesn't mean that the Bush Administration necessarily supported bring it back or something. It just is an opinion from veteran's affairs. But, of course, this might send the wrong message, so there had to be an official announcement that of course they were not considering such a thing, since considering various options would be a truly horrible thing. This is how a credible government would run, but well, enough said.

State: The newly re-elected state comptroller (Alan Hevesi) will admit guilt in a case involving misuse of state funds to help chauffeur around his wife -- misuse of state funds not quite something ideal for that job -- and will resign. This thing was known beforehand, so the thing to do would have been resign before the election. It is not like whoever was tossed out there as a replacement would not be elected any way, but at least the people would have been directly involved. Since there was no credible opponent (the Republican was a nonentity unlike the attorney general option, who was just a lousy candidate), except for protest message options (I took the Green route), Hevesi won fairly easily, though (along with the attorney general candidate) many did not really like the choices. Now, the job will be filled by appointment.

Surely, he thought the election would allow him to move on, but it turned out involve a sizable amount of money (at least 200K), and it snowballed. I personally noted at the time that the crime did not seem something we really needed to worry about, upsetting, but fairly trivial at the end of the day. This sort of thing is how these things snowball -- the only snow we will get around here for Christmas -- little things ignore, and before you know it, real money is involved. Meanwhile, the top Republican, the Senate leader, is under federal investigation related to the now fairly typical influence transgressions the party clearly knows and loves. At least, with Hevesi out, the new Democratic governor could credible speak of starting anew, without having a major party official in effect as a weight around his neck.

City: A federal jury quickly convicted a drug dealer who killed an undercover police officer involved in an illegal gun running sting, a sad parallel (especially given both were black as was part of the team in the second case) to another local story in which a man was killed on his wedding day by undercover police officers. The thing that caught my eye was that Mayor Bloomberg* consistently opposed the death penalty even in this case. One can live with such people though they do enough to remember why voting Republican still tends to be a bad idea.

He also made sure to work with local leaders after the police shooting, allowing a smoother aftermath as compared to his more divisive predecessor, and now possible presidential candidate. Unfortunately, the semi-official leadership of the protest to the undercover police team's barrage of bullets at the innocent group's vehicle is Al Sharpton. I know someone who is traditionally suspicious of inner city minorities, but admits this case crossed the line.

But, she just despises Al Sharpton. Sharpton is a divisive sort that seems to be a counterproductive force in various ways. We can respect what he does to fight discrimination and in support of the needs of his audience, but it would be so much more productive if another face was put on this necessary movement. To have such a divisive figure out there having protest marches involving making a spectacle of themselves during shopping season, which on some level might be a good idea if it has its desired effect, seems a bit stupid.

Borough: One of those "oh!" stories involved a woman who allegedly died in a car crash while fixing her make-up. [Shades of mothers concerned about their sons having ripped underwear when they get to the emergency room?] People she know do not believe the witness reports on the point, saying that she didn't even wear makeup that much, but what really did her in perhaps was not wearing a seat belt. The NY Daily News included a picture of police looking over the crashed car. Not quite how one wants a loved one remembered. The article overall is a bit perverse, including a reference to the victim being "quiet and pretty" ... well, do we really want to emphasize that?

Not quite political, but NYT did have an interesting article on long time Bronx political leader, José Rivera, whose daughter is a local assembly representative.

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* Yes, like the news channel. A nominal Republican, who also helps the party, but a former Democrat who changed parties to avoid the crowded Democrat primary in 2001 ... yes, events helped Giuliani’s candidate to win, but Mark Green also was simply not a good candidate, as shown by him losing the AG primary race to someone arguably unqualified for the job.