Hugh Carey…A Governor for his time, and ours
I first met Hugh Carey when the then Brooklyn congressman was running for Governor, and he brought his entire clan (12) children with him in a Winnebago to Oswego. We met in 1974 , at West park, where he gave one of his classic stump speeches at the time…”Nelson Rockefeller spent our money like it was his money..”. An Irish politician, a recent widower, with a big family, and a penchant for oratory? I was hooked!
Up to that point, I had been backing Howard Samuels (Howie the Horse) from Canandaigua. That all changed when I met Hugh Carey and his clan. A relatively short man, when he stepped up onto a soapbox, he grew taller, exhibiting a compelling persona, and a mesmerizing Irish gift of gab that would serve him well in the coming years as steward of NY’s post Rocky, rocky recovery. period. Never the mind that off the stump, he could be curt, even crude, and cool, not always brimming with camaraderie. My mentor John O’Connor Conway (later to be named Supreme Court Justice Conway by Hugh Carey, himself), explained it to me this way.. He’s “black Irish” translated, meaning he has some of the genes left over from the Spanish Armada invasion of Ireland, which tend to cause periods of deep brooding and melancholy, and he had only recently lost his wife Helen. That was good enough for me, a third year law student at the time at Syracuse University, and a budding politician in the waiting, having already gotten elected to my first term as an Oswego County Legislator.
My interaction with Hugh L. Carey would continue for another 37 years. We went to Niagara Falls, to cheer him on at the convention (where I first met Mario Cuomo from Queens), and then through the primary, which he handily won over Howie Samuels, and then onto the Governor’s mansion, where he moved all of his kids in on ‘ Day one‘, with hardly a room to spare! He would come back to Oswego several times, and each time I was accorded an opportunity to chat with him, as well as cheer for him. One trip to the Hotel Pontiac for a fundraiser in 1975 is seared in my memory. He came to the Hotel Pontiac, a grand old small town hotel, whose better days had already come and gone…we reserved the “Presidential suite “ for him…he later commented, privately, “It’s great to be back in Oswego, but As far as your hotel is concerned, on the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia! (intoned in a deprecating imitation of the late WC Fields) We all laughed heartily! (
I served that next Spring as an Assembly research assistant, after a failed bid to become Oswego’s second democratic Assemblyman (I came close..but no cigar…). I attended many functions at the mansion, sat through many of his speeches, and marveled in his political acumen, and Irish wit and uncanny political skills.
To be continued……..
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Obama
Double double toil and trouble has become diddle fiddle stay in the middle for our beleaguered leader!
His unending willingness to upend principle on the altar of Republican sacrificial
demands is now legendary. He in part created his own debt crisis problem by failing to exact any concessions on the debt ceiling limit when he caved in January to the republican demands for continuation of the Bush tax cuts, and thus set his own hostage taking stage 6 months before the unthinkable became thinkable!
He apparently has not yet learned that You just can't bargain with mindless economic sloganeering terrorists, unless you want to keep giving in till there is nothing left to lose...unless of course your name is Barack Obama. He is behaving a little like the young characters in the TNT summer series "Falling skies!" who have lobster like harnesses attached to their spine by Aliens, who then control their every movement and mood. Someone please call Harry Potter and Hermione out of retirement so
they can uncast the spell he seems to be under!
If he is destined to be a one term President by the vagaries of fate and the undealable deck he was dealt by his predecessor, then he would be best to fight with dignity for the remaining two years of his term by doing and demanding the Republicans to do what's right! He can still demonstrate real leadership , instead of Mamby pamby
Equivocation, if he will boldly lead us where we need to go, even as he sets the stage for his successor!
He has proven he is more cut in the mold of Adlai Stevenson then Harry Truman. Regrettable as that may be, he still can leave an important legacy. He could clearly and unequivocally communicate with the American people that we arr headeddown the wrong road , whi h will lead us to an aristocracy with a peasant population, unless we reverse the trend of the haves not just having more, but leaving nothing left for the middle class. He could hold the bankers h
and cheaters and wall street money mongers responsible for helping to slide the nation into the ditch we now find ourselves in. Perhaps if even 10% of the bailed out big bankers were to be heldcriminally accountable for their criminal and fraudulent conduct, we could restore a
modicum of trust in the American banking and Mortgage industry!
He could stand up for marriage equality and end to discrimination against those whose sexual orientation, through no fault of their own, has cast them in the role of second class citizen .
And if he achieves but a third of the goals he could adopt in these next two years, who knows, he may become the world's first double Nobel Laureate, if not earn a spot on Mt. Rushmore yet!
Double double toil and trouble has become diddle fiddle stay in the middle for our beleaguered leader!
His unending willingness to upend principle on the altar of Republican sacrificial
demands is now legendary. He in part created his own debt crisis problem by failing to exact any concessions on the debt ceiling limit when he caved in January to the republican demands for continuation of the Bush tax cuts, and thus set his own hostage taking stage 6 months before the unthinkable became thinkable!
He apparently has not yet learned that You just can't bargain with mindless economic sloganeering terrorists, unless you want to keep giving in till there is nothing left to lose...unless of course your name is Barack Obama. He is behaving a little like the young characters in the TNT summer series "Falling skies!" who have lobster like harnesses attached to their spine by Aliens, who then control their every movement and mood. Someone please call Harry Potter and Hermione out of retirement so
they can uncast the spell he seems to be under!
If he is destined to be a one term President by the vagaries of fate and the undealable deck he was dealt by his predecessor, then he would be best to fight with dignity for the remaining two years of his term by doing and demanding the Republicans to do what's right! He can still demonstrate real leadership , instead of Mamby pamby
Equivocation, if he will boldly lead us where we need to go, even as he sets the stage for his successor!
He has proven he is more cut in the mold of Adlai Stevenson then Harry Truman. Regrettable as that may be, he still can leave an important legacy. He could clearly and unequivocally communicate with the American people that we arr headeddown the wrong road , whi h will lead us to an aristocracy with a peasant population, unless we reverse the trend of the haves not just having more, but leaving nothing left for the middle class. He could hold the bankers h
and cheaters and wall street money mongers responsible for helping to slide the nation into the ditch we now find ourselves in. Perhaps if even 10% of the bailed out big bankers were to be heldcriminally accountable for their criminal and fraudulent conduct, we could restore a
modicum of trust in the American banking and Mortgage industry!
He could stand up for marriage equality and end to discrimination against those whose sexual orientation, through no fault of their own, has cast them in the role of second class citizen .
And if he achieves but a third of the goals he could adopt in these next two years, who knows, he may become the world's first double Nobel Laureate, if not earn a spot on Mt. Rushmore yet!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Debt crisis..A perspective
Row, Row, Row your boat..gently down the stream.... or better yet...row the boat in the wrong direction, head downstream while the other guys are paddling upstream, and maybe, after the boat gets done spinning around in the rapids, you will come to your senses in time to avoid going over the falls! As the old saying goes, this is no way to run a railroad, or captain even the sturdiest of boats .I It is certainly no way to run a National Legislature.
One of the axiomatic principles in our American two party system used to be, First..”Do the right thing”, and secondly, if you can’t do the right thing, at least..”Do no harm!” This principle appears to have been abandoned by the zealots and ideologues who have taken control of the rudder of the Republican party, and who are bound and determined to run the craft of government aground, if they don’t send it careening over the nearest falls. They are determined to do what is best for their short and long term political goals, regardless of the consequences to the Commonweal. It wasn’t always thus. In the good old days of GOP stalwarts like Everett Dirksen and Gerry Ford..a point was made, but cross aisle communication was maintained, and after the debate was over, they would raise their glasses in fellowship, and toast the next encounter. No more, sadly. Politics has become a bloodsport, and principle has been auctioned off to the highest bidder. Politics in America has become what Ambrose Bierce cynically characterized it as many years ago...”The strife of interests...masquerading as a contest of principle...!”
Our two party system has become anachronistic and dysfunctional, and seems to be haplessly unable to heal itself long enough to care for the long terms fortunes of our country. Partisan advantage has become the goal, in and of itself, and without a parliamentary system to allow the ideologically marginalized to marginalize themselves...without a mechanism to prevent them from throwing monkey wrenches into the government’s grist mill, we can do little but watch the blood spill forth while the game of political brinksmanship and gotcha is being played out on the national stage, like a Harry Potter style field game, to everyone’s disadvantage. How did this happen? Where did we go wrong? How do we reverse course? Can we?
First...the two party system depends on a kind of national consensus, which we no longer have. Historically, the two large tent parties had different approaches at the margins...but the goal of both parties has been the same...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now, the goal of one party has become to save the haves from any more giving to the have nots, in the name of job creationism, and to shrink the monster they now view as government. This has become the approach, and the method is to remain unyielding, uncompromising, and to take no prisoners.
As a result, our government is being held hostage by the pretenders to the throne, who have won one parliamentary skirmish, and think they have won the war. The method of governing has been to use any tool, hold anything hostage, and do so by any and all means necessary. “Starve the beast” is the modus operandi, and strip the bark off the tree after eating all the fruit has become the way of life for those who have the political and economic hegemony in the GOP.
How do we fix it? Well, here are at least three ideas..whose moment may have finally arrived. First, perhaps it is time to allow third parties to flourish, and to change the terms of our national legislature to coincide with the election of the Chief Executive, so that, as with most parliamentary democracies, at least one faction would be in control, and able to form a government which is not working at cross purposes with itself. If everyone were rowing the boat in the same direction, we might even begin to solve some of the thornier problems like job creation, and debt reduction, while still maintaining a social safety net for those unable to care for themselves. We need a government that is boldly able carry out an agenda. We need government to fix what needs fixing, to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, and to invest in new forms of energy production, and the insuring of educational access and achievement. We need new incentives for job creation that will turn our failing fortunes around, and insure our prosperity for the generation to come. We need a government which will insure opportunity, promote community, and reward responsibility, not feed upon itself, and cannibalize the very institutions which have been created to insure a level playing field.
Second, Another way to insure that the public interest is preserved by the government is to fund election campaigns with public dollars, and to rid the system of the special interests which dictate to the fiddler what tune shall be played. This reform would go a long way toward healing what ails us. Without it, we are doomed to be disadvantaged. Every day is like Groundhog day, and we seem unable to shake making the same mistakes over and over again.
Finally, It is time to re-introduce and restore the “Fairness Doctrine” in Broadcasting, to insure civility and evenness in our public dialogue on the public airwaves. Since that doctrine was abandoned, we have been on the proverbial downhill slide politically, and we desperately need to get back to being able to have an adult political conversation, without labeling and dismissing one another. Our current crop of radio talk hosts need to be put out to pasture...and our airwaves, which are owned by the public, need to be recaptured by the public, with free airtime to electoral candidates who will appear on camera themselves to state their goals, positions, and platforms, without benefit of clever Madison avenue 30 second Zingers designed to enrage, not enlighten, and to befuddle not bear witness to truth.
These are ambitious goals, but they are achievable. Perhaps a litmus test could be concocted wherein any candidate for public office could be called upon to adopt the pledge of civility, courtesy, camaraderie, and advancing of the common good. At least this would move the Commonweal forward, and we could begin rowing our oars in the same direction, toward common goals, once again. It’s worth a try!
One of the axiomatic principles in our American two party system used to be, First..”Do the right thing”, and secondly, if you can’t do the right thing, at least..”Do no harm!” This principle appears to have been abandoned by the zealots and ideologues who have taken control of the rudder of the Republican party, and who are bound and determined to run the craft of government aground, if they don’t send it careening over the nearest falls. They are determined to do what is best for their short and long term political goals, regardless of the consequences to the Commonweal. It wasn’t always thus. In the good old days of GOP stalwarts like Everett Dirksen and Gerry Ford..a point was made, but cross aisle communication was maintained, and after the debate was over, they would raise their glasses in fellowship, and toast the next encounter. No more, sadly. Politics has become a bloodsport, and principle has been auctioned off to the highest bidder. Politics in America has become what Ambrose Bierce cynically characterized it as many years ago...”The strife of interests...masquerading as a contest of principle...!”
Our two party system has become anachronistic and dysfunctional, and seems to be haplessly unable to heal itself long enough to care for the long terms fortunes of our country. Partisan advantage has become the goal, in and of itself, and without a parliamentary system to allow the ideologically marginalized to marginalize themselves...without a mechanism to prevent them from throwing monkey wrenches into the government’s grist mill, we can do little but watch the blood spill forth while the game of political brinksmanship and gotcha is being played out on the national stage, like a Harry Potter style field game, to everyone’s disadvantage. How did this happen? Where did we go wrong? How do we reverse course? Can we?
First...the two party system depends on a kind of national consensus, which we no longer have. Historically, the two large tent parties had different approaches at the margins...but the goal of both parties has been the same...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now, the goal of one party has become to save the haves from any more giving to the have nots, in the name of job creationism, and to shrink the monster they now view as government. This has become the approach, and the method is to remain unyielding, uncompromising, and to take no prisoners.
As a result, our government is being held hostage by the pretenders to the throne, who have won one parliamentary skirmish, and think they have won the war. The method of governing has been to use any tool, hold anything hostage, and do so by any and all means necessary. “Starve the beast” is the modus operandi, and strip the bark off the tree after eating all the fruit has become the way of life for those who have the political and economic hegemony in the GOP.
How do we fix it? Well, here are at least three ideas..whose moment may have finally arrived. First, perhaps it is time to allow third parties to flourish, and to change the terms of our national legislature to coincide with the election of the Chief Executive, so that, as with most parliamentary democracies, at least one faction would be in control, and able to form a government which is not working at cross purposes with itself. If everyone were rowing the boat in the same direction, we might even begin to solve some of the thornier problems like job creation, and debt reduction, while still maintaining a social safety net for those unable to care for themselves. We need a government that is boldly able carry out an agenda. We need government to fix what needs fixing, to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, and to invest in new forms of energy production, and the insuring of educational access and achievement. We need new incentives for job creation that will turn our failing fortunes around, and insure our prosperity for the generation to come. We need a government which will insure opportunity, promote community, and reward responsibility, not feed upon itself, and cannibalize the very institutions which have been created to insure a level playing field.
Second, Another way to insure that the public interest is preserved by the government is to fund election campaigns with public dollars, and to rid the system of the special interests which dictate to the fiddler what tune shall be played. This reform would go a long way toward healing what ails us. Without it, we are doomed to be disadvantaged. Every day is like Groundhog day, and we seem unable to shake making the same mistakes over and over again.
Finally, It is time to re-introduce and restore the “Fairness Doctrine” in Broadcasting, to insure civility and evenness in our public dialogue on the public airwaves. Since that doctrine was abandoned, we have been on the proverbial downhill slide politically, and we desperately need to get back to being able to have an adult political conversation, without labeling and dismissing one another. Our current crop of radio talk hosts need to be put out to pasture...and our airwaves, which are owned by the public, need to be recaptured by the public, with free airtime to electoral candidates who will appear on camera themselves to state their goals, positions, and platforms, without benefit of clever Madison avenue 30 second Zingers designed to enrage, not enlighten, and to befuddle not bear witness to truth.
These are ambitious goals, but they are achievable. Perhaps a litmus test could be concocted wherein any candidate for public office could be called upon to adopt the pledge of civility, courtesy, camaraderie, and advancing of the common good. At least this would move the Commonweal forward, and we could begin rowing our oars in the same direction, toward common goals, once again. It’s worth a try!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Health Care Debate? A magnificent Mardi Gras Masquerade!
It is a good thing I have health care insurance, because if anything adversely affected my health recently, it was watching the Congressional debate over health care on Sun. night! The self serving and disingenuous political posturing on the part of the GOP ( Grand Obstructionist Party) made me want to throw up!
The smug, syrupy, sanctimonious procession of platitudes dished up by the Boehner Republicans made me more than ill ...it made me want to punch the television set!
I am sick! Sick of this debate. Sick of the phony posturing by members of the same party that contributed over 1.3trillion dollars to the federal deficit by voting for the Bush tax cuts version I and II, and voting for the Bush proposal to pay Senior drug benefits through expansion of Medicare, (which also contributed over 300 million dollars to the deficit), with nary a whimper of whining that we couldn't afford it . Let alone not a whimper of protest to the expenditure of billions and billions on an unnecessary war in Iraq.
I am reminded of Ambrose Bierce's definition of politics as "the strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principle...the study of who gets what , why, when, where and how"! The GOP of today has taken the masquerading part to new height! They have become a veritable Mardi Gras of mendacious manipulation.
This bill is no panacea, but it is better than simply doing nothing! As imperfect as parts of it may be ...it is still a major leap in the right direction. I would have preferred a public option. I could even have lived with republican efforts at some serious Tort reform (and I am a lawyer). But the fact that this bill will actually trim the deficit by over a trillion dollars over the next decade seems not to matter to the Republicans at all! It is as if they were deaf, dumb and blind over the last 8 years of Bush! Now they believe that the government should finally stop spending money it doesn't have ?
Well, welcome aboard the deficit reduction express...better late than never! But where were you for the last eight years?
It all comes down to this...the Republicans are essentially saying , "I've got mine...the hell with you!"! The Democrats are saying , "I've got mine...can I help you get yours"? That's is really what it comes down to!
It seems that the more things change the more they stay the same! It has ever been thus! I think the American people are smart enough to see through this smokescreen of opposition , and understand it for what it really is----- raw, unbridled, partisan pretense wrapped in the flag of hypocritical hogwash. Hopefully the American electorate will give it the treatment it deserves…..a giant flush down the toilet of political history!
The smug, syrupy, sanctimonious procession of platitudes dished up by the Boehner Republicans made me more than ill ...it made me want to punch the television set!
I am sick! Sick of this debate. Sick of the phony posturing by members of the same party that contributed over 1.3trillion dollars to the federal deficit by voting for the Bush tax cuts version I and II, and voting for the Bush proposal to pay Senior drug benefits through expansion of Medicare, (which also contributed over 300 million dollars to the deficit), with nary a whimper of whining that we couldn't afford it . Let alone not a whimper of protest to the expenditure of billions and billions on an unnecessary war in Iraq.
I am reminded of Ambrose Bierce's definition of politics as "the strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principle...the study of who gets what , why, when, where and how"! The GOP of today has taken the masquerading part to new height! They have become a veritable Mardi Gras of mendacious manipulation.
This bill is no panacea, but it is better than simply doing nothing! As imperfect as parts of it may be ...it is still a major leap in the right direction. I would have preferred a public option. I could even have lived with republican efforts at some serious Tort reform (and I am a lawyer). But the fact that this bill will actually trim the deficit by over a trillion dollars over the next decade seems not to matter to the Republicans at all! It is as if they were deaf, dumb and blind over the last 8 years of Bush! Now they believe that the government should finally stop spending money it doesn't have ?
Well, welcome aboard the deficit reduction express...better late than never! But where were you for the last eight years?
It all comes down to this...the Republicans are essentially saying , "I've got mine...the hell with you!"! The Democrats are saying , "I've got mine...can I help you get yours"? That's is really what it comes down to!
It seems that the more things change the more they stay the same! It has ever been thus! I think the American people are smart enough to see through this smokescreen of opposition , and understand it for what it really is----- raw, unbridled, partisan pretense wrapped in the flag of hypocritical hogwash. Hopefully the American electorate will give it the treatment it deserves…..a giant flush down the toilet of political history!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Hey Barry---time to channel Harry!
Memo to My President---
Some thoughts for inclusion in the State of the Union address----
The election of Scott Brown as Senator from Massachusetts is, in some ways, one of the best things that could have happened to the Obama Presidency. Largely because it is a clarion type of wake up call..the message can only be disregarded at great peril. And that message is simply this…The Republicans didn't win... the people did. They are sending a message that Obama needs to finally hear.
Both parties are bought and paid for by the very special interests that continue to triumph and defeat the "change we can believe in".
Both parties have become handmaidens of the status quo. The stimulus package and health care reform got so watered down by the special interests that the Democrats lost their base. The message is clear… It’s time to get back to the basics and start solving the problems of the American people.
Hey Barry…like the old Beach Boys song says…“Be true to your school! “ The only way to “push ‘em back, push ‘em back, push ‘em way back” is to know thy friends, and even more importantly, know thy enemies. Stop dithering…Stand up for what you believe in, and dance with the crowd that brung you! Until now, Mr. President, you have been too Casper Milquetoast.
The President was wrong in ditching the public option on healthcare, and
he has not been following the right path when it comes to dealing with the
Bankers. He and his friends are increasingly looking like the not ready for prime time players. He got rolled by the Olympic Committee...he got rolled by Pelosi and the House Democrats on the stimulus package, and now he's been rolled by the Republicans and Sen. Lieberman and the “ Democratic” senate on health care! Doesn’t the bible speak of casting the lukewarm like vomit forth from the mouth? There are times when you just have to stand for principle, and be true to your beliefs.
Unless there is a significant early course correction ...President Obama will increasingly become President Oblanda…. The Incrementalist Extraordinaire! That is not who we thought we elected! That’s why the Independents are divorcing themselves from him in droves, and the true believers are being left out in the cold. A principled stand is not a luxury...it is an imperative!
Maybe it is time to take a sheaf or two out of Harry Truman's playbook and stand for something! Tell them where the bear you know what in the buckwheat! Obama needs to stop dithering and start demanding ... And remember that jobs… jobs… jobs is not some esoteric concept! It is the bread and butter of political hegemony.
Being too cute by half gets us no where. Cleveland needs you more than Copenhagen, Mr. President! Stop channeling Adlai Stevenson, and start channeling Harry Truman. Obama may be from Illinois, but he needs to act like he’s from Missouri.
Give ‘em hell Barry! It’s time to channel Harry!
It’s the only way to get back in the driver’s seat, and it is still not too late!
Some thoughts for inclusion in the State of the Union address----
The election of Scott Brown as Senator from Massachusetts is, in some ways, one of the best things that could have happened to the Obama Presidency. Largely because it is a clarion type of wake up call..the message can only be disregarded at great peril. And that message is simply this…The Republicans didn't win... the people did. They are sending a message that Obama needs to finally hear.
Both parties are bought and paid for by the very special interests that continue to triumph and defeat the "change we can believe in".
Both parties have become handmaidens of the status quo. The stimulus package and health care reform got so watered down by the special interests that the Democrats lost their base. The message is clear… It’s time to get back to the basics and start solving the problems of the American people.
Hey Barry…like the old Beach Boys song says…“Be true to your school! “ The only way to “push ‘em back, push ‘em back, push ‘em way back” is to know thy friends, and even more importantly, know thy enemies. Stop dithering…Stand up for what you believe in, and dance with the crowd that brung you! Until now, Mr. President, you have been too Casper Milquetoast.
The President was wrong in ditching the public option on healthcare, and
he has not been following the right path when it comes to dealing with the
Bankers. He and his friends are increasingly looking like the not ready for prime time players. He got rolled by the Olympic Committee...he got rolled by Pelosi and the House Democrats on the stimulus package, and now he's been rolled by the Republicans and Sen. Lieberman and the “ Democratic” senate on health care! Doesn’t the bible speak of casting the lukewarm like vomit forth from the mouth? There are times when you just have to stand for principle, and be true to your beliefs.
Unless there is a significant early course correction ...President Obama will increasingly become President Oblanda…. The Incrementalist Extraordinaire! That is not who we thought we elected! That’s why the Independents are divorcing themselves from him in droves, and the true believers are being left out in the cold. A principled stand is not a luxury...it is an imperative!
Maybe it is time to take a sheaf or two out of Harry Truman's playbook and stand for something! Tell them where the bear you know what in the buckwheat! Obama needs to stop dithering and start demanding ... And remember that jobs… jobs… jobs is not some esoteric concept! It is the bread and butter of political hegemony.
Being too cute by half gets us no where. Cleveland needs you more than Copenhagen, Mr. President! Stop channeling Adlai Stevenson, and start channeling Harry Truman. Obama may be from Illinois, but he needs to act like he’s from Missouri.
Give ‘em hell Barry! It’s time to channel Harry!
It’s the only way to get back in the driver’s seat, and it is still not too late!
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