Headline of the Day: “No New Date for NYC Primaries After Albany Lawmakers Nix June, August Proposals”
Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin is still reeling after saying Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini would be proud of Gov. Andrew Cuomo for rushing gun control legislation. “Can I crawl under the desk now?” he said at the start of his Capital Tonight interview where he clarified he was talking about the fascist dictators being proud of all of Albany. “Not ‘his.’ I said ‘we.’ They ‘would be proud of what we did.’ So it wasn’t just the governor,” he explained. “But I’m not trying to sugarcoat it.”
In other historical leader news, Senator Rubén Díaz has moved from comparing Mr. Cuomo to Caesar’s wife to directly comparing him to Julius Caesar himself. “[I]t is Julius Caesar who has been attributed to the quote ‘Divide et impera’ which translates from Latin to mean ‘Divide and Conquer.’” Mr. Díaz wrote in a statement about Mr. Cuomo’s latest judicial nominee.“You should also know that New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo – one more time – has proven to be a very Machiavellian and skillful politician.”
Not everyone is so hard on Mr. Cuomo, however. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell‘s gave a barrage of effusive quotes praising both Mr. Cuomo and his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo. “There’s nothing more rare in politics than a politician doing something he or she knows will cost politically, hurt in the polls,” Mr. O’Donnell said, comparing the younger Cuomo and gun control to the elder’s opposition to the death penalty. “The gubernatorial campaign of 1994 was Mario Cuomo’s last hurrah. He held on to his soul in that campaign, but he lost the governorship.”
Update: (10:03 a.m.): Watch the cable news segment praising both Cuomos in all its glory here.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio had to defend his outer borough credentials after the Brooklyn Paper said some would cite the partially tony neighborhood as not “outer borough” enough. “That’s crazy,” Mr. de Blasio shot back. “It’s pricier now, but there’s still a lot of old-timers in the Slope, still a lot of working and middle-class people, and a lot of focus on public schools and small businesses. … Chirlane and I are like so many other middle-class folks that have had to figure out a way to find childcare we could afford when our kids were younger, and balance all the pieces of our lives. That’s what people are dealing with in the outer boroughs.”
Over on the Upper East Side, Assemblyman Micah Kellner notched the grocery workers union as he’s running for City Council. “Many elected officials talk the talk but few walk the walk as consistently as Micah Kellner,” the union declared in a press release. “Whether its demanding Wal-Mart be held accountable for it’s unethical business practices or supporting the passage of the Wage Theft Prevention Act, Micah Kellner does not just support good legislation, he works tirelessly to see that the legislation becomes law and that those laws are strongly enforced”
While on the Upper West, another Council candidate, Ken Biberaj, couldn’t be more pleased after he successfully asked the city to fix a typo on a street sign honoring jazz musician Thelonious Monk. “I’m thrilled the DOT took action to change the misspelled street sign,” he told the similarly-enthusiastic West Side Rag. “The upper west side is a community that honors both the arts and our cultural icons and no one symbolizes this better than Thelonious Monk.”
And Thomas Lopez-Pierre, Uptown’s most infamous Council contender, has another racially-charged missive for you to peruse below:
Dear Hon. Keith Wright:
Today, I was disappointed that your staff (at your direction) kept me from attending Gov’s Cuomo’s State of the State Address at City College.
I was more entertained than anything else.
Do not get me wrong, its NOT like I do not like Gov. Cuomo (I think he is doing a fine job so far) its just if you had to keep me from attending something – I would have expected it would be something important.
Keeping me out just felt so childish and beneath you and the Office of Gov. Coumo.
I mean let’s be honest: Gov Cuomo who I have met several times over the years – does not even remember my name.
I am just not that important of a person to keep out of any of his events or any of yours.
Do not get me wrong, I know that this is the price one pays NOT to be a political house Nigger – so I am not the least upset with you or your staff.
In fact, when I get elected to the city council in September, I look forward to working with you and Gov Cuomo.
All the best,
Thomas Lopez-Pierre
Candidate for the 7th Council District
