Unite To Stop White Individuals!

The New York Sun reprints an email sent by a City Councilmember to elected officials of color urging them to unite against David Yassky, “a white individual”:

As one of the planners for the Black Brooklyn Empowerment Convention to be held at Concord Baptist Church on Saturday, June 17, 2006, we felt it our duty to address the fact that we are in peril of losing a “Voting Rights” district, the 11th Congressional District, as a result of the well financed candidacy of Council Member David Yassky, a white individual.

Not unexpected, there are currently three Black candidates who also aspire to fill the seat of retiring Congressman Major Owens.

In an attempt to bring awareness and accountability to this critical situation, the convention planners are requesting a meeting, to be followed by a press conference, of members from the Congressional Black Caucus, the New York State Black, Puerto Rican and Latino Caucus, and the Black, Latino, Asian Caucus of the New York City Council.

The press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday.

Backstory: Nothing Against Your Policies, It’s Just The Color Of Your Skin; Barack Obama: Some Guy They Stuck In There; How Do We Put This? Let’s Just Say Identity Politics Still Exists . . ..

Probably?

Hizzoner channels Howard Dean*:

“The world probably is better off without this person, but there are plenty of other people that we have to bring to justice.”

*Dean later claimed, as in the interview reprinted here, that when he said that he “supposed” it was a good thing that Saddam was out of power, he didn’t really mean to minimize the fact that Saddam was out of power.

Vote Nominally!

Despite the speculation (but of course we were all dying to know what Hizzoner thought about Intelligent Design anyway), Mayor Bloomberg is not running for President:

For a man who says he is not running for president, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has been sounding a lot like a candidate for the White House lately.

He spent last week thrusting himself into national politics, making pointed comments on issues like illegal immigration, stem-cell research and global warming. But then on Friday, he denied any interest in higher office.

“I’m not running for president,” he said while discussing immigration that day on his weekly call-in radio show. “I’ve got a city with 500,000 undocumented, and I want to leave a better world for my kids, and your kids.”

Still, there is substance fueling the sense in some political circles that the mayor, nominally a Republican, could be persuaded to run. Kevin Sheekey, the deputy mayor for government affairs and Mr. Bloomberg’s lead political architect, continues to work behind the scenes, chatting up lobbyists and other operatives to promote the idea of Mr. Bloomberg running as an independent.

In addition, Mr. Bloomberg has been auditioning a new political persona in his public statements, casting himself as the kind of pragmatic, results-oriented problem-solver that Americans tell pollsters they are looking for.

As Democrats and Republicans argue over the future of their parties and the national debate remains polarized, there are signs that voters are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with President Bush and the Republican leaders of Congress, and that they aren’t necessarily energized by the Democrats, either.

“Most people are not satisfied with their politics and would very much like to see more politicians who just got things done,” said Al From, founder and chief executive officer of the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist policy group. “Most people really aren’t about ideology. Most people really are about, ‘Let’s get something done that’s going to make my life better.'”

Forget the “third way” — how about a “Nominal” ticket?

Hizzoner The President? Or, If A “Republican In Name Only” Speaks To A Graduating Class, Do Independents And Moderates In Middle America Actually Notice?

If he really wanted to be provocative, he would have come out against, say, tort reform limiting medical malpractice damages (whoops — wrong speech!):

By warning a graduating class of doctors to reject “faith-based science,” Mr. Bloomberg yesterday signaled yet again that he plans to use his second term to take the national stage.

The mayor railed against letting “ideology get in the way of truth,” and singled out creationism, global warming, and stem cell research as topics where science is under attack.

Mr. Bloomberg’s views on these issues — and on other topics he’s taken on over the last few months — barely register outside the five boroughs. But after winning re-election by a record margin, Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire, is becoming increasingly vocal and eager to address controversial topics.

“It boggles the mind that nearly two centuries after Darwin, and 80 years after John Scopes was put on trial, this country is still debating the validity of evolution,” Mr. Bloomberg told graduating medical students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he earned his bachelor’s degree.

Mr. Bloomberg combined two of his favorite topics, science and education, when he criticized school districts in Kansas and Mississippi that want to teach “intelligent design,” the theory that human life cannot be explained solely by evolution. He said schools would be “condemning these students to an inferior education” by promoting faith over settled science.

And forget local issues like, say, garbage collection and Sunday parking — this time it’s about a “national conversation”:

The interim dean at Baruch College’s school of public affairs, David Birdsell, said Mr. Bloomberg was clearly using his office as a bully pulpit on a national scale.

“If you look at what Bloomberg is calling attention to in this speech, it is clear that he is attacking national issues,” Mr. Birdsell said.

“He certainly sounds like a person who at least during these remaining three years wants to use the mayoralty to shape a national conversation, if not a national candidacy,” he said.

No Bandwagon Here: I Have Not Been, Nor Will I Ever Be, A Mets Fan

Refreshing candor from New York’s junior senator:

One crowd Hillary Clinton will never be accused of pandering to? The one at Shea Stadium.

Clinton, appearing at the National Press Club Tuesday, made it clear that her hometown loyalty extends to only one of New York’s baseball franchises — and it’s not the one next to the body shops of Flushing.

“I cannot let stand that I have ever, ever been a Mets fan: Let’s set the record straight,” said Clinton. “The Cubs and the Yankees — those were my teams and remained my teams growing up and now in my mature years.”

After all, this is a team that last night took eight innings to score off of Phillies reliever Ryan Madson. Not very impressive:

The game, of course, did not have to last as long as it did. It could have ended much earlier — when folks remembered that Steve Trachsel started and David Bell knocked in five runs — if . . .

If Paul Lo Duca had held onto that throw in the fifth inning, then the Phillies couldn’t have scored four runs.

If Ryan Howard had fielded that grounder cleanly in the eighth, the Mets couldn’t have scored three.

If Beltrán would not have slid past second base in the 10th, then David Wright’s single probably would have scored him with the winning run.

If José Reyes were not so athletic, he couldn’t have jumped high enough to spear Bobby Abreu’s liner in the 13th, doubling Chase Utley off second and thwarting the go-ahead run.

Then again, such a resolution would have been unsuitable last night. Too simple. So they kept playing.

The five hour, 22 minute game was the longest of the season. A pox on both your houses, I say!