Media Blackout and why Bloomberg should Step Down
The justification had worn thin before the story was even widely known. When asked why members of the media had been blocked from the scene of last night’s eviction of Occupy Wall Street, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg claimed he had acted to “protect the members of the press. We have to provide protection and we have done exactly that.” On the face of it the remark seems reasonable. The Occupy movement strives for non-violence but has seen minor breaks in discipline as well as outright undermining of its peaceful goal by infiltrators, anarchists, etc. The potential for Oakland style skirmishes is not entirely dismissible. It could be used to define keeping reporters to the side. It can be employed to justify caution tape and arguably even riot gear. This is not what took place last night.
The airspace over lower Manhattan had been shut down by the city to insure against news helicopters providing aerial coverage of the incursion. One CBS copter which had previously been in the air was denied refueling and held on the tarmac. Accredited members of the press were kept blocks not yards from the occupation. Views of the camp from neighboring streets were blocked by strategically placed police vans and city vehicles. In effect the mayor of New York made an orchestrated attempt to blindfold the American people.
The totalitarian implications of attempted media blackout are horrifying, the force employed against the media by its implementers was repulsive. A New York Times reporter wrote this morning about witnessing a competitor from the New York Post being roughed up before his eyes. A writer from Mother Jones has reported being dragged physically from the site. Photographers were prohibited from photographing the injured. At least six journalists were placed under arrest.
The Mayor has cited public safety, sanitation and public health as justification for his pre-dawn raid. He has taken it upon himself to re-define the parameters of the First Amendment. He has made many of the same mistakes other mayors and police departments across the country have made in recent weeks. In attempting media blackout however, Michael Bloomberg has said that his actions are not subject to the observation, assessment or judgment of those who put him in office. By moving in the dead of night and clearly attempting to do so while hidden from public view he has made clear that he sees himself not as a servant of the people but as their keeper. To put it bluntly, he has made it clear that BLOOMBERG HAS GOT TO GO.
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Yeah…they probably tried to minimize exposure of the operation to the media…mostly because people like you, Dan, seem intent on finding as much fault with any operation as possible. I don’t blame him…or the police, and if I were mayor or chief of police, I would have done the same thing.
My sympathies are with the movement…it is much needed and long overdue public activism. I wish them luck…and I hope our country gets its shit in order. But this constant barrage of invective against public officials trying to deal with multi-faceted, often dangerous situations IS WHAT HAS TO GO…not someone like Mike Bloomberg.
You are in favor of elected officials controlling the press? What a cute little fascist you are.
But in the end, police brutality, Bloomberg and friends, and so on, only make us stronger!!!!
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
That seems to sum up the case against such censorship pretty well.
r./
they really should start teaching history in our public schools, don'tcha think?
The raid was long overdue. Protesters have a right to protest, not to rape, plunder, and pillage. The right to protest does not include the right to establish free supplementary outdoor housing.
Restricting press coverage was wrong. Reporters can always proceed at their own risk. I think an imposed-upon public had the right to witness the clean-up and to see the rule of law flush out a clogged sewer line.
In any event it's over for all practical purposes. RIP It might have survived if there had been any cogent message or argument among the detritus.
Rated
How can you suggest such a thing when there are so many bad personal habits that haven't been addressed yet?
Bloomberg, 2nd richest person in NYC, 12th richest person in America, who spent $100 million to stay in office after the citizens of NYC declared they wanted term limits, but he wrangled an amendment to serve a third term because NO ONE SAYS NO TO BLOOMBERG. He gets paid officially $1 a year but the mayorship has really boosted his indirect earnings exponentially, as well as those of his many corporate cronies.
He gratuitously puts peaceful people in jail, throws away their blankets, tents, possessions, books, medicines. Refuses to allow them porta-potties but insists he is obsessed with public hygiene and cleanliness. Creates a paramilitary ambush in the middle of the night while they are sleeping, kids in sleeping bags vs. paramilitary klieg lights and audio cannons, cops in full riot gear wielding batons. He tweets them at 1:19am (without having negotiated terms of a powercleaning or discussion with them of rules of the park -- because, because, because ... why again? oh, that would involve talking to them in an orbit of mutual respect and he is an arrogant gamesman who demonizes for power and ambition, a patriarchal personality not a humanist statesman) and 10 minutes later police are shredding the tents and trashing property in riot gear similar to the Baghdad shock and awe playbook.
Bloomberg looks at the camera and proudly announces he takes full credit. The "security and safety" BIG LIE the govt gives to America. WE MUST DO THIS TO KEEP YOU SAFE! He is doing this to protect other 99 percent residents, when he is really protecting the 1 percent which includes himself at the tippy top of that pyramid of economic terrorism protected entitlement.
The real message to America, you can think you are free but if you ACT as if you are a free people you will get SLAMMED, ARRESTED, HARASSED, BEATEN UP, etc.
Bloomberg is hungry for more power and fame and the presidency is now in his sites. He is a gambler. He is the one who when he saw a vacuum for NYC mayor in a New York minute switched from Dem to Republican to grasp the opportunity. Say what? Later on he saw it more opportunistic to switch to being an Independent and did. Not much media notice, most are stenographers as Greenwald points out, no longer the 4th estate. Now that is suspect flexibility, but the gamble paid off for him so far. Gave him that "decisive" title in spite of the DRAMATIC flip flopping but that is the CORPORATE media, enabling their own, and now will keep drum-beating on his media positive branding. They say "decisive", some of us say "fascistic".
You can see the contempt and patronization on his face and his lack of patience in dealing with OWS as well as his complete inability to actually NEGOTIATE with the protesters. They are far more peaceful and creative human beings than he and that political class of opportunists who put profit over people and can't think any other way.
But we have to have an enlightened citizenry, not one taking the lazier, softer way via minimization and denial. A citizenry that does not treat democracy like a "spectator sport" and does not let the CORPORATE media vet for them who the best candidates are, seduce them into deeper doom. We are not there yet. I think Bloomberg has made lemonade out of lemons with this. I think Bloomberg's refusal to embrace empathy for the 99 percent is seductive. He has a bunch of issues that the "pragmatic progressives" will point to in defending him. I don't not appreciate them, but I look at him and don't see, again, a leader with a moral compass. A humanist. A person capable of EMPATHY. He wants power and is ego driven and we are awash in ego driven opportunistic politicians. A good man or woman is indeed hard to find. Well, the corporate media will simply crucify them, cronyism prevails.
Bloomberg took the risk. He took an action. It was despicable but he and his handlers are lying up a storm and exploiting dimensions of reality that can be exploited to feed his apologists who will or can not embrace the big honest picture. Bloomberg wants the national publicity. NYC has his number, but not yet the whole nation.
Bloomberg is bucking for the WH and hoping that the reactionaries to the people of conscience will prevail. It worked for Obama thus far. Marginalize and disenfranchise them as extremist DFHs. And Bloomberg seems a far more "decisive" authoritarian type than Obama which will give him a new edge. People think it comes from strength with Bloomberg at first, but sadly it comes from colossal EGO.
My two and a half cents. libby
He secretly visits pier dive bars looking for victims, then sucks them dry....
He will be replaced by Martin Short playing the part of the mayor.
No one will notice!
I'm sorry, but participating in this kind of violence against citizens who are engaging in peaceful, non-violent protest is a totalitarian act. They violate the Constitution. Anyone who does not recognize this is an idiot, frankly, at best. At worst, they think the Constitution applies only to them, which is disgusting as well.
Boo to the New York mayor and his jackbooted minions. They should all be fired. The police aren't identifying themselves when asked their names and ranks either, which is against the law. I know one thing. New York is a place I won't be visiting anytime soon, and I urge others to boycott New York as a tourist destination. Since they don't understand the Constitution or good ethics, perhaps they'll respond to their god: Money.
If the way the ideologues are working here in OS is any indication of the way they are working in general, the movement is dead.
Get under control. You are alienating people who could be useful to the movement with your intemperance and pettiness. The 1% will cut you to pieces the way the conservatives chopped the liberals to pieces.
Won’t you people learn from history? Get yourselves under control. Be a force that is going to help change things for the better—rather than be a laughing stock.
When someone in authority uses that authority to ignore a judge and thus, the law, and when the police force working for that authority physically harms unarmed and peaceful citizens, that's fascism, Frank. There's nothing careless about my use of the word at all. I know exactly what it means. And you're smart, Frank. You know what it means, too. You just want it to be a lie. But, it's not. These aren't opinions. These are actual events. They're happening right now. In a country where these things aren't supposed to happen. How you can overlook it is beyond me, honestly, but if that is what you must do to get along, then you do that. I'm not going to be able to look the other way. What's happening with Bloomberg and the ways he's misusing his authority and the way the police are behaving must not be ignored. Otherwise, we'll be having this conversation in the camps. And believe me, despite your clear hopes in this regard, you'll be there, too, unless you join the police on the street to put on your own jackboots.
Seems to me that focusing on whether Bloomberg ought to "step down" or whether he's been a "fine" mayor or not-so-fine, kind of misses the point of what this is all about? If it weren't a massive powers political fight (as to who has power and how can it be -- and is it -- mobilised) then discussing the individual qualities of an individual mayor might be relevant.
Sorry I don't have the computer savvy to provide links but you can find Hayden's article either via The Nation or Common Dreams. Would love to find some comments/responses here.
He and his cronies have done more to ruin this city than the past mayors combined. They accelerated not only gentrification, but the flattening out of culture and life in general. I never thought that anyone could succeed at making New York dull, but he's come close. Nothing but rich stuck-up finance assholes from shore to shore. No one else can afford to live in Manhattan, and nobody cares what's going on here in all the communities that used to matter. Art and architecture in particular have become just awful under him--nothing but already established, overblown boomer cunts with nothing more to say so they've settled on cold spectacle. The city is starting to give me the creeps.
(There must be some way to get rid of him now. Recall? Any thoughts?)
Find the slime, and follow the trail....
rate
Anthony Duval, you wrote: You are in favor of elected officials controlling the press? What a cute little fascist you are.
I did not say I am in favor of elected officials controlling the press. Amazing that you would misquote me and then call me a fascist for the misquote. I am sure the boys at the bowling alley are in awe of your cleverness.
Odetteroulette, I am not in denial. This kind of nonsense IS alienating people who would be useful to the movement. I doubt I will be able to convince you of that, but I do feel obligated to mention it in my posts.
The stuff going on is not fascism. Bloomberg has a city to govern…and he is doing so.
How you can overlook it is beyond me, honestly, but if that is what you must do to get along, then you do that. I'm not going to be able to look the other way. What's happening with Bloomberg and the ways he's misusing his authority and the way the police are behaving must not be ignored. Otherwise, we'll be having this conversation in the camps. And believe me, despite your clear hopes in this regard, you'll be there, too, unless you join the police on the street to put on your own jackboots.
Hyperbole. Understandable, because you are angry and not exercising control over your anger. But it is hyperbole nonetheless.
"Yeah…they probably tried to minimize exposure of the operation to the media…mostly because people like you, Dan, seem intent on finding as much fault with any operation as possible. I don’t blame him…or the police, and if I were mayor or chief of police, I would have done the same thing."
Oh pardon me Mr. Apisa you only want to minimize the exposure of a public police action to the media, is it even possible for you to be more disingenuous?
"Congress (insert State of New York or NYC) shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
The media covers wars, famines, executions, assassinations, it has it's own security and without any direct request from the press for security, all such actions should be seen as a direct block to both sections b and c of the First Amendment.
These bastards are not above the law, particularly our most cherished one.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_villain_occupy_wall_street_has_been_waiting_for_20111117/
"The Villain Occupy Wall Street Has Been Waiting For"
Posted on Nov 17, 2011
"In the pantheon of billionaires without shame, Michael Bloomberg, the Wall Street banker-turned-business-press-lord-turned-mayor, is now secure at the top. What is so offensive is that someone who abetted Wall Street greed, and benefited as much as anyone from it, has no compunction about ruthlessly repressing those who dare exercise their constitutional “right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” that he helped to create
.
"You would think that a former partner at the investment bank Solomon Brothers, which originated mortgage-backed securities, a man who then partnered with Merrill Lynch in the high-speed computerized trading that has led to so much financial manipulation, would have some sense of his own culpability. Or at least that someone whose Wall Street career left him with a net worth of $19.5 billion would grasp the deep irony of his being the instrument for smashing Occupy Wall Street, the internationally acknowledged symbol of opposition to corporate avarice.
"But only in America is the arrogance of the superrich so perfectly concealed by the pretense of democracy that the 12th richest man in the nation can suppress dissent against corporate rapacity and expect his brutal actions to be viewed not as a means of preserving his own class privilege but as bureaucratically necessary to providing sanitary streets.
"Even before he ordered the smashing of dissent by citizens peacefully assembled, Bloomberg denigrated their heartfelt message: “It’s fun and it’s cathartic,” he said of those huddled against the cold in a makeshift encampment, “... it’s entertaining to go and blame people. ... It was not the banks that created the mortgage crisis. It was, plain and simple, Congress who forced everybody to go and give mortgages to people who were on the cusp.”
"It is mind-boggling that Bloomberg still hypes the canard that the banks were forced to reap enormous profits from toxic securities. It is an embarrassing, dishonest position when the record of banker fraud in creating the housing bubble is so well documented in Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuits. Is Bloomberg unaware that the major banks have agreed to pay hefty fines in a meager compensation for their schemes? That he blames the victims of the securitization swindles and then orders the arrest of those who dare speak the truth is a tribute to his belief in the enduring power of the big lie."
--upton sinclair
"One withstands the invasion of armies; one does not withstand the invasion of ideas."
--victor hugo
occupy party reaches critical mass/seismic effect--now what?
My camps remark, which is hyperbole, and deliberately so, is based upon my concern about how far we've fallen in recent years, in terms of civil rights and equality under the law. How far off can that be if we don't stop this race to fiscal and political inequality, mainly engineered, and not at all reflective of hard work or fairness or even the law? NPR did a special yesterday on how legislators in our country are clearly getting insider trading information. Their portfolios did unbelievably better than they should have, statistically, because they trade tips with lobbyists for millions of dollars. How can they possibly be working for us under these kinds of conditions? Only after 60 minutes ran a story did they begin to change their tune. It's important that we confront these kinds of behaviors, or we will be living in fascism. That's what I meant, Frank. Good grief, you know this. You aren't even dealing with my arguments, honestly, Frank. I have to assume it's because you're lying to yourself and you need that to continue. But, just in case, just for the record, hyperbole doesn't mean the conclusions are false, or the sentiments. Didn't they teach you that in school?
The dismissive way you are treating what I am saying (and so many others treat like minded comments) is one of the reasons I think this movement, sadly, may fall flat on its face. But, that is the way it goes at times…and if the time is not yet ripe for an effective movement, I hope it will be soon.
The hatred, anger, invective, and scorn directed toward people like Bloomberg, other mayors, or the police is an absurdity…and most thinking people will see it as such. They will turn away from…not be drawn in toward the movement by such nonsense.
There are people in the cities these demonstrations are taking place who have legitimate reasons for wanting them curtailed or contained. MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE are part of the 99%, not the 1%. Many want more fairness…but also want to be able to get to work, live in peace, use the park, or to conduct business.
But go right on being dismissive. We’ll see where it gets you.
He's a nasty little thug. His business partners are nasty too. I'm with old Doc Lee on this, find out about his investments and deals on the side and you'll find the scandal that could push him from office.
If you know so well what Occupy Wall Street should do why aren't you down at your local General Assembly working with them instead of sitting on an insignificant blog fighting with the likes of me?
As for your sainted Mayor Bloomberg, why hasn't he seen to it that something is done with Commander Anthony Bologna, the commander who saw fit to pepper spray contained individuals in absolute violation of NYPD policies, policies that were initiated by court order because of the "Free Speach Zones" that Mayor Bloomberg imposed on protesters during the Republican Convention in 2008. Where is the concern when Retired NY Supreme Court Justice Karen Smith, who was acting as a legal observer, got ruffed up by NYPD officers while in the course of her duties?
Finally why don't you tell us what this paragraph means? "Yeah…they probably tried to minimize exposure of the operation to the media…mostly because people like you, Dan, seem intent on finding as much fault with any operation as possible. I don’t blame him…or the police, and if I were mayor or chief of police, I would have done the same thing." From my reading of that I don't see how it is anything except a declaration of your agreement with the decision of the Mayor to limit the freedom of the press to observe and report on public actions by public officials. You continually come down on the side of authority especially when the authorities have been heavy handed and frequently when they have criminally overstepped their legal dominion.
If you know so well what Occupy Wall Street should do…
Where the hell did I say that I know so well what Occupy Wall Street should do? I certainly have some ideas of what they should not do…and I have shared them.
Do you make this stuff up as you go along…or do you have help?
As for your sainted Mayor Bloomberg…
You have argued in a forum before today, haven’t you? Where have I indicated Bloomberg is a “saint” to me? I said he was “a damn fine mayor…a guy doing a decent job of trying to govern people who have become ungovernable.”
Do you make this stuff up as you go along…or do you have help?
…why hasn't he seen to it that something is done with Commander Anthony Bologna, the commander who saw fit to pepper spray contained individuals in absolute violation of NYPD policies…
Wow! You know what Mayor Bloomberg has and hasn’t done. Do you work in his office…or did you use a crystal ball? And how long, considering everything, do you think it would take to “do something” if he did decide to do something?
Finally why don't you tell us what this paragraph means? "Yeah…they probably tried to minimize exposure of the operation to the media…mostly because people like you, Dan, seem intent on finding as much fault with any operation as possible. I don’t blame him…or the police, and if I were mayor or chief of police, I would have done the same thing."
No problem, Anthony. What I meant by that was that Mayor Bloomberg probably tried to minimize exposure of the operation to the media…mostly because people like Dan (and apparently you) seem intent on finding as much fault with any operation as possible. Also I meant that I don’t blame him…or the police, and if I were mayor or chief of police, I would have done the same thing.
I hope that explains it.
From my reading of that I don't see how it is anything except a declaration of your agreement with the decision of the Mayor to limit the freedom of the press to observe and report on public actions by public officials.
You can choose to read it to mean that I want President Obama to declare war on China if you choose. I will stick with what I said.
You continually come down on the side of authority especially when the authorities have been heavy handed and frequently when they have criminally overstepped their legal dominion.
Actually, I don’t! But in this case I have been. Since you seem to think I continually come down on the side of authority especially when the authorities have been heavy handed…please cite me on instance other than on this issue where I have.
You are of course correct I can't quote you as saying you know what Occupy Wall Street should do. I have extrapolated that you think you know what Occupy Wall Street should do because you have made several comments saying what Occupy Wall Street should do.
Another "big" score for Mr. Apisa, I have no idea what Mayor Bloomberg has done other than what I can read in the papers. In private he may have paddled Commander Bologna till he couldn't sit for a week and I would be completely unaware of it. I do know that publicly a Commander who was shown on video pepper spraying contained nonviolent individuals in violation of the court order the NYPD has been operating under since they so blatantly ignored the first amendment rights of protesters in 2008, has been fined 10 days pay and transferred to an assignment closer to his home as his punishment. Perhaps it's just me, but that doesn't seem to satisfy the need for justice.
Your ability to employ logical fallacy after logical fallacy never ceases to amaze me. In this case you are stacking them up like cord wood. It is tautology of the lowest type to simply repeat what you said word for word and pretend it is an explanation. To further pretend that your paragraph doesn't indicate an agreement with elected officials controlling the press is to present a distinction without a difference. There is no way that an operation by the government and it's operatives that is designed to minimize exposure to the media is anything, but elected officials controlling the press. You have indicated you would do the same thing that is agreement.
Here, Mr. Apisa, is where you really show me up I can’t honestly say that on any other topic you side with the Jack Boot of authority the way you do when it comes to Occupy Wall Street. It really isn’t a big deal to me you are probably a super progressive guy who always sides with the little folks, but your blindness concerning Occupy Wall Street is just annoying especially since you want to direct it from your computer.
Since I can tell what’s coming from you, I know you didn’t say you want to direct anything from your computer that’s just hyperbole on my part.
I have made several comments saying what Occupy Wall Street should do??????
Are you awake?
And if you meant to say I have made several comments about what OWS should NOT do…that certainly does not mean I know what they should do.
Your ability to employ logical fallacy after logical fallacy never ceases to amaze me. In this case you are stacking them up like cord wood.
Point one logical fallacy of mine out.
Frank, I do know what I was saying. So do you. I'm not even remotely being dismissive of your ability to understand what I'm saying. I hate that you resort to patronizing language instead of looking at the facts that I placed in front of you. But, I guess it’s your only defense. You can’t actually go off of facts. You have to try something else, right?
I'm intrigued though by how you dismiss actual events and pretend those actual events are just someone's opinion. It's weird, Frank. Anger at Bloomberg's behavior is the right thing to do. He's (speaking of dismissed) dismissed a court order. He's been very nasty and super stupidly out of touch. His behavior is the tip of the iceberg in terms of a very serious problem, which is his clear belief that those who are not super rich elected officials or their corporate crony buddies are seen as unimportant cattle. He hasn't once listened seriously to the demands and questions of his own constituents. But then, that's because he answers to the corporate power and the super wealthy and NOT the people who elected him. It's repulsive and part of the very serious problem, a lack of representation. What issue could be more important?!? How can we have good government if we are not represented?
But, to me, the worst part here, on this blog, is how you defend him. So. You approve of not obeying a judge. You approve of an elected official who is a government SERVANT, acting as if his constituents mean nothing, that their needs are nothing. You approve of police who have pepper sprayed old and pregnant women, punched a woman in the face who was simply standing there, beaten people who were only exercising their Constitutional rights. You approve of these actions. This is the takeaway for me, Frank. These are the only conclusions that I can reach. You support those in power, even if they abuse it, and you don’t support Constitutional rights. That’s what I have to conclude.
Reread what I wrote and try to understand what Distinction without a Difference and Tautology are.
I'm glad to see that you have decided that those elected to serve should follow the constitution. I'm glad you think it's a document that should be honored and supported.
So I'm now sure you are going to support me in my 2nd amendment right to keep and bear arms. I'm sure you will agree that places like Chicago and DC should drop their restrictions to own and carry a weapon.
You will support me won't you, or do you support the constitution only when it fits what you want?
I own s gun, and I support your 2nd amendment OBLIGATIONS. How will this new gun of yours help to maintain a well regulated militia, and how will you use it to protect the rights of your fellow citizens.
There is no listed or implied right to safety in the constitution. There is mention of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the preamble, but a preamble is not law, per se.
"He who chooses to exchange safety for liberty deserves neither" (I'm paraphrasing...it's a long quote).
...basically, you're doing it wrong. Don't worry, though, the ACLU fights for 2nd amendment rights just as hard as they do all others in that outmoded document.
But, to me, the worst part here, on this blog, is how you defend him. So. You approve of not obeying a judge. You approve of an elected official who is a government SERVANT, acting as if his constituents mean nothing, that their needs are nothing.
Just what causes you to think that Bloomberg’s constituents are ONLY the people occupying the park? Are the many, many people I see on the news every day bemoaning the fact that they cannot get to work; cannot use the park; feel intimidated; despise the unsanitary conditions….ARE THEY NOT his constituents also.
The man is doing his job. I think he and the police are doing it with reasonable restraint. The stuff going on here is like a playground joke compared with Selma and Chicago during their times of civil reaction.
I SUPPORT THE MOVEMENT. I am sorry it did not come along sooner…and I am sorry I am too old to be able to participate more fully. But there is no way my participation would ever have welcomed all this bullshit of “fascist”, “camps” jackboots, or all the other names that are being thrown at decent people trying to react to a miniscule group doing their best to disrupt life in big cities.
If the groups were Nazis or skinheads or white supremacists…you people would be fine with stopping the unnecessary disruptions.
Even my moderate remarks defending a guy who has three times been elected mayor of the largest city in our nation have resulted in people calling me a fascist...of supporting fascism.
The ideologues are out of control…and I am calling it to their attention. If you are one of them (that is for you to decide)…yes, I am calling it to your attention.
You write the crap you do to me “…that’s fascism”; “Bless your heart. I almost feel sorry for you.”; “I have to believe you're in complete and total denial”; “Frank. I have to assume it's because you're lying to yourself and you need that to continue.”; “Didn't they teach you that in school?”; “Frank, you're patronizing me. Knock it off. It's rude.”…AND THEN DARE TO ACCUSE ME OF PATRONIZING YOU!!!
Wake up!
snerk.
Nice try. Idiotic, but an attempt.
Frank, you need to go back and look at my remarks. You're doing a tremendous amount of quoting out of context.
Also, I'm not an ideologue. We just don't agree. It's as simple as that. Trying to make my opinions "less than" yours, or making me somehow wacko for thinking the mayor is an asshat of the hugest proportions, is your mistake, not mine.