Buffalopundit

Lügenpresse – lying press – “fake news” – is a distinctly German slur that the Nazis used to slam the Jewish, foreign, and opposition press. It’s a handy way to demonize any media that don’t follow the party line. It’s no surprise, then, that one of the mantras of the Trump Cult is “fake news”. Representative Chris Collins (NY-27), the Ti to Trump’s Do; the Krupskaya to Trump’s Lenin – started out an “interview” on WBEN Monday morning by referring to the “Buffalo ‘Fake News'”, most likely because of this article which helps cement the fact that Collins is a shit. 

CNN is not fake news. Neither are the Buffalo News or the New York Times or the Washington Post. Anyone suggesting that they are is a propagandist; lying, wrong, and advancing some right-wing agenda. When Trump especially calls media outlets “fake news”, he is all but signing someone’s death sentence. It is unprecedented and un-American for a President to promote one media outlet – Fox News – and accuse others of being “fake”. Someone’s going to die. 

In an arrest affidavit released Monday, FBI agent Sean Callaghan wrote that Griesemer “made approximately 22 total calls to CNN” between Jan. 9 and Jan. 10. Four of the calls resulted in threats. In the last message, the caller made disparaging remarks about Jewish individuals, before stating: “You are going down. I have a gun and I am coming to Georgia right now to go to the CNN headquarters to f — king gun every single last one of you. I have a team of people. It’s going to be great, man . . . You gotta get prepared for this one, buddy.”

I have no doubt that Trump’s appeal to the very worst in Americans – greed, hatred, selfishness, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry, the dismantling of democratic norms – will be a temporary aberration that will someday serve as a warning and reminder that it can happen here. 

This is the same crowd that read some emails and decided that John Podesta and Hillary Clinton were running a pedophilic sex ring out of the non-existent basement of a DC-area pizza parlor. Naturally, a guy showed up there with a gun to shoot the place up. The idiots who instigated that attack and promoted those lies have only grown in stature within the “alt-right” axis. 

No matter what, 30% of the electorate will support this petty would-be dictator no matter what he does. As he famously quipped, he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue – or pay six figures in hush money to a porn star to dummy up about their liaison in the days before an election – and not lose their support. Some people don’t want a functioning government, they just want to be ruled. 

Two former Erie County Legislators were given patronage jobs with the Erie County Board of Elections – Republican Ted Morton and Democrat Betty Jean Grant. In an editorial, the Buffalo News is quite upset about this, offering up the headline, “Lose an election? No worries!”

This time, the beneficiaries are a couple of former politicians, one who just lost his seat in the last election and another who sacrificed hers in an attempt to secure the top job at City Hall.

Thanks to the party higher-ups who provide taxpayer-paid safety nets, both have landed jobs at the Erie County Board of Elections.

This is wrong.

I don’t see anything in the editorial, however, that tends to prove that assertion. The board recounts how Ted Morton was sanctioned by FINRA, his former industry’s governing body, for improperly borrowing client money. That was known when he first ran for the legislature, and didn’t prevent him from being elected, so I can’t fathom why it would disqualify him from a $40,000 per year job pushing papers at the BOE. But at least with Morton, the News had some sort of malfeasance at which to point; Morton’s ethics are questionable, at best. 

What about Betty Jean Grant? 

There is no similar accusation that she acted improperly or unethically. By all accounts, she valiantly and competently served her constituents throughout her public career. What did she do wrong? Well, she was two years short from the 20 years in the system she needed for her state pension fully to vest. So, this BOE job helps her stay in so she can retire comfortably. 

I think every American should have the right to retire comfortably. Good for Betty Jean. 

In September, Betty Jean lost a quixotic primary bid to unseat Mayor Byron Brown. Had she not undertaken that effort or retired from the legislature, she would have easily sailed to a re-election victory. Instead, she’s got a job pushing papers at the BOE. 

I don’t know what necessarily qualifies or disqualifies Morton or Grant from serving on the BOE, except that they’re former elected officials who no longer find themselves in office. It looks like the News’ main complaint is that their respective party bosses got them the jobs. 

If a party boss can’t get a job for a failed or retired elected who served the people and the party well, what good is he? 

With Betty Jean Grant, the Buffalo News doesn’t even go through an exercise in suggesting why Betty Jean Grant shouldn’t be working at the BOE. It’s as if serving in the Legislature for over 10 years automatically disqualifies someone from such a job. How silly. 

Even more obnoxious, however, is this: 

None of this bothers either political party. If it isn’t the Board of Elections, then it is the Erie County Water Authority. The authority has long been a dumping ground for the unqualified and politically connected who collect fat salaries on the backs of ratepayers.

I know it’s about the water authority and not the Board of Elections, but “dumping ground”? $40,000 is a “fat salary”? To whom? You put trash in the dumping ground, and Betty Jean Grant is most certainly not trash. 

Patronage is a problem, sure, but placement of former electeds in jobs that already exist and are already budgeted-for doesn’t especially bother me, and this is not even in the top tier of problems that western New York’s political world faces. 

Get back to me when the Buffalo News’ editorial board attacks our inherently corrupt electoral fusion system, rather than heckling former elected officials earning $40,000 in a state job. 

Nominal President Donald Trump reached around the empty Fiji water bottles and McDonald’s wrappers to lurch for his phone to send this Tweet: 

Reason I canceled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for “peanuts,” only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

Sure, as usual, President Shithole has to blame the black guy. 

CNN calls Trump out for his shallow and easily debunked lying. 

The decision to move the embassy from Grosvenor Square to Nine Elms was made in 2008 under George W. Bush, not Obama.

Trump literally couldn’t get the most basic detail of his slur – the Presidential Administration that decided the embassy had to move. He also omits the reason – the old embassy in Grosvenor Square was in a dense residential neighborhood and the security needs for American outposts have changed dramatically since 1960. 

It would have been impossible to retrofit the aging concrete building with the security measures needed, officials said at the time.

Also? Wandsworth near the Vauxhall Bridge is not some “off location”. 

The neighbors didn’t like the security measures. 

Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, the embassy has caused controversy locally by installing blast walls in a wide perimeter around the building. Neighbors complained the walls were unsightly, and the walls caused the road in front of the building to be closed to traffic.

Finally, the US didn’t own the Grosvenor Square property in fee simple, but held a lease with the Duke of Westminster.

The Duke reportedly said he would only sell if the US government returned his family’s land, confiscated during the American War of Independence.

The US sold the remainder of its lease to the Qatari government for what is thought to be £500 million, or $681.5 million; not exactly “peanuts”. 

Donald Trump is the shithole President who was essentially asked not to come because Londoners would have come out in their thousands to protest His racist, white nationalist Accidency.

Happy New Year. 

Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me.

– George Orwell, 1984

 

When Trump shoplifts the credit for worldwide airline safety, he disrespects the families of Flight 3407 – the most recent fatal crash in the US – who have worked tirelessly to lobby for stricter regulations.

He did nothing!!!” Justine Krasuski of Cheektowaga, who lost her husband, Jerry Krasuski, in the crash, said on Facebook in reaction to Trump’s tweet. “It’s us, the Flight 3407 Families that paved the way. Quite sad, to say the least.”

Indeed, some Republicans in Congress have recently been trying desperately to undo these hard-fought regulations as a gift to the industry and at the expense of consumer protection and passenger safety.

…it doesn’t surprise me one bit,” said [3407 family member Ron Aughtmon], who lost his uncle, John J. Fiore of Grand Island, in the crash. “He’s done absolutely nothing since coming into office to assist with airline safety, in fact he and his ‘party’ want to water down the standards that we have fought so hard for over the last 8 1/2 years.”

Unfortunately, the concept of “shame” is now obsolete.

Between the semi-lucid staccato of hate from our racist white nationalist kleptocratic would-be dictator of a President, and the Republican Congress’ bare attempt to cut taxes for their donors and raise them on the middle class, there are too many horrific things happening in and to this country to keep up. This is an annus horribilis for the United States. 

Today, Special Counsel Robert Mueller announced that former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was being charged with – and would plead guilty to – a count of lying to the FBI. Flynn is a retired Army Lieutenant General, whom President Obama appointed to lead the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2012. Obama fired Flynn from the DIA in 2014, and Flynn started a private consulting firm. He later joined the Trump campaign as a surrogate and advisor, and served President Trump from January 20 – February 13th as a National Security Advisor. 

The brief nature of Flynn’s tenure was unprecedented, and his dismissal was brought about because he had lied to Vice President Pence about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. In December 2015, Kremlin-controlled propaganda outlet RT paid Flynn $45,000 to attend a gala and give a speech about US/Russia relations. Russian President Vladimir Putin dined with Flynn and Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein. 

Flynn’s company had been hired by businesspeople close to Turkish President Erdogan in order to, among other things, kidnap and exfiltrate one of Erdogan’s political foes,  Flynn wrote this op/ed backing Erdogan without disclosing his financial interest in the matter.  The HIll’s version of the op/ed adds this disclaimer:

On March 8, 2017, four months after this article was published, General Flynn filed documents with the Federal government indicating that he earned $530,000 last fall for consulting work that might have aided the government of Turkey. In the filings, Flynn disclosed that he had received payments from Inovo BV, a Dutch company owned by a Turkish businessman with ties to Turkey’s president and that Inovo reviewed the draft before it was submitted to The Hill. Neither General Flynn nor his representatives disclosed this information when the essay was submitted.

Flynn was forced to register as a foreign agent. At all times during which he was advising the current President of the United States, Michael Flynn was a paid shill for autocratic foreign governments. In early January, Flynn sought a delay of a planned allied attack on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, ostensibly due to his Turkish government patrons’ objection to the use of Kurdish Peshmerga in the operation. As a retired military intelligence officer, Flynn was supposed to run all foreign payments through the State Department and Pentagon. In December 2016, Flynn met with the leader of Austria’s far-right nationalist Freedom Party, which had executed a cooperation pact with Vladimir Putin’s “United Russia” Party. 

There exists in the West a recent, contemporary pattern of far-right parties and entities collaborating with Putin’s United Russia ruling party in an effort to undermine democratic institutions in those countries, to sow division, and ultimately to help break up international agreements such as the European Union and NATO, which pose financial and economic threats to Putin’s oligarchy. This informs why candidate Trump heaped scorn on NATO and cheered Brexit in 2016. Wikileak’s Julian Assange is part of this movement, and they have their myriad useful idiots in the United States, and at least one of them is the current occupant of the Oval Office. Marine Le Pen’s FN, Italy’s breakaway Lega Nord, Germany’d anti-immigrant AfD, Greece’s Golden Dawn, Hungary’s Jobbik, UKIP, Belgium’s Vlaams Belang (VB) are all aligned with Putin. They are either ultra right-wing nationalist, anti-immigrant parties, and/or Euroskeptic; i.e., opposed to membership in the European Union. All of them oppose sanctions on Russia, and oppose closer EU ties with Ukraine. 

In October 2016, Russian intelligence attempted to orchestrate a coup d’etat and to murder the Prime Minister of the former Yugoslav republic of Montenegro in order to, among other things, prevent that country’s membership in NATO. Three Euroskeptic Serbian parties signed similar pacts with Putin’s ruling party, as did other political parties throughout the Balkan region. 

This is all brought on by Putin’s loss of control over Ukraine, his annexation of Crimea, his invasion of eastern Ukraine, and the economic hit to Russia from US and EU sanctions and the effects of the Magnitsky Act on Putin and his court. This is “special war“, and the way it’s tearing apart the West makes it seem as if Ian Fleming’s SPECTRE wasn’t so much fiction as it was a glimpse into the future. 

Flynn now stands convicted of lying to the FBI. The indictment to which he pled guilty establishes that Flynn lied to FBI agents on January 24, 2017.  Specifically, he lied to the FBI about whether he asked the Russian Ambassador to not retaliate or respond to the imposition of sanctions by the Obama Administration arising out of Russian hacking and interference with the 2016 election, and that Kislyak had agreed to do so; that Flynn lied to the FBI about whether he asked Kislyak to delay or defeat a pending resolution in the UN Security Council, or that Kislyak told Flynn what Russia’s response was to that request. It is a violation of the Logan Act for private citizens to enter into negotiations with foreign governments over US relations. 

President Obama warned President-elect Trump against hiring Flynn. Then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates warned Trump’s transition team that Flynn was likely compromised and susceptible to Russian blackmail. Trump promptly fired her. Flynn was the Trump transition’s first high-profile appointment. 

Let’s now examine how karmic this all is. Here is Michael Flynn – convict – in July 2016 at the Republican National Convention. 

We do not need a reckless President who believes she is above the law.

Lock her up. That’s right. Lock her up. I’m going to tell you what, it’s unbelievable; it’s unbelievable. Yes; I use — I use #neverHillary; that’s what I use. I have called on Hillary Clinton, I have called on Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race because she, she put our nation’s security at extremely high risk with her careless use of a private e-mail server.

Lock her up. Lock her up! You guys are good. Damn right; exactly right. There’s nothing wrong with that. And you know why; and you know why? You know why we’re saying that? We’re saying that because if I, a guy who knows this business, if I did a tenth, a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail today. So — so, Crooked Hillary Clinton, leave this race now! 

She needs to go. Before — before I end — before I end, I will repeat my belief that American exceptionalism is very real. Let — let us not fear what we know to be true. Let us not fear what we know to be true. Instead, we should always remember that our country, our country, was built upon Judeo-Christian values and principles and instead, and instead, let us remember the sacrifices of those who have gone before us. America is unique. America is the greatest country in the history of the world. So – You’re darn right. So get ready, America; get ready. Now is the time to elect fresh, bold, leadership. (Chanting Trump! Trump!)

Trump! Trump! Trump! Let’s go. Come on. Get it going! 

We are just beginning. I promise you, I promise you that Donald Trump, Donald Trump knows that the primary role of the president is to keep us safe.  He recognizes — he recognizes the threats we face and is not afraid to call them what they are. Donald Trump’s leadership, decision-making and problem-solving abilities will restore America’s role as the undeniable and unquestioned world leader. 

He will lead from the front, not from behind. He will lead with courage, never vacillating when facing our enemies or our competitors; and he knows, he knows that the advantage — Donald Trump knows that the advantage in life, in business, and in wartime goes to the competitor that does not flinch and does not broadcast his game plan. He, Donald Trump, will execute the fundamental tenet of peace through strength and there will be, and there will be no apologies for our American exceptionalism or leadership standing around the world. 

So once again, once again, wake up, America. You cannot sit this one out. You cannot sit this election out. Get out of your houses and get out there and vote. And instead, elect Donald Trump as the next president of the United States of America. Thank you very much, and God bless America. USA! USA! Keep it going.

That didn’t age well, convict. Flynn’s agreement to this guilty plea is likely to be part of a deal struck with Special Counsel Mueller’s team to provide useful information, evidence, and testimony against others in the Trump campaign, transition, and White House. 

Countywides

The Democrats lost all three countywide races; Mickey Kearns defeated Steve Cichon for clerk, Tim Howard just barely bested Bernie Tolbert for Sheriff, and Stefan Mychajliw dispatched Vanessa Glushefski 55-45. Democrats can take some comfort in the fact that they were competitive in all of these races, and that two newcomers did pretty well against people who are household names. It is funny that we elect the clerk and the sheriff, as these are positions that require their incumbents to be good administrators and little more. The deputies and assistant clerks do the real work, and neither Mr. Howard nor Mr. Kearns will have “setting policy” included in their respective portfolios. It ought not be forgotten, however, that Mr. Howard goes out of his way to sell himself as the guy who will disobey the NY SAFE Act, and will enable his deputies to inquire of people’s immigration status.

The activist groups like SURJ who have worked tirelessly to inform the public about Mr. Howard’s record, with their #fireHoward hashtags and protests and pickets ran into a harsh reality last week. When Tim Howard says he’s going to extra-Constitutionally break the law, or pledges to harass suspected immigrants, or is accused of mismanaging the jails: It’s not just that some Democrats don’t care, but that they like it. 

One major takeaway is that registered suburban Democrats are more conservative than their counterparts in the City of Buffalo. Although Democratic turnout was higher this year than in 2013 and 2015, that did not inure to our countywide candidates’ benefit; waking up “lazy” Democrats—2s and 3s—didn’t necessarily help. And when I say “suburban”, I don’t just mean Clarence or Orchard Park. In Lackawanna, Bernie Tolbert won 2,123 to 1,745; but look at wards 3 and 4, and Howard defeated Tolbert 1,198 to 1,042. These are predominately working class white areas where Democrats like Mark Poloncarz easily secure 70% of the vote. In Cheektowaga, Howard defeated Tolbert 9,533 to 7,910—this is a town where 30,000 Democrats outnumber 12,000 Republicans. It’s quite possible that every vote brought out for Democrat John Bruso in Cheektowaga for the 8th Legislative District probably went for Howard three times out of four. In Buffalo’s South District, which is Mickey Kearns’s base of support, Tim Howard defeated Bernie Tolbert 3,399 to 3,010. In this district, Democrats outnumber Republicans by an incredible 10,795 to 2,369. 

I can give you some reasons why Tolbert underperformed in those districts, and none of them are pretty. There is a cancer in Western New York, and Trumpism has done a lot to invigorate it. 

Mychajliw has crossover appeal, Howard played to prejudices with his pro-guns, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and I honestly don’t know why Cichon lost; that one I don’t get. My first instinct was to suggest that it would make sense for Democrats to appeal to suburban voters by highlighting qualifications and competence, but if that was the case then Cichon—who did just that—would have won. It should be added that Cichon has similar name recognition to Mychajliw, having been a WBEN reporter for many years. 

People are looking at city turnout, which was lower than it could have been, and pointing fingers at Democratic HQ and especially at Byron Brown’s machine, which they accuse of not being as aggressive in turning out people to support his former primary opponent, Tolbert, as they could have been. I saw Tolbert on TV on Election Night sporting that “22” button and, at WGRZ, had to explain to people what it meant. Translation:Tthat wasn’t communicated well at all. Tolbert won Masten 4,253 to 189, which sounds like a blowout until you realize that there are 15,198 registered Democrats and 569 Republicans there. If Masten came out 50%, Tolbert almost certainly closes his gap with Howard. In the University District, Tolbert received 4,102 to 573 with a Democratic enrollment advantage of 13,294 to 1,121. GOP turnout was better despite there being zero turnout effort. 

LD-8

Ted Morton’s horrible, lying, racist direct mail didn’t work. His use of the American flag as a wedge issue didn’t work. One reader analyzed the numbers in the Bruso vs. Ted Morton race in the 8th Legislative District, and comes up with some hopeful news. In 2016, LD-8 was “Trump Country,” and Trump received 57.3% to Clinton’s 36.4%. This district includes all of Lancaster and Alden, and some of Cheektowaga. If Morton received only 48% of the vote, he underperformed Trump by a almost a full 10%, and this speaks to how significant that win is. The Democrats regain (for now) a majority in the legislature. 

LD-10

The desperate last-minute Republican efforts to smear newcomer activist Michelle Schoeneman prove she was scaring the crap out of someone. Incumbent Joseph Lorigo, son of Ralph and Conservative fusion Party gadfly had his first real competitive race since easing his way into office, and it was closer than most expected. West Seneca is the epicenter of the Lorigos’ political influence, so you should know that Schoeneman beat Lorigo there 6,318 to 6,160, and 2,193 to 2,120 in Aurora. Lorigo’s margin of victory is thanks to Elma, Wales, Holland, and Marilla. Schoeneman lost, but she put up an incredible fight against an outrageously influential political dynasty. 

Amherst Town Races

In sleepy Amherst, Democrats swept the town council and supervisor’s races. Here, Erie County Republican Committee Chairman Nick Langworthy’s wife, Erin Baker, was running in her first election. Her fundraising for a town council race is simply jaw-dropping. In her July disclosure, Baker reports receipts between March and May 2017 of $50,679 in individual and partnership donations. Another $4,474 came from corporate donations, including $2,000 from “Stirling Lubricants” of Rochester. Another $6,943 came from PACs and other local campaign treasuries. Baker’s husband, ECGOP Chair Nick Langworthy, made an approximately $800 in-kind donation by fronting the cost of some campaign swag, and attorney Jeff Bochiechio provided $1,600 in food for Baker’s May fundraiser, totaling $2,488. Finally, the Eden and Buffalo GOP Committees contributed $150. The tl;dr is that for an Amherst town council race, Ms. Baker raised an astonishing $64,700 in her first ever financial disclosure, and had spent about $8,000 during the first seven months of 2017. This includes the cost of her fundraisers, her $250 payoff to secure the “Independence” fusion Party line. 

In her 32-day pre-primary report, Baker’s campaign bought her lawn signs, bought some ads in the Elma Review, and made some contributions to various non-profit fundraisers, totaling about $5,000. She also transferred $5,500 to the county GOP committee, and $2,500 to the Amherst committee. An August 22 fundraiser netted Baker’s campaign $9,654 from individuals and partnerships, $500 from corporations, $1,005 from PACs and other campaigns, and $500 transferred in from the Niagara County GOP Committee. Expenditures were a mere $1935, mostly to secure the Williamsville Anchor Bar for the fundraiser. Eleven days before the primary, Baker had $53,620 on hand. 

In her 10-day post-primary report, about $1,050 trickled in from individuals, and $350 from corporate and campaign donors. Her campaign sent $12,250 to the Erie County Republican committee, and spent only $544 on some other campaigns’ fundraisers and meeting expenses. Going into the general election, Baker had $42,226 on hand for her Amherst town council race. 

In her report 32 days before the general election, Baker only reported $1,950 in various contributions, and expenditures of $1,593, leaving $42,582. Things pick up, however, in the 10-day pre-general report, with an October 13 fundraiser bringing in a total for that period of $9,532, and spending just over $15,000; $13,000 of that went into the coffers of the Republicans’ county committee. In the last report before the election, Baker had just over $37,000 to spend. 

She lost, and although she came in third in a field of five, she was the lowest recipient of Republican votes; that $250 spent for the “Independence” fusion Party line got her 750 votes. 

Here’s why the money in Baker’s race is so incredible: Let’s look at the largest recipient of votes, Jacqui Berger. In July, she reported just under $3,000 on hand. Her pre-primary reports show her balance topping out at around $4,200, and dropping to $1,100 right before the primary. Her 10-day post-primary report shows she raised another $1800, and she had a total of $2,774 on hand. Berger raised another $2680 and spent just under $2000, according to her 32 day pre-general report, leaving a balance of $3473. In the 11 day pre-general report, she added $3392, spent $8,000, leaving $2,338 going into election day; in her last disclosure, she had less than one tenth of the money Baker had. 

Erin Baker raised $89,270, spent $52,178 (including over $33,250 she transferred out to various other party committees), and received 13,121 votes on all party lines. Jacqui Berger raised $17,877, spent $14,538, and received 14,418 votes on all party lines. Neither Berger nor her Democratic counterpart, Shawn Lavin, received the Conservative fusion Party line, which this year in Amherst was good for about 2,700 votes in total. So, Jacqui Berger’s campaign spent a little over $ per vote while Erin Baker’s campaign spent $1.44 per vote if you don’t include the transfers out. She spent $4 per vote if you do.

By the way, town Conservative fusion Party chairman Bill Kindel kept the C line from Joe Spino, keeping it for himself. Had Spino received that C line, he’s not likely to have won, but he’d have at least outperformed Baker. Neither the C nor I lines in Amherst did anything for anyone, and no one in town government owes those two entities anything. Town patronage hires are likely looking to get their affairs in order. 

Now What?

I don’t know what the answer is for the Democrats’ issues. It has nothing to do with “OMG pwn the librulz” or the red rose brigade or Hillary or Bernie. Some point to city turnout, and I’ve seen quite a few people on Facebook opine about the need for some new party to launch competitive races in the November election. We have plenty of parties already, and everyone can ask Mayor Sergio Rodriguez—not to mention Anita Howard or Terrence Robinson—all about that. We have to come to that reckoning that we have two Democratic parties in Erie County, and we have to figure out how to appeal to them both. The Poloncarz example is illustrative here: Mark is great at his job, he is smart, and whether you agree with him or not, you are likely to at least think that whatever he does is motivated by a sense of doing right by Erie County’s taxpayers. Mark is also not afraid to get into it with hecklers and take strong opinions, and then back them up. This isn’t, in the end, a challenge of ideas. 

The campaign run on behalf of Republicans in Erie County this past year was outrageous and obnoxious. None of these races was about patriotism or respect for cops or the flag or the troops/ It’s not enough to link Republican candidates in suburban races with Trump and Paladino, because, frankly, Trump and Paladino are pretty popular, whether you like that or not. Linking Kearns with Paladino drew a shrug from voters. Turning out “lazy” Democrats also, as it happens, turned out a lot of reactionary registered Dems. 

Is the solution to this to go even further to the left? I don’t think so, and ditto some shift to the center or right. This isn’t about ideology, but about marketing. Yet Kearns won even with that comical ad in the boxing ring, where he’s going to “fight” whilst filing people’s paperwork .

Finally, if we are to have electoral fusion, then Democrats need to be aggressive with it. Republicans and Conservatives are busy registering as Greens and Independents to influence those lines. Democrats can, generally speaking, rely only on the Working Families Party, a sort of labor imprimatur. For so long as fusion exists in New York, Democrats have to learn to play the game with creativity and ruthlessness.

Amherst showed that money isn’t always the number one factor, and that sometimes the impossible can happen. The people of Western New York deserve good, responsive government that provides a good balance between taxation, services, and getting out of our way. 

Shown above is the flip side of your SAT-formatted Scantron New York State ballot. Be sure to flip over the ballot and mark these three referendum questions. 

These are not endorsements by the staff or editors of the Public: these are my opinions alone. 

Question 1: Constitutional Convention

Every 20 years, the electorate is asked whether it wants to convene a Constitutional Convention. Practically every single influence group in Albany – especially the public sector unions – are calling for a “no” vote, and so has Governor Cuomo. Yet here’s what Cuomo said at the Democratic Convention in Rye Brook in 2010: 

Deeds, not words, to clean up Albany. Need a people’s constitutional convention to change the rules. #nydemcon #Cuomo

— Buffalopundit (@buffalopundit) May 27, 2010

Now he says he’s against it. So is every person and group that has an interest in preserving Albany’s status quo. I believe Albany is broken and this hurts New Yorkers in every region, of every class, race, and political persuasion. 

I have been writing about Albany dysfunction for over a decade, and literally no one in Albany has really undertaken any serious reform of the way in which that town works. (See: Moreland Commission). Dissolving that Moreland Commission wasn’t illegal, but it was disgusting to me that its existence could be ended so cavalierly as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations. I consider anti-corruption reform to be important enough to carry through without regard to day-to-day political expediency. NYU’s Brennan Center pretty much provided a roadmap to reform years ago, to no meaningful avail. 

I tweeted this last week: 

I’m voting yes on the NYS Constitutional Convention because Albany. is. broken., and it’s because of the person there whom you like.

— Buffalopundit (@buffalopundit) November 2, 2017

Even the guy you like is part of the problem in Albany, and there exists no political will to change it. Albany is a place incumbents generally depart only in chains or disgrace. Things like three (four?) men in a room, the way in which Albany’s legislative bodies are seldom genuinely deliberative, unfunded mandates, the abuse of public Authorities in order to render opaque public funding and borrowing: all of these things contribute to New York’s difficulties, especially upstate. 

I have written countless times about the fundamental corruption of New York’s electoral fusion system, whereby microscopically small political “parties” cross-endorse major party candidates to fool the populace and/or to secure patronage favors. It’s enough: no more Wilson-Pakulas, no more fusion, no more tricking people who want to register as “unenrolled” to register for the rudderless, meaningless “Independence Party”. 

There is a lot of propaganda scaring people about how awful the Constitutional Convention would be, but don’t forget: 

If a majority statewide votes “yes,” a constitutional convention will be set for the spring of 2019. The convention would be made up of elected delegates, with three provided from each state senate district — there are 63 in total — plus fifteen statewide. Elections would occur next year, and anyone can run to be a delegate.

These delegates would come together with unlimited abilities to propose amending the constitution in any and all ways they can agree upon. Any amendments approved by delegates would need to be ultimately approved by the voters. This is important to remember: No changes can occur to the constitution without statewide approval at the ballot box.

2019 would be the first Constitutional Convention since 1967, and nothing came of that – voters rejected every proposal that came along. 

Good Government group Citizen’s Union has advocated in favor of a Constitutional Convention. I once wrote a series of articles advocating for New York to adopt a Nebraska-style non-partisan, unicameral legislature. I still think that Albany needs to serve its constituents better, and that Albany needs to stop relying on county and local governments to raise taxes to pay for its mandates, and figure out ways to fund its own plans from the state at-large. I believe that state service entities such as the DOT, the MTA, and Thruway Authority need to be more transparent and modernize in order to better serve the public. 

A Constitutional Convention cannot – by law – take away union members’ pensions or benefits. 

If there was a genuine movement to reform Albany and the way it does business, I’d probably think that a Constitutional Convention was unnecessary. There isn’t, so I don’t. 

Question 2: Felony and Pensions

This proposal asks you whether you think it’s ok that a public official who is convicted of – and removed from office – for a felony relating to the performance of his official duties should lose his rights to a state pension. Think Sheldon Silver taking over $4 million to influence his actions as a legislative leader. I’m for it, but it’s just window-dressing. Sheldon Silver’s and Joe Bruno’s convictions were overturned on appeal because the Supreme Court in a 2016 Virginia case made it extremely difficult – if not impossible – to successfully prosecute these types of bribery cases. 

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the court, narrowed the definition of what sort of conduct can serve as the basis of a corruption prosecution. He said only formal and concrete government actions counted — filing a lawsuit, say, or making an administrative determination. Routine political courtesies like arranging meetings or urging underlings to consider a matter, he added, generally do not, even when the people seeking those favors give the public officials gifts or money.

That still leaves prosecutors plenty of room to pursue classic bribery and kickbacks. But there was widespread agreement among prosecutors and defense lawyers on Monday that the decision would make it harder for the government to prove corruption.

QUESTION 3: FOREST PRESERVE LAND

New York’s massive forest preserves (Catskills, Adirondacks, e.g.) have a mandate to preserve wild land but also accommodate people and businesses who live and work there. It’s a delicate balancing act, but this creation of a land bank would make it easier for municipalities to make changes for health and safety. From the measure’s summary: 

New York State’s Constitution protects the State’s forest preserve as wild forest land and generally prohibits the lease, sale, exchange, or taking of any forest preserve land. The proposed amendment will create two new exceptions to this broad protection of the forest preserve to make it easier for municipalities to undertake certain health and safety projects.

First, the proposed amendment will create a land account of up to 250 acres of forest preserve land. A town, village, or county can apply to the land account if it has no viable alternative to using forest preserve land for specified health and safety purposes. These purposes are (1) to address bridge hazards or safety on specified highways; (2) to eliminate the hazards of dangerous curves and grades on specified highways; (3) to relocate, reconstruct, and maintain highways; and (4) for water wells and necessary related accessories located within 530 feet of a specified highway, where needed to meet drinking water quality standards. The State will acquire 250 acres to add to the forest preserve to replace the land placed in the health and safety land account, subject to approval by the Legislature,

Second, the proposed amendment will allow bicycle paths and types of public utility lines to be located within the widths of specified highways that cross forest preserve land. The work on the bicycle paths and utility lines must minimize the removal of trees and vegetation. The proposed amendment will allow a stabilization device (such as a guy wire) for an existing utility pole to be located near the width of a highway when necessary to ensure public health and safety and when no other viable option exists. The proposed amendment prohibits the construction of a new intrastate gas or oil pipeline that did not receive necessary state and local permits and approvals by June 1, 2016.

Sierra Club urges a “yes” vote on Prop 3, and so do I. 

Polls are open until 9pm, and I will be on WGRZ Channel 2 tonight to provide commentary. Turnout is key today, so make sure you and everyone you know gets out to vote. 

Since everyone has a short memory nowadays, what with your iPhones and e-devices, here’s a little trip down memory lane. 

It’s 2011, and Joe Lorigo is running for County Legislature against Christina Bove. Bove was an acolyte of federal indictee Steve Pigeon’s who flipped her allegiance during the Erie County Legislature mini-coup of ’09 to enable the minority Republicans to have a de facto legislative majority in order to help propel Tim Kennedy to the State Senate, and to sell out to then-County Executive Chris Collins. 

Within the context of the outright lies Lorigo’s campaign is saying about Michele Schoeneman right now, here’s the text of a press release that Joe Lorigo sent in response to something Bove must have said about his father, the way-too-powerful chairman of the Erie County Conservative Committee: 

LORIGO BLASTS BOVE FOR ATTACKING HIS FAMILY

(WEST SENECA, NY) – Republican, Conservative and Independence candidate for Erie County Legislature Joseph Lorigo has had enough. After running a campaign based entirely on issues important to the voters in the 10th District, he called out his opponent today after she placed newspaper ads, mailed letters and organized anonymous voter calls – all mocking his family.

“Christina Bove has crossed the line in this campaign by insulting my family over and over again,” Lorigo said. “I have not and never will bring her family into this race because I know voters want to hear about the issues, not the malicious carping we’ve all grown so tired of in Erie County politics.”

Bove holds no job except her part-time employment as a County Legislator. In stark contrast, Lorigo is a respected attorney with an MBA and law degree from the State University at Buffalo. He is a family man devoted to working for the taxpayers as a public service.

“Bove is a career politician who does nothing but connive behind the scenes to advance her career at the expense of Erie County taxpayers,” Lorigo said. “The voters of the new 10th District are far more interested in Bove’s 154 votes to raise our taxes – and my commitment to hold the line on taxes – than in my family or hers.”

“I am proud of my mother, my father and all the members of my family. Christina Bove may not respect family values, but I wouldn’t be where I am today without their love, guidance and devotion,” Lorigo said. “Bove waited until the final days of this campaign to attack my family because as a career politician she will do or say anything to get re-elected.”

“I will not stoop to the low-level tactics of Bove’s low-class campaign, now or ever,” Lorigo said. “The voters of the 10th District can rest assured that after they vote for me on Tuesday and elect me to the County Legislature her mean-spirited political games will end and the work of the people will begin.”

A lot of that 2011 press release hasn’t aged well. 

So, Schoeneman accused Lorigo of lying and defaming her, and filed a “summons with notice” commencing a lawsuit against him for defamation. A summons with notice is missing a key component of a lawsuit – a formal complaint. In New York practice, a defendant served with a summons with notice demands that the plaintiff serve a complaint, which they have 20 days to do. In Schoeneman’s case, she particularized the alleged defamation within the summons with notice. 

Lorigo’s response: 

“This is nothing more than a stunt,” said Lorigo, the Legislature majority leader, adding that Schoeneman has made personal attacks against him and his family and false accusations about him. “If anyone is defaming anyone it’s Michelle Schoeneman.”

Is it a campaign stunt? Most assuredly. That doesn’t, however, mean it is without merit. Libel is a written defamation – a false statement of fact. In this case, alleging that Schoeneman said in a public forum that she wants to put publicly funded heroin shooting galleries near schools or the “cider mill”. She didn’t.

No one would know whether this is a “stunt” better than Lorigo himself. 

In 2011, when then-candidate Lorigo accused incumbent Christina Bove of being mean about his mom and dad, he didn’t just issue the press release shown above. He had his dad file and serve a summons with notice agianst Bove for defamation. From my 2011 Endorsement column: 

District 10: No Endorsement: I will not endorse Christina Bove, as she helped create the de facto Collins majority in the legislature as a consummate follower and “what’s in it for me” type politician. On the other hand, the Lorigo name should be drummed out of our collective body politic, firstly by abolishing the family nest egg that’s built upon the hyper-corrupt electoral fusion system. Lorigo’s efforts to bully Bove by having daddy file a $3MM defamation suit over an ad in – of all things – the f’king PENNYSAVER, takes pettiness to a whole new level – the fact that this prominent law firm can’t even be bothered to actually file and serve a Summons and Complaint, with the alleged libel plead with the requisite particularity, instead relying on the lazy lawyer’s “Summons with Notice”, which gives them indignant headlines and nothing else.

Ralph Lorigo and Bryan Young filed the Summons with Notice on November 7, 2011 against Tina Bove, Dale Clarke, and the West Seneca Pennysaver. Election Day 2011 was November 8th that year. This SpeakupWNY thread is the only evidence of this lawsuit I can find nowadays, but it appears to stem from something Bove wrote about Ralph Lorigo’s representation of Young in connection with some real estate development. By January 12th there was no evidence that Lorigo had served the Summons on the putative defendants; ditto February 12th. They were so eager to pull a stunt on Election Day that they threatened a $3 million lawsuit, but never followed through. 

So, their whining today about Schoeneman’s “stunt” is delightfully hypocritical. Now Lorigo’s campaign is sending out a mailer – part of which is visible above – that purports to be from Schoeneman’s campaign and solicits recipients to harass her over a wholly manufactured, made-up lie. 

Bonus points for Joe’s mom defending him in the Buffalo News’ putrid comments section in this now-deleted post: 

LOL at the wife of the chairman of a local fusion party calling anyone a “puppet” of anyone. At least Schoeneman brought her own lawsuit, and didn’t have a family member do her dirty work for her.

I will not stoop to the low-level tactics of Bove’s low-class campaign, now or ever…[t]he voters of the 10th District can rest assured that after they vote for me on Tuesday and elect me to the County Legislature her mean-spirited political games will end and the work of the people will begin.”

Happy voting!