Buffalopundit

What’s a Grand Jury, Anyway? 

According to multiple sources, and as reported in the Buffalo News, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is expected to convene a “special grand jury” in connection with the allegations of criminality arising out of the raids that took place on May 28, 2015. 

Unless a defendant executes a waiver, any felony accusation must be presented to a grand jury for consideration. The grand jury, made up of 23 regular WNYers (16 are needed for a quorum), hear witnesses, consider evidence, and decide whether or not to indict, or may issue a “grand jury report”. A prosecutor oversees the proceeding – there’s no judge, and no defense attorney unless an accused is giving testimony.

An indictment means the grand jury has determined that (a) there is sufficient evidence – corroborated, if required by law – that the defendant committed the offense; and (b) through the review of competent and admissible evidence, the grand jury concludes that probable cause exists that a crime has been committed. The proceeding is generally held in secret, and a grand jury’s duties are purely investigatory; they do not determine guilt or innocence, but who shall be charged.

A special grand jury is convened to hear evidence regarding a variety of cases involving allegations of widespread illegality and misconduct, such as organized crime, drug activity, or corruption. It is unclear whether the special grand jury being contemplated for the Preetsmas incidents will be asked to indict, or to issue a report. If it issues a report alleging misconduct, nonfeasance or neglect in public office, the court may only accept it for filing if it is based upon facts “supported by a preponderance of credible and legally admissible evidence”, and only if everyone named had an opportunity to testify. 

Since the Attorney General is expected to convene a special grand jury, this will likely take a long time as the grand jury hears witness testimony and reviews reams of other evidence developed over the past year, and possibly more. This entire investigation has been a joint state/federal affair throughout, so query whether there may be some announcement from Bharara’s office. Although western New York is within Hochul’s purview, Bharara’s office has been handling all of the matters arising out of the defunct Moreland Commission. 

Rumor & Speculation

Former Deputy Mayor Steve Casey, one of the targets of the May 28, 2015 Preetsmas Day raids, is allegedly cooperating with law enforcement. Casey left his job at City Hall to head up the Scott Congel megaproject in West Seneca, and rumor has it that his attorney recently, abruptly stopped participating in coordination conference calls with the other lawyers involved in the case. 

It’s also being floated that anywhere from two to as many as five Supreme Court and Buffalo City Court judges may become entangled in this Preetsmas mess. 

Finally, a spy forwards these images of Steve Pigeon’s personal assistant, Kristy Mazurek, checking out of the Buffalo Hyatt this past week.

Mazurek was the former treasurer for the “WNY Progressive Caucus”, or AwfulPAC, whose allegedly improper activities and campaign finance irregularities brought the entire Preetsmas investigation about.

More recently, she accepted service of process of a lawsuit against Pigeon at the Humiston-owned apartment he was using at 1003 Admiral’s Walk.

Caputi v. Pigeon: Affidavit of Service by Alan Bedenko

That lawsuit arose out of Pigeon’s unwillingness or inability to consummate a deal to sell his own apartment in the complex at 704 Admiral’s Walk. Humiston has since sold 1003. 

Take a look at the Complaint, as well as the relevant Exhibits (A, B, C, D, E) and the Notice of Appearance of the U.S. Attorney to protect its interests regarding the almost $300,000 in federal tax liens filed against Mr. Pigeon for unpaid taxes. 

What’s up at the Hyatt? New post-Admiral Walk digs for the Pigeonistas? 

Donn Esmonde is a hypocrite and an inveterate asshole who has no business ever using his fingers to type about school matters again. After being caught pimping charter schools operated by his close friends, or caught vilifying teachers’ unions, despite his wife being a former Buffalo schoolteacher and himself a former union member, his opinion is as worthless as a farthing. 

He now calls on Carl Paladino to resign from the Buffalo School Board. It would be a fitting, Palinistic resignation, but as one Twitter commenter opined, 

@buffalopundit I don’t know how to respond to “who would have thought a racist bigot may not be good for largely minority school district?”

— Gary Steele (@GarySteele6) May 8, 2016

Indeed. Who would have thought. 

Donn Esmonde. Donn Esmonde thought and knew. 

He knew in 2013. 

Paladino’s blowtorch style and email history make this board a potential tinderbox. But I think he’s there for the right reasons. Expending his time and energy in the name of helping school kids – nearly 80 percent of whom are minority – doesn’t strike me as racist. But I think it would go a long way if he dropped the “sisterhood” condemnations.

He knew when he pimped James Sampson in 2013, 

Sampson was swept onto the board with Carl Paladino on a reformist tide. Paladino gets the press, Sampson – who co-founded West Buffalo Charter School – co-sets the reform agenda. He is as radical as the board’s resident rattlesnake, minus the fangs and venom. I am not a big fan of Paladino’s personal-attack style. But he, Sampson and a potential reform-majority board will force-feed change to a calcified district – and may doom its oddly detached superintendent, Pamela Brown.

He knew when he tried to make light of matters involving the poorest and most disenfranchised citizens of Buffalo, 

Despite the absence of a Kardashian, this was another episode of “As the Board Turns.” African-American board members referenced “Selma.” Minority-bloc member Theresa Harris-Tigg claimed the majority is “treating children and parents as property, and we know from history where that went.” About a dozen spectators rose at one point and turned their backs to protest board majority’s tactics. A chant of “Shame” broke out after words were exchanged between majority board member Carl Paladino and School Board attorney Rashondra Martin, a black woman. The exchange prompted one black male in the audience to walk toward the board table, saying to Paladino, “You can’t talk to her like that,” and sparked the removal of several spectators by Buffalo cops.

A late-comer asked me if anyone had been led away in handcuffs. No. For better or worse, that’s a different movie – not “Selma,” but “50 Shades of Grey.” Although sitting through nearly four hours of boardroom theater felt at times like an exercise in masochism.

He knew in May 2015, when his vaunted “reform” majority acted like dictators. 

A my-way-or-the-highway creed may work at a private company, though I have my doubts. But it’s undeniably a bad fit for a public school board. It makes me wonder whether some of the board majority, particularly Paladino, are temperamentally unsuited for the job. I don’t doubt the developer’s passion or intentions. But Paladino’s bully tactics of demonizing anyone who disagrees with him, personalizing disputes and launching frequent email rants against an ever-shifting cast of targets is no way to win friends and influence people.

“They’re acting like bullies, the five of them,” said Jim Anderson of Citizen Action, the good-government group. “They need to learn how to play with others.”

I agree with much of what the board majority wants to do. But they can’t make decisions from on high – without consensus or collaboration – and expect parents, clergy and community groups to nod their heads and march in lockstep.

He knew when the board hired Kriner Cash as the new Superintendent. 

Ignore Carl Paladino – Like a tantrum-prone child, Buffalo’s mini-Trump isn’t easily tuned out. Let the board majority’s lightning rod kick, scream and rant. In Paladino’s bully-world, there are angels and devils, no in-between. As everyone from departed Superintendent Don Ogilvie to board President Jim Sampson discovered, you are the second coming until the first time you stray from Paladino’s extreme-reform party line. At which point the nitro-tempered developer launches an email assault and tries to get you voted off the island. Roll with it.

He knew. Donn Esmonde knew, but he promoted the simplistic privatization agenda of the “reform” bloc, which has now found itself transformed into a 3-person minority. Not necessarily because of the meritoriousness of its ideas, but also because of the dictatorial obnoxiousness of its most outspoken member; a vulgar, petty, man who casually utters racist and sexist nonsense in the name of not being “P.C.”, a man who deserves no elected office, no public trust, and no respect from the western New York community.

Donn Esmonde, who clearly doesn’t believe in public education, should never write about schools again. 

Preetsmas is the Reason for the Season

The Buffalo school board battle of 2016 is over, but the war continues to rage. The Buffalo News-backed and Partnership-supported bloc of privatizers has shrunk from a majority to a minority of three. Carl Paladino – perhaps the best known Buffalonian in the non-sports universe, widely reputed to be the pride of South Buffalo – barely eked out a painfully narrow victory over an 18 year-old kid whom no one had ever heard of before about three weeks ago, Austin Harig.

Harig wasn’t afraid to confront Paladino on the issues, on his style, on his “ideas”, and on his cowardly unwillingness to engage in meaningful debate about any of it.

Is the Buffalo school district in need of reform? If so, what should that reform look like? How shall it be implemented? How does one ensure that all students are treated fairly and equitably? Should money be siphoned from the district to fund quasi-private paedagogical fiefdoms, or are there better uses of finite public resources? Should parents be punished for not getting their kids to school, rewarded when they do, or neither? How can a board of education do more than just putter around the edges of the incalculable problems, which are complex, multi-faceted, imbued with racism, and laced with poverty? What can society – whether interpersonally or through its elected representatives – do to ensure that school-age children in the inner city who come from nothing have a fighting chance? 

Or is the charge of a board of education to implement and administer policies that focus on providing all kids with equal opportunities to excel, recognizes the difficult challenges that teachers, students, and parents face? Is it required instead to marshal its limited resources into ways that ensure that the district is doing everything it can to guarantee that every kid who enters that system has a shot at lifelong success? Can it stand in loco parentis? 

What a school board shouldn’t do – under any circumstances – is offer a poor example for the students whose educational lives it oversees. A school board shouldn’t be a place for brawls or petty resentments and vendettas. It shouldn’t be a stage where loudmouthed vulgarians bully anyone who disagrees with them. It shouldn’t be an entity where members pay more attention to their phones than to the citizens who take time out to address them. It shouldn’t be a vehicle for one man’s agenda. But here, it must not become some social experiment promoted by big business interests who peddle some latter-day, neo-segregationist privatization scheme for no other reason than to hobble the teachers, and abolish their right to organize and bargain collectively. 

Even now, as the so-called “reform” majority slithers into its current form as a minority, the Buffalo News’ editorial position is laid bare: “Union-Backed Candidates Take Control of School Board“. Whether they were union-backed or not is a side issue. This was the first public referendum on the “reform” majority’s actions, and it was electorally crushed. The grapes are especially sour, as James Sampson whines about being bumped from the ballot after having done the exact same thing to his opponent last time around.

On the Paladino/Trump news network, WBEN, Brian Mazurowski mocked Harig for his outrageous Twitter account and poor showing in a Reddit AMA. Harig had one Twitter account in his own name that he set up when he was 13 (it’s been hacked), and another one as “Abdolf Hitcoln”, (also hacked), which he created at the age of 14. No followers, following 7 people and 11,000 Tweets, most of which are “I posted a new photo to Facebook” with a broken link. They’re all broken links, because no one’s had access to that account since Harig was 16. I’ll bet a 14-year old Brian Mazurowski did some stupid stuff, too. 

But nothing can top the call of the Paladino. Despite his narrow, unconvincing win, Trump’s guy in Buffalo was not a happy man as he addressed a crowd of supporters for a school election in a bar. In typical Paladino style, the blame only went around so far. 

Audio via WBEN. Here’s the transcript: 

This was very interesting tonight. I won by only 100 votes, which shows that the unions, Mark Poloncarz, and the Democratic Party were hell-bent on establishing – and, by the way, our other..uh…we’ve lost the majority on the board; we’re down to three – but it illustrates that these people are more intent on allowing the Buffalo Teachers’ Federation to negotiate their own contract rather than have an objectivity from citizens of this city negotiate that contract with the Buffalo Teachers’ Federation. That is an abuse. That is a lack of integrity, and a lack of character on the part of those organizations and people. To allow this – to spend money as they did to force a reform agenda off the table, and in place of it, put the status quo and a group of people who are going to vote for whatever Phil Rumore and the teachers’ union want is the most disgusting act I have seen in my history, and I think it’s abhorrible [sic], and it’s wrong.  Other than that, drink up, have fun, and thank you for all your assistance.

Blame the teachers. Blame the unions. Blame the Democrats. Blame Mark Poloncarz. Blame Phil Rumore. Blame money in politics, says the tea party demagogue who expoits the LLC loophole to give to Republicans and Democrats alike. 

Blame everyone, it seems, but yourself. Blame everyone but your own agenda and ugly demeanor. Blame everything but your profane bullying. The blame lies with everybody else; blame everyone but the voters. 

That is an abuse. That is a lack of integrity, and a lack of character. 

As for the mockery of Austin Harig, he may have done stupid stuff online when he was 14, but Carl Paladino is an adult male who – in his 60s – forwarded awful racist memes, and approvingly forwarded a video of anal creampie horse porn to a roster of local businessmen. It seems to me that WBEN omitted that relevant fact. 

Advantage: Harig. 

In Erie County, Hillary Clinton eked out a slim victory against Bernie Sanders; 50,199 to 49,387. The knives are out for Erie County Democratic Chairman Jeremy Zellner: 

“The Erie County Democratic Party is once again the laughingstock of the state,” said James J. Eagan, secretary of the New York State Democratic Committee. “Jeremy Zellner is an embarrassment to the loyal Democrats of this county. When are the party leaders going to realize that it’s time for a change?”

Here’s a response to this sort of facile fuckery: what’s Albany’s, Rochester’s, and Syracuse’s excuse? Did Zellner magically screw Hillary there, too? 

In Monroe County, Clinton defeated Sanders 37,309 to 34,717. In Onondaga County, Clinton won 20,397 to 18,057. In Albany County, Clinton lost to Sanders 20,422 to 18,450. Clinton’s upstate victories were slim, where they exist at all. 

Bernie Sanders attracted over 11,000 people to his hastily-organized UB rally. Was that Zellner’s fault, or is that explained by a campaign that had tons of momentum coming into New York, and an opponent who has especially captivated young voters and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party? 

But really, this doesn’t matter. What matters is how Clinton did in individual Congressional Districts. She lost in NY-27, but did very well in NY-26. Mr. Eagan should stick to worrying about things like systemic corruption in Albany and other things that genuinely matter. 

Given the circumstances, that Clinton won anywhere upstate this year is amazing – Sanders outspent Clinton by a 2:1 margin – and perhaps the New York State Democratic Committee and Clinton’s campaign itself bears the brunt of the blame for her upstate results. 

On the same day that Carl Paladino went on NPR to essentially call President Obama a “raccoon”, which he then tried to explain away by saying it wasn’t meant to be a commentary on the President’s race, but on how he’s a dirty thief, the Treasury announced that Alexander Hamilton would stay on the $10 bill, but Andrew Jackson would be replaced by Harriet Tubman. 

What an amazing day for America, to so prominently recognize a female black hero who saved lives, fought for equality, civil rights, and women’s suffrage. There’s no law that says our paper money has to have dead Presidents or Founding Fathers on it, and honoring achievement in science, the humanities, literature, music, and history makes sense. In contemporary times, Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony made their way to the seldom-used dollar coin. Twenties are comparatively ubiquitous. 

Harriet Tubman was born a slave, and dedicated her life to freeing slaves via the Underground Railroad; we honor and commemorate the stops peppered throughout the Buffalo area, where people stopped en route to freedom in Canada. She was a spy for the Union during the Civil War.  They called her “Moses”, leading her people out of slavery to freedom. She is quite literally one of the greatest Americans who ever lived. 

On Facebook, WBEN posted about it thusly, 

As usual, “your thoughts” is Trumpist shorthand for, “your overtly racist epithets”. 

Steve Kirk says, “makes sense when you see the stacks of 20s on the table after a drug bust…” 

Jen Marie says “That is 1 ugly 20, thats scarey lookin ill carry 5,10,50,100s instead…, i wouldn’t even be able to look in my wallet, wtf is this.”

Erik Rusinek says, “Want to honor her put her on a coin…Bills are for dead presidents and founding fathers”. Not, evidently, people who saved slaves.

Peter Benham reacts to a freer of slaves and suffragette with, “Obama’s gang just has to s**t on history!”

Dawn Curto, perhaps mistaking Harriet Tubman for Rosa Parks says, “To the back of the wallet, behind the C notes!”

Phil Pantano reacts to Harriet “Moses” Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson with, “America continues it’s attempt to cleanse history…”

Timothy Grabowski says Harriet Tubman on the 20 is, “Stupid pandering+”

Stephen Bolt says “Guess I’ll just carry 50’s”, rather than a 20 with a black face on it.

Kimberly Zappia implores, “Omg are you kidding me ? Why ?”

Richard Besant thoughtfully comments, “I’m surprised it is interesting obama on the new $20”. I’m surprised it is interesting, too!

Bill Richards says, “Nice because we have nothing else to spend money on. Yet we owe trillions of dollars. But this def is a must.”

Jane Wisnier says, “NO WAY …… She was a criminal .. according to the law of the land”

Harriet Tubman on a $20? Joseph Stephen says, “They should put Tubman on food stamp bills.”

George Griffenham adds in a stream of dumb consciousness, “That will be one ugly $20 bill at least it doesn’t have Obama on it then it would have an IOU on it.” 

Daniel Neu adds, “Shouldn’t she be on the fiddy dollar bill?”

Bernie Misura adds, “Protest by not using it accepting 20’s…Great use of tax dollars… Smh”

UPDATE: This one appeared today. From the looks of the avi, it’s a white supremacist. What a great platform WBEN offers! 

All of this, obviously, is as sick as it is [sic]. 

So, thanks, Buffalo’s AM talk radio enthusiasts for your predictably shameless overt racism, and thanks to the powers that be at WBEN and the Entercom corporation for allowing your social media accounts to become bulletin boards for nihilist, eliminationist racism. 

Kudos to the people who protested both inside and outside the FN arena. Thank you for speaking and acting in opposition to Donald Trump. 

Clarence town councilmembers Chris Greene, Paul Shear, and Congressman Chris Collins were positioned in such a way that their support for Donald Trump’s toxic blend of know-nothing populist bluster brings shame on our town. 

Hey #buffalo! Hear from local supporters of @realDonaldTrump before tonight’s rally! #TrumpinBuffalo pic.twitter.com/x6WWMkcNLY

— The Buffalo Ruse (@TheBuffaloRuse) April 19, 2016

I listened to a small portion of the speech and found it to be quite possibly the most vapid, Kardashian-esque, stream-of-consciousness nonsense I’ve heard since the last time I watched a Survivor tribal council or Big Brother head of household nomination ceremony. 

.@CollinsNY27 wows thousands of empty seats. pic.twitter.com/zflxJFwCW6

— The Buffalo Ruse (@TheBuffaloRuse) April 18, 2016

Last night’s Trump rally attracted 11,400 people to the First Niagara Center with three weeks’ notice, beautiful weather, a 7pm start time, and complete media saturation. 

Last week’s Bernie Sanders rally attracted 11,500 people to UB with three days’ notice, pouring rain, and a 5pm start time and the region’s top-rated AM newsradio station was not completely in the tank for him, nor did it link on its own website to Sanders tickets, nor did it push a text alert regarding when tickets became available. 

So, let’s say western New York is arguably way more Bernie Country than Donald Country. 

In any event, here are some things to remember about the Trump performance: 

1. Our generation’s Pearl Harbor took place in September – not July. If a Democrat had made this gaffe, there would be howls of derision from all the usual suspects. 

#TrumpinBuffalo pic.twitter.com/Qy33O7KQjI

— Buffalopundit (@buffalopundit) April 19, 2016

2. During Trump’s paean to the 7/11 first responders, he extolled the virtues of police, fire, MTA workers, and other members of public sector unions. On this we can agree. Does he agree that they deserve fair benefits and remuneration? 

3. This may become one of the most iconic images of the 2016 Presidential election – an anti-Trump protester being ejected from the First Niagara Center, courtesy of the Buffalo News’ Derek Gee: 

A protester makes a heart sign as she is removed from the Trump rally by sheriff deputies. #campaign2016 pic.twitter.com/kklnphQ70t

— Derek Gee (@DerekGeePhoto) April 18, 2016

4. Buffalo made sure that #TrumpEatsAss trended last night on Twitter. 

#Buffalo #TrumpinBuffalo #Trumpeatsass pic.twitter.com/ZzKN3dplkH

— Buffalopundit (@buffalopundit) April 18, 2016

Polls are open now through 9pm throughout Erie County; they open at noon in many other counties throughout upstate NY. Only registered Republicans and Democrats can vote in our closed primaries. Donald Trump, naturally, is going to crush on the (R) side, but Hillary Clinton really needs a big win against Sanders in the state she served in the Senate. 

I’ll be providing analysis on WGRZ tonight at 10 and 11, and some sort of webcast is planned between 9 – 10. Follow along on Twitter to watch the fun. 

When he isn’t defaming the petition-gathering efforts of his school board election opponent, or cowardly avoiding a debate for that race, Carl Paladino is acting as a surrogate for his BFF, Donald Trump. 

This past week, Coward Paladino – a man struck dumb by an 18 year-old opponent – took shots at John Kasich, a Presidential candidate who has experience serving in Congress, and later as Governor of Ohio. 

Carl Paladino on Friday targeted Ohio Gov. John Kasich over a vote he made in Congress 22 years ago to ban 19 types of semiautomatic weapons and large-capacity magazines.

Paladino called Kasich “the Ohio version” of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

“New York gun owners cannot trust John Kasich,” Paladino said during a news conference in Ellicott Square. “He will not be a president that we can trust with our guns.”

Gunsgunsguns. Remember how Obama was coming for people’s guns? Amazingly enough, they’re still waiting, these gun-huggers, for how “registration leads to confiscation”, as it ostensibly does for things like cars. 

The 2nd Amendment to the Constitution was set up to allow citizens to arm themselves as part of state militiae. At the time, the United States had no standing army, and militiae were the nation’s only line of defense. In recent years, the 2nd Amendment has oddly lost its historical and legal context, and now people have a right to bear arms for sport and protection. Absolutists – who are legally and historically wrong – believe that any restriction on the type of weapons they’re allowed to possess is an illegal overreach. They seem shocked to discover that government has an interest in not permitting random people to maintain mass-murder-friendly arsenals. Coward Paladino is one of these people who incorrectly believe that any restriction on arms is an illegal overreach. In Heller v. DC, the Supreme Court expressly stated that governments can implement these restrictions, just like restrictions exist on the freedom of speech. 

Paladino, who is backing Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, said Kasich cast a key vote in May 1994 when House members voted to approve the ban by a two-vote margin.

The Public Safety and Recreation Firearms Use Protection Act was part of a larger crime bill signed into law later in 2004 by President Bill Clinton, which has already become a controversial issue in the Democratic primary race for president.

Paladino, who was Cuomo’s Republican opponent in 2010, is decrying Kasich’s role in passing the legislation and contended language from the 1994 bill was copied as part of the New York SAFE ACT gun control law passed in 2013.

“When he was in Congress, he was no supporter of the Second Amendment,” Paladino said inside the Trump campaign’s local headquarters. “Today, when he wants to be president, he wants to go around the state and have you believe that he’s changed his stripes. Zebras don’t change their stripes.”

Not to defend Kasich, or to suggest that he’s a facile absolutist like our cowardly friend in Ellicott Square, but that last line – “Zebras don’t change their strips” is simply not something that Carl Paladino believes. He can’t. Can he?

No, he can’t, because, for 30 years – until 2005, Carl Paladino wasn’t the angry right-wing coward who can’t/won’t debate an 18 year-old; he was a registered Democrat. 

In 2004, Carl Paladino gave $500 to Democratic Congressional candidate Eric Massa. In 2003, Carl Paladino gave Democrat Dick Gephardt $1000. In 2004, Trump backer Paladino gave Democrat Louise Slaughter $1000. There’s $8100 for Democrat Brian Higgins through 2009. He gave Democrat Chuck Schumer $3400, including 2009. He gave John Kerry $500 in 2004. He gave Gore/Lieberman $1000 in 2000, and Al Gore $1000 in 1999. 

Carl Paladino gave “Friends of Hillary” $4100 in 2005-2006, But this one is my favorite; it’s a thing of beauty. $2300 to Hillary Clinton for President in 2008. 

That’s just what’s reported with the FEC in RINO Paladino’s own name. That doesn’t include the huge sums of money Paladino and his various LLCs have donated to state and local Democratic candidates and organizations in past years. He gave Marc Panepinto $250, and Joe Mascia $1666 in 2012. 

If recent Democrat Carl Paladino says that a zebra can’t change its strips, query how someone who gave thousands to Brian Higgins, Louise Slaughter, Chuck Schumer, and Hillary Clinton in the last 10 years can be some sort of gun-nut tea party Republican. After all, Hillary Clinton is the same person now – with the same positions and beliefs – that she was in 2008 and 2004. 

“Donald Trump doesn’t lie. He tells the truth,” Paladino said. “I’ve known him for that and he takes great pleasure in being known as a truthful man of integrity and character.”

Paladino concluded the news conference saying “You can’t take the guns away from the people.”

The last person who should be lecturing anyone on truth, integrity, and character is Carl Paladino. He quite literally has no shame. 

My Congressman, Chris Collins, has endorsed Donald Trump. Since then, he has become more of an embarrassment than ever before. This weekend, he wrote an un-comical op/ed for that liberal stalwart, the New York Times. 

Americans are angry. I hear it from the former factory workers who lost their jobs to other countries because of bad trade deals, the veterans who wait months to see a doctor at a Veterans Affairs hospital and the small-business owners who are struggling to stay afloat because of the Affordable Care Act’s crippling regulations. The professional politicians they trusted and supported have repeatedly sold out our country in favor of special interests and the status quo. Finally, millions of Americans are saying, “Enough is enough.”

The VA is understaffed and underfunded by the Republican Congress. (Can’t have big government). More Americans have quality, real health insurance than at any time in history; not dying is a “special interest”. Manufacturing? Collins should know as well as anyone that it’s been automating or shifting overseas for generations. 

Are people angry about, e.g., Chris Collins’ company failing to pay its workers a contracted-for prevailing wage? Are they angry about Chris Collins’ company manufacturing its bike balancing gizmo in China? Hypocritical doesn’t begin to describe that first paragraph. 

I see the failures of career politicians in the experiences of the hardworking men and women in Western New York whom I represent in Congress. The safe manufacturer SentrySafe, which once employed hundreds in the Rochester area, will close its doors this June and shift much of its operation to Mexico. That means the loss of good-paying jobs because our state and national leaders do not know how to encourage businesses to stay and grow in the United States.

When given the chance, Chris Collins – a man who has been in politics for almost two decades – manufactured his bike balance thing in China. Not in western New York.

America cannot afford another professional politician residing in the White House. We need a leader who has faced tough real-life situations before, and won. As Republicans prepare to vote in the New York primary on Tuesday, I hope they will send a resounding message that they believe Donald J. Trump is that type of leader.

Over the past several decades, Mr. Trump has built a family business into a network of highly successful enterprises. One of the many reasons Americans are rallying behind him is his record of success and commitment to taking the lessons he’s learned to the White House. When he talks about being a president who would create jobs, win negotiations and stand up to enemies, people believe him because he has done it before.

To fix the mistakes made by President Obama, our next president needs to speak frankly about the problems that exist, explain how he or she will correct them and have the fortitude to take necessary actions, no matter how unpopular they would be with Washington elites.

Get that? You can fix bad policies and systemic failures by “speak[ing] frankly”. He will build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. He will drop nuclear bombs on “ISIS”, without regard for innocent civilians who are vaporized. He will commit torture, abrogate the Geneva Conventions, and murder terrorists’ innocent relatives (but likely not, by example, the parents of Timothy McVeigh, who slaughtered 168 innocent men, women, and children). Chris Collins endorses all of it. 

Yes, being a blunt-spoken political outsider gets a nominee only so far. But Mr. Trump continues to win because his message and his ideas for fixing America are resonating with voters. He is committed to securing our borders, taking back the manufacturing jobs that have been stolen from the middle class by Mexico and China, and standing up to enemies threatening our way of life. These are things people in my district care about. His demand that foreign countries stop cheating on international trade is especially welcome in Western New York, a region devastated by the North American Free Trade Agreement and other poorly negotiated trade deals.

“Red China Chris” Collins is a political insider who has done nothing to abrogate or challenge bad trade deals. On the contrary, he outsourced his own product to China, because he could and because it was cheaper than employing western New Yorkers to do it. 

Even some of his supporters don’t agree with everything he says. I believe his plan to deport the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States is unfeasible, and his proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering our country will not end radical Islamic terrorism.

“Avoidable humanitarian crisis of Biblical proportions” can now be euphemised into “unfeasible”. Make no mistake – the rounding up, detention, and deportation of 11 million men, women, and children will be nothing more than contemporary concentration camps. They’ll be Dachau and Omarska for the 21st Century. Banning Muslims – even American Muslims – from entry or re-entry isn’t just something to avoid because it won’t work, but because it’s fundamentally illegal, unconstitutional, stupid, and ignorant. Trumpisti are quick to say it would be “temporary”, but that’s not true; something “temporary” has an expiration date. The proper word is, “indefinite”. Chris Collins endorses all of it, despite his weak and mealy-mouthed protestations. 

However, there is something to be said for a candidate who is willing to put forward proposals to protect our nation, rather than skirt uncomfortable issues — as President Obama and Hillary Clinton all too often do. His lack of political correctness shows that he is independent and understands the things people care about. Unlike career politicians who take policy positions based on their fear of losing elections or angering deep-pocketed special interests, Mr. Trump is accountable to no one but the voters.

Hey, my candidate might say horrible, wretched, and unworkable things, but gosh he’s willing to say them! Also, “political correctness” has become Republican shorthand for, “let’s treat people like garbage again”. 

Republicans recognize that the remaining Republican candidates have all advanced conservative solutions to the problems our nation is facing, as evidenced by the record voter turnout we have seen. But while Senator Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich both have strong visions, neither possesses Mr. Trump’s proven negotiating skills or ability to enact real change.

Donald Trump’s negotiating skills must explain why his name is still up on junk-bond-financed, twice-bankrupted Trump Taj Mahal, the 13th best hotel in Atlantic City, according to Tripadvisor. 

I know firsthand how important Mr. Trump’s private-sector know-how is to improving the way government operates. I spent my career buying and rebuilding distressed companies, which created and saved hundreds of middle-class jobs. I put that experience to use in 2007 when I ran for executive of Erie County, a region that had been devastated by losses in manufacturing jobs.

In office, I made the necessary tough choices and turned a nearly bankrupt, debt-ridden county into one with a surplus. I believe Donald Trump will achieve the same results for America.

Shorter Chris Collins: Trump needs the assistance of an imposed control board to lead. 

Americans have a chance to set our country back on course and restore the possibility of the American dream for our children and grandchildren. For too long the political class has denied everyday Americans a real voice in government. This election, voters are finding a leader who is listening to them over the clamor of Washington special interests, and voters are speaking loud and clear. They want a leader like Mr. Trump; a chief executive, not a chief politician.

Here’s a news flash for Red China Chris: you are a member of the political class, and you never schedule or attend events where you might have to deign to hear from people who don’t agree with you and buy into your Spaulding Lake shtick. Your policies were so horrible for western New York’s middle class that you were ejected from county office after one unnecessarily turbulent term. You are an embarrassment to your constituents, to your town, and to yourself. 

National general elections in Canada and the United Kingdom take weeks. Our interminable system is now a billion-dollar industry, where each party’s rules differ in each state, and the thing drags out for well over a year.

At the very least, one would hope that all that time and money would get us some pretty incredible candidates. We get quantity; quality? Not so much. 

I recently finished watching the 4th season of House of Cards – a fictional political soap opera set during a very contentious Presidential election. The reality has literally become stranger than fiction. Now? The Republicans are down to a reality show clown, a radicalized theocratic demagogue, and what appears to be the very last Republican who believes in the idea of governing. The Democrats are locked in a typically annoying battle between the centrist corporate type and the progressive true believer. Judging solely by my social media feeds, there is an overwhelming, bottomless glut of self-righteous proclamations of Bernie’s/Hillary’s lefty ideological bona fides. It’s a gusher!

As a Democrat, for me it’s quite simple – if Bernie gets the nomination, I’m voting for him. If Hillary gets the nomination, I’m voting for her. The Republicans will never, ever pick someone sane like Kasich, so my decision in November will be easy, regardless of what happens between now and then. I think both Sanders and Clinton are reasonable and qualified. Frankly, I’d like to see Clinton win and Sanders take a cabinet post dealing with education or health & human services. So, while I don’t know how I’ll vote next Tuesday, I’m all set for November. 

But you Republicans should take a good long look at yourselves. Donald Trump is no conservative, and he’s about as thoughtful as a toddler at a bounce house. Ted Cruz is one of the ugliest human beings Texas or Alberta ever shat. He is ugly in visage, he is ugly in mind, he is ugly in idea, ugly in policy, and he is a dishonest opportunist seeking a bizarre ultra-right Christianist abolition of civil society. John Kasich? He won Ohio. Yay. 

In 2000, the candidate who inspired people was John McCain; he dropped out shortly after South Carolina. In 2004, it was Howard Dean, who barely made it out of Iowa in one piece. In 2008, it was Obama, who actually won. Now, it’s Sanders and Trump, both of whom have tapped into the same anxieties, but Sanders’ solutions exist in the real world while Trump’s are pure nonsense. Do we spend billions to help people, or to build a wall? Do we help people get an education, or round up 11 million men, women, and children into detention camps in advance of a mass deportation? Do we educate and care for our people, or set in motion a “final solution” of the immigrant question? 

But if the fundamental thesis of Sanders and Trump is that “shit is all fucked up and bullshit”, I’m telling you that the very way in which we select the President falls deeply into that category.  I am fundamentally fatigued by this entire process. Donald Trump is going to crush it next Tuesday. Hillary isn’t going to crush it like the reality TV star, but she’ll do fine. Sanders has hopefully energized young kids and the disillusioned, and I hope to God that his “revolution” translates into people staying involved or interested in politics, and that they pay close attention to local and state elections, as well. 

In years past, I might have been excited that New York’s late April primary still mattered. 

Not anymore. Please, just make it go away.