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Dictaphone McCarthy and the Case of the Missing $200,000

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News reporting shouldn’t be a “choose your own adventure,” but the Buffalo News’ Bob McCarthy has a tendency to simply write down what people tell him and report that as fact, without checking. It is lazy horse-race reporting that purports to inform voters about inside-baseball fundraising, but offers zero substance and questionable facts. It’s candy for the Illuzzi-reader crowd. 

On May 22, the Buffalo News published a story claiming that the Republican-endorsed candidate for County Executive had “raised more than $200,000 since declaring her candidacy in March” and that this fundraising prowess lent her the “credibility to raise even more and prove competitive against Poloncarz.” 

The News report that Lynne Dixon, the Republicans’ candidate for County Executive, raised over $200,000 since declaring her candidacy in March is false. She has raised less than $200,000 since January, and of that less than $100,000 can be counted as actual contributions from regular people. 

“It says people are ready for change, and I will continue to work to raise the funds to get my message out,” she said. “I said all along I will raise the necessary money to get my message out, and I will.”

and, according to Republican direct-mail wunderkind Chris Grant, 

“I think she has showed an energy and a buzz around her campaign that has not been seen in a while,” he said. “There is a different element of folks who are attracted to her campaign, and she is tapping into something very different here.”

“While Mark is talking about the Paris climate accord and other esoteric issues to play to his base,” he said, “Lynne is talking about issues important to moms in West Seneca.”

This is just the latest example of Bob McCarthy transcribing whatever the last Republican apparatchik told him, and reporting it as fact. McCarthy’s animus towards Democrats and their party committee chairman Jeremy Zellner is thinly veiled, and all of this “reporting” isn’t so much about facts as it is about feelings.

My initial reaction was this: 

That tweet must have set Grant’s Spidey-sense tingling. 

and 

Well, the filing posted. The report was wholly inaccurate.

Let’s take a look at the filing against the backdrop of the claim to McCarthy of over $200,000 brought in since March. Dixon actually raised $191,358 since January. $168,683 came in via “contributions”, and $26,675 came in as “miscellaneous receipts”. A $9,000 discrepancy, which in WNY amounts to real money, or a single check from the likes of a steel magnate. 

I guess it helps to check what a source is saying. 

Of the $26,675 “miscellaneous receipts”, $25,000 of it was a straight-up transfer from the Erie County Republican Committee. The rest was from local committees. Republican committees throwing money at a Republican race is hardly indicative of some sort of groundswell of small-i independent grassroots support for “change.” 

Another $17,000 came from other campaign committees, LLCs, and PACs, and of that fully $10,000 came from one source – the “Friends of Nick Langworthy” campaign account. While Grant and Dixon declared that, thanks to fed-up West Seneca moms donating “more than” $200,000 since March because Dixon’s message was resonating, it turns out that less than $142,000 came from individual contributions & partnerships.

Breaking down the individual contributions, Pigeonista desperado and nominal “Democrat” James J. Eagan gave $20,000. Brian Lipke of Gibraltar Steel gave $10,000, and Pat Hotung of Main Place Liberty Group cut a check for $25,000. Take away those three mega-donations of $55,000, and regular people donated about $87,000 between January and May. Not too bad, but also not $200,000. 

The problem here is not so much about whether Lynne Dixon raised “more than $200,000” since “March” and whether that is indicative of grassroots demands for change – the issue is that by the time the actual numbers were released to the Board of Elections, the Buffalo News’ Bob McCarthy had already reported this unsubstantiated hearsay, which was framed as evidence of “people…ready for change.” The whole meme – the whole narrative – collapsed the moment the actual filing was made, and there is no correction or other indication in the News that Dictaphone Bob was duped again, caught transcribing whatever the last Republican told him and not checking the facts.  

“A lie travels around the globe while the truth is putting on its shoes,” goes the quip.

If we can agree that even $87,000 is a good take, I’m sure Dixon will continue to raise money well. So, I don’t understand (a) the need to exaggerate (i.e., lie) about the sum; and (b) why the Buffalo News just goes ahead and prints whatever Chris Grant says. Incidentally, if all of this was to show that West Seneca moms have concerns that don’t quite include the Paris Climate Accords, that is not reflected in Dixon’s financials and is, at best, puffery. Of 15 individual donations from West Seneca residents, 3 were female. The vast majority of the remaining donations were also from men. 

Grant says of Dixon, 

“She’s pitch-perfect for Cheektowaga, which is not a radical, progressive town,” Grant said. “When the Democrats get away and veer into this liberal nonsense, that’s when they get in trouble.”

In 2015, Poloncarz faced off against a folksy former county legislator. In Cheektowaga, Poloncarz received 8,523 votes. Ray Walter received 3,555. In 2011, Poloncarz earned 12,315 Cheektowagan votes vs. Chris Collins’ 9,863. In 2007, however, Chris Collins trounced Jim Keane, but it seems as if Cheektowagans are ok with Poloncarz, who is not a “radical, progressive” of any sort. 

Dictaphone McCarthy needs to check his facts, and the Buffalo News should not just publish what amounts to Dixonian propaganda without verifying the numbers. It’s all of it a disservice to the public. The coming months will see whether Dixon offers a genuine agenda beyond just throwing shade at Poloncarz and running on a platform in defense of one-use plastic bags.

What we do know is that Dixon and her partisans can freely urinate on Bob McCarthy’s leg, tell him it’s raining, and he’ll publish a few hundred words about the big rainstorm. 

Bad Old Days of Bad Old Ways: Pigeon Sine Pigeon

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Dear Sir,

Thank you for your transmittal of April 8th. Evidently you were responding to a tweet from County Executive Mark Poloncarz that you failed or neglected to reprint in its entirety: 

As a preliminary matter, I do not know how my personal email address came to be added to your list. Secondly, reading and listening are both useful skills. 

You ask, “How would you define the “Bad Old Days”? 

As a matter of fact, Mr. Poloncarz both wrote and said “bad old ways”. 

Not days. Ways. 

Were the “Bad Old Days” the days when the Party Chairman appointed himself to one of the highest paying jobs in county government? Were the “Bad Old Days” the days when there wasn’t one person of color employed at party headquarters? Were the “Bad Old Days” the days where in the first 7 years of your administration you didn’t have one African American in a leadership role? Were the “Bad Old Days” the days where you ordered the re-appointment of a disgraced Water Authority Chairman, whose removal was recommended by a state oversight authority? No Mr. Poloncarz, these were not the “Bad Old Days”, this is your County Democratic Party of today!! 

I’m sure it will come to a surprise to everyone – especially party headquarters – that there is “not one person of color employed at party headquarters.” Call and ask for the Executive Director. Ask her about it. 

In any event, I would like to address the “concerns” contained within your intemperate rant.  

The “bad old ways” involved all those years when other disgruntled nominal Democrats spent a fortune in order to destroy and sabotage good Democratic candidates in order to harm party headquarters and to accumulate money, power, jobs, and influence. 

Pedro Espada says hi. From jail. 

The “bad old ways” were the times when a former Democratic chairman –  deposed for being a divisive failure – undertook a well-funded, two-decades-long political jihad to systemically weaken the party committee he hoped again to run, and scorched Democrats who were trying to better their communities. The “bad old ways” saw a former Democratic chairman open a business with notorious right-wing propagandist Roger Stone in order to destroy local Democrats. 

Pigeoning: pi·geon·ing ˈpi-jən-iŋ: (n) the action of using money and influence, oftentimes pushing the election law envelope, to actively sabotage and undermine the Erie County Democratic Committee.

Now, we have some people trying to Pigeon sine Pigeon, trying so desperately to cling to the bad old ways. 

The “bad old ways” were when your boy did the crimes, like felony bribing a Supreme Court Justice, and felony directing a $25,000 foreign donation to Governor Cuomo. 

The “bad old ways” were the times when Democrats cut deals with the homophobic Conservative fusion Party, and paid Joe Illuzzi for an ad to curry the favor of a Springville barber in order to secure for them the Independence fusion Party line. Never forget that the Conservative fusion Party is the party of Angela Wozniak and Joe Mascia. 

The “bad old ways” were the times when Conservative Party Democrats conspired with Chris Collins to undertake a Republican coup of the Erie County Legislature in exchange for a few dollars thrown at pet projects. The “bad old ways” even include the recruitment of three criminals to help ensure a Republican coup in the State Senate. 

The “bad old ways” were quieted after two brave politicians – People of Color, one of whom now works in the Poloncarz Administration – filed a complaint with the Moreland Commission against your friends in the the WNY Progressive Caucus, or “AwfulPac“. 

In a sense, the “bad old ways” according to Poloncarz includes the times when you and your associates had control over the Water Authority patronage pot. 

Mark Twain once said “There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded”.

Query what the everliving f-ck you’ve done, kind sir, except help to weaken and sabotage the committee. If you don’t like Zellner, challenge him. Run. None of you ever do – full of sound and fury when it suits you, but helping no Democrats – not even Dobson – when November rolls around. 

Welcome to 2019. Pigeonism is over, and his bad old ways have been consistently rejected by Erie County Democrats.

Very truly yours, 

@buffalopundit

Everybody Panic New York is Losing Population

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New York State is losing population!

That was the story that blared on the morning newscasts in Buffalo Thursday morning. The Buffalo News, too. Why, we lost loads of people!

OK, yes, New York State lost population.

We lost a net 48,500 people over the course of one calendar year.

Business propaganda outlet “Unshackle Upstate” leads with this on Facebook, where angry online commenters go angrily to comment online: 

(What good is a media Facebook page or comment section without a sea of Thomases and Amys leaving their “KKKING CUOMO” comments, interspersed with the bolded “I made money doing online surveys” spam.)

Unshackle Upstate’s Executive Director is former Chris Collins staffer Michael Kracker, and its board is made up of the heads of four upstate Chambers of Commerce – including the Buffalo Niagara Partnership – and an Albany-area building trade lobby. It has a particular agenda, which one commentator in 2016 at City and State characterized as, 

two storylines. First, that upstate is the oppressed captive of downstate interests who abuse and neglect it. Second, upstate’s considerable economic troubles are the result of high state and local taxes, high state and local spending and business over-regulation.

…then added…

The problem is that both storylines are provably false, if evidence-based policy is your goal.

Oppressed and abused upstate? Untrue. Upstate is the beneficiary of a massive economic subsidy paid for by downstate taxpayers. The reliably right-wing and honest Empire Center has said, “New York’s state revenues are disproportionately generated in New York City and its suburbs, resulting in a net transfer of income to upstate.” To use a downstate expression, it’s not chopped liver. For every dollar upstate pays to the state, it gets back about $1.60. The opposite can be said for downstate: For every dollar sends to Albany, downstate gets back roughly 90 cents.

Well, what about those high taxes, high spending and over-regulation? The best way to measure that is to compare those communities in New York where taxes, spending and regulation are higher, and those where they are lower. Guess what? New York City and its suburbs have much higher local and state taxes, much higher government spending and much tighter regulation. Those economies are booming, and not just in the financial sector. Upstate communities with low taxes, low spending and low regulation continue to contract economically. Even the Federal Reserve, which carefully monitors this stuff, has weighed in. It just released statewide economic data with bad news for upstate: “little to no growth in the center of the state.” For downstate, good news: “New York City is experiencing strong job growth, with most of it coming, surprisingly, from outside the financial sector.”

That’s a set of home truths that few in western New York’s media landscape are willing to tell you, because it so fundamentally violates the central tenets of upstate victimhood and martyrdom. 

Anyhow, 48,500 people out of a total population of just under 20 million. That’s ~0.2% of the state population. Not exactly the panic-red-alert trigger that everyone needs to freak out about, and that the propagandists and the media will massage and exploit to generate clicks. (It’s also not liberal over-reach). 

I watch WGRZ Channel 2 most mornings, and they led with this story. They quote two people: a Census Bureau demographer, and E.J. McMahon from the conservative pro-business Empire Center. But McMahon himself reveals two important points: 

and

So, to the extent this undramatic 0.2% net population loss is a problem, it’s mostly a downstate problem. Granted, taxes in New York are higher than in other states, but if out-migration is mostly from downstate that’s just math – overwhelmingly, most New Yorkers live in downstate. But I can think of loads of reasons why someone would move out of the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, or Long Island that have nothing whatsoever to do with taxes. Traffic, population density, the sky-high cost of real estate (and concomitantly high property taxes), a crap subway system, long commutes all could contribute to this. Hell, I saw routine rush-hour traffic jams on the 684 from Danbury, CT to White Plains earlier this year. No one has time for that. The Hutchinson River Parkway from the 287 to Pelham is almost always a parking lot now. I’d move too.

But look at that map again: Louisiana, Mississippi & Wyoming – these not exactly what anyone would consider to be high-tax states. They’re losing population too. So, the “taxes” meme doesn’t necessarily work here. 

 

This is nothing new – media outlets typically will regurgitate data from right-wing think-tanks with little or no analysis. For instance, the right-wing Tax Foundation’s annual ranking of states by “business climate” routinely places New York near the bottom of the list. Republicans rant and rave about every annual release as a revolving door of justification for their proposed policies and agenda. For 2019, population-losing New York is number 48. Population-losing Louisiana is number 44, But population-gaining California is even worse than New York at 49, and snowy, population-gaining Minnesota is 43. Population-losing Mississippi has the 31st worst business climate. 

McMahon says most of New York’s out-migration is from downstate, and to places like Connecticut and New Jersey. Those two states are numbers 47 and 50, respectively. Incidentally, “Taxachusetts” is number 29. 

For 2019, the state with the best business climate is Wyoming. In case you forgot from the preceding paragraph, Wyoming is one of the states seeing a drop in population. Indeed, this is the third consecutive year that Wyoming’s population has dropped, and the number is 1,200, leaving a population of 577,737 – like New York, also a drop of about 0.2%.  But this is in a state that has only a little more than half the population of Erie County spread out over 97,914 square miles versus Erie County’s 1,277 square miles. 

Next, let’s look at the Empire Center’s data for the entire state. Here is the population tracker for 2010 – 2017. Notice that most losses are from reliably Republican rural counties while notorious Democrat tax-and-spend hellholes like Buffalo, Ithaca, Rochester, Albany, and the tri-state area all have population growth. 

So, while the Unshackle Upstate people are already ON IT, before everyone from Ed Cox on down starts bleating on about New York’s taxes being the proximate cause of some dramatic exodus from New York, note that this year’s drop is an improvement over last year, and obviously based on myriad factors. 

So, if people are moving out of the state that’s 48th-worst in taxation and moving to the state that’s number 50, taxes can’t be the reason. There must be something else. If you look at the map of states, and then the map of New York, you notice that West Virginia, for instance – a mostly rural state with a declining mining industry – sees people moving out, and so do New York’s rural counties. The places that have done a bad job adapting to a post-industrial world are doing poorly – e.g., Chautauqua and Jefferson counties, while the places that are doing a bit better within this new reality see people moving in, like the Capital District and Ithaca. Massachusetts – once derided for its liberal tax and spend policies now shows a gain in population and a reasonable business climate. In 1997, it abolished county governments altogether and now taxes and spending are handled in and through Boston with no unfunded mandates. 

I’m not saying taxes aren’t an issue in New York. You’ll find they’re an issue wherever you go – from Nevada to New Jersey. But the reasons why New York is losing population overall can’t be dumbed down to “hurr durr taxesandspending” like the media and propagandists would have you believe. There are far deeper systemic problems at play – especially in the cesspool of New York politics. The places that are adapting to a post-industrial status quo are faring better than the places that aren’t. 

Allow yourself to believe that – every once in a while – complex issues do not necessarily lend themselves to sound-bite condemnations and declarations. And the more people grasp at the easy-but-incomplete answers, the longer it will take to fix what’s ailing New York’s rural counties.

Cheap Dishonest Shots at Bob McCarthy

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On Saturday afternoon, Erie County’s elected Comptroller tweeted the following: 

I didn’t really have to click through to the linked-to Buffalo News article to know exactly who wrote it and what it was. But, I’m a glutton for punishment, so…

I don’t begrudge Mychajliw – one of the most camera-thirsty pols in town – his puff piece. I’m trying here to understand how the Buffalo News can allow itself to be a platform for unilateral, unchecked propaganda, here masquerading as a news story about an ambitious elected who is ostensibly ruffling feathers in his own party. 

But I got an interesting reaction from one of McCarthy’s former colleagues; someone who runs a non-profit that does investigative journalism locally: 

Has Heaney explained why my “cheap shot” was “dishonest”?

Not yet. Not to me, not to the several other people who rose to defend my terse take.

This isn’t some new, haphazard observation I make with no evidence just to throw rhetorical stones. I have for years pointed out McCarthy’s dependable, friendly stenography for powerful conservative males and his dismissal of females, Democrats, and political figures coming up through the ranks. 

In 2014, for instance, someone – most likely East Aurora political consultant and renowned shitposter Michael Caputo – arranged for McCarthy to accompany Donald Trump on his private 757 to Buffalo. There was a big Erie County GOP fundraiser being held at Salvatore’s and Trump was the marquee guest. McCarthy’s resulting column was pitiful and risible. I mocked it at the time, likening McCarthy’s frequent descriptions of Trump’s gilded plane to objectum sexuality. Passages like: 

Dissecting the strategies of a statewide race around an exquisite oak table is exactly the kind of political scene you might envision involving a top Republican like Donald J. Trump, especially when he’s mulling a challenge to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

But when the conversation takes place thousands of feet above New York State, aboard what he proudly calls “the world’s most luxurious airplane,” you get a sense of just how unique this campaign might be.

and 

So during a Friday afternoon interview with The Buffalo News aboard Trump’s $100 million Boeing 757 en route from New York to Buffalo, the Manhattan real estate mogul laid down his conditions in the clearest language yet.

and 

Trump has no problem dwelling on that “very nice life.” Watching a golf tournament on the 57-inch screen stretching across mid-cabin, he casually drops the fact he has won a string of club championships.

“I’m a good golfer,” he said.

But he also thinks the opulence that surrounds him could prove his point.

“People want to see success; I would like to show my financial statement,” he said. “I’m one of those guys who says let’s make a lot of money so we don’t have to cut, even though I know that last part doesn’t sound very Republican.”

McCarthy challenged nothing Trump said; his attacks on State GOP Chairman Ed Cox were met with nothing. No comment from Cox, nothing even to vet whether or not Trump is a good golfer. It was just raw, uninterrupted Trump proclamations, and a star-struck McCarthy writing it all down, with frequent allusions to Trump’s opulent lifestyle and gold-plated things. 

Fast-forward to this year’s Collins-McMurray race, just a few weeks ago I again criticized McCarthy’s careful efforts to promote the profile and propaganda of male right-wing figures. On just one Sunday, the Buffalo News published no fewer than three ridiculously one-sided, Republican-friendly McCarthy pieces. One – amazingly – about Chris Collins’ indicted son’s wedding still being on. Another was a glowing profile of Chris Collins himself – front page of the Sunday paper. Finally, echoing the 2014 ride-along on the Trump jet, Caputo (probably) set McCarthy up to interview fascist wino Steve Bannon on his limo ride back to Prime Aviation, where the nominal populist would catch his private jet back to Teterboro. Like the coal miners do. 

Despite the fact that Bannon insulted McCarthy’s entire profession as the “opposition party”, (McCarthy didn’t try to rebut this slander), the News scribe dutifully transcribed and spat back at his readership whatever propaganda Bannon wanted out there. No facts were checked, no claims were vetted. He just wrote it all down. Example: 

“Man, [Trump] knows China,” Bannon said. “He knew chapter and verse in 2010 about China. I can’t have that conversation with five guys in Washington. They wouldn’t understand what he was talking about.”

I think anyone who pays even casual attention to the Trump Administration knows that Trump may be many things, but he’s no policy wonk. 

Let’s turn back to what noted local journalist Jim Heaney characterizes as my  “dishonest cheap shot” at McCarthy’s “analysis” of Stefan Mychajliw’s involvement with the Collins campaign. 

Mychajliw, 45, emphasizes his ubiquitous presence on the campaign trail was aimed at preserving the district for Republicans, and that he worked for other candidates too. But he acknowledges his interest in Washington.

Mychajliw was the Zelig of this congressional campaign season, popping up at opportune moments to shed the “Comptroller” mantle and do a quick-change into a Bannonist neo-fascist spitter of malignant talking points. Literally one day he was using transphobic language to insult County Executive Mark Poloncarz, and the next he was on the radio, falsely accusing Democratic Congressional candidate and Grand Island Supervisor Nate McMurray of threatening him. 

After Collins’ indictment, Mychajliw was loudest among the faux-alt-right crowd ready to enter the fray against McMurray. I wrote, 

The campaign strategy has already been polled and formulated. All they have to do is plug in an avatar for the carefully crafted pro-Trump/anti-Pelosi messaging that attacks family man and in-house corporate lawyer—Democrat Nate McMurray—as some sort of antifa radical. Mychajliw, especially, is trying to paint McMurray as some sort of Marxist guerrilla rebel leader slightly to the left of Che Guevara who will feed you a Venezuelan existence. Imagine: a supporter of Donald Trump’s robotically parroting someone else’s talking point about McMurray’s demeanor. To call it insane would be an grave insult to insane people. 

With his oddly aggressive table reads of this season’s script, Mychajliw pivots awkwardly from his putative 2019 Erie County Executive race by simply replacing “Poloncarz” with “McMurray.” Mychajliw tells you absolutely nothing about what he’s for, except one thing: Donald Trump. They love to invoke Nancy Pelosi, who has as much influence on the average Western New Yorker’s day-to-day life as, say, the Ancient Aliens guy, but these people need to play to the WBEN-listener rubes who hate Democratic women from the coasts, for whom they have choice one-word nicknames. 

Not a word of that is inaccurate. QEMFD. But here comes Bob McCarthy, raising Mychajliw’s profile and setting him up for his special election when Collins gets sent to the slammer. 

But after Collins re-entered the race on Sept. 17, Mychajliw shifted into support mode for him and others. He accompanied Assemblyman David J. DiPietro of East Aurora on his rounds, helped town justice candidates and spent several nights a week working the phones for others – earning political chits that may be someday redeemed.

Imagine the hubris of Stefan Mychajliw – largely unknown outside of Erie County – lending his clout in support of DiPietro and Collins out in the rural counties. This junket as DiPietro’s and Collins’ obedient travel companion was wholly self-serving – Mychajliw hasn’t been a journalist for a decade. His name is not a household word in the easternmost parts of NY-27, and if he’s going to run for NY-27 again, he needs to raise his profile. 

“It was a real eye-opener, to be able to talk to voters every day,” Mychajliw said. “It will make me a better candidate in the future, no doubt about it.

“We’re ready to do it now if the opportunity presents itself,” he added.

Oh, I’ll bet it was. I’ll bet you are. 

Again, let’s go back to Jim Heaney calling me out for my “unfair cheap shot”. Here’s a quote from McCarthy’s Mychajliw piece: 

After raising more than $100,000 in three months for the county campaign, he was already aiming at Poloncarz as a “vulnerable, out-of-touch, liberal extremist.”

“He’s more interested in banning plastic bags, the Paris climate accords and allowing grown men to use the same bathroom as my daughter than anything else,” Mychajliw said in July. “I think Mark has totally checked out.

“I’m telling friends and supporters to stay tuned,” he added.

I think that – apropos of literally nothing – pull-quoting and composting Mychajliw’s most dishonest, transphobic, and outrageous attack on Poloncarz and allowing it to fester there on the page, unchallenged, is dutiful transcription of right-wing talking points. It is a pattern, and it should be pointed out. Oh, sure, McCarthy got on the horn to Paladino, who was pissed at Mychajliw for cutting the line in front of him for the opportunity to run for the Collins seat, but he cleaned it up by running this: 

“I don’t think anyone should begrudge me for wanting to advance a political career,” he said, noting that the local political world “blew up” following Collins’ Aug. 8 indictment.

“Everyone’s plans changed that day,” he said.

Mychajliw is an excellent retail politician, but as Comptroller he doesn’t set policy. He has never, ever served as a representative. He’s never passed or drafted a law, and he’s never really had to set forth a platform of policy positions because that’s simply not what a comptroller does. Call me crazy, but the newspaper reporter might have pointed out that fact. So far, Mychajliw’s only policy is to talk shit about other politicians who take strong stands on policy, and regurgitate things fed to him by campaign consultants. 

And it’s not just Republicans – McCarthy has also been a reliable mouthpiece for Conservative fusion party operative Steve Pigeon. Seriously. Click that link and read that piece I did during the Preetsmas series, as the walls closed in on Pigeon and his collaborators. I wrote,

As recently as May 24th, the Buffalo News’ political columnist, Bob McCarthy, dutifully did Steve Pigeon’s bidding, producing an opinion piece that amounted to faithful stenography of a longtime source’s spin. In this case, it was Pigeon spinning about why he had ended what had until recently been a likely mutually beneficial relationship with a Rochester-based law firm. Pigeon told McCarthy it had nothing to do with any investigation — but the state and federal raids came literally four days later. 

But don’t take my word for it. Ask Angela Marinucci, a Democrat who ran for Erie County Clerk this year against political opportunist Mickey Kearns, 

This is from Marinucci’s expanded comment: 

…let’s review how the Buffalo News treated our race:

I sat in front of the Buffalo News Editorial Board, made up of four 50+ year old white men for 35 minutes explaining my plans for the Clerk’s Office & my opponent’s fiscal irresponsibility. I quoted, without notes, exact statistics & Ed Board comments FROM THE BUFFALO NEWS to show how the office was being mismanaged.

When the Buffalo News endorsed my opponent, they wrote 2 sentences about me – belittled me by calling me a “rookie” & referring to my COLLEGE internships from 15 years ago while praising my opponent’s demonstrably false claims about how he’s running the Clerk’s Office.

Here is how this “rookie” with the college internships contrasts her experience with Kearns’: 

I am a published attorney, graduate of a Tier 1 law school, running for a quasi-legal position who earned the endorsement of our Lieutenant Governor, our County Executive, no less than 7 local town Supervisors / Mayors and 2 Council Presidents, numerous town board members across the county, and many community leaders. My opponent ran on being a former garbage man career politician who was an “independent” voice in Albany because he flip flopped party loyalty so many times.

When Marinucci turns to our mustachioed hero, watch out. 

This morning Bob McCarthy wrote a column once again belittling me. He claims that my opponent won with a “hefty cushion” & said my “last-minute” ads feature me “flipping pancakes”, with no mention of my qualifications which featured prominently in my ads. Apparently, math isn’t Mr. McCarthy’s strong suit. I outraised my opponent & my campaign was able to finance a 2 week TV ad buy as well as a substantial digital buy, more than double what my opponent was able to buy (spending every dollar in his campaign account) – but he did put is smiling face on a racist Willie Horton-style political mailer.

“Reporting” such as this encourages the worst among us. Failing to even acknowledge my credentials is part of the reason why a man commented “Stay home & raise your kids” on an article from the Buffalo News just three days ago saying my race was too close to call. It’s part of the reason why I receive comments & messages on my campaign FB page saying things like “hell no!!!!!!!” & “the only thing going for you is that you’re a woman.”

THIS is why it matter that we have women in positions of power. Shame on Bob McCarthy & shame on the Buffalo News. I am disgusted.

It’s true that I took a “shot” at McCarthy, but the debate here is whether that shot was “cheap” and/or “dishonest”. There’s my explanation; there are the facts that inform my opinion that Bob McCarthy is a dutiful Republican stenographer. Meanwhile, Jim Heaney hasn’t responded to anyone’s request that he explain precisely how my critique of McCarthy was cheap or dishonest. 

Maybe it was Heaney’s unexplained, undefended shot at me that was both cheap and dishonest. 

The #NY27 Count So Far…

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It might be time for The Buffalo News, Channels 2, 4, and 7, WBEN, WBFO, and Spectrum News all to re-visit whether anything is decided in the race for NY-27 between indicted incumbent Republican Chris Collins and Grand Island Supervisor Democrat Nate McMurray. 

On election night, McMurray somewhat clumsily gave a non-concession concession speech, but quickly retracted any such notion after the results showed that Collins maintained an extremely narrow lead in the unofficial machine count. As of right now, Collins is leading McMurray 134,251 to 131,341, a margin of only about 2,910 votes; 49.5% to 48.4%. 

But what happens on election night isn’t necessarily the final count, and that’s becoming quite evident in NY-27. The provisional and absentee ballots cast are not included in those unofficial election night results, and those are just now starting to be counted in the counties to the east of Buffalo. So far, in Ontario and Monroe Counties, sources indicate that the absentee ballots are skewing overwhelmingly pro-McMurray, by double-digit percentage points. I’m told that this has resulted in an overall ~11% narrowing in Collins’ lead – about 320 votes or so. Both McMurray and Collins have lawyers on hand at every canvass to fight for every vote. 

But reports are that there are 18,000 absentee ballots left to count in Erie County alone throughout WNY, and many don’t get touched until Tuesday November 20th. 

Erie County accepted absentees postmarked by November 5th, and military ballots are accepted through the 19th. All election day provisional and machine ballots will be sealed & sequestered on Friday. On Monday, candidates may review all unopened absentee ballots and applications. Objections must be made by 5 pm that day. On Tuesday, Nov. 20 the Erie County BOE will begin opening absentee ballots. On Wednesday, Nov. 21, the final canvass begins. 

So, let’s do some quick & dirty math for those 18,000 outstanding absentee ballots. Let’s assume that to be the number, and let’s assume that they follow the same pattern – about a 15% McMurray lead. 

This is sheer speculation, but indulge me: let’s say the absentees run 65-35 for McMurray;  so the Democrat pulls in 10,350 and Collins racks up 7,650. Add those figures to the unofficial machine counts from election day, and you’re left with Collins’ lead diminishing to 141,901 to 141,691, or just about 200 votes! 

Also, remember that the absentees were largely sent out well before the ostensibly pivotal Trump robocalls on election eve. To the extent that motivated unenthused Republicans to vote, that doesn’t apply to these absentee voters. 

All of this means that it becomes quite clear that Nate Mcmurray has a clear shot at an incredibly narrow victory. There is a path here, and it seems so far to be rather well-paved.

[POST UPDATED to reflect that it is 18,000 absentees throughout the district, not just in Erie County] Stay tuned…

Nate McMurray for Congress

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Nate McMurray for Congress (@Nate_McMurray) | Twitter 2018-11-04 18-27-19

Election Day is Tuesday November 6th. Please vote to send Nate McMurray to Congress. 

Nate McMurray is the smartest and most exciting new Democratic politician I’ve seen in this area in a long time. 

This election is, in part, a referendum on Donald Trump and his Republican Party’s chaotic tumble into a nihilistic, eliminationist, and authoritarian movement. There are myriad reasons to be angry and concerned about the direction of the country. The economy may be humming along, for now, but what good is a 3.7% unemployment rate if you’re living under a kakocracy? When tariffs are imposed, violating contracts we’ve entered into with other countries, those are Republican taxes and they’ve already killed not a few jobs. The Trumpian movement is generally billed as some sort of anti-elitist populist movement, but Christopher C. Collins is at the summit of the local Republican suburban elites, and has been for at least 11 years. 

It takes a special sort of either cynicism or stupidity (or both) to perceive and promote Christopher C. Collins as some sort of pro-Trump avatar – a spokesman for the working man, battling against the big-city, coastal elites. 

Regardless of your political affiliation, I ask you please to vote on November 6th for Nate McMurray.

This year, in this race, we have a genuine opportunity to elect a good and smart person to Congress, and to expel someone whose cynicism is eclipsed only by his criminality and lack of any ethical or moral principles. 

Christopher Collins was a lousy one-term County Executive, and he’s been a worse Congressman. He’s been seen on CNN more than he’s been seen in the district. 

Nate is a regular guy from North Tonawanda who hasn’t forgotten where he came from. He grew up poor, worked hard, got an education, went abroad, and bettered himself. He is the embodiment of the American Dream that people used to talk about hopefully, back before the dark times. Before the Empire. (j/k)

He has done better than the generation that preceded him. 

McMurray lived for several years in South Korea, and has a unique perspective as a western New York re-pat who worked for years to open Asian markets up to American exports. He came back to work as in-house counsel at Delaware North, ran for Grand Island town supervisor, and won. He has shaken things up there, and that has, predictably, ruffled some establishment feathers. 

When McMurray jumped into the NY-27 race, it was clear that he had the smarts and the qualifications. So did other candidates, but Nate had also actually ran for – and won – a race. He understood the dynamics of a tough campaign, and had the chops to make waves and get his name out there. He’s also someone who isn’t a hyper-partisan. He works with people from all walks of life, and from all political viewpoints to achieve goals for the common good. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Republican idea or a Democratic one, as long as it’s good. 

The job of a representative is to represent his constituents. That’s difficult to do if he doesn’t make himself available to hear them out. 

I have long said that there’s no sense in running a partisan left Democrat in the Reynolds/Collins district, because that’s not the kind of district this is. There’s no sense, for instance, in running an anti-gun Democrat in a gun-friendly place. It makes no sense to run someone who is reflexively anti-Trump in a district Trump won by double digits. To that end, McMurray fits the bill. He has made many progressives upset with his centrist positions, but McMurray’s pitch this year is a simple one. It’s not about the party label, necessarily. It’s about merit. It’s about the rule of law. It’s about the sort of representative the people in the 27th district deserve to have speak for them in Washington. 

Nate’s not part of some Pelosi mob or Antifa or any of the other stuff Collins has tried to scare people about. I mean, Collins backed Trump. Trump won. Collins has been in Congress for several years. What the hell is he so angry and afraid about? Why can’t he say one positive thing about himself or his record or his President? 

McMurray’s pitch is quite compelling, especially in a district that Chris Collins and Chris Lee before him treated as personal fiefdoms to which they were entailed.  Chris Lee held “telephone town halls” where friendly pre-screened questions were filtered through to the politician, and the whole thing was tightly stage-managed. Never did he show up during the Obamacare debate to listen to his constituents, or to explain to them his thinking. 

Maybe it’s time to stop letting the Erie County Republican Committee select one ethical disaster after another to send to Washington. (Shout-out to Batavia’s David Bellavia, a hyper-partisan but comparatively honorable alternative, whom the Republicans found new and unique ways to overlook and disrespect). 

A Congressman should be accountable to his constituents – not just one November Tuesday every two years, but all the time. McMurray has pledged to hold a town hall meeting somewhere in the district – in person and not censored – every month if elected. McMurray calls it his “transparency pledge“, and he will also release his public schedule in advance to the public, and to introduce a bill requiring candidates to debate their opponents. 

It’s obvious that if the Democrats take the House, NY-27 will be better served with a Democrat in office than Christopher C. Collins. 

The biggest issue facing the average American in NY-27 isn’t some racist scaremongering about immigrants, but things like nstead health care. As Trump and the Republicans erode Obamacare, it has become crystal clear that some other solution is needed to ensure that every American gets the care and coverage he or she needs, without regard to ability to pay. Literally every other industrialized democracy has this figured out, but America has been dithering with this since World War 2. Britain has its NHS, Canada has its Medicare, but Americans still pay exorbitant rates to private companies whose bureaucracies are redundant, and ration care when they’re not resulting in medical bankruptcies.

When you see those milk jugs collecting money at the checkout counter for people’s health care, that’s not a heartwarming thing – that is a moral and ethical (if not medical) disaster. People should not have to rely on alms to pay for chemotherapy or any other care. Not kids, not adults, not seniors – no one. Americans should not have to have anxiety about how they’ll pay for care they and their loved ones need, and GoFundMe is not a substitute for a federal healthcare policy. 

Christopher Collins has voted repeatedly to not only take away or worsen your health insurance coverage, but he has expressly voted for a bill (he never read) that would repeal protections for pre-existing conditions. Nate McMurray will not do any such thing, and has advocated for a single-payer health coverage system to replace the ridiculous, anachronistic, and poor patchwork of coverage that Americans rely on. 

Christopher Collins voted to give himself and his friends at the club massive tax cuts, and this has exploded the deficit. The Republicans propose to pay for this by destroying Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. 

As far as tax policy, this is sheer depravity. 

I could recount and link to all of the negative things I’ve written about Christopher Collins: the articles are many, and the language is salty. But he deserves as much consideration and thought as he has given his vassals and serfs constituents as Lord Collins, Earl of Spaulding representative.  

Think instead on this: not once has Christopher Collins – a man who is under arrest and in custody for 11 felony counts set forth in a federal indictment – asked you for your vote. His every advertisement, his every pronouncement has been to personally destroy Nate McMurray, a guy who’s just running to do better than Collins. 

Chris Collins hasn’t asked you for your vote, because he thinks he deserves it without having to earn it. 

Not once has Christopher Collins set forth his record of achievements that would justify re-election. There’s no mailer or TV ad explaining just what a great job Collins has done for his constituents – or the country. 

Chris Collins isn’t bringing up his record, because the only record he’s got now is a criminal record. 

You would think that Chris Collins – a mad too cowardly to debate his opponent, to scared even to answer questions from High School students – could look his constituents in the eye and make some sort of pitch. Hey, I know you’re not sure about me, but I’ve worked hard for you and your vote matters to me. There won’t be any such ad – no such pitch. He hasn’t worked hard for you, and your vote doesn’t matter to him. He expects it. He expects to win. He is favored to win, despite the fact that the government accuses him of being a crook and a cheat and a liar. 

I’ve seen some Republicans on Collins’ Facebook page respond to critiques having to do with the indictment by saying, “innocent until proven guilty”. Right. Save that for the trial. This is politics, and the accusation itself is bad enough. The same crowd that screams “lock him [or her] up!” at the bare mention of any Democrats’ name – ostensibly for the crime of being a Democrat – has no standing to whine about the presumption of innocence. 

What other crimes do Collins supporters think befit a public official? 

Seriously, I ask that question because if a Democrat so much as sneezes weird, these people turn it into years’ worth of congressional investigations, but they’re willing to vote for a crook because he won’t take away their guns? 

Nate McMurray won’t take away your guns. He isn’t a fan of the SAFE Act. Every story the Republicans have fed you about McMurray being anti-Second Amendment are lies. 

In fact, Nate McMurray still retains his right to bear arms. Chris Collins relinquished his when he had to turn in his passport. 

The point here is that the job of a Representative is to serve the people – not just to do the constituent services piece, but also to help formulate federal policy, draft laws, and to listen. Christopher Collins has never listened to any non-Republican, and he’s seldom listened to anyone who hasn’t paid to be in his presence. Nate McMurray listens to people regardless of their political affiliation, because he wants to serve responsibly and responsively. 

I think it is especially important for a Democrat representing the 27th to stand there and hold himself accountable to his Republican constituents. I know Nate McMurray is up to the task, and that he won’t let us down. More importantly, I know that Nate McMurray genuinely cares about the direction of WNY because he has kids to raise here. He has work to do here. He wants to be a partner with Brian Higgins to ensure that the federal government is working for us, not against us. 

Bob McCarthy: Collins’ Dutiful Stenographer.

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There is no bigger Buffalo fluffer of right-wing power and talking points than the Buffalo News’ Bob McCarthy. He published three articles Sunday – one on fascist wino Steve Bannon and two concerning the Christopher Collins crime syndicate. Here, here, and here. 

Honestly, the beauty of Twitter is its forced brevity. 

Let’s deal first with the insane Cameron Collins wedding article. It’s not newsworthy. In the wake of the mass murder of Pittsburgh synagogue congregants and the attempted bombing assassinations of prominent Democratic Trump critics, no one really gives a shit from a rat’s ass about the lifestyles of the rich and famous and how “[t]he congressman said last week that his son’s wedding to fiancée Lauren Zarsky remains on despite the charges surrounding the two families. ‘They’re two peas in a pod,’ he said.”

That’s nice.

But no one cares how two rich kids in New Jersey are getting on. The editors at the News must realize that this article is an embarrassment, because you literally can’t find it if you search for it. The only way it appears is if you click on McCarthy’s name on another article, and it pops up in his roster of pieces. It is garbage, and they know it. 

Next, never come between Bob McCarthy and a fascist in a private jet. We already heard this joke when Trump came to town in 2014, and McCarthy got to fly along. Back then, McCarthy penned a love note – no, a sex note – to Trump’s private 757. Any semblance of objective journalism was sucked through the turbofans of that aircraft. Likewise, here, the Republicans recruited their dutiful scribe to accompany Squadrista Steve Bannon in a “luxury SUV” from an Elma fire hall back to Prime Aviation, from where Bannon flew to Teterboro in a private jet. 

A guy in Washington for whom Bannon used to work now calls him “Sloppy Steve.” And it appeared President Trump’s former top strategist had not encountered a razor for a while. But his expensive Barbour field coat indicated he wasn’t worried about getting through the weekend.

Ha ha get it “a guy in Washington for whom Bannon once worked” that’s the PRESIDENT he’s referring to LOL HA HA. Someday Bob might be able to get one of Bannon’s Barbour coats if he quits the News and finds his calling – spitting out Republican press releases and talking points from the cushy office of a PR firm. 

Bannon sat next to a reporter in the rear of an SUV limo, and asked where he worked. “The Buffalo News,” came the reply.

“Ha! The opposition party,” Bannon said, half-sneering, half-smiling.

For the next half hour, a mastermind of Trump’s improbable rise to the White House held court. He likes to talk – about his “economic nationalist” theories, and about Trump, even if the pair are no longer confidants.

Imagine a serious journalist being recruited to interview a noted right-wing demagogue, and being insulted before the car even left the driveway. But he writes the expected puff piece anyway! 

“Man, he knows China,” Bannon said. “He knew chapter and verse in 2010 about China. I can’t have that conversation with five guys in Washington. They wouldn’t understand what he was talking about.”

This is hero-worship propaganda. We know from mere observation that what Trump doesn’t know could fill the Pacific Ocean. There is no follow-up, or request for examples or detail. Mere transcription of Bannon’s nonsense. 

The talk of the SUV turned to 2012, when Trump was thinking about running for governor. Bannon grunted a laugh. He didn’t say it, but the grunt basically said: “Yeah. As if that was going to happen.”

2014, but whatever. Bannon “grunted a laugh”, and McCarthy interpreted that grunt as representing eight entire words. There’s no evidence that McCarthy asked him what that grunted laugh was supposed to represent, or that Bannon was asked any sort of follow-up. Just a grunt and the fucking fascist-whisperer just gets it. 

He delved into a stream of consciousness description of the economic nationalism in which Trump puts “America first.”

“The world is a series of commercial relationships, trade deals and capital markets in an American security guarantee,” he said. “Which now costs us $1 trillion a year and has the deplorables’ kids in Hindu Kush walking patrol, in the South China Sea on ships, and on the 38th parallel in Army divisions.”

Amazing. Evidently, only the “deplorables’ kids” are fighting, so McCarthy lets Bannon get away with literally turning military service into a partisan event. Right wing propagandists like Bannon would call that “virtue signaling”. 

Bannon still talks about the strategies that elected Trump in 2016 ‑ including the art of the deal.

“He told Theresa May to overshoot your target on deals … and get it done in six months,” he said of her Brexit negotiations. “The last thing he said to her was ‘be prepared to litigate.’ Trump always uses litigation as a weapon. Maybe that’s why two years later she’s got no deal.”

Without getting into a long tangent on the abject failure of Brexit, as it turns out the EU doesn’t need the UK. but the UK seems to have issues with market access, travel, pensioners’ homes, and the Irish border. The UK has no plan and has merely lurched from one unworkable deal to another, while the EU has been exquisitely patient. Theresa May triggered Article 50 before a negotiation plan had been set, and one of our closest allies is about to crash out of a customs union in a way that may prove disastrous.  

Even Trump’s personal 757 ‑ the one that cost $100 million, has gold faucets and makes Air Force One look like a crop duster – was part of the plan. Rolling into an airport hangar to greet the faithful, he said, it looked just like Air Force One.

Bannon came to Western New York to get out the Republican vote. That means he was campaigning for Rep. Chris Collins, suddenly in trouble while under federal indictment. Bannon knows the importance of his GOP retaining the House of Representatives; that impeachment is sure to follow should the Democrats win.

Bob misses that 757. His crush. Maybe McCarthy could have mentioned that Bannon is running a dark money PAC that is funding all of his 1st class travel to keep the Congress red? Nah, too much work. No one brought it up, so it couldn’t be transcribed. 

“Trump is an athlete; a scratch golfer,” he said about the president’s current campaign tour. “And he’s a closer, This is classic commit to the shot. Take dead aim.

“On the Democratic side what do you have? Hillary and Bill Clinton are wandering around on some speaking tour, lining their pockets trying to present herself for 2020,” he added. “Corey Booker and Kamala Harris are in Iowa, prepping their 2020 run, and you’ve got Pocahontas putting out her DNA test.”

“Trump is an athlete.” He isn’t. Trump is a “closer.” He isn’t. He calls a sitting Senator “Pocahontas” as a slur, and McCarthy just writes it the fuck down. 

Lastly, we turn to Bob McCarthy’s hero saga for Chris Collins. He hasn’t been this giddy since he cribbed Illuzzi scoops or took a call from a temporary relevant Ralph Lorigo or Steve Pigeon. 

McCarthy dutifully writes down the things Collins tells him about changing his mind and running for re-election. Despite the fact that Collins is under arrest and under federal fraud indictments, he didn’t re-join the race to avoid discovery and depositions, but because litigation over his replacement on the ballot wasn’t a slam dunk. 

“Any thought I did this to protect myself is nonsense,” he added.

Well, nice of Collins to say it and nice of Bob to write that down. The fact is, Collins doesn’t get out of bed unless there’s some personal political gain to be had. 

But he insists that he will be acquitted at trial, that he can remain effective even while facing felony charges, and that his re-election assumes crucial importance as Democrats pose a real threat to assuming control of the House of Representatives.

“That means every seat matters,” he said, adding he aims to “protect the seat, protect our majority, protect the president.”

And he pledged to serve a full term, despite speculation he might win re-election and then resign, allowing the GOP to name a less controversial Republican who would run in a special election in deep-red NY27.

“I’m really putting in the effort to run and then not serve?” he asked. “Are you kidding?”

House Speaker Ryan has stripped indicted Christopher Collins of all committee memberships. If re-elected he will be uniquely ineffective and an absolute pariah. He is radioactive, and he knows it. I mean, Collins hasn’t bothered to update his Congressional website, but he’s not on the roster of those committees anymore. That failure to remove those committee seats seems to be a story, by itself. He is deliberately misleading his constituents and voters. 

McCarthy says, 

After he resigned assignments to key committees like Energy and Commerce, he insists he can still do the job.

No, he was removed from those assignments, and still lists them on his website. How hard is it to check this stuff? How hard is it to check the guy’s own website? This is a lie, and Bob just writes it down. 

“I’m going to be in Congress,” he said. “I’m not going to miss any votes. I will meet with constituents, different organizations will come into my office. My job will be the same as ever.”

He won’t meet with constituents. That’s a thing he never does, unless they pay or they give him a nice photo-op. 

He said he will still “follow” House committees, and hopes to regain his assignments after the election.

“I would make the pitch that I was re-elected in an open environment and would like to be back on the committee,” he said. “It may or may not work out.”

It shouldn’t, in a competent meritocracy. LOL. 

Now Collins seems to have resuscitated his well-documented competitive spirit; the same drive that made him a successful businessman and one of the wealthiest members of Congress. He did not debate McMurray, but is criss-crossing the district at Republican-friendly stops, driving home the point that the loss of his seat could spell the difference between Republican or Democratic control of the House.

I hope to God that McMurray can Poloncarz Collins and we have a re-do of 2011. Note that Collins goes unannounced to Republican-friendly stops, so he can avoid literally any tough question. McMurray will go anywhere and talk to anyone. Who is the real “representative”? 

After representing the district for six years, he said he knows it remains deeply Republican and intensely loyal to Trump. He points to the tax cut, new farm bill (which attracted no Democratic votes), improved relations with North Korea, and two new conservative justices on the Supreme Court. Trump has delivered all he promised, Collins says.

Yes, if there’s two things a Wyoming County farmer cares about, it’s geopolitics and tax cuts for billionaires. 

“All that crashes and burns if Nancy Pelosi takes over,” he said.

Yes, and then the middle class gets a voice. This is something Collins simply won’t tolerate. 

He expresses pride in congressional accomplishments such as his Firefighters Cancer Registration Act, which established a national database for firefighters seeking help to battle diseases incurred on the job. His television ads, meanwhile, zero in on McMurray, painting him as “to the left of Bernie Sanders, liberal, radical, socialist.”

Attacks on McMurray might ring a bit more true if this coward had the courage to engage in a proper debate. Instead, he hurls ad hominem attacks from afar, and either through a twenty-something paid surrogate, or through a mustachioed stenographer. 

He points to an “F” rating for McMurray by the National Rifle Association, and claims his opponent is open to impeaching Trump and opposed to tax cuts. He links him at every opportunity with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who he said remains unpopular in the district.

Christopher Collins is legally barred from owning firearms. 

“You put that all together, and he’s opposed to everything that Trump stands for,” he said. “And this is a Trump district. He’s 180 degrees out of sync with NY-27.”

“My goal,” he added, “is to keep this seat Republican.”

And Bob McCarthy’s goal is to dutifully transcribe, unchallenged and unprobed, the propaganda from right-wing bad actors. Seriously, with all of the talent that’s left the News in recent months, why are we still stuck with this guy writing this sort of nonsense? It is shameful. 

Republican Insta-Hypocrisy

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1. 501c3/c4 Restrictions

Mike Nolan is just a “selfless first responder” at the Jamison Road Fire Hall. They’ve suffered “threats” and “harrassment” because they hosted noted neo-fascist Steve Bannon at their firehall. 

There were no threats, except “threats” not to rent out the firehall. There were hardly any protests, and what there were were completely peaceful. One of the protesters was right-wing MAGA-hat wearing Reform Party candidate for NY-27, Larry Piezga. 

Mike Nolan is a Republican hack – Elma town councilman and COO of New York State’s OTB-owned Batavia Downs Gaming, which is where all of the thirsty af boys and girls who wanted to take Chris Collins’ place on the ballot met a couple of months ago. He’s a state employee; one of those right-wing socialists. 

With this phone call to some obscure right-wing radio show in Michigan, Nolan was expressly partisan while purporting to speak on behalf of the fire hall, bringing its non-profit status into massive question. To hear Nolan tell it, this wasn’t just some content-neutral rental of a fire hall – this was a deliberately partisan event that the fire hall organized. Who knows if that’s true, or whether he was authorized to speak to the radio show on the fire hall’s behalf, but a 501c3 tax-exempt organization is banned from engaging in partisan politics. I have to assume that the leadership of the fire hall would not be so irresponsible or stupid to threaten their 501c3 status. Here is what the IRS’s website says: 

Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity.  Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes. 

Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and circumstances.  For example, certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not constitute prohibited political campaign activity. In addition, other activities intended to encourage people to participate in the electoral process, such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, would not be prohibited political campaign activity if conducted in a non-partisan manner.

On the other hand, voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention.

Bannon’s appearance was specifically billed as a Republican get out the vote effort for the midterm elections. Not general “everyone should vote”, but that Republicans should vote. It is very possible that this is a breach – evidenced by Mike Nolan’s own reckless words on a radio show he probably thought no one would hear – of the 501c3 status of that fire department. I don’t know why Mr. Nolan would give up the real rationale behind the Jamison Road Volunteer Fire Department expressly hosting a Republican-only GOTV rally, but he has genuinely put the group’s non-profit status at risk. Maybe next time, get your story straight with the board and management and stick instead to running racinos. 

By the way, not one local candidate – not even alt-right frotteur David DiPietro – showed up to speak at Steve Bannon’s Dummkopf Nuremberg rally. Putative event organizer Michael Caputo told me on Facebook that no candidates could speak because of the not-for-profit status of Bannon’s 501c4 social welfare organization. Oh? 

Bannon’s 501c4 is the opaquely funded group that enabled Bannon to fly private from Teterboro so he could avoid bumping into any real Americans. This whole thing calls into question who paid for the fire hall. Chances are an individual could have rented the hall and invited Bannon, and then the candidates could have appeared without prohibition, and Bannon’s PAC could have just funded his travel. Maybe there was a reason that was not done and why Bannon’s social welfare organization PAC paid for it instead. Maybe it was because Larry Piezga or a few 50 year-old female placard holders so petrified these candidates that they stayed away. Obviously, Collins was never going to come, because an event where he knows press will be there is his kryptonite. Who knows why DiPietro didn’t show, except he had a table there handing out lit and signs, so if you can do that, you bet he could have spoken. 

But it’s all spin and BS – here’s what Caputo told Bob McCarthy on Tuesday: “[candidates] are welcome to come but nobody is required to come,” he said. “We haven’t heard from anybody, but we didn’t ask anyone to RSVP either. And people are coming to hear Steve Bannon, not the local candidates.” I don’t see anything there about 501c4 or 501c3 restrictions on candidates appearing. There must be an innocent explanation as to why he omitted that fact, because Bob McCarthy is nothing if not a dutiful stenographer. 

2. Steve Bannon: Lifestyles of the Rich and Ruddy

The former Hollywood executive and former Goldman Sachs executive has a few choice words for the “elites”. 

 

 

That’s a WorldWide Jet Bombardier/Canadair CL60. It must be the working man’s private jet. Perhaps the populist’s jet. It’s an import – made in Canada. Just like any steelworker or coal miner, Bannon flew direct from Teterboro Airport to Buffalo’s Prior Aviation facility in just under an hour. It’s quite convenient to have a multi-million dollar private jet at your disposal when you’re an anti-elitist working man. How much does a round-trip cost on that jet from Teterboro to Buffalo? 

Gosh, that’s a bargain that would make any fiscal conservative blush. Why spend time with the riff-raff flying commercial when you can plunk down $17k and go in style! 

Teterboro is only 18 miles from Newark International Airport. United flew from Newark to Buffalo at 2pm, arriving at 3. A return flight was available departing at 8:44pm. It had to circle for a while before landing due to weather in Newark, but nothing a working-class American can’t handle. The cost to travel round-trip on United between Newark and Buffalo is about $240if you fly economy, like most volunteer firefighters do. If you go first class, it’s about $500 round-trip.  

If you fly United, you won’t get this nice bottle of Grgich Hills Chardonnay, or a plane all to yourself: 

But you’ll save literally $17,000 of someone else’s money. Here, specifically, it’s paid for by Bannon’s PAC, “Citizens of the American Republic“, which says on its website is a “non-profit tax-exempt advocacy organization under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions or gifts to COAR are not tax deductible for IRS purposes. Not paid for at taxpayer expense.” Not paid for at taxpayer expense, but because its income is not taxed, we all subsidize its operations. It’s dark money – Bannon doesn’t have to disclose who funds his billionaire lifestyle. 

3. WBEN Self-Own

From the guy who runs the station: 

Yes, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about these sorts of news events! That was posted around 12:30 on Wednesday, the day the news hit about the attempted assassination of several prominent Trump opponents. 

Literally the next morning on WBEN’s air: 

‘Why won’t Democrats stop terrorizing their heroes’ is pretty fucking depraved, even from Don “Sandy Beach” Pesola. 

Republicans have become indistinguishable from Infowars conspiracy nonsense – the fringe is now the mainstream. They’re accusing Democrats of perpetrating some sort of hoax for two reasons: 1. They don’t really care; they would cheer the assassination of people like Hillary Clinton and George Soros. They would celebrate mass murder at CNN or the bombing to bits of Debbie Wasserman Schultz; and 2. That’s how they think. The entire ethos; the fundamental ideology of Trumpism is to ‘pwn the libs’. So, when some horrifying news hits and it may be politically damaging, the Infowars party assumes its enemies – whom they would be happy to see dead, by the way – are acting how they would.

Weird how deliberate lying, eliminationist rhetoric, and a decade’s worth of nihilistic policy turns a political party into a sarcastic death cult. 

…But If You Can’t, Opt Instead for Mockery

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dickshawn

Under no circumstances should we give Michael Caputo and David DiPietro and Chris Collins what they want – a big angry mob that’s just a more diverse and inclusive version of the 2009-era Tea Party rallies. To that end, I agree wholeheartedly with what Aaron Lowinger recommend in his column – leave the rote chants and the angry righteousness (never mind the trash talk) at home. 

As Aaron pointed out my tweet last night, 

But I know people are going to want to protest the likes of ruddy multi-shirted fascist Steve Bannon coming here to stump for alt-right absentee Assemblyman DiPietro and Chris Collins (R-Innate Immunotherapeutics  & Cell Block C).

So, if you’re going to do it, don’t get angry – mock them. Think Mel Brooks. 

Think “Springtime for Hitler”. Brooks says, 

“You have to bring him down with ridicule, because if you stand on a soapbox and you match him with rhetoric, you’re just as bad as he is, but if you can make people laugh at him, then you’re one up on him,” he tells Wallace. “It’s been one of my lifelong jobs – to make the world laugh at Adolf Hitler.”

Bannon isn’t funny – he’s a white nationalist proto-fascist propagandist. He was drummed out of the White House and wanted to start an alt-right anti-immigrant uprising in Europe, but was basically drummed the fuck out. That’s funny. 

Bannon isn’t funny – he’s a horror. He’s a guy who embodies the central tenet of white nationalism, which is to use the accident of race as a substitute for talent, merit, and hard work. Guys like Bannon and his ilk are fundamentally pathetic, perennial failures. The whole thing is boiled down to, “I’m white – the only reason why my life is a failure is because of the [insert historically marginalized group here].” In 1938, Nazis put “Jews” in that preceding bracket. In 2018 America, these people wear red hats, claim not to be racist, and then blame women, black people, immigrants, etc. for their own Unglück. 

I would take 100,000 immigrants over one Steve Bannon. Mock the shit out of him. Out of them. Think Sacha Baron Cohen. Here’s an example. 

There will be morons at this Bannon pity party who will want to provoke counter-protesters into violence. They’re pathetic. Make fun of them. Mock them. 

Listen, Aaron is right – don’t go. Don’t give them what they want. But if you’re going to go, I’m not clever enought to figure out the best ways to mock these proud boys, but let us know your ideas at #MockBannon. Don’t be an angry mob. Be a comedy flash mob. 

In NY-27, We Have A Race

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grease

Nate McMurray has momentum and is in a statistical tie with Chris Collins. Collins, on the other hand, has seen his support effectively collapse, and there are new questions about possible illegality. 

According to a Siena/Spectrum poll, incumbent indicted Congressman Chris Collins holds a barely-there three-point lead over challenger, Democrat Nate McMurray. This is well within the poll’s +/- 4.7% margin of error. This thing is a dead heat as Chris Collins’ political career of corruption, arrogance, and criminality all catch up with him. The electorate that voted for him in the past seemingly did so grudgingly, and they have largely abandoned him at the first inkling of proper legal peril.  

This all jibes with Nate McMurray’s internal poll, which he announced last week, showing a dead heat. 

This is what 10 years’ worth of using elected office as one’s personal peerage amounts to for Collins – if you are sent to Washington to represent people, your refusal to meet with or put yourself out there and listen to people is fundamentally disqualifying. This was a R+11 district that is now a tied toss-up. 

I don’t think that’s due solely to the felony indictment for insider trading. I believe that even Republicans tolerate Collins rather than genuinely like or support him. He pulled some support for his relentlessly deep-throated defense of President Trump on cable news shows, but that was only able to take him so far. Collins lives in a stratosphere wholly different from practically every other western New Yorker, and nowhere is that more evident than in this particular rural, economically modest district. 

Even now, in the middle of the campaign of his life, Collins sneaks around the district, showing up to sparsely attended, Republicans-only events to take some awkward pictures with his few supporters. Meanwhile, Nate McMurray is all over the district, drawing bigger and bigger, enthusiastic crowds who want to hear someone talk about issues that matter to them. McMurray is on the air now in this TV-friendly district, and his ads are positive and patriotic while Collins’ are relentlessly negative and hateful, like their paymaster. 

Independents are breaking to McMurray, as are people in Erie County generally. McMurray has some catching up to do, and rumor has it that he will be added this week to the “Red to Blue” list through the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which will help considerably with crucial fundraising McMurray needs. 

Tellingly, last night when Spectrum News’ Ryan Whalen called around to the campaigns to tell them about the poll and solicit a comment, Collins refused. 

Speaking of fundraising, if you take a look at Chris Collins’ latest disclosure, it’s pathetic and might show evidence of illegality. 

In the wake of his indictment, Chris Collins’ campaign raised a mere $32,000. Of that, only $6,210 came from actual humans – the rest came from special interests looking to buy influence. Of that $6,200 from real people, only $2,325 came from anywhere near the district. The rest is from deep-pocketed out-of-staters. The Collins campaign has absolutely zero credibility, zero momentum, and nothing much to tout, which explains its relentlessly negative campaign to destroy McMurray. 

But this item was especially interesting in Collins’ disclosure: 

Why is Chris Collins flying private jets and billing that to his campaign? That’s generally illegal in a House race. 

According to the Buffalo News’ Jerry Zremski’s reporting, 

Collins took [the private jet] from New York to Buffalo on Aug. 8 to meet with the media after his indictment, said Collins campaign spokeswoman Natalie Baldassarre.

You may remember that August 8th was the date of Collins’ indictment, and he famously held a big press conference at the Avant. As I described it at the time, 

Collins held a “press conference” at the Avant Wednesday night. He kept the media waiting 90 minutes past the scheduled start time. He and his wife came out to the podium, and Collins engaged in languorous autofellatio about what a great businessman he is, and how he wants to abolish multiple sclerosis. He insisted that he’s innocent, will defend himself vigorously, but will not take any questions at this “press conference”. Instead, he’s going to stay in Congress, run for re-election, and not respond to one question about these charges outside of court, ever. 

He kept the press waiting longer than it takes to fly from JFK, Newark, or LaGuardia to Buffalo. There are 24 scheduled non-stop flights from the three New York area airports today on JetBlue, United (CommutAir), and Delta (Republic and Endeavor Air). Chances are it was similar on August 8th. But that’s not how indicted Congressmen roll. They fly private and pay a fortune for the privilege to which they feel entitled. 

Why fly like us plebes when this is within reach? 

Nate McMurray is on the stump throughout NY-27 talking to real people about their questions, concerns, problems, and hopes. He will meet with anyone and you don’t have to pay him in advance for the privilege. He’ll listen to people and has empathy for the issues they bring him. On the issues, he’s a smart, knowledgeable, and wholly un-extreme. Every time a Collins ad runs, it ends with “take Nate McMurray at his word”, and the electorate is doing just that. Collins’ ads are so hilariously negative (or, in one instance, racist), that they’re probably backfiring. While McMurray is offering a positive and patriotic message, Collins’ media blitz makes him seem like the grumpy old troll who lives under a bridge to avoid the cameras, lights, and people. He’ll keep hitting and a McMurray who ignores the ads and offers instead a positive and hopeful image, protecting people’s farms and businesses and ensuring that everyone has health coverage. 

Right now is when Nate McMurray needs your help – write postcards, make calls, canvass, or donate. Or any combination of those. Sure, the district might overwhelmingly support the President, but do we really need an accused criminal representing us in Congress? Naters gonna Nate. 

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