Semi-Colonial Dynamic

Per a New York Post article, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is now whining about the " semi-colonial dynamic" between New York City and New York State, and about the "arbitrary approval process in Albany" for the City to do what it wants to do.

Like most all other municipalities in the USA, New York City exists as a creature of the State in which it is situated (or, in the case of Washington, DC, the United States Congress).  New York City has long viewed Albany as its dedicated ATM machine (and was doing so even before there were ATMs).

I do agree with Blaz that NYC needs to go to Albany for too many non-fiscal approvals, most notably the City University of New York.  But New York City is treated differently than the rest of New York State for purposes of drivers' licensing, firearms permits, and other matters.

Problem is, New York City has long abused its ATM privileges in Albany.  My wife and I have been quite fortunate that our son has (for the past few years, at least) been fiscally responsible with our money.  We can now give him our credit card and not worry about him going on a spree with it.  But I know too many people whose children are not so responsible, many of whom have taken away their childrens' credit cards.  And I know a few who have declined to institute any such tough love measures, to the detriment of their children and to the detriment of their bank accounts.

New York City has cast itself in the role of a dependent colony of Albany.  Unless and until NYC starts showing some fiscal wisdom and stops the proverbial wallet from hemorrhaging, there should be nothing "semi" about the colonial dynamic between the City and the State.

Voter Registration Forms in Color

According to the New York Post, Peter Rivera, a New York State Assemblyman from the Bronx, seeks to introduce a bill to require racial and ethnic data on voter registration forms.

This is, of course, absurd on its face. For one thing, there has not really been any racial purity amongst the population for the past 2,000 years or so. How would someone of diverse parentage and grandparentage fill out the form? And, of no less concern, what would be gained by placing what would inevitably be a strain on the New York State Budget, which is in poor shape as it now is?

What is even more amazing (though not at all unwelcome) is that the Congress for Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) and the NAACP are not warming up to the idea! Given the historical stances taken by those two groups, one would not be surprised to see either back such a scheme.

But it does sort of make sense for CORE and NAACP to steer clear of this one. They stand to gain little, and in fact, it may well backfire by yielding statistics which would embarrass them. There is too much of whatever credibility CORE and NAACP may possess that would be risked. Hey, it is so easy to register to vote by mail anymore that NAACP and CORE would be very hard pressed to find any of their constituents actually being denied the right to vote on racial or ethnic grounds.

Whether the nonplussedness (if there is such a word) of CORE and NAACP is based upon principle (which I sort of doubt) or practicality, it should be a signal to Rivera to forget about the whole thing and stick his proposed bill into the paper shredder.

Odds & Ends:

1. Timoshenko Update: This continuing saga of the killing of NYPD Detective Russel Timoshenko was commented about in Blog postings of 16 November 2008, and two on 15 July 2007 (here and here). Dexter Bostic, the gunman who actually fired the bullets at Timoshenko, was sentenced to life without parole on the murder conviction and some consecutive sentences for the attempted murder and weapons violations. Bostic's accomplice, Robert Ellis, was convicted on the weapons charge, and got the 15 year maximum. Accomplice Lee Woods got a mistrial; his retrial has started.

Bostic is still whining about the injustice of the system. The only thing that is missing is Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton complaining about how the system is biased against b-l-a-c-k people. But I really didn't expect them to show up. After all, the judge who heard the case and imposed the sentence, Hon. Plummer Lott, is also an African-American.


2. Yesterday I went to a Continuing Legal Education seminar, in order to fulfill my CLE requirements for my license to practice law. As with any other CLE course, price and timing were my primary factors in the selection. It could have been any topic, but in this case the topic related to diversity in the workplace. I fully expected all of the usual leftist liberal crap about affirmative action, and I expected a full deck of race cards to be played out.

Surprise! Diversity in the workplace was touted by most of the panelists as being the economically optimal choice (as opposed to the good progressive liberal thing to do). This is the message I have been delivering to my students for many, many years. And one African-American attorney came out point blank and stated that new associates in a law firm will not succeed if they carry around an attitude of entitlement! Much welcome evidence that Fat Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and the rest of them do not necessarily represent the views of the African-American community at large.


3. Speaking of Fat Al, he's now making a big stink about a cartoon that appeared in the New York Post. I personally don't see what is so racist about it. Comparing Barack Hussein Obama to a chimpanzee? Hey, they did it to George W. Bush! I don't have the time or the inclination, but someone ought to go through all of the cartoons that have appeared in the Amsterdam News, the NYC newspaper whose target audience is the b-l-a-c-k community. If the Amsterdam News is held to the same standard to which Sharpton and the NAACP now seek to hold the N.Y. Post, then I would have no objection!