As many recall, former NY Democratic mayor Ed Koch backed Bush in ’04. Now he’s endorsing Obama because Palin’s “book banning” scares him. Never mind it’s been thoroughly debunked. (Hello, Ed, the Harry Potter series was published after Palin supposedly banned it.) And never mind that McCain is far more of a centrist than Bush. We’re all entitled to our opinions and I’m entitled to mine: Ed Koch is the world’s worst film critic. Yes, the ex-mayor sends out endless movie reviews – which read like a refugee from the AARP lost in your high school paper – in an email barrage to anyone interested or, in my case, disinterested. I am going to exercise my right to never read another one and unsubscribe. [Didn't you block them as spam over a year ago?-ed. Shh....]
Wow, it didn’t take Ed long to forget why he backed Bush in 2004, did it?
I guess the world’s a much safer place than four years ago, since Koch can now give terrorism a pass and focus on the the real threat to American liberty – claims of small-town book-banning (that aren’t even true).
As for him being world’s worst film critic…well, I’ve never read any of his, but he has a lot of competition for that title.
Scott
Hey Roger,
Like Rudy Giuliano said, “If you don’t have the facts, create new ones.” I think we are all waiting for Jeff to weigh in here about how Palin really did organize a book burning at the town library. White hoods and crosses ablazing to boot.
If the Left needs reasons for people not to vote for Palin I am sure there are several legitimate ones that may actually have some factual basis. I believe I saw something today that she was drawing a per diem allowance from the State for over 312 days which she apparently was not entitled to. Now that would be something to follow through on and could be easily verified. If this latest allegation is true, that would cast Sarah as a very sleazy person. So Jeff, look into it for us.
I see nothing wrong in vetting these candidates but please, let’s use bonifide information in making our final decision.
Sir:
While I was amused by the shout-out downblog, I have to say that your hyperventillating is rather ridiculous, and your reference to “cockroaches” rather frightening. Any serious student of history will tell you there is a whiff of eliminationism to that noun.
Then, there is this: “After one of my posts yesterday, Jay begins a rather lengthy screed ‘Well, Roger, now that you’ve finally, openly identified yourself as a Republican…’ even though I wrote in the last paragraph of that very post: “When I voted for Schwarzenegger and Bush (only in ‘04), I did so with hesitation, because I do not identify as a Republican – or with any political party, for that matter. That’s over for me.”
Any student of grammar could’ve taken your last sentence, “That’s over for me,” to be a sharp declaration. Yes, you could’ve firmed it up by writing, “That’s now over for me,” but alot of your readers are well-read enough to assume the now could’ve been implied. After all, you pride yourself on at least trying to stand out from crowds, bucking party lines, etc, no matter how true that may be. I would add that, while you may not be a Republican in name, your support for Republican policies like drilling and school choice have been aired on this blog (I think the latter policy, and you came out for it once in the context of bashing Edwards long ago; I actually share your sympathy for private schools and your hatred of Edwards, but that’s another day.), and anyone with Google knows you used the Alito hearings to ignore Alito’s record and drum up a decades-old reference to Ted Kennedy’s rotten behavior.
As for the alleged hard-hitting nature of the attacks on you, you ought to know by now that that comes with the territory. You used the Wright clusterf- to imply for weeks that a major candidate for the presidency was anti-American, while conveniently ignoring the influence of a criminal-sheltering priest upon your first presidential pick, Saint Rudy of New York, and of radical evangelical clergy upon the actual POLICIES of the man you supported for President in 2004, and will support in 2008. (I would’ve voted for Bush, btw, had the left been stupid enough to nominate Howard Dean in 2004) You even went so far as, in a “poem,” to outright say that the current Democratic candidate’s wife “hates” America because of an offhand remark she made, and apparently did not clarify to your satisfaction, even after the current First Lady came to her defense. The point is, when you tar people like this, you tar their supporters by extension, and you ought to expect a pushback.
I come on no orders. I have no general (although I do support the war in Iraq), and I will not apologize for reading your blog and others I disagree with. Further, I am no “oppo researcher” (whatever that is), and I will have a look at actual issues as long as you share that interest. Right now, you don’t. Rather, you’re hell-bent on arguing that the Republican candidate for president is the most accomplished legislator since Daniel Patrick Moynihan, while his opponent practically struggled to finish kindergarten. Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock these past few years knows McCain was a lousy student and only learned the value of service while going through hell, while his opponent, though he did not take up arms under that great, motivating commander-in-chief Jimmy Carter (I’m being sarcastic about Carter; I may agree with you on more than you know, Roger.), did well in school and took a roundabout path into public service. Too bad Obama’s work on
C-Span oriented bills doesn’t please you or your readers, but you ought not have such contempt for those who disagree (and make no mistake, that contempt was revealed in your “he got where he is because he is black” line.).
Yes, McCain is a wonk in his own way, for he has long surrounded himself with smart legislators (Lindsey Graham, John Warner, etc.) and worked well with them, but his time has passed. He is of the establishment now (Palin’s opposition to abortion even in cases of rape and incest show, to me, how fearful he now is of the Christian right.) And, as is true during every election season, those interested in making an informed decision have to ask themselves: 1)What policies do I believe in, and 2) Who will be the most effective advocate for those policies?
The faster you stop insulting your readers’ intelligence by arguing that Democrats have somehow made some sort of “quota hire,” the faster we can have a constructive debate.
It is abundantly clear that Barack Obama is contemptuous of the First Amendment. His goons in Chicago have done their best to shut down the investigative efforts of Stanley Kurtz. Does Ed Koch know of this? Probably not. The MSM has effectively kept this news story off the front pages. Can anyone imagine how it would be handled if a Republicans were trying to deny the free speech rights of a left-wing researcher?
Obama “did well in school”
Where is the evidence? I am unaware of his grades being released to the public.
“Too bad Obama’s work on C-Span oriented bills doesn’t please you or your readers”
What bills? Obama has done virtually nothing while serving in the U.S. Senate. Please feel free to enlighten us.
“….and make no mistake, that contempt was revealed in your “he got where he is because he is black” line.).”
I will not speak for Roger L. Simon—but I definitely believe that Barack Obama has taken full advantage of white guilt. A blue eyed and blond haired candidate simply would not have been picked to be the Democratic Party’s standard bearer if they possessed a similar slim resume. Furthermore, Obama has consistently exploited the race card. His whole campaign not so subtly revolves around the message: vote for me and prove you are not a racist. I prefer to judge Obama by the content of his character and not the color of his skin.
pops, here’s a pretty good take down of the latest smear–the per diem “scandal”.
http://volokh.com/posts/1220936107.shtml
Among other things, the author of the story apparently doesn’t even know what “per diem” means.
David Thomson raises some good points about evidence.
Can we please be directed to the respective government agency that holds Obama’s birth certificate? It would be so nice to clear up that bug-a-boo once and for all. If Obama would provide a waiver and let us see it for ourselves that would shut a lot of people up.
Running an operation that has a $100,000,000 budget is impressive. Please, Obama, can you open the records to we can verify for ourselves that you are indeed a very effective community organizer. While at it, can you also tell us exactly what you did on a day to day basis?
Regarding your time in the State Legislature, we’d like an explanation if it was in the best interest of your political district to vote present over 130 times. Perhaps there was a very good reason for this. Without one, we have to assume you can’t make a decision.
Being elected a US Senator is a significant accomplishment. We are very aware that you began running for president shortly after being sworn in. Can you let us know what you have accomplished during your tenure? There may indeed be a few things that would make you look good but we have yet to hear about them.
Also, we are aware that running for office is a chess game but it’s becoming more an more difficult to pin down what your positions actually are anymore. Now that the convention is over, perhaps you could clear up precisely where you stand on issues so we can make an informed decision about you. In short, a little more transparency would go along with in improving your image. Blame it on an unfair media, or an evil right wing cabal but you’ve created the impression with many of us that you are stone walling.
Even if all the Internet rumors about Palin true (and remembering that they come from the Left, I think of the bumper sticker, “If you want to take my gun, why would I trust you?”), none of what she’s accused of counterbalances the undeniable fact that Obama is a socialist doofus.
Thanks Tim Maguire,
I checked out the link you provided and did some investigation on my own. American Thinker has the best explanation of the per diem allegation.
Sad to say, this particular allegation was made by the Washington Post, a “newspaper” which is supposed to check facts. As it turned out, there was no substance to the story.
I think this probably explains why the former Mayor of New York was sucked in so easily about the book ban flap. He probably read about it in a newspaper.
It’s one thing to read these kind of things on the internet but it’s quite sad that a “newspaper” like the Post would stoop so low.
As I noted in my first post, if you want to go after this woman at least arm yourself with some facts.
She’s been in politics for a while. She’s human, she’s made mistakes. There’s probably good stuff out there to hit her with but it seems people are more inclined to make stuff up.
Does anyone outside of NYC care what Ed Koch thinks? I know according to Ben Smith @ Politico that he is supposed to be some kind of Oprah-like figure to secular Jews everywhere, but having lived all over the country I just don’t see folks getting all worked up about his endorsement one way or another. Even now, living in NY, people don’t care.
Oh, and Jay, ease up. Your arguments become shriller and shriller.
OT:
Okay, admit it, some of you listen to Hugh Hewitt. I know Roger does because he calls in sometime. About a month or so ago, Michelle Obama was giving a talk somewhere, and Hewitt played some clips…a couple of her phrases I can still remember and laugh at…”Barack has seen it ALL. He has seen it all, walking through the streets of Chicago…” He has seen it ALL! As it turns, not quite.
“Does anyone outside of NYC care what Ed Koch thinks?”
I wish that were true, Chris. More importantly these days there’s Dade and Broward counties.
There’s plenty of time to debunk all the charges, including the book banning. Newsweek has already debunked it. I’m surprised Koch was so gullible to fall for an email chain letter. It’ll eventually blow up in the faces of whoever is pushing the lies.
ref: “there’s Dade and Broward counties…”
Jeesh, Roger, I can’t believe you left out Palm Beach county, where Pat Buchanan kinda won the presidency for Dubya by acing the Bronx retiree vote!
Oops, you’re right, Hanoi Paris…. My bad for forgetting – especially since my mother used to live there!
OT:
And there’s a reason why Newsweek is debunking the charges. Palin obviously made a fine impression when they interviewed her months ago. On YouTube, do a search on (“Sara Palin” and Newsweek), for a series of interviews did with her, when she was still pregnant with Trig. Here’s one where they asked her about Hillary:
The Perceived Whine
Also do search on Sarah Palin and Newsweek on google or yahoo, to get a commendatory article on Palin last year.
OT:
If you look at that video that I just linked to…get a load of the pre-convention comments, the most recent comments are from 5 days ago, the day of the convention…no comments since…heh.
That should have been “get a load of comments prior to the Sarah-Palin-Nuclear-Speech event.”
Good old Ed. I like him and always have. In deference to Roger, I don’t think much of him as a movie critic, but his commentary on the political scene, which he knows quite well, is generally funny, penetrating, and full of common sense. He is one of those characters that makes life fun. I agreed with him in 2004. I disagree with him now. Is this a great country or what?
Four words:
“Scenes From a Mall”
Eddie Koch? The old geek is still alive? News to me. Go know. I thought he was long departed. Shuffled off this mortal coil to the big chicken farm up in the sky.
How’m I doin? the geek used to ask his constituents in his signature whiny sing-song. Not too good, Eddie, I’d have to tell him. How come you’re shilling for Obama and the Democratic Party like this Mayor Mikey Moneybags we got today, he’s too good to live in Gracie Mansion? Where’s your Yiddishe kupf?
Also a single guy, this Mikey Moneybags. But normal, they say. Had a wife once. Kids, even. Dates actresses and socialites, they tell you in the newspapers. But these days, who knows? Not long ago his mother, G-d bless her, was measuring furniture in the White House for plastic slipcovers.
By the way, Eddie, you ever hear from Ruth Messinger used to be City Council President? They say she took a million dollar bribe from Donald Trump, quit the City Council and went off for an extended vacation with her significant other. Her constituents here on the Upper West Side are looking for her. They’d like to hang her from the nearest lamppost.
Time was, Eddie, our senior senator used to win big poker hands with lobbyists. Today, they say, Trump makes his political payoffs across Atlantic City gaming tables. A prime beneficiary, according to the gossips and rumormongers is the head of our State Department of Transportation. Our sweaty senior senator’s wife. Mrs. Senator Shvitzer. They say Donald Trump is financing Senator Shvitzer’s future run for the White House.
But it’s only rumor and gossip, Eddie. Don’t concern yourself. Hey, its New York.
Anyways, Eddie, its nice to know you’re still extant, as they say. And still more than willing to let the voters know what you think. Only don’t get ahead of yourself. This Obama is a loser.
Jay, this blog is above your pay-grade. Your comments are hilariously
high-school debate team quality. Keep ‘em coming. I enjoy the laughs.
Obama gets personal .. don’t let it get ugly.
Everybody take a deep breath while Obama destroys himself.
For some reason Koch decided that he had to decide quickly. That’s too bad. It’s too bad that he trusted the media reports when he has often been so skeptical of them. So now gordon Brown and Ed Koch support Obama. Gordon Brown doesn’t get a vote. I hope McCain has a friendly hello for him when they meet after McCain is sworn in.
“You can put lipstic on a pig… it’s still a pig”
Obama says something that at best only appeals to his base. At worst, the damage to himself with this comment may make him irrecognizable even to some of his most ardent followers.
I can see Sarah making a commercial with a little pig like babe from the movie.
That comment is way more than a mere gaffe.
David Levavi,
Sweet comment brother.It made me think of the Catskills. Put me in a New York state of mind even.
Is Ed Koch still alive?
I thought he died years ago – is this some Internet trick like Weekend at Bernie’s?
OT:
Here is an article dated Sep 07 regarding trooper gage. This coming friday the body doing the investigation will issue supoenas to Palin’s staff, some of whom have said they will not testify. I’m not a lawyer, but I’m not sure how the legislature gets jurisdiction over something happening in the executive branch. It seems that the whole thing should have worked up through the courts, since constitutionally it is the court system, and only the court system, that can determine guilt. This is built into the 3 branches of government. This is our constitution. What the hell is the Alaska legislature doing? How can it be constitutional? This may be why the staff is saying they won’t testify. Anyway, if you read all the way down, there is a statment which describes the investigative body as being made up of 8 republicans and 4 democrats (whew!), and one of the republicans on the team, Coghill, is asking for new leadership to head the team because of the obvious bias of French, who is head of the investigation. Elton, who heads something called the Legislative Council, is also in the tank for Obama, and has refused to reassign a new team leader.
I think this is going to blow up in the Democrats faces. This investigation is obviously tainted. This is so disgustingly crooked.
The Article
OT:
Well today was quite a foot-in-mouth demonstration by the dynamic duo Obama/Biden. What will tomorrow bring? Obama: “Well, uhh, you know (scratching his chin) you can put a pretty dress on an ugly idea, but at the end all you have is an ugly idea. (Pauses as he basks in laughter from the idiot crowd) You can take an old worn out pair of pants, put it next to that pretty dress, but all you still have is a pair of worn out pants and a dress that hides the ugliness within. (More wild applause)”
Biden is just being himself, so he’ll periodically say something stupid. Obama is just discombobulating, but in a crude way. During that pig line he looked real tired, almost stoned, looking down…you know, I don’t blame him for looking down…I wouldn’t want to be looking at that Jerry Springer-looking crowd either.
Wouldn’t that be uninterested, rather than disinterested?
Jay-Your cockroach/ eliminationism fears might have some weight if your cronies on the left weren’t making movies and writing books actually
advocating the assassination of President Bush. So I’m afraid I’ll have to Black Flag that comment.
I don’t know about all of you but, I’m still waiting for Jeff to show up with his I’m a true independent narative LOL. I’m a little disapointed I’ve not gotten to read it for the 100th time
I was glad Koch supported Bush in ’04, as I myself was still new enough to the “dark side” (3-4 years, give or take, you know, a *major terrorist attack*) that hearing of other apostates bolstered my confidence in the choice I had made. It was Dennis Miller, Ed, and me – seemed like anyway (I didn’t visit this blog yet at the time…sorry, Roger). Well, something tells me there’s a few more of us this time around, and the Election results will reflect that and then some in McCain/Palin’s favor, quite handily, even.
That Koch suddenly finds Obama more acceptable on the subject of Israel and the Middle East in general seems odd, to say the least. Obama is Kerry is Obama – the only difference is Obama will get less votes in November.
Apropos of nothing, other than talk of film, there is a sequence in John Huston’s “Fat City” (1972), about the, shall we say, lower echelons of the sweet science, where a minor character (Jeff Bridges) readies for his big debut bout (with the help of his manager, the great Nicholas Colasanto of “Cheers” and “Raging Bull”) by having a specially-tailored Elvis-like costume made for the ring. Two seconds into the fight he’s knocked on his ass in the most humiliating fashion. That’s Obama. All dressed up, but not ready for prime time.
I can’t figure out why Koch thinks that Obama favors Israel more then Mccain. Especially since several of Obama’s foreign policy team members are anti-Israel.
And of course, Obama’s MoveOn/Code Pink supporters and campaign contribution bundlers who rail about ‘Zionist Oppression’.
Koch (to his credit) is pro-Israel, unlike just about everyone who has ever known or worked closely with Obama. I wonder how he reconciles his support for the Jewish state with his support for a candidate who, if he wins, WILL (mark my words) end up negotiating with Hamas, or at least, force Israel to do so.
Obama is a cad
Roger, speaking of bad film critics, you missed Roger Ebert’s unhinged rant on Palin yesterday. If you didn’t see it, it’s too late. The page is now deleted although the memory (as you see) lingers on.