Republican Party

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Spring cleaning

Posted by noonante on March 30, 2015
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics, Saratoga thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

There are a number of things I failed to comment on promptly, so here is an attempt to do some catching up:

  • Now that’s a March surprise:  No not the NCAA’s, but the Israeli election.  Candidates in American elections fear the “October surprise” from their opponent  –  an event so close to the election that there is no time to respond.  Bibi Netanyahu delivered not one, but two such shockers.  First there was the renunciation of the two-state solution to create a distinct Palestinian country.  Then on election day he tweeted about the “droves” of Arabs turning out to the polls.  While he has walked back from the first and apologized for the second, I wonder what his enablers in our Republican Party thought of those two developments.  The two-state solution has been a long-standing tenet of United States foreign policy, although the GOP apparently now thinks it is OK to have its own foreign policy at opposition to the elected leadership of the country.  I fear that many may secretly admire Netanyahu for blatantly playing the race card.  Incidentally, for a disturbing account of seemingly wide-spread anti-Semitism in Europe, read Jeffrey Goldberg’s piece in this month’s Atlantic.
  • Speaking of the GOP, buy this guy a dictionary:  I have long thought that Representative Steve King of Iowa is one of the biggest nitwits to hold elected office.  He is the one who talked about Mexicans with calves the size of cantaloupes from carrying backpacks filled with drugs into the country.  More recently, he made a typically asinine comment criticizing Democrats who boycotted Netanyahu’s speech to Congress for being “Democrats first and Jewish second.”  When Representative Steve Israel demanded an apology, the always erudite King responded that “I defend Israelis from Leftists & misogynists.”  Huh??  It was reminiscent of a state legislator from Massachusetts who once defended himself from charges that he was anti-immigrant by saying, “I am not a bigamist.”
  • Saratoga Springs does the right thing  –  so far  –  on monstrous parking garage:  It’s good to know that the big-money interests don’t always win.  First, the City Council decided against applying for a casino license, and now the Zoning Board of Appeals has voted down a five-story garage to be built on city property that would have been a monumental eye sore near the center of town.  Interestingly, Mark Baker, President of the City Center was a leading opponent of the casino, but the major proponent of the garage.  If a parking garage is the most desirable use for this valued parcel in downtown  –  it’s already a parking lot  –  the ZBA decision gives time for a rational planning process.
  • NYRA equine fatalities decline remarkably:  There was no shortage of publicity when there was a dramatic increase in racing fatalities on Aqueduct’s inner track.  There were 14 catastrophic injuries suffered in less than two months in December and January.  Since January 26, however, there has been one racing fatality and another on the Belmont training track.
  • Why was NYRA not planning to race on Dubai’s World Cup day?  Were it not for the large number of weather-related cancellations, NYRA  would not have run a card this past Saturday even though it is one of the biggest days on the racing calendar.  NYRA now focuses on its own “big days,” but doesn’t growing the sport mean educating a potential fan base that there are big races in addition to the Triple Crown and Travers?
  • New York’s disputed election ends up with right result:  I have written previously about the hotly-contested election for President of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.  Unsuccessful challenger Terry Finley lost to incumbent Rick Violette by 14 votes from over 1,200 cast. The NYTHA Board conducted an appeal process and made their decision earlier this month upholding the results.  I know that there are loud dissenting views  –  this is, after all, horse racing  –  but I think a fair-minded observer would conclude that the appeal was taken seriously and the decision-making process was fair.  NYTHA posted all of the written submissions on its web site, as well as the transcript of the hearing and then its written decision.  That is not the behavior of an organization with something to hide.  The hearing transcript was particularly revealing.  Board members had obviously gone through the voluminous evidentiary submissions and asked pointed and pertinent questions.  It was thorough and professional.  I hope we can move on from what has, unfortunately, had an unnecessary personal aspect.
  • NCAA tournament is, once again, riveting:  Several years ago I decided against filling out a bracket because I did not want to be rooting for heavy favorites in order to win some cash.  Now I can just enjoy the games, and this year’s tourney has been worth it.  Of course, there are the inevitable annoying commercials and the suspicion that the NCAA is able to cram more of them into a 40-minute game than even the National Football League can with 50 per cent more time.  But my personal most-hated spots are the Rob Lowe ones and the promos for Tru-TV programming.  People actually watch that dreck?
  • A final note of sadness:  Racing lost one of its true giants with the passing of Allen Jerkens.  I did not know him other than by observation, but it was one the highlights of my life when I met him on the Saratoga backstretch a couple of years ago after another one of his patented upsets in a graded stake.  Others can write more knowingly of him (see Steve Haskin here and Teresa Genaro here), but it is unfortunate that his type of horsemanship is fading from the scene.

Random political thoughts

Posted by noonante on February 8, 2015
Posted in: Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I have finally given up on not writing about the 2016 election, but at least we are within a year of the first real votes being cast.  Some observations:

  • What deep Republican bench?  The Conventional Wisdom, especially among wise Republican pundits, is that the GOP’s bench of candidates for 2016 is deep.  Seriously?  I know we are missing two of the biggest clowns from 2012 with Bachmann and the Pizza Man not running, but who of this group looks like a President to you?  I realize that when a party has only had one successful candidate in the past six elections, and it was George W. Bush, the bar is not set very high.  Many of the leading names are politicians of some repute, but being a Governor does not necessarily make you presidential material.  Just say President Christie, President Walker or President Perry a few times and see how it sounds.  Then there are the candidates from the Senate  –  Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul.  When the likely favorite of the “Establishment” is someone who has not run for election in 13 years, and has the last name Bush to boot, I don’t understand the sentiment by some that we are awash in talent.
  • But there is no Democratic bench, only the JV:  It’s hard to envision a scenario in which Hilary Clinton is not the Democrats’ nominee.  No one else can raise the money, has the charisma of a Barack Obama, or is willing to spend the next 4/8 years being screwed by Clinton, Inc.  It is also difficult to think of a less exciting candidate than this Clinton.  I read recently that she was thinking of waiting a few more months to announce her inevitable decision so she could spend more time developing her “message.”  Uhh … she first ran eight years ago  –  she doesn’t have a message?  Sign me up.
  • Is there no end to the idiocy of the Republican message?  I was surprised that more national figures did not jump on the measles vaccination issue.  It was a refreshing  –  if albeit brief  –  interlude when science and fact prevailed.  Then comes Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina.  That is United States Senator Tillis, not state senator.  He doesn’t think restaurants should be required to post notices in rest rooms reminding employees to wash their hands after using the facility.  Maybe it is just me, but I think when you hear the words “fecal-oral infection,” you want to be opposed.  There was a time when the Senate was routinely described as the “world’s greatest deliberative body,” but only a satirist would use that expression today.
  • Their 15 minutes is loooong gone:  It would be no loss to the polity if these three never made another public utterance:  Sarah Palin  –  how did her recent incoherent speech differ from any previous one?  She is that rare individual whose thoughts are not limited by the 140 characters of Twitter.  Donald Trump  –  is there any sentient being, let alone reporter, who actually thinks he will run for President?  Cornel West  –  wake me up the next time he says anything meaningful or insightful.  He appears to be the Mainstream Media’s idea of a thoughtful black figure.  Watch Larry Wilmore to see dozens of African-Americans with something to offer.
  • Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is off to a solid start:  The Bay State’s latest Republican Governor has been impressive in his first month in office.  He’s had two major challenges with a substantial deficit left by his predecessor, as well as a ton of snow.  It’s easy to get off on the wrong foot  –  see Patrick, Deval  –  but Baker has been low-key, and is paying attention to all sorts of constituencies that are often ignored after an election.
  • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has already established his retreat on reform:  It’s a unique environment when the leading spokesperson on rooting out corruption in a major state is the United States Attorney.  Cuomo, who disbanded a commission investigating corruption after it came too close to his own donors, was embarrassed when one of the objects of that commission, the former Speaker of the Assembly, was charged with bribery and graft by the U.S. Attorney.  Cuomo, seeking to deflect attention from his own conduct, has announced that he will not sign a budget unless it contains what he describes as significant ethical reform.  He has yet to be specific about what that will be, and has omitted one of his favorite fund-raising devices from the ultimatum.  When he ended the corruption panel last year he cited the enactment of legislation that was his original goal  –  much to the surprise of anyone who was paying attention.  With this year’s undefined, amorphous reform package, he has already engineered this year’s retreat.

Random musings on the elections

Posted by noonante on November 5, 2014
Posted in: Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , , , , . 2 Comments

Some thoughts on the 2014 mid-terms:

  • Prophetic headline of the season:  “Dems fret about …”  That’s right  –  “fret”  –  is there a word that could possibly describe better the behavior of the Democratic Party this season (if not many seasons) as “fret?”  Not “fight.” not “fierce,” but “fret?”  I do not remember what they were fretting about this time, but does it matter?  When the Democratic opponent to Majority Leader-elect McConnell will not even acknowledge whether she voted for the President, I had the feeling Tuesday night that they got what they deserved.
  • GOP mandate?  After Obama kicked butt in 2012, there was endless talk about what the Republicans had to do to avoid terminal irrelevance.  This time it’s the Dems conducting that post-mortem.  My advice is to save your breath.  Folks are irritated for understandable reasons, and they will take that out against the party in power.  Quick  –  name the Republican policy idea that carried the day  –  and not liking Obama does not count.
  • Most upsetting headline of the season:  Politico.com wins the award for today’s “4 indicted N.Y. pols win reelection.”  Most states would be embarrassed if there were a single potential felon.  In New York, the competition is for which Congressman or state legislator’s alleged crime is the worst.  That must also have been upsetting to Governor Andrew Cuomo who made rooting out corruption in Albany one of his campaign issues in 2010.  That was, of course, before he dismantled a commission investigating New York’s corruption after they started making uncomfortable inquiries into his own campaign contributors.  And now Cuomo is being looked at by federal criminal investigators.
  • Speaking of Cuomo, how are those Presidential aspirations looking?  I know it’s too late for him to change, but people are not looking for arrogant jerks to be President.  He refused to shake the hand of his opponent in the Democratic primary, let alone condescend to debate her.  In the general election, he would not agree to a televised debate with his Republican opponent, and his sole debate appearance amounted to less than 15 minutes of answering questions.  Then his much-anticipated memoir sold less than a 1,000 copies in its first week and, remarkably, even fewer the following week.  Now, with a campaign war chest well north of $30 million against an unknown opponent, he managed only 54 per cent of the vote.  Even more telling, I think, is comparing total votes between 2010 and 2014.  In each year, the Republican received about the same number of votes  –  1.5 million in 2010 compared with 1.4 million this time.  Cuomo, however, got 1 million fewer votes this time around.  Not exactly a compelling endorsement.
  • Martha Coakley didn’t “choke” this election:  The national political media loves simple narratives and I read that headline about a week ago.  The reality is that Republican gubernatorial candidates have historically run well in Massachusetts, and Charlie Baker is a non-ideological and pragmatic politician.  (Contrast him with Rob Astorino.)  He is also a decent, smart and likable guy who actually listens to views that may disagree with his own.  Coakley, for her part, campaigned vigorously  –  unlike the Scott Brown campaign in 2010  –  and is also decent, smart and likable.  The Massachusetts voter had the opportunity to vote for the candidate he or she thought would make the best Governor and not need to vote against someone or have to pick the lesser of two evils.

Random musings from the week that was

Posted by noonante on March 19, 2013
Posted in: Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

It has been a week in which two enormously out-of-touch institutions were in the forefront of news coverage.

The first, of course, is the Catholic Church.  I do not have an opinion as to whether the new Pope will be good, bad or indifferent and, indeed, do not much care.  But I find the pageantry and ritual fascinating, from speaking in Latin to the smoke billowing from a chimney on the Sistine Chapel.  In trying to determine whether the new pontiff will change the direction of an increasingly moribund institution, I found the composition of the College of Cardinals, as reported by The Boston Globe, fascinating.  Of the 115 cardinals eligible to vote for the new pope  –  they had to be under the age of 80  –  fully 37 lived in the Vatican.  One of every three cardinals lived in what has to be one of the world’s most insular environments.  And if reports about corruption and infighting within those hallowed walls are correct, the atmosphere is more Renaissance than Apple.  So I’m not looking for much of a change on same-sex marriage.  One great opportunity was missed, however, in announcing the new pope’s identity.  With a last name of Bergoglio, it would have been great to hear that soccer announcer yelling, “It’s Bergooooooooooooalio!”

Since we are on the subject of insular, moribund organizations, how about those Republicans?  When the Conservative Political Action Committee decided not to invite a politician as popular as Chris Christie to their annual event, but did have as speakers such has-been’s or never-were’s as Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Donald Trump, what does that say about the possibility of new ideas coming forth from the Grand Old Party?  I mean Sarah Palin’s idea of a political statement is drinking from a large cup of soda.  That event was followed by the Chair of the Republican National Committee delivering what he described as an autopsy for the party.  While the RNC is not a policy-making body, who is going to be setting the policy that will expand their appeal to a new generation of Republicans?  Rush Limbaugh?  Sean Hannity?  Ted Cruz?  While it’s obvious that attracting people from various minority groups such as blacks and Latinos is becoming increasingly necessary for a national party, the RNC report was not even dry before conservatives started attacking President Obama’s selection of Latino Tom Perez for Secretary of Labor.  His transgression?  Not bringing a prosecution against the New Black Panther Party when he worked in the Department of Justice.  Even though he was not in charge of the Civil Rights Division when that decision was made, the facts will not get in the way of what those on the fringes think is a good political argument.  So we have yet another nutty conspiracy theory (remember Benghazi?) targeting a Latino who did not prosecute a black organization.  So why is it, again, that the Republicans are not appealing to minorities?

If a political party is looking for a topic to focus on  –  and it’s not as though the Democrats are filled with great ideas  –  you could start with Steven Brill’s article in the March 4 Time, “Bitter Pill:  Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us.”  I have to admit that health care financing is not a topic I find particularly riveting, even though it is one of the most significant issues facing our country.  I haven’t finished reading the piece, but it is both riveting and troubling.  Brill took an approach of looking not at who should pay, but at why bills are so high.  I have always wondered why the uninsured  –  generally the poorest among us  –  got higher bills for the same services provided the well-insured.  I would like to think that this could jump start a serious discussion on health care costs.

Another worthwhile read is Lawrence Wright’s book on the Church of Scientology, Going Clear.  Scientology is not one of those topics that I have ever focused on  –  I hope I am not displaying a remarkable lack of curiosity here  –  but this book is as revelatory and disturbing as the Brill piece, albeit for different reasons.  Wright is a regular writer for The New Yorker and well-aware of the Church’s practice of commencing costly litigation against critics.

The snow is pouring down here in the Spa  –  the biggest storm of the winter  –  but Oklahoma opens on April 8, so spring is just about here.