By Bob Gaydos

Elise Stefanik … leaving politics

(more…)

By Bob Gaydos 

Rob Reiner
… he will be missed

    Why in the hell is he talking?

     Excuse me, texting. Same thing. Same nonsense. Same hate. Same self-serving glorification at the pain of others. Yeah, Trump.

     I’ve been writing a column on addiction and recovery for nearly two decades. It was a monthly feature of the local paper when the local paper used to have regular features. A major component of the column was information gleaned from people involved in 12-Step recovery programs.

     These programs are noted for, among other things, having acronyms for just about anything. FEAR. Face everything and recover. KISS. Keep it simple, stupid. SLIP. Sobriety losing its priority. They make it easier to remember the goal.

    There is one that was passed along to me by a couple of local members of Al-Anon, a group for those affected by someone else’s alcoholism, that I have found useful: WAIT. Why am I talking?

    Basically, it’s a message to oneself that no one needs to hear what you have to say at the moment and it is probably only going to make things worse. I think it goes by STFU on social media. The polite way to say it is, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Tough to acronym that.

    So, back to Trump. No, he never learned such lessons about empathy or decency or simple, appropriate behavior. Every occasion is an opportunity to either glorify himself or inflict pain on others. Preferably, both.

    The murder of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, offered the latter. Reiner was a popular actor (“Meathead” on the “All in the Family” TV show) and much admired film director (“Stand by Me”, “When Harry Met Sally”). He and his wife were discovered stabbed to death in their home. One of their sons is being held for the killings. It can’t get any more horrible for those who loved and admired them.

    Reiner also happened to be an outspoken critic, a strong and constant voice, warning of the perils of a Trump presidency. To Trump, he was an enemy.

     So, some time in the night Sunday or early Monday, he spouted his tribute, as the person occupying the Oval Office, to a much loved, admired and respected American public figure:

   “A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!”

    Pathetic. Spiteful. Childish. Hateful. Trump. Why is he talking? Because he has to. It’s his addiction. It’s all he knows.

     But this is really old news about Trump and my gripe here, as it has been for some nine years, is with virtually every elected Republican official in the United States of America: Why do they put up with this excrement?

      That is, why aren’t they talking? Why have they allowed themselves to be defined by such an insecure, hateful shell of a human being. Why have they allowed him to try to destroy this country one day at a time?

   It’s as if they’re still all standing out in the corner of the school yard with the stupid rich kid, who has all the pot and beer and money and a lot of equally stupid “friends“ who will follow you home from school if you even suggest something negative about their rich friend.

    And yes, my gripe is also with the millions of Americans who don’t bother to vote because “it doesn’t matter” and who’ve gone about their lives as if the daily destruction of their country is no business of theirs. Why aren’t they talking?

    “Silence in the face of authoritarianism is complicity. Speaking out is a patriotic act. Democracy doesn’t defend itself. It requires participation, vigilance and courage from ordinary people.“

     Rob Reiner, patriot, actor, director and decent human being, said that. For his contributions to our lives, he will be missed.

    That’s why I’m talking.

By Bob Gaydos

     With all the celebrating and hope that welcomed Tuesday’s blue wave election results of Democratic victories, I was rewarded with the best kind of all — a race that was a microcosm of today’s Republican Party approach to governing: Unqualified candidate, lying, deceit. Best of all, it was local. And the Democrat won.

      The Town of Wallkill in Orange County, about an hour’s drive from New York City, has been pretty much a Republican stronghold forever. It’s a bustling town that profits from a highway system and a string of malls that grew up around it. It has one of the state’s busier court systems, providing enough work for three town justices.

       When one of the senior justices retired, Republicans offered as candidate a former councilman who is not a lawyer and has no court experience. For some reason with which I am not familiar, New York State allows this. Democrats offered as a candidate a lawyer with 34 years of experience handling hundreds of cases in Family Court and other courts and who also is a key staff member of the Legal Aid Society. A woman, by the way.

      Hands-down, no contest on qualifications and experience. So Republicans, who control the town board, decided the town didn’t need a third judge after all. Couldn’t afford it, they said. They voted to eliminate the position. This, even though the retiring judge said the town really did need three judges and not filling the position would put an unfair burden on the court staff, never mind the two judges left.

      Republicans didn’t budge. However, the Democratic candidate circulated petitions asking for a special referendum reestablishing the third judge position. It passed. But not before more Republican chicanery. 

      They told the Democratic candidate that the wording of the question on the special election would ask voters whether the town should eliminate the third town justice position. So she paid for lawn signs and printed cards to pass around town urging residents to vote no. Then Republicans decided to change the wording to instead ask whether the town should retain its third judge position, making the Democrat’s election handouts extremely counterproductive.

      She went to State Supreme Court to get it changed back. A sympathetic judge said there was nothing she could do, but hoped that the Republicans would do the “decent” thing. 

     They didn’t. 

      Came Tuesday and, following a few months of intensive campaigning, of all things, the Democrat won. Big.

      That’s not all. Wallkill voters kicked out the Republican town supervisor and a councilman, giving Democrats control of the town board. A veritable local earthquake.

       This story is especially rewarding for me because I lived in the town of Wallkill for about two decades and for nearly three decades worked at the local newspaper that would have reported on this incredible local story, if there was a viable local newspaper left in town.

     But that’s another story for another day. This day belongs to Maria Patrizio, Democrat, newly elected Town Justice, Town of Wallkill, Orange County, New York.

By Bob Gaydos

Wrecking ball demolishing the East Wing of the White House.

— He is tearing down the East Wing of the White House, after saying he would not, to build a garish ballroom. Republicans say nothing.

— He is using our military to murder people on the high seas, in the name of fighting drugs, with no evidence offered of any wrongdoing. Republicans say nothing.

— He is using ICE as a  violent private army to kidnap people off the streets of American cities in the guise of fighting illegal immigration, locking them up in private prisons with no charges filed or sending them to other countries. Republicans say nothing.

— He is three weeks into a government shutdown, with federal employees going unpaid and services curtailed, having made no attempt to reach a budget compromise with Democrats. Republicans say nothing.

— He has scared House Speaker Mike Johnson into keeping the House out of session to work on a budget that will not cause millions of Americans to lose their health insurance because that would also require Johnson to swear in a new Democratic representative, who would be a deciding vote to require release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, which are believed to contain the names of prominent figures (including his) involved in a worldwide sex-trafficking scandal involving teenaged girls. Three Republicans complained.

— He has ordered federal prosecution of persons who he feels have disrespected him in word, in print or in court, offering none or flimsy excuses for evidence of wrongdoing. An enemies list. Republicans say nothing.

— He is ordering the National Guard into American cities governed by Democrats, over the opposition of governors,  while claiming crime is rampant when it is not and ignoring judicial rulings to cease. The Guardsmen are used as stage props. Republicans say nothing.

— He is suing the news media for daring to report the truth and seeking exorbitant sums to settle the suits as a way of silencing the press. Republicans say nothing.

— He is demanding payments from colleges for admission policies and courses which recognize the wide spectrum of people living in this country, as well as its history. Republicans say nothing.

— He is asking the Justice Department, which he has seeded with sycophants and lackeys and inexperienced lawyers, to pay him $230 million restitution for being the subject of several investigations and indictments, which ceased when he became president. Republicans say nothing.

— He has made enemies of America’s traditional allies, such as NATO, Canada and Mexico, through insults and accusations, while cozying up to Vladimir Putin of Russia and other authoritarian leaders. Republicans say nothing.

— He has filled his cabinet with the worst collection of incompetent, publicity seeking misfits in the history of the country. Planes are colliding; people are getting measles again. Republicans say nothing.

— He has played games with tariffs, imposing and threatening huge ones against various countries, disrupting trade, raising the price on imported goods, increasing supermarket shopping costs and causing hardship to farmers already hurting because of the kidnapping of their workers and undoubtedly resulting in profits to family and close associates who know ahead of time when he’s going to change his mind on a tariff and cause some stock to soar or sink because of his illegal market manipulation. Republicans say nothing.

— He pardoned the January 6 rioters, who lay waste to the nation’s Capitol over his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Republicans say nothing.

— He has hawked watches, sneakers, bitcoin and coins with his name on it, held invitation-only dinners for ultra-wealthy influence seekers and accepted a jet from Qatar, which will cost a fortune to refurbish to use as president and as his personal aircraft in civilian life, all in violation of the law forbidding the office holder from profiting off the presidency. Republicans say nothing.

— He is talking about having a coin minted with his image on it (illegal) and maybe building a triumphal arch honoring him in Washington, D.C. Republicans say nothing.

— He acknowledged the No Kings Day demonstrations, as more than 7 million Americans took to the streets for peaceful protest against all of the above, with a social media post using an AI-generated video showing him as a royal ruler flying over the demonstrators and defecating on them. I repeat: Defecating on them. American citizens. Mikey Johnson called it “satire.” Other Republicans say nothing.

— He plays golf virtually every weekend, displays no working knowledge of math, science, history or how government works, lacks empathy, can’t remember who’s the leader of which country, is unable to give a speech without descending into disconnected sentences of self-glorification and lies about virtually everything, including being shot. Republicans say nothing.

   OK, that’s it. I’m exhausted and that’s only off the top of my head without doing any research.

   Here’s the point: There are elections coming up very soon for state, county, town  and city officials across the country. I have been an independent voter my entire adult life. I voted for whomever I thought was the best candidate for the job. The last few years, my decisions have been simplified. I simply vote for the Democrat. Or, put another way, I never vote for the Republican.

      They have sat by, mostly silently, while this man has laid a wrecking ball to our nation. To our ideals. To our reputation. To our heritage. To our sense of community. To our self-respect.

   Whether it be out of fear or pure complicity, at this point it doesn’t matter anymore. Their silence defines them. They are him.

   I will vote for and/or publicly commend the first local Republican official whom I am aware of speaking critically of him publicly. But it’s been 10 years and I’m still waiting. And I’m not holding my breath.

    Republicans need not say anything.

Missing in action

By Bob Gaydos
Where in the world

is Donald Trump?

Up in his bedroom

texting on his rump?

The government’s come

to a grinding halt.

Republicans, though in charge,

say the Dems are at fault.

Not that it matters.

The House has gone home.

No one can vote,

not even by remote.

But Trump has been missing

since the generals’

silent dissing.

Embarrassed? Enraged?

Or merely incontinent?

Doesn’t matter. We can handle the news.

Of that, I feel confident.

Is he ailing? Is he failing?

Is he simply off his feed?

Is he prepping his notes

for the next shutdown dance?

Or should we get ready

for President Vance?

Oh, where in the world

is Donald Trump?

If he’s golfing on Epstein’s Island,

I’ll feel like a chump.

By Bob Gaydos

The nation’s top military leaders listening to a pep talk from Pete Hegseth.

   A famous political leader once said, “Problems start from the top and they have to get solved from the top …”

   I tend to agree. Actions taken or not taken by those at the top, in my experience, often have a profound effect on situations. In fact, four recent, seemingly unrelated situations illustrate that theory perfectly.

     First, we have the command performance of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth before 800 of the nation’s top military leaders at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia. Hegseth summoned generals and admirals from around the globe at a cost of millions of dollars and untold security risk to subject them to the most insulting, embarrassing lecture on leadership. He complained about “fat generals,“ insulted women in the military and told the brass they could start beating up recruits again. He inflicted a war ethic on those who know war all too well and who also understand the wisdom of quiet strength.

    The commander-in-chief, never one to miss what he apparently thought was a public rally, decided to show up and told the generals to train their troops in America’s cities to fight “the enemy within.“ Both men, although clearly looking for applause, were greeted with silence before, during and after their addresses, to the immense credit of the assembled military leaders of this nation.

   At the same time this was happening, the federal government was rushing to a shutdown because Congress has yet to pass a new budget. In fact, instead of meeting with congressional leaders, Trump was busy delivering his usual rambling “speech“ at the generals and admirals. Despite having control of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government,  congressional Republicans have not been able to deliver a budget on time because they can’t get enough votes. They blame Democrats. Democrats say they would be happy to sign a budget bill, so long as it did not remove medical insurance coverage for millions of Americans. Which it does.

   Complicating the budget problem is situation number three. House Republicans were actually still on vacation. That’s because Speaker Mike Johnson, who is clearly lacking any modicum of self-respect, is seeking to delay as long as possible the swearing in of the newest member of Congress, Adelita Grijalva, Democrat of Arizona. She would be the deciding vote on the passage of a bill requiring the Justice Department to release the full Epstein files. Interestingly, the votes are apparently there in the Republican Congress for release of the Epstein files, but not to pass a budget.

   The fourth problem situation was the Ryder Cup golf tournament at Bethpage, Long Island, which was more like a drunken beach party. The match pitting a team of American golfers against a European team, was marred by rowdy, drunken American fans, hurling insults, water bottles and beer cans at the European team and in general behaving like a bunch of drunken hoodlums. Not what one would expect at a major golf tournament. It was also embarrassing for the American team and, indeed, another reason for Europeans to lose respect for this country. Europe won the match, by the way.

    So let’s start from the top. 1. Trump appointed Hegseth, a Fox News personality with a drinking problem, to head the Defense Department, a job for which he is criminally unqualified. 2. Trump also refuses to negotiate a budget deal with Democrats on the budget because he is not capable of understanding political negotiations. It’s too difficult. For him it’s always warfare and he doesn’t care about the casualties. 3. Trump clearly doesn’t want the Epstein files released because his name is all over them and Johnson is totally in his pocket. 4. Trump, perhaps the most famous golfer in the country, has given a large segment of the population permission to behave like ignorant buffoons and worse in public via his own language in public, including name-calling political rivals and encouraging an attack on the U.S. Capitol and then pardoning those responsible for the attack. And he has provided the example to followers that it is acceptable to publicly insult allies, be it Team Europe or members of NATO and indeed the entire United Nations. There is no friendly competition, only us versus them and they are the bad guys.

    So there it is. If you haven’t guessed yet, Trump is the famous politician who uttered that quote at the top. These problems all started from the top. They need to be solved, from the top.

    Prove me wrong.

By Bob Gaydos

Donald Trump and wife, Melania, stuck on the escalator at the UN.

  By now, you’ve seen, read or heard about Trump’s humiliating address at the United Nations. Humiliating, that is, if you are an American who is not a member of the MAGA cult. It was an utter embarrassment, of course, except for Trump, who is beyond such feelings.

      If you’ve somehow been spared the details, let me sum it up by saying Trump bragged about stopping seven or eight or nine wars, many of which he made up, some of which are still raging and the rest in which participants said he had nothing to do with. He basically told members of the United Nations, an organization formed to promote peace and liberty throughout the world, that they have failed miserably at their mission. On the other hand, he said he has been right about everything. Everything. Some might consider it to be in especially bad taste for the U.N.’s host nation and, indeed, the host city, to be the scene for such an unhinged performance.

    Perfectly encapsulating the absurdity of the moment, the escalator stopped as Trump was ascending into the U.N. building and his teleprompter stopped as he was about to give his “address.” He blamed Democrats. But his personal mental escalator stopped working years ago and he’s never been able to give any kind of speech without rambling off into fantasy, ignoring the teleprompter. Which is exactly what he did.

    Now, Trump being Trump and embarrassing millions of Americans by saying utterly inane things is not new. But consider having to stand behind and support the things Trump says. It might be challenging, especially if it’s your first day on the job, even if you’re a Green Beret. Which is what it was for Mike Waltz, who, by the way, is the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. 

   Waltz’s nomination was approved by the Senate just five days before the U.N. General Assembly meeting. Until that time, the U.S. had no ambassador to the U.N., just someone acting in that capacity, like the rest of Trump’s cabinet. Waltz, the former national security advisor to Trump, is indeed a Green Beret. Also, an author and former contributor to, yes, Fox News. No background in diplomacy. Nothing surprising here. Except that he probably preferred being the national security advisor, where all the action is, rather than trying to learn diplomacy on the job with the nations of the world after they’ve all been insulted to their faces by his boss. On the other hand, he did volunteer for the mission.

   On the other other hand, consider the plight of Elise Stefanik, congresswoman from upstate New York, who was supposed to be Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. He nominated her soon after he took office. A reward for loyalty. Then, waiting for her confirmation by the Senate, Republicans put their heads together and figured out that, with the slim margin they held in the House of Representatives, putting Stefanik to work at the U.N. would mean a special election in New York for an open congressional seat and apparently they weren’t so sure a Republican would win. At least they weren’t willing to risk making their margin slimmer.

    So Trump said, sorry Elise, thank you for your loyalty and I’m going to ask you to stay where you are. Where she was was having conducted a farewell tour of her district and having lost her leadership position among House Republicans while awaiting confirmation to be U.N. ambassador. So, no ambassadorship and no leadership position. But at least Stefanik was spared having to deal with Trump’s rambling incoherently the other day, you say.

    Yes, but there’s more. The real story is that she has apparently moved on beyond waiting for her Republican masters in both houses to decide her fate. Stefanik recently put her townhouse in Washington, D.C., up for sale at a little over $2 million. You don’t do that if you’re planning on staying in town.

    Indeed, New York Republican State Chairman Ed Cox said recently that Stefanik will formally launch her campaign for governor soon after November’s elections.

   That would probably put her in a race next year against incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is expected to be a favorite to win in usually Democratic New York. But, it will also open Stefanik’s House seat for election of a new member since she can’t run for both offices at the same time. And yes, ironically, with Trump‘s approval rating dropping faster than Disney’s after it clumsily muzzled Jimmy Kimmel, retaining Stefanik‘s House seat, even in conservative upstate New York, will now be even more difficult for nervous Republicans. 

    One could say that’s what you deserve for even getting on the escalator with Donald Trump.

***

PS: The U.N. says  Trump’s White House photographer  stepped on a safety button causing the escalator to stop.  Also, White House staff members were in charge of operating the Teleprompter. But, you know, leftists.

By Bob Gaydos

Charlie Kirk

The headline says it all. All, that is, on which we all can agree.

I stayed out of the Kirk killing maelstrom over the weekend because I learned early on in my 23 years of writing daily newspaper editorials that it’s really important to have all the facts at hand before offering an opinion. Newspaper publishers used to insist on it. It kept them from being embarrassed or sued.

Times have changed. The Internet, social media, Trump, MAGA have all made timing more important than truth. Get your message out quickly to control the narrative. Spin. Lie. Distort. Grab on to rumors and hope for the best.

And now we know certain things. I’ll try to keep it brief because I’m as tired of the chaos as I think most of you are and the Epstein files have still not yet been released, lest we forget.

We know Charlie Kirk was a young man who  founded a group called Turning Point, USA and made a fortune with a podcast promoting Trump’s MAGA agenda and holding “debates” with other young people challenging them to “prove me wrong.” Of course, no one ever proved him wrong, but his debate opponents did offer him an opportunity to spread his right wing, misogynistic, divisive  Christian nationalist message to other young people. He opposed abortion and spread false information during the Covid crisis. He described empathy as a “made up” term and waste of time, especially when applied to victims of mass shootings because they were the price needed to pay for a Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Ironically, Tyler Robinson, 22, is accused of killing Kirk in Utah, a state that allows the carrying of firearms openly on college campuses, which is where the shooting occurred during a “Prove me wrong” debate. Despite Kash Patel’s claim that the FBI did a great job in tracking and arresting Robinson, we know it was the young man’s father who turned him in. After several days of wild speculation on motive and attempts by Trump, ever divisive, and other MAGA Republicans to blame Democrats, it was reported that Robinson was raised in a conservative Republican household and was introduced to firearms at a young age. He was also active on rightwing gaming and social media sites. He is on “special watch” status in prison. We know all this.

We also know that violence of any sort has no place in political debate and that, while both liberal and conservative actors have been responsible for political violence in this country, the great majority have come from the conservative side.

We know who Charlie Kirk was through his own words. He left a history. No need to tiptoe or whitewash. Nor is it time to call for retribution. No, this is the time to call for calm debate, a lessening of violent political rhetoric, a review of gun control laws and, yes, empathy for the family, especially the children, of Charlie Kirk.

We know all of this, and yet all we really know for sure right now is that Charlie Kirk is dead.

Prove me wrong.

National Guard troops picking up trash in Washington, D.C.

By Bob Gaydos

The National Guard is picking up trash in Washington, D.C.  This, my fellow Americans, is apparently the crisis Donald Trump felt could not be handled by regular employees of the nation’s capital. It is also an insult to every member of the National Guard units on duty in Washington and, indeed, to anyone who now serves or ever served in a National Guard unit anywhere in the country.

These are private citizens with jobs and families and responsibilities and lives to lead who signed up to help their communities, their nation if need be, in times of crisis. Like, maybe, an angry mob assaulting the Capitol, assaulting police officers, running wild through the seat of the nation’s government, threatening the Vice President, trying to undo an election. A time to be of service.

Instead. Picking up the trash. At a million dollars a day, no less. Simply because someone in the White House apparently got tired of all the criticism levied at the absurd reason given for the callup in the first place. Crime is running rampant in D.C., Trump claimed. A lie. The crime rate is down.

Beyond that, the National Guard is not a police force. It is not trained or even authorized to make arrests. It does not do riot control. It is not authorized to fire on its fellow citizens and, in fact, it showed up for duty in D.C. without carrying weapons.

And it stood around for days in uniform, looking like a bewildered occupying army, occasionally walking through streets or standing in front of buildings. So Trump could look tough. The man who could have called up the Guard to stop the January 6 assault on the Capitol but chose to watch it unfold on TV for three hours without doing anything, now has his little private army surrounding him and standing around doing nothing, away from their families and jobs and meaningful activities

Someone in the White House eventually had the idea to allow them to carry weapons. Apparently Kent State was written out of U.S. history. Then some genius apparently said have them pick up the trash. Clean up some graffiti. At least they’d be doing something.

Insulting. Embarrassing. Infuriating. Ignorant and arrogant. Everything Trump and his toadies are. Millions of Americans have served or are serving in National Guard units in every state as well as D.C. They signed up for a variety of reasons, going through regular training as citizen soldiers knowing that there was always the possibility they would be called up to help in some legitimate local state crisis and possibly even to serve on active duty with the regular military.

Not to pick up the trash because at least it looks like they’re not just standing around wasting taxpayers’ money.

Trump says he’s going to do the same thing in other Democrat-governed cities because, well, just because he wants to try to scare people by sending in an armed force even though there is no justification for it. The man who has called people who serve in the military “suckers“ or “losers,“ likes to play commander-in-chief but doesn’t know anything but fear, threats and retribution. Hollow, shallow and, more and more, alone in his own mind. It’s beyond troubling.

Fortunately, some governors and mayors are telling him to pound salt. We don’t have a crisis and don’t need you to create one to feed your ego and your fellow racists.

Maybe some military folk should speak up, too. And some Republican elected officials, especially those who have served and may still serve in some Guard unit. The lies and insults and abuse of power can become routine when they are a daily occurrence. Even without a legitimate mission, an occupying army is still an occupying army.

If the Guard is going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C., it should start with the Oval Office. That would be responding to a legitimate crisis.

By Bob Gaydos  

Zohran Mamdani (smiling) is the choice of NYC Democratic voters. Party leaders, however, still prefer Andrew Cuomo, rear.

  Shhh! Keep it down. Don’t let anyone know that there’s a race for mayor of New York City in which neither the current mayor nor the former governor of the state is the Democratic Party’s candidate for the job, even though both men are longtime Democrats.

   Not only that, both men, having been beaten in the primary election, are still running for the job as independent candidates and are trailing in polls among city voters, as is the Republican candidate. 

    So wow! Democrats must really be hyped that they have a candidate who can overcome two well-known party stalwarts in the campaign for this prestigious position. Right?

    Well, depends on which Democrats you’re talking about. Clearly, registered Democrats in the city are comfortable with their choice of Zohran Mamdani as their next mayor. Also clearly, establishment Democrats, party leaders, are not.

      Else, Chuck Schumer, Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate, would have already been publicly campaigning for Mamdani. Using his influence by raising funds for him. Instead? Crickets.

   And the state’s other senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, not one to avoid public commentary? AWOL.

     Actually, that’s not quiet true in either case. Both senators are apparently active behind the scenes trying to figure out how to not have Mamdani be the next mayor without alienating his many voters while kissing up to wealthy party donors who hate Mamdani because of his proposals to make the city more affordable for the non-wealthy. Those proposals require higher taxes on the rich.

     For Schumer, Gillibrand, and other establishment Democrats, this appears to be a matter of backing Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, for the job, rather than Eric Adams, the current mayor.

   The problem here is that the Adams administration has been rocked by corruption and Adams himself had federal charges dropped by the Trump Justice Department in exchange for agreeing to cooperate with ICE enforcement in the city. New Yorkers noticed and didn’t like the deal.

    Cuomo, on the other hand, an establishment Democrat his entire adult life, resigned as governor in the midst of a scandal in which several women, including staff members, accused him of inappropriate sexual advances, including touching. The state attorney general had launched an investigation. Cuomo’s been looking for a government job ever since, apparently not happy being a consultant.

     This makes supporting him a particularly touchy situation for Gillibrand, who has made a strong reputation in Congress for supporting women’s rights, especially in matters of allegations of improper sexual behavior by men.

    She worked to strengthen the rights of women in the military in such cases. More publicly, she had a big role in driving Al Franken out of the Senate over allegations similar to those made against Cuomo. How can she now justify supporting the former governor?

    Mamdani is not only a Democratic state legislator, he is also Democratic Socialist. That last word turns off a lot of establishment Democrats because Republicans always cry “socialism” when they see it even though it isn’t. In any event, establishment Democrats feel more comfortable relaxing in the middle.

   Perhaps, at a time when the Republican Party has gone so far off the right side that it’s accepting fascism from the Trump administration, Democrats might learn from Mamdani and others in the party who are promoting ideas that appeal to Americans threatened by Republican actions. That’s not socialism, it’s realism.

    It’s time for a new, more aggressive approach for Democrats and nowhere is it more apparent than in New York City.