By Bob Gaydos

   Looking for a break from all Trump all the time, we went out the other night to listen to a talented local duo, Kevin and Sue, perform some familiar tunes and some not so familiar. A good decision on our part. Also serendipitous for me.

        One of the songs Kevin sang was “Yesterday’s News,” by William Sadler. I’d never heard it, but I wrote the title down on a napkin immediately. Then I heard the lyrics and I knew there had to be some reason.

        Later that night, I read a story in The New York Times about New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ legal problems with the feds and the people thinking of succeeding him should he resign, be removed or run for reelection. Among the 13 names was Andrew Cuomo.

        Yesterday’s news.

         Cuomo resigned in 2021 during his third term as governor of New York State in the midst of a sexual misconduct scandal. He was way too handsy with female employees. Since then, he’s been pretty much out of the news. In addition to the inappropriate behavior with females, he was known to be a bit of a bully politically. So sure, he’s just what New York City needs in a mayor.

         The other interesting name in that list of would-be successors to Adams is Letitia James. Don’t tell me the gods don’t have a sense of humor, particularly when it comes to puffed-up politicos.

     James, of course, is the state attorney general who pressured Cuomo to resign when the sexual assault allegations against him multiplied. She was relentless. Also in her résumé is a $454 million civil fraud judgment against Donald Trump and an embezzlement verdict against the leadership of the National Rifle Association. She also previously held the job of advocate for the City of New York. Maybe tomorrow’s news.

    There’s a line in the song: “A worn out man with worn out dreams.” Frankly, Cuomo blew it. He had a major national profile for his handling of the Covid crisis and if he had just stuck to business, he might well have been the Democratic Party presidential candidate this year. Instead, he joined his father, Mario, as a New York governor who might’ve been president. Couldda, wouldda, shouldda.

      As for the beleaguered mayor, he faces federal charges of bribery, fraud, and soliciting donations from a foreign national. Not the kind of case the justice department typically loses. Nonetheless, Adams has denied the charges and is resisting calls to resign.

     Two of his key aides have also been indicted and four prominent members of his administration have resigned. New Yorkers are not happy. Adams, too, would appear to be yesterday’s news.

                                           ***

Yesterday’s News

“Five o’clock in the station, with no clear destination

Lord he’s just killin’ time, “Can you spare us a dime?” hear him say

Got some scars to remind him, got his best years behind him

Ah but he’s got enough change to buy him some Night Train

And it takes him, takes him away

A worn out man with worn out dreams

And a pair of worn out shoes

Blownin’ down that ol’ road again

Like yesterday’s news, yesterdays news

Tellin’ folks in the breadlines, how he once made the headlines

He knew where he was goin’ ‘tll a cold wind came blowin’ one day

And it does not surprise him, they don’t recognize him

‘Cause he traded his good name for a ride on the Night Train

And it takes him, takes him away

A worn out man with worn out dreams

Tryin’ to shake these worn out blues

Blownin’ down the ol’ road again

Like yesterday’s news, yesterday’s news

An American story. Born and raised in the USA

In the land of hope and glory

And we let him slip away

We let him slip away

Tryin’ to sleep in your doorway. Tryin’ to keep out of your way

Then without any warning the blue skies of morning turn gray

As the first drops of rain fall, he hears the ol’ train call

And he’ll raise to his feet an’ shuffle off down the street

And let the Night Train take him away

A worn out man with worn out dreams

And nothin’ left to lose

Blownin’ down that ol’ road again

Like yesterday’s news, yesterday’s news

Yesterday’s news”

 By William Sadler

                                           ***

*Screw-cap wine Night Train Express was once a big seller for E & J Gallo Winery. It was discontinued in 2016.

By Bob Gaydos

  Timing, they say, is everything. Whoever “they” are, I tend to agree with them. And I’m also the first to admit that my timing on this column is terrible, from a journalistic viewpoint.

   But I don’t write to a deadline anymore and, well, a story is still a story, especially in these days of no more local newspapers.

    So, two stories that got my attention a while back involved a couple of guys who you could say are living, breathing examples of a certain type often referred to as stereotypical inhabitants of the North Jersey/New York City axis: Tommy DeVito and Rudy Giuliani.

     DeVito, for those who don’t follow sports, is a quarterback in the National Football League. That statement alone is testament to the fact that, when it comes to timing, DeVito’s has turned out to be almost mystical.

        DeVito is the starting quarterback for the New York Giants because the quarterback who started the season as number one suffered a serious injury and was replaced by the backup quarterback, who also was seriously injured. The team was also not playing well.

          Some might say right place, right time and, yes, that’s true, but DeVito, a 23-year-old graduate of  North Jersey’s famed Don Bosco High, had to put himself in that position.

           His football career at Syracuse and Illinois was unremarkable and he was not drafted as a quarterback by any NFL team. Time to look for a career that doesn’t require good downfield vision and a willingness to be slammed to the ground by 260-pound linemen?

          No, DeVito asked the Giants for a tryout and someone liked what he saw and DeVito got a walk-on spot as the team’s third (only in emergencies!) quarterback.

           Badaboom, badabing, and there’s the North Jersey kid who still lives with his parents playing quarterback as the moribund Giants suddenly win three straight games and lift all of North Jersey and much of New York City out of the football doldrums.

         Turns out the kid’s got guts, can take lots of hits and can throw the ball. And he’s got a confident attitude as demonstrated by an Italian hand gesture he made famous after his first three wins. Kind of an in-your-face don’t mess with us message folks from the area would recognize and the rest of the U.S. was introduced to via TV. 

  I mentioned first three wins because, as you may know, the honeymoon ended last weekend at the hands of the Saints, who tossed Devito’s hand gesture back at him.

     No bigee. He’s still the Giants starting quarterback, his teammates support him, he has an agent out of central casting for “Goodfellas,” a cousin named Danny DeVito (not that one) who throws a mean tailgate party and, yes, good timing.

    A story broke recently that his agent raised DeVito’s appearance fee to $20,000 from $10,000, because of his client’s sudden celebrity, and a pizza restaurant canceled the gig, saying they couldn’t afford it. DeVito didn’t miss a beat. He showed up free of charge, probably ordered a chicken parm and undoubtedly said the Giants will take care of the Eagles in their next game. The coach says he’s still the starting quarterback, for now.

     And Rudy? Last I heard, a jury in Atlanta had ordered him to pay two poll workers $148 million for defaming them as part of the Trump team’s efforts to steal the  2020 election.

       Giuliani also, of course, is charged with Trump and others of various crimes in trying to change the election results in Georgia. In fact, he is guilty of lying about the election across the country as Trump’s mouthpiece.

       I wondered if he had the money to pay the two poll workers, but then it turns out he filed for bankruptcy right after the verdict. Maybe he had the presence of mind to recognize that “billionaire” Trump wouldn’t care a whit about Giuliani’s problems when the ex-president has got more than enough of his own.

        How did “America’s Mayor” get here? Bad timing. After 9/11, when he was the dominant political figure in the country, a mayor leading a bloodied and angry New York City out of the rubble of the terrorist attack with courage and pride, he could have run for president and won.

   He did run, in 2008, but not with any sense of purpose and urgency or platform. He skipped the traditional GOP Iowa and New Hampshire primaries and got buried in Florida. Bad timing. He dropped out. He never acted like it was his place and time, which it might well have been. Then he disappeared until he went to work as Trump’s mouthpiece because, well, the allure of power was always there.

    Time, a fondness for power, many bad decisions and, reportedly, a problem with alcohol and Giuliani’s now, at 79, facing bankruptcy and prison. His time has run out.

     Meanwhile, Tommy DeVito hired a new agent to handle his public appearances. Good timing.

rjgaydos@gmail.com

 

By Bob Gaydos

Anthony Weiner, please go away.

Take your smart phone or your laptop and sex text to your heart’s desire, if that’s what you want. We don’t need to hear or see any more of you than we have already experienced and New York City definitely does not need you as its next mayor. While you’re at it, maybe get a little help for that sexting thing.

On the off chance, dear reader, that you haven’t heard about Weiner’s latest escapade — maybe you don’t live in the New York City area or watch late night TV talk shows that thrive on ridiculing the ridiculous — the guy who quit Congress because he was caught sending pictures of his penis to a woman who was not his wife has done it again. This, after saying he was sorry. Wouldn’t do it again. Would not put his family through the humiliation and embarrassment again. Would get it under control.

That “control” thing doesn’t seem to be working. In fact, the whole sexual texting with other women went on right after he resigned from Congress and said he was going to “take care of it.” He was lying through his apology.

There is so much wrong with this scenario, it’s hard to know where start, but saying he should drop out of the race for mayor of New York is a good one. That he entered the Democratic primary for mayor just two years after quitting Congress (he said he had dealt with the problem) suggests an arrogance and denial, which is reinforced by the fact that he kept up the behavior even as he was “apologizing” for it. And that behavior bespeaks a kind of recklessness that most people would not find appealing in a mayor.

As long as I’m attaching adjectives to Weiner’s behavior, let me add more: juvenile, irresponsible, untrustworthy, deceptive, self-indulgent, uncaring, exhibitionist, delusional, selfish, egotistical, evasive, compulsive and misogynistic.

And yet, even as he was saying I’m really, really sorry this time, honest, believe me, there were some supposedly enlightened, “progressive,” liberal-leaning web sites (Salon, AlterNet, The Progress Party) who were defending Weiner, saying it was “just sex,” a private matter between the serial sexter and his wife, no reason he shouldn’t stay in the mayoral race. Besides, he supports gay marriage, one site pointed out.

Nonsense. First of all, any Democrat in New York City who runs for office supports gay marriage. It’s irrelevant in this case. Secondly, when sexual infidelity is involved, it’s never “just sex.” It’s also lying and cheating and sneaking and a profound breach of a fundamental trust between two people. Personally, I don’t like those character traits in people in public office.

Weiner’s defenders would have you believe he was just a “bad husband,” but not necessarily a bad candidate. Really? In a year in which progressive web sites are trumpeting women’s issues and the need for women to claim sovereignty over their bodies and their lives, they are also being told that all the things that would make them reject a man as a potential life partner shouldn’t matter if he is running for public office?

Weiner’s callous, prideful, even boasting approach to women who are not his wife should not count against him, it is suggested, because he is, after all, a smart, liberal Democrat. His utter disregard for women as anything but sex objects and his continued betrayal of his wife should not matter, one assumes, because we agree with him on some political issues. As if his attitudes — and the lying, don’t forget the lying — would not carry over to his conduct in office. And as if these same defenders wouldn’t be setting his hair on fire if he were a conservative Republican.

A schmuck is a schmuck, people. The fact that Weiner continued the behavior even as he was apologizing for it bespeaks either a total disregard for the rules of decent behavior, a lack of awareness of them or a feeling that they don’t apply to him. None inspires confidence.

Weiner’s wife came forward to defend him and say they are working things out (again). Whatever reasons she has for this (and I‘m hard-pressed to find a good one) does not change the equation.

As for Weiner, some might wonder, if he’s so smart, why does he keep doing dumb things? Others might say that intelligence has nothing to do with Weiner’s behavior, just as it has nothing to do with compulsive, repetitive, self-destructive behavior exhibited by many other people. Let’s review the adjectives I used to describe Weiner: juvenile, arrogant, reckless, irresponsible, untrustworthy, deceptive, self-indulgent, uncaring, exhibitionist, delusional, selfish, egotistical, evasive, compulsive and misogynistic.

There are rooms full of people around the country attending 12-step programs to help them deal with one type of harmful behavior or another which they cannot control. Maybe Weiner should take a break from the Internet, forget about running for mayor and take a step in another direction. Work things out in private with his wife and himself. And don’t bother saying “I’m sorry,” until he can prove it by his actions.

And for those web site managers who think Weiner’s serial sexting is none of our business, when he keeps his privates private, he can think about running for public office.

bob@@zestoforange.com