There are times when the movers and shakers of mainstream media simply refuse to do their primary duty: edify the public as to what’s really happening in the corridors of power. And this is why blogs -like this one- have now emerged as crucial back-ups for those who seek to truthfully bring the four-one-one to the public.

Take the recent legislative package passed in Albany for example. Mainstream media heralded it as a victory for Governor Andrew Cuomo; but is it? Really?
Many blacks -politically active on the New York scene- are now asking how the governor could fix his fingers to sign off on this horrid legislative package; especially the redistricting piece. Andrew Cuomo and Sheldon Silver are planting seeds for rebellion and mutiny; they need to walk carefully in the short term. They need to be both creative and contrite in the long-term.  read more »

State Senator Diane Savino gives another great speech: (from Politics on the Hudson)

Now if we can only get Lew Fidler into the State Senate we will have two firebrands to stand up to the Republicans.

It’s not nice to call people names. Period. And yet sometimes you could; and even maybe sometimes you should: especially when their blandness and sterility negatively affect the lives of millions they are supposed to be representing in the corridors of power. Let’s take a look at the State Legislature’s Black and Hispanic Caucus.

In a recent column I told you all that the first black person elected to the state legislature was in 1917.That was arguably one hundred and forty years after the body was created. I also told you that some 20 years later the first Puerto Rican (Hispanic) was elected. Today there are 150 seats in the Assembly, and 62 in the Senate (possibly going up to 63 in the next redistricting phase). Over seventy-five per cent of the state representatives in New York are white (Caucasian). Most of the whites are males. Most of the white males are in denial relative to issues around empowerment, racism, inclusion and power-sharing.  read more »

Before I start this two-parter, let me first disclose that in the past I have worked for Senator John Sampson’s Campaign Committee on a pro-bono basis. Let me also sate that I once had a one-year advisor/consulting contract with said committee, which I will probably try to renew soon enough.

I have known John for about twenty years now. Back in those days he was a young attorney with the law firm of Barbaro and Alter. His boss (Mitch Alter) is the amiable and venerable election-lawyer who plies his trade in Brooklyn’s courts (mainly). Mitch is an icon of Brooklyn’s politics. Mitch alone is good for a thousand political stories from this half-naked city: most of them will have you in stitches. One of these days I will write some of those Mitch Alter political stories if the trolls here were to ever stop messing with my blog (and comments-section).

The first time John Sampson ran for the senate, he was the classic rookie. He attended events but stayed in a corner as shy as any thirty-something year old virgin about to be deflowered. He surprised most pundits by winning the race, and in so doing he became the youngest member of that legislative body.  read more »

It's back to business as usual in Timewasterville Albany, reports Newsday.

Monday, August 27th, 2007:

It appears unlikely there will be an official inquiry into allegations that Republican campaign consultant Roger Stone Jr. threatened the father of Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

The heads of three Senate committees that could investigate the controversial voice mail expressed no interest yesterday.

Thursday, August 9, 2007:

Today, the Senate Committee of Investigations and Government Operations is set to start what will likely be a series of hearings onTroopergate, in which aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer improperly had State Police re-create helicopter and other travel records of the governor's political nemesis, Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.

Odd how the Senate's investigatory zeal has lessened now that there's scandal inching ever closer to Joe Bruno, isn't it?  read more »