Once again let me remind people that judicial races are at least as important as any other local election. Judges determine the fates of citizens more directly than any other elected position. We need good judges and we need judges we can trust.

This is a follow-up diary to one I wrote earlier about the 1st Civil Court District in Brooklyn. This year a friend of mine (Devin Cohen) is running. His opponent is Roger Adler. Both are good, smart lawyers who are fully qualified to be judge. Adler has been practicing law longer than Devin, but Devin Cohen has more actual civil court experience. So it comes down to a question of temperment and trustworthiness. In my earlier article I addressed both issues. But I have found out more about Roger Adler, who claims to be a Democrat with progressive values, yet I discover that by far his largest contributions are to some of the most conservaitve organizations and politicians in NY State.

Reuters:

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Republican former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, finishing a distant third in Florida's primary where he staked his entire campaign, gave strong hints on Wednesday he might soon end his quest for the White House.

Asked about the reports, Giuliani said only: "We're heading to California, we're heading to California."

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

http://www.r8ny.com/blog/the_republican_dissident/bronx_county_gop_a_tal...

Usually Lincoln awards are given to people who have achieved some sort of progress of excellence.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01272008/news/regionalnews/rudy_pol_pals_bro...

http://www.joinrudy2008.com/article/pr/1112

Congratulations are in order for Marcus Cederqvist from Manhattan GOP, who was just appointed the executive director of the New York City Board of Elections by a landslide vote today. In a second vote today for the position of general counsel for the Republican commissioners. Jay Savino lost the vote by 6-4. 3 out of the 5 NYC GOP political clubs that he is in charge of as vice chairman of the NYS Republican committee voted against him not getting this position. Plus Jay Savino is not a resident of the Bronx, he is a resident of Rockland County, and he has to be a resident of NYC to be an employee to work at the Board of Elections. What excuse did Jay Savino use this time??> He stated that he is separated from his wife. As many of you remember when he ran in the 2006 34th state senate campaign, he was saying that he was a lifelong resident of the 34th state senate district, but he was not, so the excuse he used then was that his wife had pregnancy problems so that is why he had to move his wife to her mothers house in Rockland County. Now Mr.

YOUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS HARD AT WORK

Dawn Sandow, who is the deputy chief clerk at the Bronx Board of Elections needs to explain why she has to lie to the taxpayers of New York City who pay her $ 83,500.00 a year salary. Ms. Sandow says that she lives in the Bronx, but she actually lives in Rockland County and when you work for the city of New York you are bound by residency requirements that you must live in the confines of New York City. Last year a newspaper article was published by Dave Seifman from the New York Post about this Bronx County GOP political hacker. And at the time this news article was published on September 3, 2006, Ms. Sandow was quoted as saying that she lives in the Bronx with her mother. Well it turns out that her mother Mae Sandow died many months earlier on April 10, 2006 at a senior citizen nursing home in the Bronx. Now please keep in mind that Dawn Sandow did not live in the nursing home with her mother. And Dawn Sandow has her voter registration at 1625 Radcliff Avenue in the Bronx, while the mother had her voter registration at another address and you always vote from where you live:

SANDOW, MAE, V

MEDIA/PRESS RELEASE!

New York Delegate for Presidential Republican Candidate Rudy Giuliani to be removed.

From Congressional District 7, Delegate Joseph J. Savino (Bronx County GOP Leader) is to be removed from the list of Rudolph Giuliani's delegates for New York State. Joseph J. Savino is a non resident of the 7th Congressional District which covers parts of the counties of the Bronx and Queens, New York. Mr. Savino's actual residence is in Rockland County, New York. Verifications have been made with the Rockland County County Clerk's office.

JOSEPH J. SAVINO
2 KOHLER CT.
CONGERS, NEW YORK 10920

Indexing Search - Indexed Instrument Display
Displayed on: Saturday, January 05, 2008 9:59:47 AM

LAND RECORDS Valid From 01/02/1930 Thru 12/11/2007

File Date: 12/12/2007
Index Type: ROCKLAND COUNTY, N.Y. LAND RECORDS
Book: Page: Orig Book: Orig Page:
Instr Number: 2007-00063671 Orig Instr #:
Kind: DEED Scan Pages: 5 Amount: $484,900.00
Description: CLA L33 M3249 LISA ESTATES

GRANTOR - Record(s) 2
FELLERMAN, DORIS -ESTATE OF
LAUER, REBECCA -EXX
GRANTEE - Record(s) 2
SAVINO, JOSEPH J
SAVINO, CARRI A (WIFE)

JOSEPH J. SAVINO
2 KOHLER CT.

Sometimes it seems the vast majority of Republicans are corrupt. From run of the mill political scandals right down to pedophilia, the vast majority of political scandals are Republican scandals. The layers of hypocricy and corruption always amaze me.

Bad day for Rudy: first, he gets endorsed by Pat Robertson (taking the gloss off that moderate image), then John McCain slams him via Sam Brownback - see below - and now, it looks as if Bernie Kerik is going to be indicted this week.

The Presidential race has been largely static for the last two months or so; now, with Rudy coming under withering attack from his own side, and Hillary doing not all that well herself - cf. swiftboating, cf. debate performance - the media's coronation gaggle my find itself with a new story on its hands.

Okay, the 2008 cycle is officially in fullest swing. As Mole333 points out below, Rudy Giuliani has degradingly enough accepted the endorsement of one Pat Robertson. The Albany Project points out that, yes, that's the very Pat Robertson who agreed with Jerry Falwell that

I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America...

...were responsible for 9/11.

Meanwhile, John McCain emails over that he's secured the endorsement of Sam Brownback, wingnut of Kansas. Brownback is useful to McCain's own right flank, obviously, and he can make statements like this:

John McCain also represents the values that are the core of our Republican party. He has spent a lifetime standing up for human rights around the world, including a consistent 24 year pro-life record of protecting the rights of the unborn. We do not have to abandon our principles of life, faith and family to defeat the Democrats next fall; we can stand with John McCain. [Emphasis added]

Life, faith and family. Now, who could Senator Brownback possibly have in mind when he says that these noble principles need not be abandoned?

Heh. Stay tuned.

Not too long ago Rudy Giuliani could claim to be a moderate, making many right wing extremists uncomfortable. But now, Rudy is embracing Christian fundamentalists, shedding any pretence of being a moderate.

This comes from the National Jewish Democratic Council:

“I am very encouraged by Pat’s support,” said GOP Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani in a statement released by his campaign. “His confidence in me means a lot. His experience and advice will be a great asset to me and my campaign.”

The "Pat" in question is the Rev. Pat Robertson [real name: Marion Gordon Robertson], who endorsed Giuliani's campaign for president today.