In my continuing coverage of Republican racism and anti-Semitism, one of the stupidest Republican memes was "gee, uh, duh, isn't Obama a Moooslim?"

My first reaction was "so what if he was?" Why couldn't a Muslim be an American leader? But that is beside the point. There has never, ever been the slightest evidence that Obama was Muslim.

Those who listen to this lie and believe it are, quite honestly, abyssmally stupid or amazingly gullible.

But who originated the "duh...Obama is a Moooslim" lie?

Seems an unstable anti-Semite, named Andy Martin, started it. And Fox News let this unstable anti-Semite assert lies without questioning him...yet another connection between Fox News, lies, and anti-Semitism.

I only wish I could claim credit for the title, but alas, it goes to the NY Post. Their Page Six article says that if Quinn gets a third term but doesn't remain as Speaker, she'll quit her Council job to become a Deputy Mayor.

That, apparently, is her price for supporting Bloomberg's power grab.

One of the biggest crises for working families in America is the lack of affordable, quality child care. The choices available are few and often very exclusive (I hear rumors of people having to give stock tips to day care owners to get their kids in) and/or very expensive.

My wife and I were lucky. We got our son into the Berkeley Carroll child care center. Berkeley Carroll child care is far from cheap, but they provide all day care so both my wife and I can work full days, so it is worth it. They offer first come-first serve sign ups for new applicants, so it is as egalitarian as you can get given the price. This means there is a wide variety of children who attend from all over the city. The quality of care is exemplary. Parents are encouraged to be involved and are listened to (message to Bloomberg: successful schools listen to the parents!). Children are happy and learn at an amazing rate. My only complaint is the price but you get what you pay for, so even there it isn't really a complaint.

A former student of mine called in anger recently. Of course the issue was this pending malevolent attack on term-limits (and probable hijack) by Mayor Bloomberg and a New York City Council majority; via proposed legislation altering the term limits law voted in by the people. The student was livid.

With typical youthful innocence and idealism, he kept challenging me to make sense of all this. How could a plebiscite be overturned without going back to the voter via referendum? Why were there two referenda on this issue, when the legislators could just come in and sweep away the people’s vote (will) at anytime? And what is to stop them from extending the limit another four years, when 2013 rolls around? Is this the “democracy” that we Americans love to boast about to the rest of the world?

So today at her press conference, I asked the Council Speaker Christine Quinn, for some clarification relative to the future. Does the proposed bill extending term-limits, include provisions safeguarding it from another whimsical hijack four years from now? I could have gone further and asked if there were any inclusions in the proposed bill, which would prevent the mayor and council members, from abolishing term limits altogether at any point in the future? Of course the latter question was implied.

Together, Columbus Day and Thanksgiving are the foundation myths of America. I have been ambivalent, in the litteral meaning of the word, towards Columbus Day for years now. I celebrate America and Columbus' "discovery" of the "New World" because the result of his discovery and the ultimate founding of America is that my family, myself included, is alive and thriving today. Without America, my family would have been exterminated in the genocide of Nazi Germany if not before that in the genocide of the pogroms in Tsarist Russia and later Stalin's genocide in the Soviet Union.

But I am reminded every Columbus day of the genocides on which the founding of America was based. My family had a refuge from genocide because of a previous genocide committed against the natives of America. How's THAT for ambivalence?

I wish I were making this up.

The mayor's term limits extension bill (Intro 845) has already been amended. The addition, slipped into the bill in the middle of ... well, when someone thought nobody was watching, is being called the "Lauder clause" by the Daily News. Unfortunately, the Daily News got it all wrong.

They claim that this addition will create a referendum in 2010 to roll back term limits to the two-full-term limit we have now. WRONG! All this addition does is to say that IF there is this particular kind referendum, and IF the voters approve it, then AND ONLY THEN will the rollback occur.

So what the heck is that little tidbit doing in there? Read on.

I attended Speaker Christine Quinn's press conference today, where she announced her support for Mayor Bloomberg's power grab.

She began by stating that we are facing "unprecedented challenges," and that she feels we need to have the "choice to keep the current" people in office to create a "continuity of leadership."

Let's take that one piece at a time.

First of all, the hook on which she hung everything else (perhaps her political career as well) was the concept of "unprecedented challenges." What I want to know, and what NOBODY IN THE PRESS ASKED, was just what exactly we're facing that is "unprecedented." This city has been through wars, riots, panics, depressions, near-bankruptcy and terrorist attacks. What's new here? What is unprecedented?

That question alone, and the obvious fact that there is no answer, renders Christine Quinn unfit for service. If she doesn't know the history of this city well enough to put things in perspective, she has no idea what she's doing. But there's more...

This comes from the National Jewish Democratic Council:

FINAL 2008 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE WATCH EVENT

7:30 PM Discussion – The 2008 Jewish Vote

Please join
DNC Vice Chair, Susie Turnbull

9:00 PM Final Presidential Debate Watch
4 Large Screens

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15TH
BAR SOCIAL
1002 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale, New York

Noshes
Cash Bar

$10,000 Co-chair, $5,000 Benefactor, $1,000 Host, $500 Friend, $250 Supporter

Event Ticket: $36

New York NJDC Membership: $50 (includes event)

RSVP: msudco2_at_aol.com, or (212) 868-4048 NJDC New York Office

HOST COMMITTEE:
Steve Anchin, Hon. Carol Berman, Renee Birnbaum, Ivy Cohen, Debra Cooper, Hon. Jon Cooper, Hon. Vivian Viloria-Fisher, Mark J. Epstein, Joan Dean, Hon. David Denenberg, Mark Finkel, Cynthia Friedman, Hon. Steve Israel, Hon.Craig Johnson, Hon. Jon Kaiman, Hon. Marsha Z. Laufer, Hon. Charles Levine, Arnold Linhardt, Steve Markowitz, Hon. Trudy Mason, Eric Milgrim, Joyce Miller, David Pincus, Steve Richman, Hon. Michelle Schimel, Menashe Shapiro, Hon. Steve Stern, Marilyn Thypin, Hon. Howard Weitzman, Barry Weprin, Jeff Wice

Last December, Christine Quinn made a promise on term limits that left no wiggle room. She vowed to "oppose aggressively" any attempt to change the law.

Now, she has not only reneged on her promise, but made other promises that prove her unworthiness to serve in any capacity. You may recall the Bloomberg/Lauder deal whereby Lauder's Charter Revision Commission will push to roll back the term limits extension. Under this deal, current first-term Council members would get screwed, since they would not only not get a third term, but also lose any chance at seniority during their second term.

Well, Quinn has promised them that they will get a third term too!

She should be ashamed of herself, but apparently Christine Quinn knows no shame.

The time has come for New Yorkers to rise up and force Chris Quinn out of office, by any legal means available. We must also do everything we can to ensure that anyone who votes for this bill never wins another election, and anyone who runs for a third term, whichever way they vote, also loses. The voice of the people, which is the bedrock of the American way, is being trampled on by a couple of billionaires and their lackey.

Meanwhile, come to the press event Sunday at noon, on the steps of City Hall. Arrive early, so you can get through security in time.

Thirty-five active members of the Brooklyn Democratic County Committee have, under the leadership of Morgan Pehme of the Brooklyn Optimist, signed an open letter to the City Council opposing the Bloomberg Putsch to reverse behind the scenes the term limits that were put in place by two referendums approved by the voters. Let me make two comments: first, my wife and I are among these 35 County Committee members who have signed on. Second, not everyone who has signed this letter believes in term limits. We all simply oppose an arbitrary mayoral and legislative reversal of the clear will of the voters of NYC. Here is the open letter we have signed:

An Open Letter from 35 Members of the Brooklyn Democratic County Committee to the New York City Council Opposing the Extension of Term Limits

cc: Mayor Mike Bloomberg
Council Speaker Christine Quinn
Ronald Lauder

Dear Council Members.