How did we miss this one until now?
Check out Aaron Wicks's excellent analysis of this subject at Smugtown Beacon.
It's not a left issue or a right issue. It's anybody with a sense of smell and an honest pen identifying something rotten in Sandy Parker's conduct in the name of the Rochester Business Association.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Smugtown Beacon's Take on RBA Endorsement Fiasco
About Those RBA Endorsements ...
Nice work on the RBA, Philbrick, but you missed a key point.
The RBA is using the same technique as the Democrat and Chronicle in doing endorsements. In every seriously contested race they endorse the Democrat. Then they endorse some Republicans who are unopposed or certain to win; that's their fig leaf to "prove" they're not biased.
The RBA endorsed Sandra Doorley (D) for DA. That's a competitive race and a must-win for Democrats. They also endorsed County Legislators Dick Beebe (D) and Vinny Esposito (D), the most endangered legislators for re-election, with strong opponents.
Now come the RBA's fig leaf endorsements: Maggie Brooks, who's certain to win for County Exec. County Legislators like Dick Yolevich (R), Mike Barker (R), Mike Rockow (R) and Anthony Daniele (R), who have no, or token, opposition.
The RBA can endorse who it wants. They're entitled to an opinion just like we are. But we should call out obvious bias of organizations and newspapers that pretend to be impartial, and expose their tricks to uphold the pretense. Their endorsements are strategically chosen to help Democrats and to provide camouflage to conceal that they're partial, rather than impartial.
Nothing wrong with being partial, either. But a lot's wrong with being partial and insisting you're not.
Not to say the D&C will endorse all the same people as RBA. They'll endorse Sandy Frankel (D) for County Exec, for instance. But basically they'll follow their usual pattern of endorsing competitive Ds and giving fig leaf endorsements to Rs who face no serious contest. Then they can say, "We're not biased. We endorsed people in both parties."
There are exceptions. When a Republican candidate is overwhelmingly qualified and intelligent, and usually when there's something a little underwhelming about the Dem, then sometimes the RBA under its current leadership and the D&C will endorse the R, after agonizing debate, which they'll often reference when making their announcement. An example would be their endorsement of Republican John DiMarco for County Court Judge a few years ago. But these are the exceptions. The basic pattern is clear.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Sandy Parker: OK. So I Lied. So What?
Two weeks ago we told you that the motive behind the Rochester Business Alliance's "Vote, Be Heard" campaign has nothing to do with the City School Board elections, as the RBA has claimed. We noted:
In the City, the Democratic primary is the real election. Mary Anna Towler of City Newspaper nails it when she asks, "If the RBA ... were really pushing for more voter involvement in school board races, why didn't they do this campaign before the Democratic primary ...?"
Yesterday RBA announced that it's not endorsing candidates for City School Board. This even though it claims to have been so concerned about turnout in that election that it organized the "Vote, Be Heard" campaign. Didn't even hold endorsement interviews. Moreover, RBA President and Joe Morelle crony Sandy Parker admits that Mustard Street's take on "Vote, Be Heard" is correct.
Compare Parker's own words, in the Democrat and Chronicle's online story yesterday, to the excerpt of Mustard Street's own piece, above:
"We really had no intention of endorsing," Parker said. "Whoever won that primary, you're looking at the school board. That was a done deal...I don't think any of them felt this was an endorsement process."Someone who so clearly understands the City school board race knows that explaining "Vote, Be Heard" as a means to encourage voting for school board candidates is transparently deceptive.
Sandy Parker blew her cover.
The local Democratic establishment swung into action immediately. The D&C spiked the quote in its print edition, running instead a bland and circumlocutory "clarification" from Parker. By mid-day today it had scrubbed its online story as well. (It's great being part of the Democratic-Media Complex. You get a re-do on quotes to the newspaper!)
The paper also scrubbed from both the print and online stories the line, "The campaign did not kick off until after the primary."
Anticipating this, we got a screen shot of the excerpt of the original story showing the Parker quote.
It also shows that inconvenient line in the original story, that "The campaign did not kick off until after the primary," which followed Parker's quote, "Whoever won the primary, you're looking at the school board. That was a done deal."
Now seeking cover, RBA and its partner in "Vote, Be Heard," the Faith Community Alliance -- another dead giveaway of a liberal purpose -- say in today's sanitized print story that "the campaign aims to increase voter registration and turnout in all races." Which segues away from the stated purpose of "Vote, Be Heard" that Parker's own words revealed as false, but that confirms exactly the true nature of their campaign, as we described in our recent posting.
The purpose of "Vote, Be Heard" is to increase voter registration and turnout -- but only in the City, where it means increasing Democratic turnout in the county-wide races.
Better for Parker and the County Democratic Committee had they gone through the motions of endorsements for School Board candidates. They could have kept hiding behind the "school board" pretext. Before she can be Democratic candidate for Congress, Parker needs more instruction from Joe Morelle in the art of political dissembling.
And people, there's no more certain indicator that "Vote, Be Heard" is organized to help the Democratic county-wide races than this: the total silence of the Democrat and Chronicle and other constituencies of the local Democratic archipelago over "Vote, Be Heard's" offensive graphics showing black children and adults with their mouths taped shut.
Imagine the commotion if the same graphics appeared in a Republican election effort. Or in a campaign by a group unlike the RBA -- one that actually promotes the interests of local business.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Sleeping Watchdog
Democrat and Chronicle editorialists today congratulate Mayor Richards and Police Chief Sheppard for cutting their budgets through steps such as reducing employee cellphone use, leaving vacancies unfilled, reducing travel and similar measures. Good steps to take. Well done, Mayor and Chief.
If Rochester had a quality daily newspaper, the editorial might have asked, "What took City government so long?"
The Mayor and the Chief now have done what most towns in Monroe County, and the County government itself, did years ago and continue to do regularly. The County cut cellphones and cars about the time County Executive Brooks took office, and continued the by then established practice of leaving positions unfilled. Most towns have done the same.
Yet, apparently the D&C, self-proclaimed "watchdog" of the public interest, lay asleep at its dinner bowl at the time.
We don't recall laudatory editorials about the County government or the towns, back when they cut the same costs, praising "needed changes that must become standard in managing taxpayer dollars" in places like the City.
Even more praiseworthy would have been that the County and most towns implemented these savings in budgets that didn't raise tax rates. Whereas the City's budget that draws the paper's praise today increases the homestead tax rate by 2.8% and the non-homestead rate by 1.3%.
A noteworthy disparity in watchdog praise. Explained by the fact that the County and most towns are administered by the party our biased watchdog doesn't much like. They cut phones and cars and staff and don't raise taxes but get no gushing editorials. When the City government finally catches up, and raises taxes while doing it, our watchdog wags its tail.
In an especially amusing touch, the paper praises the Police department for "using creative strategies ... to get around rules" in order to preserve a racially discriminatory hiring program.
Were a Republican County government found to be "using creative strategies to get around rules," our watchdog would be baying for investigation by the attorney general.
A sleeping watchdog, and a mangy one.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Giving Senility a Bad Name
Public nuisance Louise Slaughter calls for "retroactive recusal" of Justice Clarence Thomas from Supreme Court decisions he's joined. She says "We're working on it."
Maybe a judge can recuse himself from a case already decided. But isn't it something the judge has to do himself?
If whatever mysterious "we" Slaughter claims to be working with thinks they can do it themselves, they're saying they can overturn Supreme Court decisions. Short of a constitutional amendment, that's something that can't happen.
It's hard to find reports in the formerly mainstream media about this latest ranting of Slaughter's, made on last night's Keith Olbermann show. Which suggests they recognize this as a symptom of something not good about Slaughter's condition, and are covering up for her.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Of Human Bondage
"Vote, Be Heard" Isn't About the School Board Election
We've noted before the cozy political relationship between Sandra Parker , CEO of the Rochester Business Alliance and Joe Morelle, nominal head of the Monroe County Democratic Committee.
Under Parker's leadership the RBA's main purpose seems to be providing political cover for Morelle and other elected officials of similar ilk: the people upholding state policies that suppress upstate's economy and make life as difficult and expensive as possible for the business owners whose dues pay Parker's salary.
Now comes the RBA's curious "Vote, Be Heard" campaign, complete with offensive and even repellent graphic images of black children and adults in bondage. Its stated purpose is to encourage City residents to vote in the School Board election in November. (We'll reserve discussing whether it makes any difference to the pupil-victims of the City schools just who, or whether anyone at all, gets elected to the Rochester School Board.)
Why worry about turnout in a school board election in which, for practical purposes, the Democratic candidates are unopposed?
Parker & Co. can't imagine that boosting the vote will help Green Party candidates Howard Eagle and Wallace Smith. The opposite is true. The lower the turnout in this election, the better the Greens will do.
"Vote, Be Heard" has nothing to do with the election for school board.
It's Sandy Parker helping out her chum Joe Morelle in the county-wide races. With no race seriously contested in the City, City residents have less incentive to turn out to the polls. In the City, the Democratic primary is the real election. Mary Anna Towler of City Newspaper nails it when she asks, "If the RBA ... were really pushing for more voter involvement in school board races, why didn't they do this campaign before the Democratic primary ...?"
RBA is focusing on the general election in order to produce more Democratic votes in what appears to be for Monroe County Democrats a difficult race to hold the District Attorney's office. If City voters stay home, it hurts Democratic county-wide races for DA and County Court.
Ever the Party loyalist, Sandy Parker deploys RBA once more in the Party's interest. Once more, money from the businesses that finance RBA pays for it all.
Business types can't be this masochistic. Yet, evidently, when it comes to politics they can be this naive, this passive, and even craven enough to pay for the privilege of beng kicked in the gut again and again. The duct-taped people in RBA's "Vote, Be Heard" campaign aren't the only ones in bondage.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
And the Beat Goes On ...
Today the Rochester Police Locust Club, New York State Troopers PBA, and the Monroe County Police Benevolent Association -- the three principal organizations of law enforcement officers -- endorsed Bill Taylor for District Attorney. A clean sweep.
This is becoming an uninteresting race with what's looking more and more like a predictable outcome.
The only suspense is in guessing the nature of the front-page smear against candidate Taylor that Democrat and Chronicle editor Karen Magnuson will be contriving for October.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
No National Implications
Republican Bob Turner has won the seat held by Anthony Weiner in a heavily-Democratic New York City congressional district.
Of course, it was all about local factors and has nothing to do with national issues. Nothing at all.
We can only hope Democrats really believe that as they plan for 2012.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Fun in Irondequoit
Tonight the grand cross-endorsement plan of the two major parties in Irondequoit appears to have been undone by voters. Democrats had nominated GOP Supervisor Mary Joyce D'Aurizio, who's handily winning the Democratic nomination tonight.
For their part, Republicans had nominated Democratic Town Board members Stephanie Aldersley and John Perticone. However, at this hour both appear to be going down to defeat in the Republican primary in Irondequoit, to Republican challengers Robert Nottell and Robert Moore.
All of which seems to leave Supervisor D'Aurizio in a politically awkward spot for the general election. Does she campaign with and for Aldersley and Perticone, whom she supported for the GOP nomination? Or for the GOP nominees?
