From the NY Times:According to a standard set by one prominent New Yorker, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s re-election ought to be dismissed as inconsequential. That standard comes from Mr. Bloomberg himself.
A year ago, he dispatched a couple of his legal whizzes to the City Council, which was holding hearings on his desire to scrap the voter-approved law on term limits so that he could cling to office. The whizzes’ marching orders were to explain to council members why it was perfectly legal to subvert the expressed will of the people — “legal” not being synonymous with “proper.” No real heavy lifting was involved. The fix to change the law was in.
One whiz, Anthony W. Crowell, the mayor’s counselor, went beyond legalisms. He trivialized the two plebiscites in the 1990s that established a two-term limit for major-office holders.
To underline how unimportant the mayor considered them, Mr. Crowell noted that the 586,890 people who formed the majority in a 1996 referendum represented a trifling 17 percent of all registered voters in the city. Others in the Bloomberg administration invoke a different standard. Term limits, they say, had support at the polls from only 1 of every 15 city residents.
O.K., then what is one to make of the 557,059 votes that Mr. Bloomberg received on Tuesday to win his coveted third term? They amount to a mere 13 percent of registered voters. The 1-in-15 standard for all residents also applies.
To use City Hall’s logic in regard to term limits, shouldn’t Mr. Bloomberg’s triumph this week be deemed unconvincing, even suspect?
Obviously, the answer is no. The mayor’s victory may have been rather narrow for a man who spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 to purchase each of his votes. But a win is a win. And the voters must be respected.
If only Mr. Bloomberg and his minions had kept that fundamental point in mind last year. Instead, they dismissed it as an inconvenience.
The issue is quite simple, really. In our democracy, we don’t count those who don’t show up.
Photo from the Daily News
14 comments:
Democracy iz overrated!!!
Give it a rest. He is the mayor for the next 4 four years. Are you going to work for the good of the city or just bitch.
Exposing Bloomberg is working for the good of the city.
Breathlessly promoting his harmful policies without questioning them is harmful to the city.
See, the news media forgot that.
He's now trying to cook the books where the election is concerned!!!!
He received fewer votes than any winning Mayoral candidate in decades. Maybe he should think about that.
Give it a rest. He is the mayor for the next 4 four years. Are you going to work for the good of the city or just bitch.
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Sure, now that we burned down the pesky Reichstag, when do we cross the Rhein?
"Mit De Ghosstep Ve Shall Vin De War"
PS No, as a matter of fact, we shall make his life hell for the next four years.
THAT, good sir, is for the GOOD of the city ... and our souls.
Give it a rest. He is the mayor for the next 4 four years. Are you going to work for the good of the city or just bitch.
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Here is a guy that slept during Civics in High School. Sounds like a hack to me.
Give it a rest. He is the mayor for the next 4 four years. Are you going to work for the good of the city or just bitch.
Let's all just roll over and play dead. Is that what you want, troll? With all of the money he spent and all of the free and paid for media coverage, that motherfucker barely won!!! Do you really expect us to ignore the facts? Crappy, please continue to inform us of the truth that the media somehow overlooks. You should sell ice cream for all of the scoops that you have already served us.
Ok go ahead. You will prove as inconsequential in influencing people as you were in the last election.
I think the Crapper helped hand Halloran and Crowley their victories.
The mayoral race broke down along racial lines, unfortunately.
Ok go ahead. You will prove as inconsequential in influencing people as you were in the last election.
If it weren't for blogs like Queens Crap, I am sure that the mayor would have won by a much higher margin, dwarf troll!
If only Thompson hadn't hired such idiots to run his campaign, he might be mayor today.
That's what you get for paying the Working Families Party to abuse campaign workers. The boss man Nate Smith handed the election to Bloomberg.
note, he reports to no one!
"The issue is quite simple, really. In our democracy, we don’t count those who don’t show up."
Re: the twice-passed term limits: The issue is quite simple, really. In our democracy, we don't count those who do show up.
Re: the twice-passed term limits: The issue is quite simple, really. In our democracy, we don't count those who do show up.
Well put! The best thing about this blog site is that trolls are called out right away!
Oops. I meant to say the Times reporter who sounds like a troll.
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