GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH - FORMER US PRES DEAD AT 94 (R.I.P.):
BORN - JUNE 12, 1924 (MASSACHUSETTS)
DIED - NOV 30, 2018 (TEXAS)
SERVED AS 43rd VICE-PRES - 1981 to 1989
SERVED AS 41st PRES - 1989 to 1993.
Post Sources: CNN, Wikipedia, Youtube
Congressional leaders announced that an arrival ceremony will be held for Bush on Monday at 5 p.m. ET. The public will then be invited to pay their respects from 7:30 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. Wednesday. The statement said that the Bush family will provide additional details regarding arrangements beyond the ceremony at the Capitol.
Contest after contest has shown Hillary Clinton has the overwhelming support of black voters in the 2016 Democratic primary – but up against Donald Trump, the general election might be a different story.
To be sure, nobody expects Trump or any GOP presidential candidate to win the majority of the black vote, which has been with Democrats since the mid-1930s. Clinton has every reason to believe most black voters sticking with her in the primary against Bernie Sanders would do so in a general election as well.
However, analysts suggest that to consider the black vote a monolith for Clinton in November, should she win the nomination, would be a mistake. The Trump jobs message that has attracted so many disaffected white, blue-collar workers could resonate with black voters equally frustrated by chronic unemployment and unfulfilled promises of change – and Trump’s accelerating march toward the GOP nomination has proven his knack for bringing in voters who might not normally pick a Republican.
“If anything, he knows the economy,” Luz Nelson, a beautician and black South Carolina voter, said days before the front-running Clinton won the state Democratic primary with more than 80 percent of the black vote.
“I’m a New Yorker, too,” Nelson continued. “I know where he’s coming from. Nobody controls Donald Trump.”
If he wants to put any significant portion of the black vote in play, Trump would have to do better than past GOP nominees -- if he indeed is his party’s standard-bearer come November.
Then-Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney got just 6 percent in 2012. John McCain got even less, 4 percent, in 2008 against Barack Obama, who became the country’s first black president. Republican President Gerald Ford won the highest percentage of the black vote in modern history -- 16 percent -- but still lost to Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter.
Influential black political commentator Tavis Smiley recently cautioned Democrats that Trump’s appeal could cross not only party but racial lines.
“If Donald Trump is indeed the Republican nominee, it might be a miscalculation for Democrats to take for granted that black voters are a lock for their nominee, even with [Bill Clinton] and Barack Obama campaigning for her,” Smiley wrote in a USA Today op-ed.
“There is no reason to believe that if he is his party’s nominee, Donald Trump wouldn’t make a serious play for black voters. Who knows how many he might skim? In a close election, it might not take much.”
Clinton has since South Carolina in early February continued winning the black vote in large numbers across the South. She did so again in the Mississippi primary Tuesday night, though Sanders’ upset victory in Michigan all but eclipsed that success.
Meanwhile, she has secured a long list of influential African-American endorsements, from actor Morgan Freeman to civil rights icon Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis, while the front-running Trump appears to be struggling to make grassroots connections.
Online videos appear to show Black Lives Matters activists protesting and disrupting recent rallies, as Trump can be heard in the background of one event telling security to “throw them out.”
And critics say he failed during a recent national TV appearance to unequivocally disavow support from former Klu Klux Klan leader David Duke – though Trump has since disavowed it, and downplayed the controversy.
Democratic and Republican strategists seem to agree, though, that the billionaire businessman Trump – charisma, bravado and all – has at least captured the interest and curiosity of black voters.
“Up until the KKK thing, he had been doing pretty well,” Douglas Smith, a Democratic strategist and partner at Kent Strategies, said Tuesday. “He oozes this appearance that everybody can fly in a gold jet and have a mansion. I think it’s his signature charisma.”
Smith nevertheless suspects Trump will ultimately come up short because he doesn’t have the “deep well of support” with the black community like Clinton has -- built over the course of roughly 40 years of public service.
And he says Trump lacks the ground game and the kind of party support that would coalesce around Clinton or Sanders.
“You just can’t add water,” Smith said.
Republican strategist Rob Burgess thinks some of Trump’s appeal is indeed in policy, specifically his health care proposals.
“I will not let people die on the streets for lack of health care,” he roared in a debate last month.
However, Burgess thinks other black voters believe Trump will indeed boost the economy for American workers and added, “He can sway some black voters … due to his charisma.”
The Trump campaign declined to comment on efforts to connect with black voters.
However, the campaign has occasionally used two black women – the “Stump for Trump Girls’’ -- as a warmup act on the trail and whose performances have become an Internet sensation.
“If we continue to vote left, we are going to get left,” the duo said at Trump’s military veterans fundraiser last month in Iowa. “And when we look at Donald J. Trump, he has us in mind. He wants a secure boarder. He wants to bring jobs back. He wants to make sure our veterans are taken care of. … And that’s why baby we are going to stump for Donald J. Trump.”
The Rev. Issac Holt, senior pastor at the Royal Missionary Baptist Church, in North Charleston, S.C. – who was visited by both the Clinton and Sanders’ campaigns – thinks the wild card for Trump or any other GOP nominee is the energy they are bringing to the race. But they need to get into the communities.
“What’s missing is the enthusiasm,” he said. “In South Carolina, they didn’t even seek the Black vote, in my opinion.”
Mayor Kasim Reed is unable to run for a third consecutive term, so the field is wide open. These potential candidates are making moves that are creating a bit of buzz:
• Ceasar Mitchell: The current Atlanta council president hasn’t formally declared, but has long been seen as a front-runner in the 2017 race. A long-established political action committee for Mitchell shows no signs of slowing, either, with an upcoming fundraiser in his honor.
• Kwanza Hall: The Atlanta councilman hasn’t officially filed to run, but says he’s formed an exploratory committee to seriously consider a bid. Hall has also stepped up the number of public appearances with Mayor Kasim Reed in recent months.
• Margaret Kaiser: The state representative announced a desire to run earlier this year, following Woolard’s announcement, and repeated recently that she’s still interested in the seat. But for now, Kaiser said she’s focused on her state district.
• Peter Aman: The former Reed deputy and Bain & Co. partner has been quietly making the rounds across the city to chat with insiders about a potential run. He also moved into city limits in recent years, a clear sign of intent. This week, Aman said he’s “seriously considering” a bid. His most public move yet? Joining Twitter.
• Robb Pitts: The former Fulton commissioner and Atlanta councilman may not be done with politics. A spokeswoman for Pitts, who narrowly lost his bid for Fulton chairman in 2014, said he’s considering a run for mayor in 2017. Pitts ran for mayor in 2001 and lost to Franklin.
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx(a Black Democrat) Publicly Endorses North Carolina's Decision To Use Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Holiday As A Public School Snow Make-Up Day!
In Case You Weren't Aware 2011 Is An Re-election Year For Foxx.
He's Probably Trying To Win Back His Displeased White Voters.
Obviously A Move Straight Out of Pres. Obama's 2012 Centrist Political Playbook
Or....
Since its No Secret Anthony Foxx Is Extremely Partisan, Is It Possible He's Taking This Stance Due To Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Political Affiliation?
Never Thought I'd See The Day When A Black Politician Throws Dr. King Under The Bus!
Disgraceful!!
Were It Not For Courageous, Well-Educated Black Men Like Dr. King, Black Men Like Anthony Foxx Would Never Have Been Afforded The Opportunity To Become Mayors Of Metropolitan Cities.
I Expected Pres. Barack Obama To Throw Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Under The Bus Because Obama Has Never Understood The Black American Struggle.
However Anthony Foxx Whose Ancestors Were Southerners, Former Slaves & Native American Indians, Should Most Certainly Know Better!
Where's YOUR Courage, Gratitude & Respect Mayor Foxx??
Mayor Anthony Foxx called it regrettable that Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday will be used as a snow make-up day for Charlotte-Mecklenburg students, but said students should be in class.
“But given the challenges so many young people are facing,” Foxx said Saturday morning, “it’s hard for me to make the argument that if class is in session they shouldn’t go.”
Foxx spoke briefly to reporters following a wreath-laying ceremony at the statue of King in Marshall Park uptown.
During the ceremony, Foxx urged Charlotteans to use Monday as a time “to reflect on our children and what kind of future we as a community want for them.”
Governor Bev Perdue says it is a local decision to open schools as a make-up day or keep them closed on the holiday set aside to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Speaking in Charlotte, where schools will be kept open Monday, the Perdue said, "It is my hope that we can all honor the Martin Luther King Day holiday."
She also said it is not a decision that should be made by state government.
The Reverend Kojo Nantambu, who is the head of the local chapter of the NAACP, called on parents to keep students home on Monday saying it is the only holiday set aside to honor an African-American.
"We do not want to miss an opportunity for our children to experience that or to celebrate that," said Nantambu, "I think it is unfair."
Eric Davis the chairman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board said students would spend part of the day Monday learning about the history and importance of what Dr. King did for the country.
"We will honor him by educating students," said Davis.
Parents dropping off their children at Elizabeth Traditional Elementary in Charlotte had differing opinions of the decision to keep schools open.
"I think it would take away some of what it represents," said Latasha Harris. Harris said she had not yet decided if she would keep her child home.
“I think that it is fine," said Roger Stowe.
"I think the spirit of Martin Luther King should rest in your heart,” Stowe said. “You should really celebrate him wherever you are."
Put yourself in the shoes of Michael Murray, the associate superintendent of a small school district in the North Carolina foothills.
He has to provide 180 days of education for his 6,000 students by June 10. This past week of unusually brutal ice and snow in the South put the district behind schedule, and he suspects that more snow days are coming.
By state law, the only holiday he cannot cancel is Veterans Day. His solution? Make children go to school on Monday, the day when most of the nation’s schools are closed to observe Martin Luther King’s Birthday.
In the South, where establishing an official holiday for Dr. King was long in coming, that kind of move can be particularly controversial. But administrators in a handful of districts in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina say they have no choice.
That is not going over well with some parents and politicians.
“It always seems like Martin Luther King day is the first one they are willing to give up,” said Dot Scott, president of the Charleston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton have also weighed in. “We’re urging people to keep their kids home,” Mr. Sharpton said. “It’s un-American not to observe the holiday.”
In South Carolina, the 17,400 students in the Rock Hill School District, 20 miles south of Charlotte, N.C., will be in school on Monday. Making up for snow days will also put them in school on Presidents’ Day and Memorial Day.
“There’s no intention on our part to dishonor Martin Luther King in any way,” said a district spokeswoman, Elaine Baker. She said that even black families had contacted the district to support the move and that Dr. King would not have had a problem with students learning on his holiday.
That is not good enough for State Representative John R. King, whose district includes Rock Hill.
“The amount of snow has nothing to do with it; this is a state holiday,” he said. “I think it’s blatant. I think it’s disrespectful. As the only African-American legislator in my area, it’s a slap in my face and in the faces of people who look like me.”
The move has Mr. King so concerned that he plans to introduce a bill next week that would require the entire state to close schools on the King holiday.
In North Carolina and South Carolina in particular, the holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has long been a sensitive topic. Senators John P. East and Jesse Helms, North Carolina Republicans, provided stiff opposition in a battle to have the day declared a national holiday, which Congress did through legislation that President Ronald Reagan signed in 1983. At the time, only 27 states and Washington observed it as a holiday.
South Carolina became the last state to do so, in 2000, the same year the Legislature voted to remove the familiar Confederate battle flag that flew atop the Statehouse. The state now flies a smaller version of the battle flag in front of the Statehouse, and it will be the target of a rally on the King holiday.
But school administrators are pleading for mercy. Students can have excused absences that day, if they like. In some schools, the curriculum will be based on Dr. King’s story and the history of civil rights.
Mr. Murray, of the McDowell County public schools in North Carolina, said that other holidays were likely to become school days before the year is out.
And he has one more piece of bad news for students: they have to go to school this Saturday, too.
The NAACP held a press conference Friday morning, protesting the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ decision to have classes on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Chapter president Kojo Nantambu said the decision to use the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as a snow make-up day is disrespectful to the memory of Dr. King.
Nantambu called for a protest at the Government Center on Monday at 10 a.m. and urged parents to keep their children out of school and bring them to the protest.
He said after the protest, the children will be taken to the Levine Museum of the South and to the Harvey Gantt Center where they would learn about the legacy of Dr. King.
“We are appalled that of all the days they would choose – that the Board of Education of Charlotte-Mecklenburg would choose to use the Martin Luther King birthday as a make-up day for snow, “ Nantambu said.
On Thursday, CMS board chairman Eric Davis said there will be special programs in the schools on Monday to let students learn more about Dr. King.
The calendar of make-up days was written two years ago and the board recently agreed that in 2012, no matter what, Martin Luther King Jr. Day would not be used as a make-up day.
For how long have the Democrats garnered the black vote? Certainly there was a point during the last century when a majority of blacks started supporting the Democrats rather than Republicans.
What has been the voting pattern and what happened to change that pattern?
Answer:
There was a big move to Democratic voting in Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, and another in Lyndon B. Johnson's.
Blacks mostly voted Republican from after the Civil War and through the early part of the 20th century. That's not surprising when one considers that Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president, and the white, segregationist politicians who governed Southern states in those days were Democrats.
The Democratic Party didn't welcome blacks then, and it wasn't until 1924 that blacks were even permitted to attend Democratic conventions in any official capacity. Most blacks lived in the South, where they were mostly prevented from voting at all.
Come Jan. 1, Mecklenburg County will have its first new district attorney since Peter Gilchrist took the job in 1975. He has been re-elected eight times since then without facing an opponent.
Two candidates, Republican Andrew Murray and Democrat Michael Barnes, are both campaigning with a "get tough and lock 'em up" theme, although they tout some different proposals for precisely how they'd do that. Though we understand that campaigning requires rhetoric, we wish we had also heard more about the need for justice, which sometimes means prison and sometimes doesn't. But such is politics.
Barnes is the City Council member from District 4 in northeast Charlotte. Elected in 2005, he has been a good representative - attentive to his district, a quick study on issues and displaying a welcome independent streak. Although he has done some criminal legal work in his small law practice, most of his work in recent years has been civil law.
He's pitching the idea of instituting "Community Prosecution" in the DA's office - assigning Prosecutors to work with specific police districts.
He's also a strong advocate for finding money for more up-to-date technology for the office and says he could use his relationships with the City Council and N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue's office to win more money for the DA. Most everyone agrees on the need for better technology and more funds. But what's far less clear is whether Barnes would do any better than Gilchrist has or Murray would on that score, especially as state government reels from revenue shortfalls.
We like Barnes' energy, independent streak and recognition that, yes, political skills are a good tool for winning support for the DA's office from elected officials and from the public.
But we think Andrew Murray is the better choice. Murray is smart and well-respected and has a key advantage: He has worked four years as an assistant district attorney and 14 years since then as a criminal lawyer at a local firm, where he is managing partner.
Murray has spent 29 years in the Coast Guard and is a commander in the Reserves, where he leads a 250 reserve-member unit. In fact, he lost weeks of campaign time last summer when he was called to duty on the Gulf Coast to work on cleanup efforts from the BP oil spill.
In a perfect world, the next district attorney would have a lot on his or her resume: unassailable integrity, proven expertise in criminal practice, experience managing a large staff, political savvy to reassure voters that criminals won't go free and strong working relationships with police, judges and local and state officials. Neither candidate brings that perfect resume.
The Mecklenburg DA, heading a staff of 140, needs strong administrative skills for hiring and firing, mentoring and managing some 80 assistant district attorneys, many just starting their legal careers. And while the next DA won't be spending most of his time in courtrooms, in order to run the office well and make the best use of the staff, he should have more criminal law experience than Barnes has.
Murray's experience gives him an advantage in understanding the needs and challenges of the criminal justice system. He has made clear that while he admires Gilchrist, he won't be a clone. Like Barnes, he has good ideas for reorganizing some of the DA's operations to work more efficiently with the police and the courts, such as using the habitual offender tool more effectively to get repeat offenders off the streets.
We recommend Andrew Murray for Charlotte-Mecklenburg district attorney.
Now, I’ve been to innumerable “Truther” rallies over the last 8 years, and can say with some confidence that about 98% of folks who think 9/11 was a hoax are left-wingers, or at the very least fit in very comfortably in the left-wing milieu, since the impetus behind Truthism is to undermine the basis for Bush’s “War on Terror,” an impetus which is also a cornerstone of modern Leftist thought as well.
So far, however, I’ve noticed a deafening quietude on the left-leaning blogs about this guy’s affiliations and belief systems. Those brave enough to troll leftist comments sections have noted mumblings therein that the guy was probably a secret “teabagger,” despite all evidence to the contrary.
Compare this to the response in the leftosphere when Joseph Stack flew his plane into an Austin, TX IRS building a couple weeks earlier. Despite leaving a suicide note that approvingly cited Karl Marx and that condemned capitalism as nothing but “greed,” he was pilloried by every left-leaning site as a right-wing hitman who epitomized the inherent violence of the Tea Party movement — because he had anti-government feelings.
Now, just for a moment, let’s set aside the false guilt-by-association game everyone’s always playing. We all know that John Patrick Bedell and Joseph Stack are basically insane, plain and simple — as are any number of similar whackjobs who periodically go loco and erupt into violence.
Violent psychopaths often incorporate some seemingly random overarching theme into their mindset, and on occasion that theme involves politics. Whenever someone like Bedell or Stack goes ballistic, every pundit jumps into the fray and tries to spin the outburst as “exemplifying” the political viewpoint of those with whom the pundit disagrees.
But that only rises to the level of a valid argument when a distinct pattern emerges. If, say, 5,000 suicide bombers in a row are invariably Islamic fundamentalists — well, OK, we’ve got a problem with the belief system, not just with the individuals.
Yet I don’t see a pattern in these “going postal” violent outbursts which seem to happen perhaps three or four times per year, every year, no matter who’s in power or who’s president: it seems that the “philosophy” (if you can even call it that) of each of the attackers is unique, idiosyncratic and just plain illogical.
Even so, if he starts shooting or killing when a Republican is president, he is deemed a left-wing psycho (see: Charles Manson); if he starts shooting or killing when a Democrat is president, he is deemed a right-wing psycho (see: Joseph Stack). But the truth is, paranoid people simply feel threatened by the external power structure in general, so they lash out at any symbol of authority, regardless of its political affiliation.
So, instead of playing the blame game so unapologetically employed by the Left when they feel they can spin things to their political advantage, I’m not going to say that Bedell’s actions at the Pentagon epitomize the leftist worldview. Rather, he was just crazy, as clearly indicated by his belief in the craziest of modern crazy conspiracy theories, 9/11 Truthism.
Are most Truthers leftists? Yes. But that doesn’t mean that all left-leaning Americans are thereby just as crazy as the most extreme among them; it simply indicates that when a leftist goes crazy in the post-9/11 era, he often gloms onto Truthism as his paranoia of choice.
Put it this way: Leftism fails as a coherent philosophy on its own terms. We shouldn’t try to wring significance from the delusional outburst of someone who just happened to be leftist. There are plenty of ways to logically disembowel Marxism and its numerous noxious contemporary offspring without having to resort to an unnecessary round of political “gotcha!”
UPDATE:
To my utter amazement, some left-leaning blogs and top MSM outlets this morning somehow managed to brand Bedell as a “right-wing extremist” anyway, despite the ever-growing pile of evidence contradicting this tired old narrative.
Michelle Malkin uncovered a key inconvenient fact which doesn’t quite fit this predictable “right-wing extremist” narrative — that Bedell was a Registered Democrat.
Patterico has now posted a full transcript of one of Bedell’s internet rants — the same one cited by Talking Points Memo as evidence of his right-wing leanings — which has Bedell uncorking phrases like “economic justice” and paragraphs like (writing in 2006 during the Bush presidency) “This organization, like so many murderous governments throughout history, would see the sacrifice of thousands of its citizens in an event such as the September 11th attacks, as a small cost in order to perpetuate its barbaric control.
This collection of gangsters would find it in their interests to foment conflict and initiate wars throughout the world in order to divert attention from their misconduct and criminality. The true nature of such a regime would find its clearest expression in Satanic violence currently ongoing in Iraq.” and anti-war conspiracy theories like “The political and military disasters such as the wars in Vietnam and Iraq that an illegitimate coup regime uses against the people…”.
Ooops!
Add all that to the previous discovery already linked above that Bedell’s Amazon “Wish List” featured the the left-wing conspiracy-theory books The Immaculate Deception: The Bush Crime Family and Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America.
Ooops!
And more evidence is being uncovered by diligent Bloggers with every passing hour.
I post all this not to backtrack on my original wish to avoid the blame game, but to defuse the blame-the-right game now coming from the other side.
Tell me, Christian Science Monitor and Talking Points Memo (and the innumerable left-leaning sites which by now have surely followed in their wake): How many Tea Partiers or Conservatives:
- Think 9/11 was perpetrated not by Muslims but by Republicans?
- Grow and smoke marijuana?
- Read left-wing anti-Bush books?
- Are anti-war?
- Talk about “economic justice”?
- Think the Vietnam War and the Iraq War were not merely mistakes but were part of a government conspiracy?
Exactly as I had surmised, Bedell seems to be a nutcase who overwhelmingly tends to lean left but with a sprinkling of libertarian attitudes thrown in just to spice things up — and it is those exact libertarian sprinklings which the leftist mediasphere is focusing on, while completely ignoring the much larger pile of evidence on the other side of the scale.
Bedell may have been a left-wing conspiracy kook, but much more importantly: He was insane, and it was his insanity (not his politics) which led him to start shooting at the Pentagon.
Unfortunately, I can see now that the blame game is already in full swing and I am powerless to stop it, but at least I can say I tried.
UPDATE II:
Exactly as I had stated in my original post, we now know that Bedell was clinically insane:
The man who opened fire in front of the Pentagon had a history of mental illness and had become so erratic that his parents reached out to local authorities weeks ago and warned them that their son was unstable and might have a gun, authorities said Friday. … San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill told The Associated Press that Bedell, 36, had been at in-patient mental health institutions at least four times. Court records showed he was diagnosed as bipolar, or manic depressive. … The family put out a statement Friday saying they were “devastated as a family by the news from yesterday.” “We may never know why he made this terrible decision,” it said. “One thing is clear though — his actions were caused by an illness and not a defective character.”
A completely crazy person goes berserk. That’s it. Can we for once not make this into a political boxing match?
Seems to me that Bedell falls into the Alex Jones / Libertarian extremist camp. Contrary to what [some Web sites] are promoting, I know from first hand experience that these types of “truthers” are ubiquitous at all International ANSWER sponsored anti-war demonstrations, but I have not seen any of them at the handful of “tea parties” I’ve attended.
You can call them “Right-Wing” if you like, but they are definitely not Conservative. Actually, they are the exact opposite of Conservative, they are radicals – and nuts. They’re anti-military, anti-war, anti-Bush, conspiracy kooks who often stink of marijuana.
If a group like this bunch Alex Jones supporters were to show up at any “tea party” I’ve been to, I suspect they’d be run out, or at the very least booed and heckled. At anti-war demonstrations these very same people are welcomed with open arms. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see followers of “Libertarian” Alex Jones and members of the Maoist group, The World Can’t Wait, marching together carrying the same “9/11 truth” banner.
Bedell may not have been a Leftist, but he was most certainly not a Conservative either. And he was NOT a Republican!
Promising to "listen and lead," Mayor Bloomberg on Friday took the oath of office for his third term, alongside two new citywide leaders who promised to challenge him.
"This term is a special opportunity, one that comes with extraordinary responsibilities," said Bloomberg, 67, who upended city law and spent more than $102 million to win office again.
Twelve hours and 53 minutes after his second term ended at midnight, the mayor raised his right hand as his daughters, Emma and Georgina, held a 100-year-old family Bible.
He was sworn in by state Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman.
Bloomberg was the third official to take the oath on the City Hall steps after John Liu, a two-term Queens councilman who became the new City Controller, and Bill de Blasio, who became the new public advocate after eight years as a Brooklyn councilman.
Liu, the first Asian-American ever to be sworn in for a citywide office, received a standing ovation after taking his oath with a wild grin of victory. He was surrounded by his wife, his 8-year-old son Joey and his parents, Jamy and Joseph, who brought Liu and his brothers to Queens as young boys from their native Taiwan.
In a seven-minute speech, he cast his historic election with last year's inauguration of Preident Obama and appointment of Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
"These are the groundbreaking milestones for a country built by immigrants, prospering from labor, and empowered by its people," Liu said. "I am humbled to be a part of this wave of change."
At the conclusion of his speech, he thanked his parents and boasted that he "proudly" wears the lable "made in Taiwan."
Both de Blasio and Liu have promised to be aggressive watchdogs of Bloomberg and his policies - and both are widely seen as possible contenders to run for mayor in 2013.
That could create more tension for the mayor's agenda than in the past - especially since a newly restive City Council, seeing weakness in Bloomberg's 4.4-point victory margin, may seek to pounce.
De Blasio, standing with his wife Chirlane and children Chiara and Dante, was sworn in by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan and Brooklyn).
He used his inaugural speech to implicitly challenge Bloomberg to make the city more affordable for the middle class, show more compassion to the homeless and listen to angry parents of public school students.
"I commend the Mayor for his dedication to improving our education system," de Blasio said in a seven-minute speech. "But I am convinced we can continue to do better if we involve the parents of this city more fully."
In a nod to parent frustration that school changes under Bloomberg have been implemented over their objections, he added that "we must welcome \[parent\] voices in the schools that define their children's possibilities:
Liu offered a congratulations to Bloomberg on his third term, then vowed to keep Bloomberg honest by examining development deals, rooting out fraud and scrutinizing "no-bid contracts whose justifications are weak at best."
Bloomberg, who dropped his Republican voter registration in 2007 boasted that he was the first independent ever to take the mayoral oath.
He did not directly address any criticism in his 14-minute speech but told thousands of spectators in City Hall plaza that his job was "to listen and to lead" for four more years.
"No matter where you live and work, no matter what your race or roots, no matter who you love or who you worship or who you voted for, I pledge to be your mayor," he said.
"And I will not stop working for you - I will not rest - until every job seeker finds work, every high school student graduates, every child is safe from illegal guns, every family has an affordable home, and every New Yorker with a dream finds it within reach."
He promised to continue to fight in Washington for tougher Gun Laws and more Liberal Immigration policies while committing to push locally for laws and policies to help Entreprenuers start Small Businesses.
"I've been there. I know how tough it is," said Bloomberg, who made his billions by starting the Bloomberg LP financial information service. "Government can do more and we will do more."
Bloomberg's only specific commitment in the speech was to shuffle top deputies at each city agency to another agency for three weeks, to improve communication, look for innovations and breakdown "bureacratic barriers."
"Conventional wisdom holds that a third term, mayors always run out of energy and ideas," he said. "But we've proved the conventional wisdom wrong time and time again, and I promise you, we will do it one more time."
Bloomberg's mother, Charlotte, who turns 101 Saturday, did not make the trip to New York, but the mayor plans to visit her at her Boston-area home for her birthday.
The mayor began his day at Park Slope Christian Help, a Brooklyn soup kitchen, where he helped prepare New Year's Day meals for 150 people before taking an R train to City Hall.
He wore a black turtleneck sweater emblazoned with an "I love NYC" logo, and was joined by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson.
When Sister Betty Schroeder blessed Bloomberg and his new term, he replied, "It would be perfect if John Sampson delivered all the state's money to us."
Charlotte Observer, This Old State---- Gov. Bev Perdue has appointed Eric Levinson to the Superior Court bench in Mecklenburg County. It's an interesting appointment because Perdue is a Democrat and Levinson is a Republican who has served before as a judge prior to going to Afghanistan two years ago for the Bush Administration Justice Department to help introduce a new civil justice system there and to consult on justice issues in Iraq.
N.C. judicial races, of course, are nonpartison now. Levinson was widely regarded as a highly capable, effective judge when he served on the N.C. Court of Appeals and as a district judge in Mecklenburg. He ran unsuccessfully for the N.C. Supreme Court in 2006. Here's Perdue's announcement:
RALEIGH - Gov. Bev Perdue today appointed Eric L. Levinson to the seat of Resident Superior Court judge for Mecklenburg County. Levinson will fill the vacancy created by Judge David S. Cayer’s resignation to serve as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of North Carolina.
"Judge Levinson's broad judicial background will allow him to immediately step in and begin serving the community," Perdue said. "I appreciate his continued commitment to the law and his willingness to serve North Carolina."
He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and his law degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Law.
Welcome to the BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ Blog. (Established 2008)
My name is Laurel. (Author & Publisher)
I Blog with a focus on POLITICS, Business, and occasionally Entertainment.
FACTS ABOUT LAUREL:
Wife,
Mother of a U.S. Soldier,
Sister,
Woman of GOD,
Loyal Friend,
Creative,
Blood-related to a nationally known Charlotte Politician.
Black Female, Intelligent,
Married,
Love to Travel,
Credentialed by the RNC and DNC.
Political Blogger/ Commentator
Grassroots Activist,
PROFESSIONAL STATUS:
Credential Political Blogger/ Commentator,
Registered Independent Voter
Original Native of BROOKLYN, NY
Currently reside in CHARLOTTE, NC
I’m Nice but don’t get it twisted because my Mind is Sharp!
Since You’ve Chosen to Visit and Read the Contents of this Blog by Personal Choice, and of Your Own Free Will,
Please don’t ask me to Compensate you for Expressing individual commentary/ Posted Articles, which are protected by the First Amendment, citing Freedom of Speech & Freedom of Expression.
No Intentionally Malicious Slander, Libel or Defamation of Character content will be published and I will always Credit all Sources.
NOTE TO ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS, APPOINTED OFFICIALS & PUBLIC FIGURES:
Per the Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case: 1964 case of New York Times v. Sullivan………
The Public has a Right to Criticize the People who Govern them, so the least Protection from Defamation is given to Public Officials. When officials are accused of something that involves their behavior in office, they have to prove all of the above elements of defamation and they must also prove that the defendant acted with “actual malice.” (For a definition of actual malice, see the “History of Defamation and the First Amendment, below.”)
People who aren’t Elected but who are Still Public Figures because they are influential or famous — like Actors, Actresses, Movie Stars, Singers & Entertainers, Journalists, TV Hosts, Bloggers, etc., — also have to Prove that Defamatory statements were made with Actual Malice, in most cases.
To the Associated Press and other Media Organizations:
When I use your Content Links., I’m also citing the Fair Use Doctrine (Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107) for further Copyright permission.
Posts and Links published on Black Political Buzz are not endorsed by Black Political Buzz Blog Author Laurel’s Employer, nor the Employers of other Black Political Buzz employees.
This includes Links, Posts and Comments posted on Black Political Buzz’s Facebook and Twitter account pages.
Comments, Links and Opinions of site visitors are Independently-Owned and not endorsed by Black Political Buzz employees, Blog Author Laurel or Laurel’s Employer.)
(No Personal Offense intended) Please know that Black Political Buzz is not responsible for nor do I endorse Requests for Donations from Third Parties on this Blog.
I will Only Endorse Requests for Donations made on behalf of BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ Blog for Business Purposes & Operating Expenses.
I will also Only Endorse Requests for Donations on behalf of Legitimate Politicians and Legitimate Political Candidates. PERIOD!!
If anyone else or another Organization wishes to post a link to Request Donations, I am NOT endorsing ANY of those Requests!
Unless I receive a personal Request to do so and I have Professionally Confirmed that the Third Party Organization or Charity is indeed a Legitimate Entity.
NOTE: Anyone who chooses to give to any Third Party Organization NOT Endorsed by BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ is doing so at his or her own risk.
BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ does NOT Discriminate against Politicians, Political Candidates, Organizations or Charities based on Race, Color, Nationality, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Religion, Faith, Disability, Political Affiliation, Creed, Education, Social Status, Age.
This disclaimer applies to ANY and All requests for Donations on this Blog. Thanks for understanding. Again No Personal Offense intended.
For Story Tips….Corrections…….. or Requests for Endorsements:
Please contact me via e-mail: blackpoliticalbuzz@gmail.com
or via my Facebook page: facebook.com/blackpoliticalbuzz
Thanks for stopping by
God Bless
Laurel @BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ
LINKS: POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE & INFORMATIONAL SITES
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