The two “Johns” of whom I write are John Liu and John Sampson. Liu is the NYC comptroller. Sampson is the state senator from Brooklyn’s 19th district. He is also the conference leader of the senate democrats. I want to believe he is actually the senate minority leader but some folks tell me that’s not official.

Anyway, both Liu and Sampson have come in for some serious ragging in mainstream media lately. I want to believe there is more to this than meets the unsuspecting naked eye.

A few columns aback I told you folks that the three major newspapers (Times, Daily News and N.Y. Post) are in the tank for NYC council speaker Christine Quinn: with the objective being to make her the next mayor of this city. They have been trying without subtlety to decimate those they perceive as her main opponents in the 2013 mayoral primary. Thus, over the last few years, they have been taking occasional pot shots at people like Marty Markowitz, Bill DiBlasio, Adolfo Carrion, Scott Stringer and Bill Thompson (don’t forget Anthony Wiener also). It is sad. These forces seem to believe that many aren’t observing all this. They are wrong in that assessment.  read more »

Margaret was a Culture Kitchen blogger for awhile and, while there, was one of our best bloggers. She moved on long ago, and I always missed her presence at CK. But she went on to what she considered bigger and better things. In her 80's she discovered her public voice and I am proud I was one of the people who encouraged and helped her find that voice.

This comes late because I mainly interacted with Margaret Bassett by email. So if I didn't hear from her, I didn't think much about it. But I knew she was over 80. She was a subscriber to my Progressive Democrat Newsletter from the beginning soon after the 2004 election. She had seen me as something of a hope for the future in messaging, something I think she overrated me on, but I was flattered and tried to live up to.

Today I sent out a message to my subscribers that my writing of the Progressive Democrat Newsletter had clearly been on hold for over a month and I wasn't sure if/when it would come back.

One email bounced. It was the first time Margaret's email bounced in all the time she read my stuff. So it caught my attention immediately. It sent a shiver down my spine. So I did a quick google search and discovered what I feared...Margaret had died, back in August, at the age of 89. I cried.  read more »

I kind of feel sorry for people who get tricked by Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Bruno, aka Ali G, aka Borat). Sometimes the victim just didn't deserve the treatment. However, at its best, Cohen's style can really tell you a lot about the target. In fact, those who handle it best impress me. One of my favorites is Andy Rooney (who I don't normally like) on Ali G:

A diary on Daily Kos reminds me that the Bruno persona had his moment with Ron Paul, and Ron Paul did not hold his own as well as Rooney, making me wonder how he would deal with difficult situations as President:

And of course Ali G interviewing The Newt Grinch is pretty amusing, making Newt seem almost reasonable:

A couple months ago I told a few people that Rick Santorum might just win the Iowa caucus. His poll-numbers were around two per cent then. A few of them laughed at me. One cynically asked me if I owned a crystal ball. Another questioned my punditry. Another said I was getting too full of myself. All these comments were similar to those made when I called the Obama caucus-victory four years ago.
I wasn’t kidding about Rick Santorum’s caucus chances. The former two term senator from Pennsylvania is the sleeper in Iowa. I will explain this further in another column (post-caucus). He has run true-blue grassroots campaigns in both Iowa and New Hampshire. He will do better than his poll-numbers suggest.
I know I haven’t written about this race for some time now. At least not since Herman’s wayward cane was exposed for its adulterous self/lol. Now Cain is gone gone gone; and those of us who were perpetually embarrassed by his presence in this race can laugh laugh laugh. Fact is this: Herman Cain was never in the race to win. This was one great big book signing-tour for him. He did that well.  read more »