Sept. 14 Open Thread: Nixon’s Not the One

Filed in National, Open Thread by on September 14, 2018

Cynthia Nixon couldn’t overcome that surname. Andrew Cuomo trounced her by 30 points, about the same margin by which Tom Carper defeated Kerri Harris. But her campaign’s effect on the two-term incumbent was the same as Harris’ on Carper:

[I]n losing, Ms. Nixon arguably made as much of a policy impact on New York as some elected officials have: Mr. Cuomo embraced a series of liberal ideas soon after her entry, including moving toward legalizing marijuana, extending voting rights to parolees and brokering a deal to dissolve the Independent Democratic Conference, the group of Democratic state senators who had aligned with Republicans in Albany.

Lots of Paul Manafort news yesterday. First we learned from Crazy Rudy — his arguments are inSANE! — that Manafort’s lawyers and Trump’s lawyers have been sharing information all along, a favorite mob tactic for keeping stories straight. Later came word that a plea deal with Mueller was being finalized, along with warnings that he probably wasn’t cooperating. None of which matters because everyone knows Trump will pardon him any moment now.

Strong bid for Dick of the Week by the Louisiana mayor who tried to ban Nike equipment from city facilities. He has finally backed down in the face of threatened legal action by the ACLU.

If you like your palace intrigue garnished with gossip sauce, you can’t beat Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman, who reports that Trump is going more bonkers than usual as he obsesses about the identity of the turncoat known as Mr. Amonymush.

From the Criminal Cops file: An ex-NYPD detective and seven current cops were arrested and charged with running a prostitution and gambling ring with brothels in Brooklyn and nail salons fronting for bookies. Personally, I’d rather see retired cops as pimps and bookmakers than state legislators.

Say goodbye to the Punch Buggy: Volkswagen announced it’s killing the Beetle after the 2019 model year.

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  1. Dave says:

    It was pitched as a battle between real progressives and the corporate elite (or whatever).

    But isn’t “…the governor’s record of achievements — on gun control, gay marriage, the minimum wage, paid-family leave and more…” a pretty progressive record?

    That’s not a snarky comment, it’s a real question. If I were a conservative, I would label Cuomo pretty far left, not socialist left, but still a good way down the road. Am I am misunderstanding something?

  2. RE Vanella says:

    Cuomo is not “pretty far left.” Conservatives label a lot of things in very lazy and stupid ways. It’s solely self-serving. People buy into it without arguing.

    It’s like the Bloomberg effect. He’s “liberal” because of gun control and gay people? C’mon, it ain’t that complicated. Don’t get sucked into that foolish game.

    It’s like saying Thatcher was liberal because the UK had the National Health Service.

  3. puck says:

    “Conservatives label a lot of things in very lazy and stupid ways.”

    So do liberals. You ain’t woke if you are still asleep on economics.

    That said, I haven’t been paying attention to Cuomo or NY, so I was surprised to read Cuomo had signed the $15 law. I guess he had no choice, with the number of voters living in NYC with the highest cost of living in the nation.

    Cuomo must have feared a progressive wave that would break the corporate hold on the state assembly and threaten Wall Street, so I guess signing $15/hr was an attempt to forestall that.

  4. jason330 says:

    I hadn’t heard of the IDC. What a nightmare NY has been enduring. Congrats to Nixon and all who helped excise that cyst.

  5. RE Vanella says:

    “So do liberals. You ain’t woke if you are still asleep on economics.” 100% accurate.

    Maybe you can rouse Liberal Elite.