Thursday, March 19, 2009

A Little Of The Old In And Out



In: Andrew Cuomo. If the President's even-temper was his greatest asset during the dramatic 2008 campaign, it may also become his greatest weakness as populism boils under the seemingly placid surface of a country at present shedding tens of thousands of jobs a month (The Corsair pours himslef a peppery Armagnac). And if Andrew Cuomo's carbolic rage cost him the 2002 Governor's race, it is serving him well in a populist age -- focused, exquisitely, against the corporate class who put us in this mess. From WashPo:

"As President Obama and his administration continue to struggle to find solutions to the brouhaha over bonuses at AIG, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has stepped into the void -- emerging as the voice of the little guy and, in the process, heightening talk that he may well be the Empire State's next governor.

"Cuomo has issued subpoenas to force the release of the names of AIG executives who received bonuses and was the first to detail the 73 AIG employees who received bonuses of $1 million or more.

The 'Cuomo as crusader' idea has begun to catch on with the state and national press -- witness this Associated Press story headlined: "NY's Cuomo wins praise for pursuing AIG on bailout" -- and represents a fascinating twist in a political career that has seen its share of them."


Prediction: "60 Minutes" will do a profile of Andrew Cuomo (done by the charming Leslie Stahl), including the messy divorce, before the end of April. And he will win the next New York Gubernatorial race with a significant number of the African-American political establishment backing him over the not-yet-ready-for-prime-time David Patterson.



(image via washpo)

Out: Chris Dodd. Contrast, if you will, the focused sinister rage -- always on slow boil, always at the ready -- of New York's Attorney General with the slatternly bonhomie of the jocular Chris Dodd, a frat-boyish Falstaffian figure, from a kinder, gentler age of political compromise while getting quietly tanked and hitting on the waitresses at the Gridiron Club dinner (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detahcment). If anyone in the US Senate had a safe seat it was Dodd; if anyone exudes Senatorial privilege it is Senator Chris. It is not known if he has ever known a moment of worry in his charmed existence. His veal-like demeanor suggests decades of unimaginable sloth lubricated by the finest Scotch.

Dodd was so safe that even a quixotic run for President, tapping on the pocketbooks of his buddies from Old Grenwhich, didn't shatter his massive support network within the state. Chris Dodd's naive eccentiricities were funded because he was their fucking boy on the banking committe.

The pendulum swings. From the WSJ:

"The Wall Street Journal's Naftali Bendavid is reporting the following on the 2010 political race between U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd and former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons:

"As Washington wrestles with a once-in-a-generation financial meltdown, Sen. Chris Dodd has as much riding on the outcome as anyone on Capitol Hill.

"As Senate Banking Committee chairman, the Connecticut Democrat will be able to claim credit for new financial regulations the public wants. But he also is a longtime friend of Wall Street, making him a convenient scapegoat if voters sour on the government's handling of the economic crisis.

"Already, a growing anti-industry backlash presages a tough re-election fight for Mr. Dodd next year -- a remarkable development given his popularity in a solidly Democratic state. Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R., Conn.) on Monday said he would challenge the senator in 2010, proclaiming in an interview that 'it's time for a change.'

"With polls showing the men almost tied, there are signs Mr. Dodd may be staking out a newly populist stance, pushing for limits on executive pay over the objections of the White House and rattling markets by musing about nationalizing banks."


We would counsel Dodd to not "stake out" populist positions. It will come across as resolutely synthetic. If there is anything the American working class knows, it is when a stuffed-shirt tries, for the sake of votes, to blend in with the local crowd at the neighborhood bar after work, ordering the Pinot Grigio instead of the domestic suds. Wiping his glass with a napkin before he drinks, revaling an expensive manicure. It's been a good run, Dodd. Time to give someone else a ride. Please desist, Dodd .. desist (AQverted Gaze)!



In: Protectionism. In the first instance of the enforcement of the 2007 Chinese Anti-Consolidation Law. China's labyrinthine Commerce Ministry slapped down Coca-Cola's $2.5 billion bid Wednesday to buy Huiyuan Juice. Is fruit juice a strategic area in which China wishes to protect a national asset? Or is this the first shot across the starboard bough in a global protectionist era? If so, we would rather Hillary Clinton's portfolio as SecState were broadened to include such negotiations with the Chinese than Tim Geithner. No offense, but we'd rather Geithner worked on our economic crisis and left dealing with the mandarins of Beijing to our favorite mandarin of Chappaqua via Hope, Arkansas.



Out: Mark Green, Public Advocate. Why is Mark Green running for public advocate? Hasn't he been-there-done-that? Doesn't he know that building a private business -- Air America Radio -- is a full-time job demanding all of the energies of its President if it is to survive this present economic environment? Granted, President Obama has, it seems, awakened the spirit of public service in the breasts of wealthy New yorkers, like Caroline Kennedy. But -- as in the case of caroline Kennedy -- that political call to activity can be answered in many ways other than direct elected office. From The Observer:

"If Bill de Blasio, Eric Gioia or Norman Siegel is going to win the Democratic primary for public advocate, one or more of them will have to damage Mark Green, probably by bringing up some of the less appealing political chapters in his past. They know this.

"The catch: they're all waiting for someone else to do it.

"'Whether I bring them up or de Blasio or Gioia will' is unclear, said Siegel. 'But somebody will bring it up. So many people have brought it up to me already.'

"The conventional math at this early point in the race is that Green, who was elected two times as public advocate and has run unsuccessfully for many, many other things, is the best-known of the Democratic contenders. In the absence of any controversy that might affect Green's standing, or at least bring some extraordinary attention to this down-ballot contest, many voters will simply vote for the name they recognize. The onus, then, is on Green's opponents to provide reason for them to do otherwise."


Air America radio is a respectable business. And the business world, quite frankly, holds more prestige than a life lived sucking at the government teat. Grow up, Mark Green; embrace the market system. Your party needs you, Mr. green -- in the private sector.





(image of Ione's cacophanous hotness via papermag and wwd)

In: Ione Skye. When last we left the fetching Ione Skye, she had left acting pretty much to become a full-time mother. But she's bacvk in the artistic mix, according to Paper magazine's Editor at Large, Peter Davis:

"My friend Ione Skye showed 16 new oil paintings in L.A. at the Hall Courtyard Brasserie at Palihouse Holloway in an open-air gallery with guests like husband Ben Lee, Rose Byrne, Rufus Sewell, brother Donovan Leitch and Kirsty Hume, Aimee Mann and Tatiana von Furstenberg. Palihouse Holloway is West Hollywood's hippest hotel and a hangout for artists, musicians, actors, writers and fashionable folk. 'The common inspiration in the images I want to paint is to have a sensual, lush feeling,' Skye tells me. 'Or I paint a fantasy I want to live in.'"


Her undeniable hottness notwithstanding, the painting above is marvelous, showing influences of the Impressionists and John Singer Sargent. Good going, Ione; you are as creative as you are beautiful.

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