It officially ended my love-hate affair with Ed Koch.
Koch was my mayor during the nearly four years I lived in New York City. I admired and respected his willingness to stand up for traditional Democratic priorities without subscribing to latter-day Democratic ideology. But, then and ever since, this willingness has led him into grandstanding exercises that ultimately seem to have less to do with the alleged issue at hand, and more to do with promoting the interests of Ed Koch. To my mind, his single most egregious offense was his reflexive, unwavering support for George W. Bush, which he used, in the face of mounting evidence against Bush's policies, to cite as proof that he was "a liberal with sanity" (a favorite self-description).
Sorry, Ed, but you're nothing but a tireless, tiresome self-promoter. Why else would you use Israel as an excuse to promote a Catholic candidate with no political experience over an observant Orthodox Jew who has gone so far as to opposed the planned mosque near Ground Zero? Why, especially, would you do this when you know you're adding a vote to the Republican majority ready to gut the benefits so many voters in the district depend on?
Because it gets everyone talking about you. And, at heart, no politician is ever content to be yesterday's news. Least of all, you.
And right now, Ed, in my book, you are definitely least of all.
UPDATE, 09/16/11: It's not like he doesn't have a history of this, either. And it's not like he's hellbent on proving me wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment