Monday, May 12, 2014

Is Jerry Kassar running on empty ?

Another column by the Brooklyn Conservative Party Chairman shows that there is no conservative "there"  –  there


Where to begin, where to begin....  Just take a look at this week’s “Common Sense” column in The Home Reporter  —  what an immature hodge-podge lodge of incompletely stated premises and weakly implied policy conclusions (See “Common Sense: Protecting jobs” by Jerry Kassar, 5/6/14, Home Reporter/ Spectator [http://www.homereporternews.com/news/government/common-sense-protecting-jobs/article_e2e8eb7a-d55e-11e3-abc7-0019bb2963f4.html]).

The title and the first item in Kassar’s column deals with legislative efforts aimed at “Protecting Jobs” –  in the horse carriage industry  –  now, there’s a worthy conservative crusade (So it goes in the world of Marty Golden hackdom ! ). Whether one agrees with Mayor deBlasio’s war on carriage horses, or not, this is a matter properly open to local debate and subject to local control.  However, in the name of saving 300 jobs in the so-called “horse carriage industry,” Kassar, an obviously lost and benighted conservative, is supportive of legislative efforts in Albany to take the issue away from NYC municipal control and make it a matter of state law.  I especially liked how Kassar seems to be endorsing this: “The second bill, introduced by Democratic Assemblymember Gary Pretlow of Mount Vernon, essentially provides the industry with state protections which would significantly reduce the city’s ability to effect any changes.”  Brilliant ! What a conservative !

Next up is Kassar’s testimonial to his boss’s proposal to spend more of our money on a growing “security state”....  Specifically, Kassar is touting “...new legislation that allows for a number of new speed cameras to be operated during school hours around some schools in the city. The Golden amendment would require that any ticket revenue be used strictly for public safety. That could mean more cops and equipment to keep us safe.”  Hmm, more cameras, more revenue, more cops and equipment to keep us safe....; I’m sure it will all work out just like that.

Kassar’s rant against proposed NYC  IDs apparently is inconsistent with conservative security and voter ID proposals across the country. Other than a few vague mentions concerning giving services to “illegals” and/or  how the proposed IDs might be used by terrorists, Kassar doesn’t explain how the NYC ID proposals are different from those advanced by conservative Republicans across the country.

Lastly, can anybody make out what Kassar is talking about when it comes to “The NYPD ... hashtag #myNYPD...” and the blame being on “...the public... not... the NYPD” ?  Kassar is no clearer with his criticisms of and/or compliments to Police Commissioner Bratton.

Taken as a whole, Kassar’s outlook lately has been notably not very conservative. His most recent column shows that as far a conservatism is concerned, it’s now fair to observe that Kassar is running on empty.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hmmm.... Jerry Kassar and Marty Golden, interesting characters. It is convenient timing that Marty Golden is going to be having "Yoga Nights" in the parks on Shore Road for no charge, right around the time when he us up for re-election. Using state funding to better his own chances at winning his upcoming election - shouldn't this be against some types of rule?