Demonstrators go after State Senator Golden’s “divisive” and “racist” comments about who’s hooked on opioids

Article in Brooklyn Eagle Reports on how Golden’s remarks were found to bespeak a “reprehensible” and “racist” outlook

 

AFTER HIS BOSS’S SALT-IN-THE WOUND ATTEMPT TO APOLOGIZE  ---  JOHN QUAGLIONE STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE PINCH-HITTING FOR MARTY  ---  AND STRUCK-OUT  ---  HIMSELF

 

Even old Bay Ridge-ites are starting to wonder if Marty Golden and his staff are getting to be too much of an out-of-date embarrassment to the neighborhood

According to a report appearing in print editions of the Brooklyn Eagle starting today  ---  “….   The remark, made by state Sen. Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge-Southwest Brooklyn) to the Brooklyn Eagle in an article published on Jan. 23, has since angered a portion of his constituency….   ‘It’s not a ghetto drug,’ Golden said of opioids. ‘It’s happening to doctors' kids.’…”  (See  “Small but vocal crowd gathers outside Golden’s office to protest ‘ghetto drug’ remark”  by Scott Inman,  1/29/18,  The Brooklyn Eagle   [http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2018/1/29/small-vocal-crowd-gathers-outside-goldens-office-protest-ghetto-drug-remark]).  

 

The Eagle’s reporter,  Scott Inman,  said that this is what happened next:   “….   On Monday afternoon, a group of roughly 20 attendees gathered outside the senator’s Bay Ridge office to condemn the ‘racist comment.’…   The Working Families Party, the Alliance for Quality Education and the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) organized the rally….”  According to Mr. Inman’s report,    on Friday,  Marty Golden  was in Albany during the rally.  

 

Golden earlier had attempted to “apologize” for his comment:   "To anyone who was offended by my choice of words regarding the heroin and opioid crisis facing our state, I sincerely apologize."   

 

The State Senator’s near-sightedness and dated ways of thinking were there for everybody to see  ---  TWICE  ---  once,  in the original gaff;  and then again in Marty Golden’s gaff-like attempt at an apology.   Instead,  of apologizing to everybody,  the State Senator did one of those non-apology-apologies only to  “…  anyone who was offended by my choice of words…”  Obviously,  Golden didn’t see that his so-called apology was equally discriminatory and segregationist to the original bad  “…choice of words…”  (more on this below). 

ANOTHER EPIC FAIL FOR QUAGLIONE

Here’s how Golden’s main flack John Quaglione tried to deal with all of it  ----  "Today, as Senator Marty Golden was in Albany discussing key issues facing New York State, including boosting the economic vitality of the gaming industry, his two Democratic opponents joined a handful of local fringe groups members for a ‘protest’ outside his district office.…   As we enter into an election cycle, uninformed criticism of Senator Golden's efforts to fight against heroin and opioid abuse, secure pivotal funding for local schools and more, is to be expected.”   No acknowledgement of his boss’s gaffs,  no mention of the inherent racism in his boss’s remarks,  and no attempt to factually address any of the issues raised by the demonstrators….. 

THE DEPTHS OF THE PROBLEMS GOLDEN HAS BROUGHT ON HIMSELF

One only needs to look at the final eight paragraphs of the Brooklyn Eagle coverage,  which stands out like an epilogue,  to see the fix that Marty Golden is in.   

This isn’t some Paula Katinas’ pro-Bay Ridge puffer  ---  this is a hard hitting attack on State Senator Golden  ---  and  the fact that it appears in  >>> The Brooklyn Eagle <<<  ,  a solidly pro-Golden local paper,  is not insignificant.  

In some of those eight paragraphs, the article quotes one of the demonstration’s organizers,  Dionna King,  who called out Marty Golden with this:   “….   Golden is conflating being offended by his comments with the need for him to account for his comments….   They are not just something that is harmful to say. It’s not only morally reprehensible to harbor these feelings, he’s a lawmaker and because of that he should be held to a different standard.’…   I think he considers that the most egregious action was the hurting of people’s feelings, and while that’s part of it, what more people are angered by are the ways in which  >>> his feelings  << upset the communities that he is responsible for as a lawmaker….” 

There were additional critical quotes from two of State Senator Golden’s potential opponents in 2018  ---  Andrew Gounardes and Ross Barkan.

However, the most exquisite attacks on Marty Golden’s “devisive” and “racist” remarks came in the video of the demonstrators themselves,  which was linked inside of the Brooklyn Eagle article.