UPSTATE REPORT — AS OF MID-WEEK LAST WEEK, STATE SENATOR MARTIN GOLDEN WAS PART OF TIGHT SHELL THAT STOOD STRONG AROUND “MEAN DEAN” SKELOS — AT THE TIME, WHY DIDN’T WE GET THAT NEWS BACK IN BROOKLYN ?
MARTY IS NOISY UP IN ALBANY AND TIGHT-LIPPED BACK HOME — WAS IT MARTY’S PRE-KNAPP “BLUE WALL” UPBRINGING ? — OR IS IT A SPECIAL GOP STATE SENATE LEADERSHIP “FIGHT CLUB” KINDA DEAL ?
Despite some more recent noise in Newsday that the GOP State Senate Conference is almost unanimous in wanting Majority Leader Deal Skelos to step down from that post ( See “Sources: GOP 'nearly unanimous' that Dean Skelos must resign as Senate Majority leader” by Michael Ghormley & Yancey Roy, 5/8/15, Newsday [http://www.newsday.com/news/region-state/sources-gop-nearly-unanimous-that-skelos-must-step-aside-as-senate-leader-1.10412404]) — that doesn’t quite tell how things went and/or are now going down inside the GOP State Senate Conference.
According to a well regarded upstate news source, “The Auburn Citizen,” which was forwarded to me from one of my most loyal BSIs, “... [d]espite growing calls for him to step down, some Republicans continue to support embattled New York State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.... In a statement late Wednesday night, 16 senators — 15 Republicans and one Democrat who caucuses with the GOP — reaffirmed their support for Skelos, who was arrested Monday on federal corruption charges....” (See “16 senators, including [ Marty Golden and Simcha Felder*] reiterate support for NY Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos” by Robert Harding, 5/8/15, The Auburn Citizen/ auburnpub.com
[http://auburnpub.com/blogs/eye_on_ny/senators-including-nozzolio-and-seward-reiterate-support-for-ny-senate/article_e83f960a-f466-11e4-9531-3b0f743df3c5.html] [* Please note: The names of “Marty Golden” and “Simcha Felder” were substituted for the names “Nozzolio and Seward” in order to give this comment more of a Brooklyn flavor....]). Here was the statement subscribed by these sixteen benighted souls:: "We strongly believe that Senator Dean Skelos should remain on as majority leader of the New York State Senate," the senators said. "He has the leadership we need to move the Senate forward so that we can continue to do the people's work and finish out this year's session in a productive manner."
EVEN ON WEDNESDAY THE NUMBERS WERE BAD FOR “MEAN DEAN” — OBVIOUSLY, THEY MUST BE WORSE NOW
Here is the list of NYS Senators who issued the joint statement in support of Skelos: Phil Boyle; Tom Croci; Hugh Farley; Simcha Felder ( a Democrat who caucuses with the Republicans); John Flanagan; Martin Golden; Kemp Hannon; Bill Larkin; Kenneth LaValle; . Tom Libous; Carl Marcellino; Jack Martins; Michael Nozzolio; Jim Seward; Michael Venditto; and Cathy Young. For those who are mathematically challenged, that is [was on Wednesday] a bare majority of the GOP State Senate Conference.Here is the list of Republican State Senators who didn't add their names to the statement: George Amedore; . John Bonacic; John DeFrancisco; Rich Funke; Patrick Gallivan; Joe Griffo; Andrew Lanza; Betty Little; Terrence Murphy; Tom O'Mara; Robert Ortt; Michael Ranzenhofer; Patty Ritchie; Joe Robach; and Sue Serino.
According to Newsday [cited above], “In the closed-door meeting set for Monday, Skelos could offer his resignation and a new majority leader could be chosen before the full Senate reconvenes in the chamber. That would avoid another nasty floor fight with Democrats and a potential rare public split among Senate Republicans.... ‘Keeping this as a force together, that is the most important thing going forward,’ one Republican said.” — That fool couldn’t possibly have been serious, could they ?
For another take on all this, late on Friday, Rick Karlin of the Albany Times-Union wrote this: “With the future of embattled Senate Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos still unresolved, Democrats plan to try again to oust him during a floor vote on Monday. *** Reports emerged on Friday suggesting Skelos might resign his seat and leave the Senate. *** Were that to happen, the chamber could inch toward a deadlock between Democrats and Republicans.... If Skelos exits, it will set up what has become an upstate-downstate competition for the job of Republican majority leader....” (See “Skelos-Senate leadership drama continues – Possibility of Skelos resignation sets off upstate-downstate leadership bid” by Rick Karlin, Albany Times-Union/ timesunion.com [http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Skelos-Senate-leadership-drama-continues-6252585.php]).
Karlin also noted the following: “Mainstream Democrats appear united in efforts to force Skelos from his leadership post. *** Democratic Sen. Daniel Squadron tried to force a vote on Skelos earlier this week but failed to submit his request 24 hours ahead of time, as required. *** On Friday, Squadron put in a request for a vote on the Senate floor....”
WHERE DOES MARTY GOLDEN STAND ON HIS INDICTED LEADER DEAN SKELOS’ HOLDING ONTO HIS LEADERSHIP PAST MONDAY ? — NOW, OVER THE WEEKEND
Whose interests and sensibilities are prime in Marty Golden’s mind at this time ?Some say it’s all the result of a “hang together or else hang separately” mentality that SSMG developed as a young vice cop, sort of a “Blue Wall” thing. Some say it’s a completely different sort of “Fight Club” mentality that some “insider” GOP State Senators in the Skelos leadership team seem to display.
Maybe, it's something completely different, sort of like a Monty Python skit....
6 comments:
UPDATE: THE “MEDIA BLITZ” EDITION
IT JUST MIGHT BE THIS ONE WON’T BE YOUR CUP OF TEA — ESPECIALLY IF YOU THINK THAT PORTRAYING “MEAN DEAN” SKELOS AS MR. A. HITLER IS OVER THE TOP...
IT HAS THAT SKELOS “FATHER AND SON” APPEAL THAT’S JUST PERFECT FOR MOTHERS DAY — AND THE “DIVERSITY” IS RIGHT THERE FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE AND HEAR
There is political satire, and then again, there is political satire.... And let me tell you, this IS “political satire,” AND HOW !
The casting, sets, dialogue [and sub-title translations] are spot on.
I’m talkin’ ‘bout a video entitled “The Albany Bunker – Senator Skelos and his team deal with reality.” It’s an “underground” costume and period piece that takes place “somewhere in time,” with dialogue in the original "Chermin" with proper sub-titles .... (See “The Albany Bunker...” [video link] by Vidme, 5/9/15 [https://vid.me/4W7d]).
Yes, it is in terrible taste; and yet, at the same time, it's completely appropriate for the subject matter.
I've seen that video before ... both in theaters as the movie "Downfall" and in hundreds of homemade parodies of everything from Kanye West at the Grammy Awards to complaints about the latest X-Box video game.
It's a very popular internet meme.
It's not about Hitler. It's about people who can't see the writing on the wall.
UPDATE: THE “THIS ISN’T SOMETHING THAT”S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, BECAUSE IT’S VERY MUCH THE SAME” EDITION
IS THIS A BOMB THAT HAS GONE OFF AND HAS ENOUGH SHRAPNEL IN IT FOR GOLDEN, SKELOS AND OTHERS ?
DAILY NEWS REPORTS THAT CHARLES DOREGO OF GLENWOOD MANAGEMENT IS A COOPERATING WITNESS — IN EXCHANGE FOR NON-PROSECUTION
According to a report in today’s Daily News by Greg B. Smith, “... [A] case [is] being made in part with help from a top Glenwood executive identified by sources as Charles Dorego.... Dorego began cooperating with the feds in April, agreeing to secretly record conversations in exchange for a non-prosecution agreement, according to court papers and sources familiar with the investigation....” (See “NYC buildings show connection between Albany corruption and real estate industry, with developers saving millions on taxes” by Greg B. Smith, 5/9/15, NY Daily News [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/nyc-buildings-show-albany-corruption-real-estate-connection-article-1.2216861]).
Certainly, this isn’t good news for Dean Skelos. However, since Preet Bharara’s case against Skelos and his son had probably been very advanced by any time in April, any recordings involving conversations with Charles Dorego would probably have more significance to other legislators than Dean Skelos. That’s where State Senator Martin Golden comes in.
In the past, Golden’s prior relations with things like Glenwood Management and 421-a tax exemptions have been well documented in the media, as has the fact that U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is investigating Golden’s fund raising for some reason.
Given what Charles Dorego is reported to have done vis a vis “checks” and GOP state senators, he is in a position to give the who, what, where and how things were done about 431-a tax breaks and donations to various GOP State Senate campaign funds. Of course, recording inculpating conversations could be worse for everybody recorded, but that isn’t the only threat posed by Dorego’s cooperation agreement. Dorego’s painting a word picture of the whole scheme could well be enough to make out charges and get a conviction against any legislator targeted by Federal Prosecutor Bharara.
SOMETHING SPECIAL: THE “WAYNE BARRETT” EDITION
EVERY NOW AND THEN, A NUGGET OR EVEN A GEM OF RARE BRILLIANCE TURNS UP IN THE SLUICES — AND PROSPECTORS LIKE ME FEEL LUCKY WHEN IT ALL PANS OUT AND I CAN HOLD IT UP AND ADMIRE IT
THESE ARE SOME OF THE THROW AWAY LINES: “ONE MIGHT THINK THAT BRUNO”S TROUBLES WOULD'VE BEEN A WARNING TO HIS SUCCESSOR. SKELOS, INSTEAD TOOK IT AS AN INVITATION....” OR “... IN THE COUNTRY CLUB SENATE, EVERYTHING INSIDE THEIR COCOON IS UNREAL.”
“WAYNE’S WORLD ! – – – WAYNE’S WORLD !” — ALMOST AS BAD AS “THREE MEN IN A ROOM” IS “FOUR MEN ON A FLORIDA GOLF COURSE”
Wayne Barrett, a neighbor from days long by-gone, is always interesting in general content and particular nuance. Occasionally, he exceeds this normally high standard with something special; and that is the case with his very timely Daily News feature in this Sunday’s paper (See “Dean Skelos and a Senate closet full of skeletons: The corrupt and insular world of New York’s top Republicans’ by Wayne Barrett, 5/10/15, NY Daily News [http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/wayne-barrett-dean-skelos-senate-closet-full-skele-article-1.2215967]).
Barrett starts his move to the basket with a head fake away about State Senator Richie Funke and a line seeded by Dean Skelos into one of Funke’s early speeches as a State Senator. Barrett then makes a nifty move into a quick precis of the current Skelos’ legal problems, father AND son. But all of that was just a prelude to the main thematic thread of the piece that went like this: “That's the Senate Republican code. They are a cold-blooded, white-haired, lumbering species that logic says should've gone extinct years ago. The Senate majority's counsel, David Lewis, was once the president of the State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He defended Westchester fatal attraction murderer Carolyn Warmus, who shot her lover's wife nine times and then, without mentioning it, had sex in a parked car with him....” The link to the state senators and the metaphoric reference to the murder-sex thing was a bit tortured, but the simile was so over the top and graphically lurid, we have to forgive Wayne for briefly breaking hold in making that flourish stick in our minds.
Then there was this: “... [I]n February, NYS Senate Majority legal counsel] Lewis told the Senate caucus not to ‘do anything stupid,’ like talk to the FBI without a lawyer. ‘If someone knocks on your door,’ consigliere Lewis said behind doors that were slammed shut in the Senate conference room, ‘you don't have to talk to them.’ Tom Hagen couldn't have put it better when he whispered to the Corleone family....” [But never forget, Hagen was not a “wartime consiglieri”]
But here is Wayne Barrett does his piece de la resistance: “It's just another crack of light into the Senate silo. The leaders at the top of the Senate organizational chart — Skelos, deputy majority leader Tom Libous, Finance chair John DeFrancisco, Majority Whip Michael Nozzolio, Banking Chair Hugh Farley and Corporations, Authorities and Commission chair Michael Ranzenhofer — have Florida homes. So does George Maziarz, the energy and telecommunications chair who did not seek re-election in 2014.” Barrett then goes on to describe in detail an heretofore undisclosed outpost of the NYS Senate insiders club — with lobbyists embedded nearby — sunny Florida — in particular, a bubble centered on Fort Myers, or up and down the road a piece....
The sub-headline above in this comment, about “three men in a room” and “four men on a Florida golf course,” as a description of this latest bit of “Wayne’s World” is wholly mine — but it’s apt and I don’t think WB would mind.
NY State Senate Repubs have rewarded another SAFE act voter by selecting John Flanagan, Suffolk County, to replace indicted Majority Leader Skelos. Good luck, Flanagan, you'll need it. The last FIVE Senate Majority Leaders were indicted for corruption. In fact, more than two dozen members of the New York state legislature have been indicted or resigned in disgrace over the past five years.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/05/how-new-york-became-most-corrupt-state-in-america-117652.html#.VVFAMvlViko
UPDATE: THE “TURNOVER IN THE NYS SENATE” EDITION
FLANAGAN STEPS UP AFTER SKELOS STEPS DOWN AS MAJORITY LEADER
According to a report in Newsday, “State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos agreed Monday to resign his leadership post while facing federal corruption charges, and Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) was chosen by Republican colleagues to succeed him.... The Republican-led Senate affirmed the change in a vote on the Senate floor, capping a tumultuous eight days at the State Capitol that toppled one of its most powerful members....” (See “John Flanagan to replace Dean Skelos as State Senate majority leader” by Yancey Roy and Michael Ghormley, 5/11/15, Newsday [http://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/dean-skelos-likely-to-be-out-as-state-senate-majority-leader-monday-gop-sources-say-1.10421233]).
This echoed coverage that had appeared earlier in the day across print and other media (See e.g.,
“John Flanagan replaces Skelos as NY Senate majority leader” by Carl Campanile and Kirstan Conley, 5/11/15, NY Post [http://nypost.com/2015/05/11/john-flanagan-to-replace-skelos-as-ny-senate-majority-leader/]).
According to the play by play the NY Post, “The floor vote came after Republicans huddled behind closed doors for more than two hours to discuss a replacement for Skelos.... Flanagan, with Skelos’ blessing, had lined up support of virtually all the senators in the downstate region: the Long Island nine, the city’s two Republican senators, Marty Golden of Brooklyn and Andrew Lanza of Staten Island, as well as those in the Hudson Valley.... He also picked off a handful of upstate senators: Cathy Young, Mike Nozzolio, Hugh Farley and Bill Larkin, sources said.....”
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