Donovan’s Crossing

It’s not just a portion of a Jerry Kassar “Common Sense” column in the Home Reporter--Spectator  ---  It has all the makings of a good Coen Brothers film  ---  Quick, somebody call Steve Buscemi see if he’s available and still up to playing another East Coast Irish pol

After seeing last week's "Common Sense" column by Jerry Kassar, I just had to ask this:   What’s up with  Kassar being so openly all over Republican-Conservative Congressman Dandy Dan Donovan’s announced “NO” vote on the Obamacare Repeal Bill?   

Kassar says:  "[Donovan] is too comfortable allowing himself to be portrayed as a moderate….”

Here’s what I saw when I took home the most recent giveaway paper from my local Associated Food store and opened it up  ---  it was a subsection from Jerry Kassar’s column in last week’s edition of the Home Reporter-Spectator [and it's also on the internet under “Brooklyn Reporter”]:  

“….   I must say I was disappointed in Congressmember Donovan’s announced intent to vote against the Obamacare repeal. After all, it was one of the three or four issues that defined the 2016 election. And, I can say for certain, it was a key issue for the Brooklyn Conservative Party which I chair. The party’s position on this bill was well-known, having been articulated by State Chairperson Mike Long many times, as well as appearing on the party’s website and in this column….   Of course, Speaker Ryan did a poor job in managing the bill and the conservative Freedom Caucus deserves its share of the blame but Dan should have supported it….   He is too comfortable allowing himself to be portrayed as a moderate. As you can imagine, this would concern me and I suspect it would concern many of the better than 10,000 voters in Brooklyn and Staten Island that voted for him in 2016 on the Conservative Party line….   The repeal bill was in no way the most conservative possible, but it was a start. And, frankly, all indications are that Dan’s objections were not coming from the right but a bit more from the left. Of course, he is entitled to his opinion, but as a party leader for 40 years this June, I think I have a need to also give him mine….   In any event, I believe the best we can hope for is tinkering with the present law. That is hardly a reform and will, after much more pain, probably after several years, result in Obamacare imploding anyways….”  (See  “Common Sense: The good and the bad” by Jerry Kassar,  Home Reporter/ Spectator;  on-line:  3/31/17,  “Brooklyn Reporter”  [http://brooklynreporter.com/story/common-sense-good-bad/]).  

Kassar’s title for the column, “The Good and the Bad,” says it all.   It makes an explicit comparison between Brooklyn Conservative Party endorsee, Democrat Simcha Felder, and Staten Island Conservative Party endorsee, Republican Dan Donovan  ---  Simcha Felder,  “…Good…”;   Dan Donovan, “…Bad…”

Equally important, in the text of his column, Jerry Kassar specifically mentions both the clearly expressed position of Conservative Party State Chairman Mike Long, and Kassar also describes what Donovan did as  "...  not coming from the right but a bit more from the left."

This is all very tough talk aimed at a Republican-Conservative congressman for a "vote" that was never taken   ---  and hence, does not exist anywhere in the real world.