What was behind the coup at the Home Reporter ??? It is something simple..... It's called >>> COERCION <<< and/ or >>> EXTORTION <<< It has been around for a long time.....

Having seen Marty Golden in action for many years as a politician and elected official...  Having heard about his exploits as a budding neighborhood entrepreneur, local events hall operator and business leader in Bay Ridge.....  And lest we forget, a very problematic career in the NYPD, including a stint in the infamous "Narcotics" detail.......  It can now be rightfully concluded and said openly at this time that Marty Golden  ---  the man running for re-election as our state senator  ---  is,  was,  and has been for a very long time  >>>  a serial extortionist <<<

Needless to say, finding adequate proof to make a charge of criminal extortion, as defined in New York State, stick to Senator Marty might be very difficult indeed, especially the component of threats of violence;  that's because Marty has be an expert at coercive behaviour that  >>> don't need no threats of any stinkin' violence <<<

Although "narcs" from Marty Golden days on the job would tune up non-cooperating  drug dealers at the drop of a dime,  much easier to use the binding and loosening powers of the anti-narcotics unit.  (Never forget what the Mollen Commission said about police corruption during Marty's days on the force.....)


LIKELY COERCION BEHIND THE OTEY MOVE AND THE "HOME REPORTER" ENDORSEMENT 
A pro-Marty commenter on this blog tipped the hand as how this probably was done to a  Mr. Dozier Hasty so as to Jerry-rig the instant rise of Chuck Otey, quicly followed by the "Home Reporter" endorsement of Marty..... 

Look at this:
"....  The Home Reporter [had] become a liberal rag....  
[A local Democrat's]  propaganda piece. Time to right the ship. How long did these fools think they could keep pissing on advertisers and survive?"

Does anybody doubt that Marty G is more than capable to jin-up that kind of coercive pressure  ---  first, on the advertisers, then, on Mr. Hasty,  [He's done it before to force some of the local BIDs to put money into his concerts in the park.

There's much more than that.....  When Marty had enough of being a tenant operator of the Bay Ridge Manor,  there was a lot of figurative pushing and shoving of an elderly man who only wanted a steady income in his retirement.   It was all engineered to force the old man  ---  "who was like a father" to Marty Golden ---  to make a change of title to the property that housed the Bay Ridge Manor.

One can easily see how a quick use of Marty G's heavy hand on Dozier Hasty might just do the trick when came to an endorsement by the "Home Reporter".....

"Marty Golden Defends Nazis" --- And apparently, at least a few Proto-Nazis are supporting Marty Golden on the campaign trail

Jerry Kassar plays a couple of Alt-Right victims' cards for his boss State Senator Martin Golden and his colleague Ian Reilly  ---  sort of the way Joseph Goebbels used to do it for Adolf What's-His-Name and his crowd of bully boys.....

Golden's campaign boss,  Ian Reilly, is at the center of a lot of  Sturmer-like Sturm in the final weeks of the 2018 campaign

I love to get my political-historical insights from the likes of Helen Forrest and Harry James,  because they were popular around the time when some of us actually were fighting the Nazis:   "It seems to me, I've heard that song before...  It's from an old familiar score...."  Believe it or not, the Nazi Reich's chief propagandist, Joseph Goebbels, played the "victim's card" many, many times on behalf of his Nazi colleagues and the whole Nazi shooting match  ---  he and the rest of them had some set of balls when it came to stuff like that.....  

Now, we have Jerry Kassar trying to pull the exact same thing.....    

Only a Marty Golden sycophant, like Kassar, would try to turn some sidewalk grafitti into the "Reichstag Fire"   ---   and he surely has,  if you believe what Stephen Witt is reporting on his blog,  "Kings County Politics"  (See  "The mud keeps slinging in Golden/Gounardes Election Campaigns" by Stephen Witt,  10/24/18,  Kings County Politics / 22nd Senate District Race    [https://www.kingscountypolitics.com/the-mud-keeps-slinging-in-golden-graffitti-election-campaigns/]).  

According to Steve Witt's  reporting,   "....   Less than 24 hours after a political debate [that] resembled something more akin to the Jerry Springer Show than to a battle of verbal skills, derogatory graffiti was found chalked on the sidewalk in front of both State Senator Marty Golden‘s (R) district and campaign offices....   The graffiti reading ‘Marty Golden Defends Nazis’ was put in chalk on the sidewalk in front of both Golden’s 7408 Fifth Avenue District Office and his 7615 Third Avenue campaign office. The sidewalk vandalism alluded to Golden’s refusal to fire Manhattanite Ian Reilly, a campaign staffer, and who as chair of the Metropolitan Republican Club invited and allowed to speak alt-right leader Gavin McInnes before the club on Oct. 12...."  

And according to Witt,  here's what Kassar had to say about it  ---  "....   Golden chief of staff Jerry Kassar said the graffiti was discovered by workers early this morning and that police were called and the graffiti was quickly removed. The police likely have the person that chalked up the sidewalk on video, and once identified that person will likely be charged with harassment, said Kassar...."   Get it  ???  Kassar is sayin' something like this:   "We're the victim here....  And we had to go to the cops....  (But,  of course we destroyed the evidence right away,  because we don't want anybody to be able to prove that we did this to ourselves....)" 

This stuff has been percolating for some time;  and two of Marty Golden's top people are right in the middle of it  ---  Mr. Kassar and Ian Reilly.  Here's how Mr. Witt describes the whole thing  ---  "....   Kassar said Gounardes has been fabricating a narrative that Reilly is a white supremacist, which isn’t true....   'They [the Gounardes camp (brackets in Witt's text)] is slandering this kid,' said Kassar. 'And Marty won’t take that garbage.  We’re not looking for a guy to have his life destroyed for something that isn’t true.'..."

Well, maybe it is or maybe it isn't.....   

Here are the facts:  since Ian Reilly took over the Golden campaign,  it has increasingly taken on the look and character of  a "bully boy" operation.  Over the summer, there were immediate threats of violence by the Golden side when "Fight Back Bay Ridge" (FBBR) dared to exercise their First Amendment rights to pass out anti-Golden political material at the first "Stroll on Third"  (those events have been well documented here on this blog, and by local and city-wide media).  ---   Fast forward to the Xaverian debate a couple of nights ago  ---  After all attempts to show community support for State Senator Golden at the debate failed completely,  and following a miserable showing by Golden himself,  a crowd of Golden supporters, including Kassar, had a major social melt-down, and they tried to make it physical.  The most noteworthy instance was when Kassar and other of Ian Reilly's  "Proud Boys" wannabees tried to intimidate one of the Democrat participants in the Xaverian debate,  a black woman candidate running in Bay Ridge named  Mathylde Frontus. 

In spite of all the controversy swirling around Mr. Ian Reilly  ---  including charges of supporting White Supremacist and Neo-Nazi toughs  ---  State Senator Golden has refused to do anything other than voice his full-throated support of Reilly;  and to issue denials through spokespersons, in spite of well-documented evidence to the contrary.

The truth of the graffiti at the two Golden sites is manifest.....  So is the fact that a bunch of Sturmer-motivated bully boys have coalesced around and are actively supporting the Golden campaign, which is still being run by Ian Reilly.

WERE THERE BIZARRE THINGS GOING ON AT THE XAVERIAN DEBATE

Did a few angry old men of Marty Golden's kind of people  >>>  gang-up on a lone black woman at the Xaverian debate and try to run her out of the event ???

And did that nice lonely black woman turn out to be Mathylde Frontus ?????

HAS THE BROOKLYN GOP BEEN REDUCED TO THIS ???

A ROBO-CALL:   [An unidentified voice]  "....  Vote for your Republican candidates [no names, offices or districts mentioned]...."  ---  then it got ominous  ---  "We are under attack [no details given as to the nature of the "attack"]....  Fight to save your way of life  [no tactics or strategies are suggested]...."  ---  except a repeat of  ---  "Vote for your Republican Candidates [but still no names, etc.]...."  ---  and the sign off  ---  "...  The [Brooklyn or Kings County ] Republican Committee."

I got this call cold at home, so this is from my memory soon afterward.....

Words cannot express;  so I'm just askin'  ---  really ???  

I mean  ---  REALLY ! ! ! ! !

So, what’s up with all this “Proud Boys” stuff ???

So let’s be a little provocative here:  Who is Gavin McInnes  ---  Is he a timely hero ?  ---  OR  ---  Is he a menace to society ???  ---  OR  ---  Is he just a latter day Justin Brannan,  before he cleaned up his act ?????

According to several reports,  there was a flap recently at a Manhattan GOP club that many saw as an indicator that we are slipping into a pre-revolutionary stage of things, sort of akin to the time when the Weimar government was breaking up in Germany.

This from the NY Times:   “….  A brawl outside a Republican club in Manhattan involving a far-right group and anti-fascist activists spurred calls over the weekend for an investigation into the violence and whether the police handled it properly. Some Democratic politicians, including Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, also criticized the club for inviting the founder of the far-right group, the Proud Boys….   Mr. Cuomo said he has asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to look into the violence that accompanied Friday’s appearance at the Metropolitan Republican Club by Gavin McInnes, a right-wing provocateur. He also assigned a State Police hate crimes unit to assist with the New York Police Department’s investigation of the fighting, which he linked to President Trump….  But state Republican Party leaders accused Democrats of trying to exploit the violence for political gain….”  (See “Proud Boys Fight at G.O.P. Club Spurs Calls for Inquiry; Cuomo Blames Trump” by  Ashley Southall & Tyler Pager,  10-14-18,  NY Times/ New York    [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/nyregion/proud-boys-nyc-antifa-fight.html]).

THE INCIDENT ITSELF
An earlier report in the Times said this:   “The Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan was vandalized early Friday, the police said [Photo caption]….   Three people were charged with assault in connection with a fight on Friday near the Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan after the appearance of a right-wing provocateur, the police said….    Doors had been defaced with anarchist symbols and windows had been broken at the club hours before an appearance there by the provocateur, Gavin McInnes, who was banned by Twitter for violating its policy on 'violent extremist groups'…   A note left with the vandalism suggested that the damage to the building on the Upper East Side was related to the appearance by Mr. McInnes, the founder of the Proud Boys. The Southern Poverty Law Center has characterized it as a hate group that has engaged in several battles with the left….   'The Metropolitan Republican Club chose to invite a hipster-fascist clown to dance for them, content to revel in their treachery against humanity,'  the note said….   (See  “Fight Breaks Out Near Republican Club After Visit by Gavin McInnes, Police Say”  by  Shane Goldmacher,  10/12/18,  NY Times/ New York    [www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/nyregion/gavin-mcinnes-republican-club-vandalized.html?module=Uisil]).

The Times’ report continued with this:   “….  In publicizing the event, the Republican group’s Facebook Page called Mr. McInnes a 'Godfather of the Hipster Movement.' It also highlighted that he had been 'banned from Twitter' and has 'taken on and exposed the Deep State Socialists and stood up for Western Values.'…   The event drew the attention of a group that calls itself the Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Council, which urged the Metropolitan Republican Club to cancel it….”  

CLEARLY THE EVENT WAS NOT CANCELLED

Timesman Shane Goldmacher went on to say that  ---  “….   The Police Department said it assigned its Strategic Response Group to a protest at the club, which is the home to both the statewide New York Republican Party and the Manhattan Republican Party. There were no incidents reported there, the police said….   [However, t]he police said three men were arrested after officers leaving the protest saw an assault taking place at 8:40 p.m. at the corner of Third Avenue and East 84th Street, not far from the club….   Finbarr Slonim, 20, of Manhattan and Kai Russo, 20, of Brooklyn were each charged with robbery and assault. Caleb Perkins, 35, of Manhattan was charged with robbery, assault and resisting arrest, the police said.

OTHER REPORTS 
A notable alternative source on these events can be found in the “Gothamist” (See “Videos Allegedly Show Proud Boys Beating Protesters After Gavin McInnes Event At Manhattan GOP Club” by Jake Offenhartz,  10/13/18,  Gothamist Website    [https://beta.gothamist.com/2018/10/13/proud_boys_beating_video.php]).  According to this report,     “….  A mob of pro-Trump right wing extremists appear to have beaten a small group of protesters in the streets of Manhattan on Friday night, following an appearance at the Metropolitan Republican Club  by Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes….” 

OTHER OPINIONS
Since the incident(s),  many have spoken out about these goings on,  one way or another…..

For example, there were several tweets about it on the Fight Back Bay Ridge (FBBR)  Twitter site  (See  [https://twitter.com/FightBackBR], for example this R-T of a Ben Smith item on Buzzfeed [https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedBen/status/1051646068188950528]).  And Andrea Catsimatidis mentioned these matters during an interview on Fox News,  saying that she thought the Democratic leadership’s use of inflammatory language might have led to these attacks by “fueling these radicals” (See  “Calls for civility in political discourse in wake of street clashes”  interview with Andrea Catsimatidis, 10/14/18,  Fox News  [https://twitter.com/foxnews/status/1051517585483882496]).

As for the questions raised in my sub-headline  ---  You didn’t really expect me to go THERE,  did you…..

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD: a new sociable political & civic-minded club; and it's a NON-PARTISAN CLUB to boot --- open to everybody who is good will hunting --- specifically: Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, Reformers, Libertarians, Liberals, Progressives, just plain workers of the world and retirees, and of course, our friends and neighbors --- new and old --- young and not-so-young

A new team of Brooklyn Republicans, Democrats & the Brooklyn Reform Party chairman say:  ...  Hyper-political divisiveness is  >>> Out of Control <<<   And it is time for more  >>> Civility and Unity <<< in our political and civic discussions

 

If you are tired of the extreme political divisiveness that has been building to a crescendo lately, five Brooklyn political veterans and civic leaders say that they don't want to be part of that problem anymore.  Instead,  they have formed a new non-partisan club to foster dialogue and civility in the south end of the borough. 

These latter day partisans have joined to form a budding group that wants talk about the issues, which often are what is causing that growing divide.   includes two Republicans, two Democrats, and a member of the Reform Party.

The new West Brooklyn Neighborhood Club's  founding members now include the following:  Craig Eaton, the former Brooklyn GOP Chairman and Regional Vice Chairman of the NYS GOP for New York City; James McCall,  long a GOP activist and often a candidate; Bob Capano, the Kings County Reform Party Chairman who has worked for both Republican and Democratic elected officials; Ralph Perfetto, a veteran neighborhood public servant and Bay Ridge Democratic District Leader, as well as a City-wide deputy Ombudsman; and John O'Hara, a Sunset Park Democratic activist,  who has fostered independent reform in the courts, and successfully in the Brooklyn DA's Office.   However, all of these new colleagues agree that there are times when intensely partisan politics needs to  be tossed aside for the sake of community interests. 

The five announced that their group is an "opportunity for us to come together as a community, regardless of political affiliations....   [And i]n light of the hyper political divisiveness that is out of control, it is time for more civility and unity. We welcome anyone to join us because there is much more that unites us as Brooklynites than divides us. Our goal is to bring together residents to exchange ideas on improving our communities with respect in a social atmosphere." 

Initially, the group plans to meet socially at local establishments, with a goal of eventually holding formal monthly forums with guest speakers. The West Broooklyn Neighborhood Club is planning their first event next month, where they hope other like-minded residents will join their ranks.

SEEKING ADDITIONAL CHARTER MEMBERS

The club intends be announcing several other charter members over the next few weeks in advance of their first scheduled event.  Maybe you'd like to be there at the beginning of what looks like it could be a club for the ages.....

Contact: Craig Eaton, Bob Capano, James McCall or Ralph Perfetto if you want to join or want more information.....

When it comes to a personal war on women --- Marty Golden has to be your guy --- With a month to go before the elex, Marty makes another big UNFORCED ERROR by dissing a young woman at a public forum

Golden's attempt to put a woman Democrat in her place for asking him a straightforward question at a  >>> Bay Ridge political forum  <<< turns into another  >>> EPIC FAIL <<< when it comes to Marty Golden's rep with women and dealing with women's issues  

Marty Golden’s principal attempt at a put-down was quoted thus:  “Mallory, I’m sorry, I’m too busy for you….”  ---   this was clearly indicative of Golden’s intent to be both personal and dismissive  ---  in a word,  “NASTY !!!” 

NOT BAD ENOUGH ???   That remark was quickly followed by this jibe by Golden:  “She’s here for her own issues….  She agrees with me on nothing and I have a very busy office.” [again, with Golden directly referring to Mallory McMahon].  Finally, Golden “explained" that Mallory McMahon was actually a “Democratic operative” with an “agenda”….. 

Commenters supporting Marty Golden on this blog have tried to spin this story so that Mallory McMahon came off looking like she had been rude to the Republican State Senator.  However, that version of things never appeared in any of the reports of the incident in the local press.  

In fact, if one were to look at all the coverage closely, most of what the journalists covering the debate wrote about the Golden-McMahon tete-a-tete seemed to side with the woman questioner, who only asked Marty why neither he nor his staff had responded to her since February, a period now approaching almost nine (9) months…..  (See  “Golden, Gounardes clash in heated debate”  Paula Katinas,  10/3/18,  Brooklyn Reporter/  Politics & Government   [https://brooklynreporter.com/2018/10/golden-gounardes-clash-in-heated-debate/];  a very similar article by PK also appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on 10/4/18 at [http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2018/10/4/golden-gounardes-clash-heated-debate];  also  "From The Southern Brooklyn Candidate Forum: Golden Only Has Time For Some Constituents" by Kadia Goba,  10/4/18,  Bklyner. [Blog]    [https://bklyner.com/from-the-southern-brooklyn-candidate-forum-golden-only-has-time-for-some-constituents/];  also "No Debate: Golden-McMahon Stand-Off Comes to Fore at Ridge Forum" by Meaghan McGoldrick, 10/5/18, Brooklyn Reporter/ Politics [https://brooklynreporter.com/2018/10/no-debate-golden-mcmahon-stand-off-comes-to-fore-at-ridge-forum/];  also  “Candidates spar over limits of term limits at forum"  by Julianne Cuba, 10/8/18,  The Brooklyn Paper   [https://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/41/41/bn-golden-gounardes-bay-ridge-candidates-forum-2018-10-12-bk.html]).

Both Democrats and Republicans have told me that, from the very beginning of the various renditions of this story,  it was Marty Golden who started off by being rude.  And,  as is often the case with our incumbent state senator, who appears to be both verbally challenged and extremely defensive when confronted in public, his attempts at modifying or explaining his remarks often makes things even worse for him.

Say what you will,  one way or the other;  this one-on-one bout between Marty Golden and Mallory McMahon did Marty Golden’s re-election bid no good at all.  His allowing it to happen at all was a mistake  ---  BUT  ---  to personally attack the young woman with venom and in the manner that he did was unequivocally an UNFORCED ERROR of the highest order,  especially given his past history vis a vis women and “women’s issues.”

During the debate, State Senator Martin Golden continued his very longtime pattern of lies about his positions favoring priestly pedophile protection and opposing justice for their victims

Many, many years ago Marty Golden told several bald-faced lies in the presence of three of this blog’s long-time BSIs.  That was during  >>>  a formal endorsement interview at the Fiorello LaGuardia Regular Republican Organization [of the then 49th A.D.] <<< 

  

---  ---  And those lies by incumbent GOP State Senator Marty Golden specifically related to his opposition to pedophile victims’ protection legislation that had passed the NYS Assembly [the Markey Bill],  but which had become bogged down in the NYS Senate controlled by a GOP leadership team that included Marty Golden himself  ---  ---

---  ---  Golden has not stopped lying on the issues related to justice for and the protection of the victims of pedophiles in the almost entire decade since  ---  ---

Almost lost during Marty Golden’s anti-women, anti-Democrat fireworks during last week’s Bay Ridge Inter-Agency Council on Aging debate at the Fort Hamilton Senior Citizens Center was this very important bit  >>>  ABOUT PEDOPHILES AND THEIR VICTIMS <<<  :   

“….  The two candidates also disagreed on the Child Victims Act, a bill that was drafted in the wake of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. The bill would ease the statute of limitations for adults seeking to bring criminal charges against Catholic priests and other people who sexually abused them when they were children. Gounardes favors it. Golden expressed concerns about it….  ‘Let’s talk about justice,’ said Gounardes, who added that many victims were abused as children and have never been able to discuss it until now. ‘We need to erase the statute of limitations.’…  Golden said that would create problems.  ‘If you get rid of the statute of limitations for this crime, you would have to eliminate it for all crimes,’  he said….”  (See “Golden, Gounardes clash in heated debate”  by Paula Katinas, 10/4/18,  Brooklyn Daily Eagle   [http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2018/10/4/golden-gounardes-clash-heated-debate]). 

Needless to say, Golden’s statement about having to “… eliminate [statutes of limitations] for all crimes….” is complete and utter nonsense;   first, this is not about a statute of limitations for criminal prosecution;  second, it is about justice, and the right to bring a claim and PROVE IT in a court of law.  Golden's assertion of his non-facts during the debate is   >>> publicly expressed and absolute lying <<<. 

Golden then compounded this lie on the priestly pedophile issue by saying that he supports “another bill’ that would to create a so-called “Child Victims Fund” for victims to seeking financial settlements stemming from past abuses.  The mere mention of that completely miss-named bill covers up the fact that it is really intended to protect the assets of the very wrongdoers that have covered up the crimes of priest, bishop and cardinal pedophiles for decades  ---  using NYS controlled governmental funds instead of the funds of a very culpable Roman Catholic Church.

All of this fits a longstanding practice by our incumbent Republican State Senator  ---  lying about his positions on pedophiles.  I know for a fact that Golden stormed out of a political meeting with Republican leaders in the then-49^th A.D. several years ago exactly at the point  when he was being pressed to defend his positions in opposition to legislation protecting children from pedophiles and fostering justice for large numbers of the past victims of pedophiles. 

(My long-ago promised post about Marty Golden’s close personal identification with priestly predators has been delayed because the research for and draft of that post was kept on an old laptop that is missing  ---  unfortunately,  I have had to begin from scratch  ---  but I will have something about it before Election Day)

 

This way forward for the Brooklyn GOP

Golden and Ghorra plan for Brooklyn Republican Party in 2019 and beyond is ready for a "rollout" and test run.....

They have had more than two years to get this right  ---  and the folks are waiting with hope abounding

Here are the details:

...  OOPS !!!!!   ( "What...  They've done what...  Ted said what...  and Marty told him to do what...  Is that even physically possible ???")

ANNOUNCEMENT:  There will be a slight delay on any further reports on these matters.....