The Garabedian Case against DiMarzio is not the only case against him under the New Jersey "look back" law

In an earlier case on behalf of a man named Justin Hoffman, a NJ suit had been filed in May 2019 naming Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio as a defendant during his time as the Bishop of Camden, for his part in covering-up and facilitating the activities of an alleged serial sex offender priest named Brendan Sullivan, now deceased.  In that case it is alleged that as Bishop, DiMarzio failed in his duty to warn and protect children under his care

Hoffman's claims follow a pattern that involved Bishop DiMarzio in the matter of another serial abuser priest. In that older case, Philadelphia's Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua threw Bishop DiMarzio and the Camden Dioceses under the bus in a case involving a multiple offender priest named John P. Connor,  who had served under Bevilacqua both in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia  ---  Bevilacqua claimed that when Connor had transferred from Camden, NJ to Bevilacqua's Diocese in Pittsburgh, they did not inform the Pittsburgh Diocese about Connor's history as an admitted offender in Camden  ---  in the end, Connor returned and served under DiMarzio in Camden before his voluntary withdrawal from the priesthood

Even though the Hoffman case was widely reported upon back in May in the Camden and Philadelphia area,  there was hardly a ripple back in Brooklyn or in the NYC media, in spite of DiMarzio's having been named as a defendant, DiMarzio's allegedly having been actively involved in the cover-up of the priest's activities, and DiMarzio's failure to respond to press inquiries at the time the suit was filed..

Since DiMarzio is a Bishop in Brooklyn and had been the Papal selection to investigate and report on the Buffalo Diocese priest sex abuse scandal,  the local Brooklyn press as well as the city-wide papers need to pursue all of DiMarzio's litigation coming out of his time as a priest and bishop in various New Jersey Dioceses.

As the movie "Spotlight" clearly demonstrated,  the bigger picture of the bigger problem of the institutional corruption of the Roman Catholic Church requires the press to connect the dots and show the overall pattern, rather than look at each case individually.

Once DiMarzio's whole history, or even a big chunk of it, becomes part of the public record, he and his supporters won't be able to claim that he has a good record when it comes to dealing with priestly sexual abuse and/or relations with the victims of priestly sexual abuse and the Church's cover-ups of those cases.

Featured Backfill --- Several Catholic Whistleblowers in the Buffalo Diocese did not trust Bishop DiMarzio to conduct an "independent" review or to deliver an unbiased report

Some evidence from the outset of the so-called "Apostolic Visitation" by Brooklyn's Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio indicated to many that DiMarzio was a wolf in sheep's clothing. For a start, it sure looked like DiMarzio had been working with some of the same Buffalo diocesan people that had been engaged in the long-time facilitation and cover-up of active priest pedophiles that blew up in the faces of the Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of Buffalo, Richard Malone, and Bishop Edward Grosz, an Auxiliary Bishop in Buffalo.

When questions arose in October and early November from some pro-victim Catholic groups and the members of the independent Catholic press concerning Bishop DiMarzio's role as "Apostolic Visitor" and why he was chosen for the job,  or why a more formal and transparent investigation under the newly adopted "Vos estis lux mun­di" guidelines was not taking place  ---  neither Bishop DiMar­zio,  the Diocese of Buffalo, or the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Christophe Pierre chose to make any comments whatsoever,  with the staff for the Papal (Apostolic) Nuncio stating that they had no knowledge of the specifics of Bishop DiMarzio's Apostolic Visitation to the Diocese of Buffalo 

Oddly,  Bishop Malone seemed to welcome the "Apostolic Visitation" from Bishop DiMarzio from the time it was announced  ---  he even made a public statement in and to his diocese that, he had every confidence in the process, and that he believed the investigation would be “... enhanced by the appointment of Most Rever­end Nicholas DiMarzio as apostolic visitor....”

From the very beginning, word had slipped out to many who wanted a fair and open investigation  ---  that Bishop DiMarzio wanted to have his visitation and report finished and submitted before the New York State Bishops’ left on their "Ad Limina" visit to Rome in mid-November 2019.  And that is exactly what happened in due course.

Given the blase, cursory and jimcrack approach taken by DiMarzio, it was clear that he would not be able to conduct any meaningful investigation of the moral and administrative fiasco, involving nonfeasance, misfeasance and malfeasance, which patently had been committed  by the Roman Catholic Bishops in Buffalo.

If it weren't for the media explosion brought on by Mitchell Garabedian's letter to the Newark Archdiocese, with notice to the press,  on behalf of one of his clients,  the DiMarzio visitation and report would have found its way deep into a dustbin deep in the bowels of the Vatican.  Instead, the early misgivings of various victims rights groups, and their allies in the responsive and responsible Catholic press and the whistleblowers in the Diocese of Buffalo, have had their concerns underlined by Mr. Garabedian himself who said  ---  "The investigation of the Diocese of Buffalo by Bishop DiMarzio is tainted [because of these allegations made by Garabedian]....  There needs to be a truly neutral investigator to determine whether Bishop Malone [of Buffalo] should resign.”

Mr. Garabedian and many others believe that the investigation should be led by a law enforcement agency and even a special grand jury..

The latest news --- DiMarzio's loss of control of the narrative

Big stories in the NY Post and Daily News show that the news value of the yet to be filed charges of sexual abuse against Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio continues unchecked  ---  and DiMarzio's attempt to spin things isn't all that convincing

According to the Post  ---  Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio's  "papal visit took an awkward turn"  ---  AND  ---  a spokesperson for the Diocese of Brooklyn mentioned the possibility of DiMarzio stepping aside while the charges are investigated  

According to the News  ---  "Pope Francis stunned long-time Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio by mentioning the sexual abuse allegations leveled against the New York priest when the pair met last week in the Vatican"  ---  AND  ---  the article highlighted  DiMarzio's statement:  "... 'You have a right to more information on this matter, and I [DiMarzio] pledge to you continued transparency in a future column.'...”

This clearly isn't the way that DiMarzio's crisis management team wanted this to play  ---  but DiMarzio and his crew have just learned a lesson  ---  you can say what you want,  but the facts speak for themselves.

DiMarzio's headline says "...Humbled..." --- However, his text comes across as ARROGANCE.....

This guy is one haughty priest in the face of his hearing about only his first charges of child abuse  ---  AND  --- For some reason Bishop DiMarzio chose to highlight the fact that the recent charge against him  "...was already known to [ ] Pope Francis..."

However,  his report on his participation in the New York Catholic Bishops' recent "ad limina" visit(s) to the Vatican and other sites around Rome betrayed how "on edge" *  DiMarzio really is,  as well as how "on the edge" **

There is little new or insightful when it comes to what Godfather Bishop Nicky Mars has to say about the bombshell charges leveled against him by Mitchell Garabedian on behalf of his client, which was national news for two or three days last week  ---  in fact, much of it was verbatim from DiMarzio's earlier statements  ---  but, he did sort of promise that there was more to tell  "in a future column"

Here are the meat and potatoes of the section of DiMarzio's remarks about how the pedophile thing went over while he was in Rome:

"....  Our Holy Father was keenly aware of the individual problems each one of his bishops faces. As we left the meeting, I was amazed that the false accusation made against me was already known to him. Pope Francis thanked me for my work in being the Apostolic Visitator to the Diocese of Buffalo and expressed his hope that the matter presented against me would be cleared up quickly for the good of the Diocese of Brooklyn....   This allegation is humiliating. I have never abused anyone in my life. In my nearly 50-year ministry as a priest, I have never done anything illegal or inappropriate and I look forward to my exoneration in this false accusation. I categorically deny this allegation and will vigorously defend myself against this claim. I have devoted my episcopacy in Brooklyn and Queens and in Camden before that, to fighting sex abuse and putting in the reforms needed to ensure the protection of children. Never would I have thought that as I am coming to the end of my time in active ministry, I would face such an allegation....  I am humbled by all the support I have received from you, the faithful of Brooklyn and Queens, during this difficult time. You have a right to more information on this matter and I pledge to you continued transparency in a future column...." (See citation below)

DiMarzio's little bit of braggadocious name dropping about  "....  As we left the meeting, I was amazed that the false accusation made against me was already known to him. Pope Francis thanked me for my work in being the Apostolic Visitator to the Diocese of Buffalo and expressed his hope that the matter presented against me would be cleared up quickly for the good of the Diocese of Brooklyn...."  ---  NOW, THAT IS QUITE INTERESTING IN SO MANY WAYS.....  

For the rest of Godfather Bishop Nicky Mars' travelogue and trip down memory lane you'll have to read his complete remarks yourself  (See  "I Am Humbled by Your Support" by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, 11/20/19,  The Tablet/ Put Out Into The Deep   [hetablet.org/i-am-humbled-by-your-support/?fbclid=IwAR2_X_w8VP8S3-G0IB693EFLSiFP_yI9_8fEOvp0YX99KDDpDm2_sAScXIU]).

________________________

*  & **  Bishop DiMarzio chose to transliterate or interpret "ad limina" as "on the doorstep";  whereas I thought my translations  "on edge"  and/or  "on the edge" would do very nicely and would be far more descriptive of the reality.....

Early campaign kickoff might be "Outside the Box" --- but Liam McCabe's early stake-out of issues for 2020 State Senate run is just too "Inside the Box"

So we have an early 2020 GOP ticket forming with Liam going to go for the State Senate and Marko Kepi for the assembly

Show of hands, who here thinks that "Q" will stand idly by for something like that  ---  or  ---  Is Quaglione already just a broken toy inside a worn out box full of old toys put away into a corner up in the attic

Republicans like these guys have got to get some new issues though  ---  complaints about rising crime rates and looking for more money for cops is so  "Been there, done that !!!"  for so-called GOP conservatives

When do we get to see somebody new as a Brooklyn GOP candidate ???

Okay,  Kepi fits the bill;  but the other guys are about as fresh as used Trojans.

The Tablet --- meaning the Diocesan paper for Bishop DiMarzio's Brooklyn Diocese --- says the original AP story about YKW and/or the NY Times use of that feed was/were somehow "unethical" or raised some kinds of ethical questions.....

Seriously ?  I mean  ---  "SERIOUSLY !!!"

The article is posted under something called  "Editor's Space" by The Brooklyn Tablet;  and it lists somebody named,  "Jorge I. Dominguez-Lopez,"  as the author  ---  however, it sounds much more like something that John Quaglione might have put forward during one of Marty Golden's bigger driving fiascos in years gone by.....

So, come clean Johnny Baby  ---  did you have a hand in this ?

And  "Q,"  whether you did or not, can you tell me what journalistic ethical standard was violated by the AP or even put into question by something that the AP did ???  And what about each and every newspaper or TV outlet that carried the AP feed,  some just like the New York Times, including additional reporting,  and many of which are clearly part of the Catholic press in America ?????

Usually I include a citation when I make a report like this posting.  ---  However, this thing in DiMarzio's personal rag, "The Tablet," is such pure and unadulterated shit, I believe it would be unethical for me to lead anybody to it by something that I did..

If you choose to look for it, you would be doing that at your own peril.

SO !!! What did Pope Francis say to Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio ???

What's the matter  ---  Has the cat got your tongue ?

It's hard to believe that on Friday the Pope of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ on Earth met with the U.S. Region II bishops (the Catholic Bishops of New York State), including Cardinal Dolan, and there was so little fanfare

                                                                                    Somebody seems to have thrown a wet blanket over all of it and all of them  ---  and that somebody was attorney Mitchell Garabedian  ---  who last week called out the Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn,  Nicholas DiMarzio, as a pedophile

The reports on the Pope's meeting(s) with the New York bishops indicated that he spoke to them collectively and individually

When the Pope spoke to Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio he must have said something.....  Well, what was it ???

THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING !!!

Here's one report, it's somewhat enlightening, but it's far from  penetrating or complete  (See  "New York bishops meet pope at end of 'ad limina' visits"  by Carol Glatz [Catholic News Service], 11/15/19,  National Catholic Reporter/  Vatican    [https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/new-york-bishops-meet-pope-end-ad-limina-visits]).

It's clear that the publicly expressed charges against Bishop DiMarzio where part of the atmospherics of the gathering in Rome. According to the NCR report,  "During the week, while the bishops were praying at the tombs of the apostles and meeting with Vatican officials, media reports emerged concerning two of the bishops on the trip. The reports said Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn was accused of sexually abusing a minor in the 1970s – a claim he strongly denied – and that Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo would step down after an apostolic visitation of his diocese amid claims of his mishandling of abuse allegations.... Still, [Bishop of Albany Edward] Scharfenberger said, 'as the week went on, it wasn't that that wasn't there, but the focus was really on gratitude to God' and certainty that God will show them the way forward....."

So far it looks like "mum's the word" when it comes to what the Pope and DiMarzio had to talk about  ---  Let's see how this is handled next week in the Brooklyn-Queens Diocesan newspaper, "The Tablet."

DiMarzio can still run, but he can no longer hide

Like the "Titanic" over a hundred years ago,  Godfather Bishop Nicky Mars career has hit an iceberg; and it look's like only a matter of time before he sinks below the waves.....

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio's own response in the form of a letter (available through several outlets, including the Brooklyn-Queens diocesan newspaper, "The Tablet") is interesting  ---  in that it appears to respond only to the AP story accusing him of sexual abuse in the 1970s,  while he was a priest at St. Nicholas Parish in Jersey City  ---  however, it doesn't acknowledge the person making the allegation(s) or that person's very prominent lawyer

What DIMarzio does not say in his letter to his "Sisters and Brothers in the Lord" speaks volumes

Bishop DiMarzio does not address in any way the contents of the letter that Attorney Mitchell Garabedian sent to the Archdiocese of Newark,  which immediately prompted the Archdiocese of Newark to forward the matter directly to the local police for their investigation of the allegations raised.  The Garabedian letter and several of the attorney's statements to an AP reporter indicate a rather detailed description of what are likely to be the plaintiff's claims and specifications with respect to time, place, circumstances and identity of the participants.

One of the things that Bishop DiMarzio's letter did say was that he was being accused of  "... sexual abuse in the 1970s, while I was a priest at St. Nicholas Parish in Jersey City...."  That statement  contains a key admission of sorts.

Bishop DiMarzio stands as a man accused,  and his letter indicates he fully understands the details and the gravamen about which he stands accused.  Thus, what he says and does from here on out need to be judged and evaluated in that context.

DiMarzio's letter mentions that the accusations were about "sexual abuse," "in the 1970s" and "while I was a priest at at St. Nicholas Parish in Jersey City";  it did not mention the name of the accuser,  that another priest was named along with DiMarzio, that the accuser had a prominent lawyer, or that the accuser was claiming tens of millions of dollars as compensation.

Another interesting nuance of the letter,  which the Tablet said was DiMarzio's,  " ...  strongly refuting an allegation that he sexually abused a minor in the 1970s while he was still a priest in the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J....",  is that the Bishop's denial starts with a quote about what he told the AP reporter.  And the rest is about anything but what happened at St. Nicholas Parish in Jersey City in the 1970s.  

So at the outset,  DiMarzio has sort of admitted to a little, doesn't deny very much and refuses to acknowledge that he is being accused by a real flesh and blood person,  who though an adult now,  would have been a child in the mid-1970s.

[This posting was edited and modified slightly at about 2:05 PM EST,  on 11/15/19]

Was Chip Cafiero really injured in Bermuda or is it just another scam ???

BRHR HEADLINE: "CIVIC LEADER...INJURED IN BERMUDA ACCIDENT..."  ???  ---  "One of Bay Ridge’s hardest working community advocates..."  ???  

The Home Reporter has got to be kidding !!!

More likely:  "SKIMMING LEADER";  "One of Bay Ridge’s hardest working self promoters";  and a big part of Marty Golden's greater fleecing operation (or is that the other way round  ---  is Marty Golden a big part of Chip Cafiero's greater fleecing operation ???)

And in answer to the second half of my question in my main headline above  ---  YES,  IT IS JUST ANOTHER SCAM !!!

No, this isn't an attack of  "SCHADENFREUDE" on my part.  I don't take any joy in seeing that anybody had an accident on a moped in Bermuda,  especially one that could have had life threatening consequences.  But everybody should know that nobody should get anywhere near being a moped rider  ---  especially in Bermuda.

According to the Home Reporter,  "An updated report says that Cafiero had five fractured ribs and that one of the ribs had punctured his lung. He also sustained numerous bruises, according to former State Sen. Marty Golden, a lifelong friend of Cafiero’s....  'His family flew down to Bermuda to be with him,' Golden told this paper. 'The good news is that he’s going to be fine. But he still can’t leave the island and he can’t take a plane. And he won’t be able to come back by ship until next Friday at the earliest. He’s still under strict doctor’s care.'...”  (See "Civic leader Chip Cafiero injured in Bermuda accident" by John Alexander,  11/13/19,  Brooklyn Reporter/ Bay Ridge/ News   [https://brooklynreporter.com/2019/11/civic-leader-chip-cafiero-injured-in-bermuda-accident/]).

The real value of this piece of local color "journalism" by John Alexander is that it helps to catalogue a good number (but certainly not all) of the longtime scams in which Chip Cafiero and Marty Golden have had their hands,  and more important their beaks.

Of all things, the award from BRAVO for both Marty and Chip was the piece de resistance.

And, OH MY GOD !!!  The last line of the article does give away the whole thing as another Marty Golden-Chip Cafiero scam  ---  "To donate towards Cafiero’s injuries..."  ---  if you are a big enough fool, you can look up the link yourself.....

For Brooklyn and Queens Catholics ".... There is no joy in Mudville..."

Godfather Bishop Nicky Mars has a few more problems than we thought just a few hours ago.....

Everybody is entitled to a defense,  even this guy.....

I guess all those years that State Senator Marty Golden helped block all the NYS bills to allow justice for the victims of past priestly pedophilia really did earn him his sinecure from DiMarzio's Diocese of Brooklyn.....

More when I'm up for it,  but not now.....

Jerry Kassar and the Golden Campaign were saying that Ian Reilly was being slandered and defamed in October 2018

This blog and several other local outlets were talking about the whole Ian Walsh Reilly--Proud Boys slander thing weeks before the 2018 election

Several local Democrats had called on State Senator Martin Golden to fire Ian Reilly from his staff  and/or his campaign in the weeks leading up to the 2018 General Election  ---  State Senator Golden stood behind Reilly at the time  ---  any mention of that in any pro-Gounardes literature or fund raising was part of the general and on-going political debate leading up to the 2018 election  ---  won by Gounardes and lost by Golden

Jerry Kassar was definitely part of the Golden Peanut Gallery shouting  ---  "SLANDER !!!"  when it came to Ian Reilly ---  and that surely was in mid-October 2018

Mike Long's vision of the future --- “What would Bay Ridge look like without a Catholic school?” --- Still votes to close the school for OLA parish

Go to Fourth Avenue between Seventy-third and Seventy-fourth Streets  ---  Get on the east side of the avenue and look across at the great tapestry brick behemoth that is OLA  ---  Church, Rectory and School.....  "Upon this rock I will build my church....  And the gates of hell will not prevail against it...."

---  NOT SO FAST !!!  ---

Now think of all the Catholic Schools and Rectories and  Churches in all of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn  ---  and picture them all gone  ---  that's what the former NYS Conservative Party Chairman,  Mike Long,  sees coming.....

Admittedly, Long's quote in "The Tablet" was intended to be limited to  >>> the schools <<<  ---  but his vision could not rationally be limited to only that

Also admittedly, Long's quote was an attempt  >>> to put lipstick on a pig <<<

What's happening to the schools is certainly going to happen to the churches and rectories and convents and friaries and parish halls,  and anything else worth a buck  ---  This is probably not what Godfather Bishop Nicky Mars wants everybody thinking about,  but it's obvious that the Catholic Church is  "Getting out of Dodge" in all of Southwest Brooklyn  ---  and closing [merging] the former parish schools is just the start.

Don't forget that the very same Godfather Bishop Nicky Mars announced several years ago his plan to reorganize Catholic Education in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens called "Preserving the Vision.”  At the time here is how it was pitched in  "The Tablet" and elsewhere  ---  “ 'I am committed to ensuring that our Catholic Schools are accessible geographically and financially to the people of our Diocese. When we determined that our schools are operating at only 85% of capacity it became clear that we had to consider why this was happening and how we might reverse the trend' said Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of the Diocese of Brooklyn...." (See "Preserving the Vision"  Press Release,  [https://dioceseofbrooklyn.org/press-releases/preserving-the-vision/];  see also "The Future of Catholic Schools: Preserving the Vision Calls for Transition to Academies"  by Gail Donovan,  1/5/2012,  The Tablet/ Uncategorized  [https://thetablet.org/the-future-of-catholic-schools-preserving-the-vision-calls-for-transition-to-academies/]).

The original "Preserving the Vision" release is a sort of Rosetta Stone for all of the rest of the double talk and gobbledygook related to the Brooklyn Catholic Schools and Brooklyn Parish reorganizations. 

It's all there hiding in plain sight right up front for all to see in the Diocesan press release cited above:  "As president of each parish corporation, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio has asked that a diocesan wide strategic planning process, that would ensure the long term stability of Catholic schools in the diocese, be undertaken. The Diocesan Reconfiguration Committee (DRC) submitted its twenty-nine (29) regional proposals to ensure the long term vitality and strength of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn....  The process entitled “Preserving the Vision” was initiated by the (DRC) in the beginning of September [2011?]. It has involved the unprecedented collaboration and input of parents, teachers, principals, Parish and community leaders, pastors and Diocesan employees....".

So it's clear that it really is part of the "Jesus Christ Our Hope" parish reconfiguration process,  which had been announced in 2010 and talked about before that,  but then submerged like a U-boat stalking a distressed convoy for targets. 

If anybody might doubt that,  then look at this 2011 article in "The Tablet"  (See "Christ Jesus, Our Hope – Reconfiguration Has Brought New Life to Neighborhood Schools"  by Jay Akasie,  10/12/2011,  The Tablet/ Uncategorized  [https://thetablet.org/christ-jesus-our-hope-reconfiguration-has-brought-new-life-to-neighborhood-schools/]).  Be careful, don't get lost in all the love and lollipops about "saving" a few schools just a few years ago;  look at it as background, context and prologue for what also happened in Bay Ridge just a couple of years ago and what's going on NOW.

Keep all of that in mind when you go looking for the Mike Long and John Quaglione quotes in the recent "... Tablet" take on the closings of the parish-based schools in OLA and St. Anselm's  (See "Bay Ridge Schools Plan for Combined Academy" by Andrew Pugliese,  11/7/19,  The Tablet/ Diocesan News  [https://thetablet.org/bay-ridge-schools-plan-combined-academy/]).

There will be plenty of Pollyannas and other sheeple out there that will tell you that I'm just weaving a tall tale to cause mischief,  and that none of this will come to pass.  But just remember  ---  ".... Istanbul was [once upon a time] Constantinople...." and many of that city's great mosques  were once glorious Christian shrines.

Has Godfather Bishop Nicky Mars been spotted talking to any oil sheiks lately ??? 

After all  "...the great tapestry brick behemoth that is OLA..." should soon be available thanks to Mike Long and his board for the old parish school in OLA and John Quaglione and his board for the old parish school at St Anselm's.  

Is it me, but is Hillary Clinton taking more potshots at the Democratic Contenders lately --- like Elizabeth Warren for example

Hillary's interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin showed that she wants to cover all of her bases when it come to a nationalized healthcare program  ---  and at the same time say that Elizabeth Warren's Medicare For All Plan will never pass congress, even with the Democrats in control

And then there's Hillary's answer to Sorkin's questions about her running in 2020:

".... HILLARY CLINTON: You know, I have always been a very, very slow runner. I am embarrassingly slow. I’ve tried to run races and I am so far behind that I start to walk, acting like that was what the plan was all the time. I don’t know that I’m going to take up competitive running right now, but I think you’re asking about something else, aren’t you?

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: There’s been some teasing and some hinting that, maybe, you’re sitting off in the wings here and waiting for some moment.

HILLARY CLINTON: Look, I think I would have been a really good president. I think I could have been a very effective leader. We have real divides in the country over all kinds of things, but I certainly, in my time in the Senate and Secretary of State, worked really hard, as you say, to actually solve problems, not exacerbate them or ignore them. I would have done everything I could to try to get us positioned for the future. That’s what a leader is supposed to do. Elections are supposed to be about the future and leadership should be about the future....  I think I could have done a really good job. I think the last election was deeply flawed and that there were so many unprecedented problems in that election that it’s almost hard to make sense of...."

It's all about the post-2016 DNC rule changes for the next convention:
First: Hillary can come into the Democratic Convention with a lot of her people in place to run things and a bundle of "Super Delegates"  ---  who would be there to shift the balance of power after the first ballot at the 2020 Democratic Convention has been completed; and

Second: with a 15% threshold and proportional voting in the 2020 Democrat Presidential Primaries,  Hillary can enter primaries and caucuses at the last second and still get plenty of "elected" delegates.

So, a late entry by Hillary avoids the other Democrat candidates sniping at her in the early going;  still gets her enough delegates to be a factor on the first ballot,  especially by blocking anybody else from getting a clear majority on the first ballot;  and then on the second and all subsequent ballots, if any, Hillary's delegate total would include a lion's share of "super delegates".....

Most of that was spelled out last week by a Brooklyn Democrat  attorney in a recent OP-ED in the Kings County Politics blog (See  "Op-Ed:  It's Hillary's Party" by John O'Hara,  10/29/19,  Kings County Politics/OP-ED    [https://www.kingscountypolitics.com/op-ed-its-hillarys-party/]).

________

Mr. O'Hara has commented anonymously on this blog many times over the years.  Please don't ask me how I can be certain of that.  In the off chance that John were to deny it,  I can prove it.....

Joe Borelli --- The Past is Prologue --- This Time Is Your Time --- "You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you"

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.....

South Shore Republican Council Member Joseph Borelli did well enough yesterday to catapult all the way to Washington as the next Member of Congress from the New York 11th Congressional District

Just read the Staten Island Advance's recent editorial endorsing Mr. Borelli in his Quixotic Run for Public Advocate  ---  Like Prego,  it's all in there 

And as a 'traditional Italian' performer  ---  he'll be like Jerry Vale, Jimmy Roselli, Vic Damone, Al Martino, Tony Bennett and the three Frankie's,  Sinatra, Valli and the "first blue-eyed soul singer" Laine all rolled into one

Don't take my word for it,  see what the Advance had to say  ("For Public Advocate, the Advance endorses Joe Borelli (editorial)" by S.I. Advance Editorial Board,  11/3/19,  SI Advance/News   [https://www.silive.com/news/2019/11/for-public-advocate-the-advance-endorses-joe-borelli-editorial.html]).

The most interesting thing in that wonderful and laudatory editorial, is that they clearly appear to suggest that Joe Borelli should run in a primary against fellow Staten Island Republican Nicole Malliotakis.....

The best part is that Conservative Party Chairman Jerry Kassar will have to endorse Joe Borelli outright, possibly give more than one candidate a Wilson-Pakula for the Conservative line,  or suffer the absolute humiliation of the biggest opportunity to ballot defeat in the history of New York State politics.

Just what kind of reputation does Ian Walsh Reilly have that he could have been defamed by anybody about anything ???

In February 2019,  Ian Walsh Reilly is reported to have bragged about his connections to an ultra-right wing German group called "The Alternative Fur Deutschland Party" 

In another February 2019 report,  was  the following text:  "State Senator Liz Krueger, whose district includes the Metropolitan Republican Club, said in a statement: 'I cannot tell the Republican Party whom to include or exclude from their ranks. However, you can judge a person, or a party, by the company they keep....  The company Mr. Reilly keeps – neo-Nazis, white supremacists, Holocaust-deniers – are not the kind that Manhattan Republicans can be proud of.'..."

On February 7, 2019,  the Daily Beast made the following statement as part of its report about Ian Walsh Reilly:  "The new president of New York’s Metropolitan Republican Club  boasted to members about advising a far-right group in Germany that endorses shooting migrants and forgetting the Holocaust, and flirts with Nazis....  Ian Walsh Reilly was elected last Wednesday to lead the club, which has counted Theodore Roosevelt, Nelson Rockefeller, and Michael Bloomberg as members. Unlike those moderate Republicans, Reilly is a full-throated supporter of the far-right. Serving previously as the club’s chairman, he’s believed to have invited Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes to speak to the club in October, which led to a violent melee between Proud Boys and antifascists outside."  (See "Birds of a Feather --  Metropolitan Republican Club Leader Says He Advised Nazi-Friendly German Party --  Ian Walsh Reilly heads group that invited Proud Boys to New York and did work for Alternative fur Deutschland, which wants to shoot migrants and forget about the Holocaust"  by Davis Richardson, 2/7/19,  The Daily Beast   [https://www.thedailybeast.com/metropolitan-republican-club-leader-says-he-advised-nazi-friendly-german-party]).

By the following day,  similar accounts appeared in "The Patch" (See  "NYC GOP Club's New Leader Worked With Pro-Nazi Party: Report" by Brendan Krisel, 2/7/19, The Patch [https://patch.com/new-york/upper-east-side-nyc/gop-clubs-new-leader-worked-pro-nazi-party-report])  and  "The Forward" (See  "Republican Club Leader Advised Nazi Sympathizing, Anti-Muslim German Party" by Ari Friedman, 2/8/19, The Forward [https://forward.com/fast-forward/418978/nyc-republican-club-leader-advised-nazi-sympathizing-anti-muslim-german/]).

The quotes in the sub-headlines above were taken from "The Patch."

Look at what the marathon runners will be passing by....

People will watch the thousands of runners going by  ---  but they won't notice the death rattling corpses of the all but dead Catholic Churches along Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue

How many such churches are there ?  Four ??  -  Five ???  -  Six ????  -  Seven ?????  ---  If you throw in all the once-great Roman Catholic parishes touching the marathon route along Fourth Avenue, but whose churches are some blocks away,  the number is more than a dozen..... 

Where have all the followers gone,  long time passing ?

Hey, but don't overlook the cash and other valuables  ---  there's still lots of it.....

What Catholics need to know is that they have been betrayed by their leaders;  and it's not just the priests, monsignors, and  bishops, ordinary and auxiliary.  Their moral rot is there for all to see or hear about,  if their sheepish followers just bother to stop, look and listen.  It's not just the paedos  ---  or the hush money and lies that keep that sore festering, years after it should have been rooted out  ---  it's also the cumulative financial irregularities,  including embezzlement and other scams,  that continue to fuel all the other wrongdoing.....

Where are the lay leaders ?  

BTW,  there is a real political overlap here.....   Just look at the names of the Cathedral Clubbers that are at the top echelons of the Brooklyn Republican and Conservative Parties.  Then look at the two top guys flacking for the OLA-Saint Anselm's schools merger  ---  Mike Long and John Quaglione;  and how far away do we think Marty Golden is from all of that  ???   After all,  Golden and Quaglione didn't get their diocesan jobs from Godfather Nicky Mars for nothing.....

In the Twenty-first Century, the biggest Catholic Church scandal yet to be fully exposed is financial  ---  with huge assets like real property, stocks and bonds  --- and don't forget the ongoing endowments, and the ongoing endowments, and the ongoing endowments, and still more, the new bequests. Many a small fortune can be made on the fees and skims on all of that boodle. 

Where is John Paul the First now that the Twenty-first Century Catholic Church really needs him ?????

Is Marty Golden kicking off his 2020 campaign to get back the State Senate seat he lost to Andrew Gounardes by a very aggressive defense of his "PROUD BOY" staffer, Ian Walsh Reilly

Reilly's lawyer doubles down on his client Ian Walsh Reilly's attempted legal attack on State Senator Gounardes by saying:  "Andrew Gounardes used this [campaign talk about Reilly's being a "member" of the  "Proud Boys"] to his benefit in the last several weeks of [Gounardes'] successful campaign.... It helped Gounardes raise a lot of money in the last couple weeks of his campaign to unseat Marty Golden.... Who knows if it might have made the difference....” 

Is a lawyer's repeating the purported slander and libel in a newspaper interview the best tactic in advancing his client's lawsuit for "slander and libel" ?

OR

Is it an ersatz kickoff to Golden's 2020 Campaign to try to get back Marty's "Jewel in the Crown" ???

Do Marty Golden, Jerry Kassar and the New York Republicans and Conservatives trying to regain some semblance of control in the New York State Senate really believe that this is the best way to go  ---  a full-throated and aggressive defense of Marty Golden's staffer Ian Walsh Reilly's controversial association with the Alt-Right bunch of street thugs, the "Proud Boys" >>> which led to a street riot outside of Ian Walsh Reilly's club, and multiple criminal charges and convictions against a pair of his invited guests and self-styled bodyguards ?????

See it all in black and white in Bernadette DeVito's article in the most current version of "Kings County Politics," the online political magazine (See "Gounardes Faces Defamation Lawsuit, Golden Waits In The Wings" 10-31-19, Kings County Politics/Lawsuit [https://www.kingscountypolitics.com/gounardes-faces-defamation-lawsuit-golden-waits-in-the-wings/]).