Bloomberg: No Apologies

Bloomberg does something rare in 

politics; protects his former deputy,

offering no apologies.

I have difficulty when it comes to Mayor Bloomberg; he is the first politician to actually take money out of my pocket on a daily basis, in a very direct and personal way. I am speaking about his unbelievable cigarette tax policy. Then, after we smokers fill the city's tax coffers to the tippy top with our cigarette dollars, he goes and bars us from smoking practically anywhere in New York City. I think this is outrageous; he is taking advantage of people who are addicted--yes, need I note that nicotine is an addictive substance? Anyone wanna argue that one?

He is a former smoker; former smokers are among the most self-righteous people there are. "If I can do it, you can do it... " I feel this tax every time I purchase a pack of cigarettes. When I figure out how much extra it is costing me a week, a month, a year -- I need Valium or something to calm me down.

So I despise the Mayor for his "cigarette politics," but will admit he has done some good for the city, closing some streets and putting out chairs and tables so people can sit down and enjoy that Manhattan ambiance while they sip their overpriced cappuccinos (but not light up). The flip side, of course, is he has made it unbelievably difficult to get around the city by cab during the day... There is always a flip side, I guess.

At the same time, to spend the amount of money he has, to be elected mayor--millions or billions, I forget--has to make you wonder about his ego, and whether he suffers insecurity/identity issues. Or maybe a midlife crises.

But despite the prologue to this post, it is actually meant to congratulate him for protecting his former deputy, who resigned after a domestic violence incidence that involved police. He doesn't have to worry about another election, old Mike, but I think he doled out a nice dollop of chutzpah to stand up to the press by not apologizing for something that isn't even news (the deputy-guy is out of office) and that certainly doesn't matter to me at all. How it matters to anyone -- other than reporters on deadline in need of copy -- is beyond me.




"Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg acknowledged on Sunday that he had concealed the domestic violence arrest of former Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, but said he would not apologize for his actions, even as Mr. Goldsmith said he regretted keeping the event secret," writes the NYTimes.com.

"Breaking three days of silence, Mr. Bloomberg told reporters that he had immediately decided Mr. Goldsmith would have to resign over the arrest, but that he did not want to cause further suffering to the Goldsmith family by making the July 30 arrest public. The mayor denied that he had misled the public when he issued a news release Aug. 4 saying that Mr. Goldsmith was 'leaving to pursue private-sector opportunities in infrastructure finance.'

“'I make no apologies for either the fact that Mr. Goldsmith has left city service, or for treating the Goldsmith family with basic decency as he left,' the mayor told reporters during a 12-minute news conference outside the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn.

“'I have longed believed that public officials are all too willing to humiliate the people who work for them whenever it’s politically convenient or advantageous,' he said. 'It’s an outrage, and I refuse to play that game.'”

Unemployment is still -- what -- near 10% in the U.S.? Did not Standard and Poor's downgrade us -- a tiny increment, in my mind, from AAA to AA+, but the global ramifications of this move have to far outweigh whatever it could have been worth for the ratings agency to do it.

But, in all fairness, it was those damn politicians' fault, messing with the country's credit rating for political gain. It was a phony issue; the debt-ceiling is constantly raised, and never before has anyone made an issue out of it the way the Republicans did this year. Bush raised it a dozen times, I believe, and I don't even think it ever warranted a single page-one story in his eight years in office.

Great going, guys. Make us look like asses in front of the world--once again--so long as you get reelected.

I mean, who ever heard about this Goldsmith guy before, anyway?