Tag: New York

The Left and Urban Archeology

 

Over the last few months, the American Left has apparently discovered archeology. But it’s not the traditional kind of archeology where researchers dig deep into the earth searching for evidence of past cultures. 

Instead, US leftists apparently want to practice a kind of reverse archeology, where they take over great American cities, and transform them into ruins that future generations of archeologists can explore and publish learned papers to boost their careers. It’s as if Indiana Jones sold his soul to Satan. And it seems this new, darker Indy has settled on Chicago as his next target.

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Michael has long been an advocate of modern forest management (a combination of logging, thinning, and controlled burns) to prevent wildfires, and has done several cartoons critical of California’s lazy practices.  An interesting fact I learned from a neighbor who volunteered to help fight wildfires in Montana;  fires actually can travel through the roots of […]

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Lee Zeldin, the former congressman and 2022 Republican nominee for governor of New York, joins Reihan Salam to discuss the lessons of his campaign and the political future of the Empire State. 

Find the transcript of this conversation and more at City Journal.

As we approach the end of this year, it’s time to start deciding the best and worst of 2022. Today, Jim and Greg begin handing out the their prestigious Three Martini Lunch Awards. In this first installment, they offer their individual selections for Most Overrated Political Figure, Most Underrated Political Figure, and Most Honest Political Figure.

My “Early Election Returns” Scorecard, Part II

 

This is Part 2 of the series of my election-night scorecard of races to watch to see how big the tide will be that may sweep Republicans into control of the US House, Senate, and state and local offices. You can find Part 1 here. If you missed it, it sets the stage. Let’s continue where we left off.

New Jersey’s 7th District, Tom Kean Jr. versus incumbent Tom Malinowski

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Having been involved in special congressional elections, they are often hard to poll and analyze. They typically aren’t “bellwethers” until they are. This is especially true for special elections in districts that coincide with decennial redistricting. That can be very confusing. An especially painful memory involves a special election I helped co-manage. In 1985, following […]

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Join Jim and Greg as they reject Biden’s plans to overstep his constitutional boundaries in the name of a climate emergency. They also condemn the attempted stabbing of Rep. Lee Zeldin as he campaigned for governor of New York – and for the insane no cash bail policy that allowed his attacker to walk free the same night. And they vent as White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says “it doesn’t really matter where President Biden contracted COVID after government spent the past two years keeping us away from dying loved ones, funerals, schools, churches and so many other parts of life.

Near the conclusion of the podcast, Jim and Greg announce a special upcoming edition of the 3 Martini Lunch and explain how you can be part of it.

Tale of Two Tacos … err, Hispanic Congresswomen

 

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden (I’m required to include both titles, apparently) was insensitive but not entirely wrong about the diversity of the Hispanic community in her recent sophomoric speech in San Antonio.

And apparently, San Antonio is known for its breakfast tacos. That was news to me. My Hispanic wife’s family has deep roots in San Antonio, but we’re more about pilgrimages to the San Fernando Cathedral, where her parents were married and the ashes of the heroes who died in Santa Anna’s 1836 attack at the Alamo are still interred (my wife’s ancestors fought on the winning side of that battle). And also – especially – the iconic Mi Tierra Cafe and Bakery, the best Mexican restaurant in town. It’s open 24 hours and almost always crowded. I miss the long-gone economy boot store.

Join Jim and Greg as they recoil at the horrific assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and discuss why he was such a valuable U.S. ally. They also welcome better than expected job growth in June. And they wonder if New York Democrats learned anything from the Supreme Court decision as they pass new hurdles for residents to get concealed carry permits – including submitting their social media accounts for an evaluation of their character and conduct.

SCOTUS: The Next Big Case

 

Unless you’re a long-time legislative redistricting activist or watcher, you’d be forgiven for not knowing who the late U.S. Rep. Phil Burton (D-CA) was.

Burton, a hard lefty and an intensely partisan Democrat, enjoyed encyclopedic knowledge of California geography and demographics. Elected to the California legislature in 1956, he was in charge of redistricting right after the 1960 census. In 1964, he was elected to the U.S. House from San Francisco. Along with this brother and fellow U.S. Rep. John Burton, he engineered subsequent drawings of California’s congressional lines to ensure our largest state’s delegation was solidly Democratic, at least until he passed away in 1983.

Seeking a Way Out of Redistricting Chaos

 

New York’s congressional politics have been thrown into chaos by a recent decision of Patrick McAllister, a Republican trial judge in an upstate New York state court. His new claim to fame is that he approved a new congressional districting map in the intensely litigated reapportionment case of Harkenrider v. Hochul. New York needed a new district map because the state lost one congressional seat in the 2020 census and experienced population shifts that resulted in malapportionment, since the previous map had been drawn in 2012.

In the game of musical chairs that followed the loss of that seat, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law in February 2022 an avowedly partisan map that left the Democrats with majorities in twenty-two of New York’s twenty-six congressional districts. The New York State Court of Appeals (the state’s highest) frowned on the map’s blatantly partisan nature, and kicked the matter back down to McAllister. The judge promptly enlisted Jonathan Cervas, a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University with expertise in map drawing, to prepare the new map. Cervas took testimony from all interest groups. He responded to criticisms, for example, that questioned the wisdom of breaking up a large black community in Brooklyn into two separate districts—a move that had been savagely attacked by Representative Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn as “enough to make Jim Crow blush.”

McAllister approved Cervas’s map and immediately postponed the congressional primaries from June 28, 2022, to August 23, a move promptly upheld in federal district court. The final approval of the map set off rapid political maneuvers, as the new district lines departed sufficiently from the old ones to turn former allies into instant combatants. The highest-profile of these new contests pits Congressman Jerry Nadler, who has long represented Manhattan’s West Side, against Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who has long controlled the East Side. In a separate struggle fraught with racial overtones, Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney did not have to leave his Cold Spring home in the old 18th District to run again the black progressive Mondaire Jones in the new 17th District. But Jones instead chose to seek re-election in the new 10th District—which runs from Greenwich Village in Manhattan to the strong Orthodox Jewish community of Borough Park in Brooklyn. So now it appears that Sean Maloney will have to run against progressive state senator Alessandra Biaggi, who plans to move to the new 17th District in opposition to Maloney, whom she brands “a corporate, selfish Democrat.”

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome a new congressional map in New York that should give Republicans better chances to win more seats than the heavily gerrymandered version from Democrats that multiple courts have struck down. They’re also pleasantly surprised to see Russian President Vladimir Putin say Sweden and Finland joining NATO will not be seen as a direct threat to Russia. And Jim takes a deep dive into the skyrocketing cost of diesel fuel, what’s behind it, and what the consequences will be.

Join Jim and Greg as they relish the prospects of Republican wins on masks in Virginia and New York. They criticize the empty promises of collaboration from the European Union as Russia knocks on Ukraine’s door. And they review the shocking numbers of illegals apprehended at the southern border and what it means for the upcoming midterms.

Snow: The Other Side of the Season

 

The beam of the car headlights framed flakes as they drifted, barely there. “Well, kids–it’s really snow,” said our dad. Snow. Snow. We stared out the front windshield and talked loudly. The faint precipitation didn’t rate the stir going on in our vehicle. Dad finally told us to settle down.

But we had been waiting for months–since September, when we had flown out of Bangkok, landed exhausted in New York City, and ridden through the night with patient friends to my dad’s family home out in the country. We soon moved to a turn-of-the-century house in town, some of the antique furnishings intact. Often, we drove our station wagon out into the rolling green and wooded countryside, visiting family, friends, or churches that hosted us with potlucks. We’d glided along smooth, quiet roads and eaten meatballs at farmhouses and wondered at carpeted bathrooms. But with snow, we’d know we were really in America, seeing the seasons as the books said they were supposed to be.

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Like many flags championed by the Patriot, Constitutionalist and Second Amendment movements, the Bennington Flag is older than the Constitution itself. As the “76” in the canton probably gives away, the flag dates back to the revolutionary period, from the Battle of Bennington in 1777. The battle didn’t actually take place in Bennington, Vermont, but rather […]

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Join Jim and Greg as they welcome New York Democrats planning to expedite the impeachment probe of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a new poll showing most New Yorkers want him out of office. They also hammer President Biden for bringing back the eviction moratorium while admitting the Supreme Court will probably rule against him. And they’re exasperated as NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins goes on national television and tells parents to mask up at home to protect their kids from COVID.

 

The Brothers Cuomo Will Face No Consequences

 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo violated federal and state sexual harassment laws, according to an independent investigation by New York state’s attorney general. In a Tuesday news conference, AG Letitia James revealed that Cuomo engaged in “unwanted groping, kissing, hugging, and making inappropriate comments” to multiple women, including state employees. The probe also found Cuomo allegedly retaliated against one accuser and presided over a toxic and hostile work environment.

After interviewing 179 witnesses, James said, “These interviews and pieces of evidence revealed a deeply disturbing yet clear picture: Gov. Cuomo sexually harassed current and former state employees in violation of federal and state laws.” She added that she was “inspired by all the brave women who came forward” and “more importantly, I believe them.”

Looks like the end for the third-term New York Governor, right? Not so fast…

Jim and Greg welcome poll numbers showing the recall effort against California Gov. Gavin Newsom gaining serious momentum. They also laugh at West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin for trying to pressure Republicans into supporting the “infrastructure” bill or else Democrats won’t spend trillions on that or on their even more bloated legislation. And they hammer New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for claiming he’s told the truth the entire time during the COVID pandemic.

Byron York is in for Jim. Today, Greg and Byron are glad to see New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo losing some of his longtime donors. They also react to a Buzzfeed story about the FBI’s infiltrating militia groups in Michigan leading up to the kidnapping plot against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. But did the FBI only foil the plot or did it push militia members to pursue the idea in the first place? And they reveal how congressional Democrats are planning to pursue an amnesty policy through the massive spending bill they hope to pass this year.