New York notes

It’s primary season again in New York State, and presidential distractions aside, there are enough amusements to hold our momentary interest.

The state GOP is waging a futile and refreshingly pathetic battle against Hillary’s replacement, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Gillibrand has been a pleasant surprise after being named by Gov. Goofball to fill the empty seat. No one need succumb to illusions that her shift of positions from upstate Blue Dog to citified liberal reflects a sincere change of heart. It’s not inconceivable but irrelevant. Her positions on important issues fits with Gotham values, and she’s managed to avoid too obvious pandering to the heavy zionist bloc—unlike our oily senior senator, Charles Schumer.

Gillibrand won me over by voting against Obama’s extension of the Bush tax cuts, which placed her in the 20-strong minority among her party that makes a show of representing lower-income citizens. She’s unopposed in the primary and might as well be in the November general election. The tottering state Republican party put up an unknown that is trying to convince us that Obama is a threat to freedom of religion. Send it to Selma!

Closer to home, my neighbor Adriano Espaillat ran for Congress on the Look! I’m-Dominican! platform and narrowly lost out to Harlem barnacle Charlie Rangel who was weakened by his publicized ethics failings. Espaillat should have slammed him for corruption, which might not have changed the outcome, but would have been healthier than the race-race that we got. Now Rangel’s machine buddies have put up an opponent to harass him for re-election to the state senate and his (and my) district.

But the true pass-the-popcorn fun arises from the thudding sound produced by the fall of Brooklyn Democratic machine boss and state assemblyman Vito Lopez who has been exposed as a serial groper by a whole passel of office interns. Even better, the hitherto untouchable Sheldon Silver, who as Assembly prez presides over all things in Albany like an unelected consul, was caught facilitating a payoff to the female plaintiffs—with state cash, no less.

Grabby Vito now faces a criminal investigation for sexual harassment. He attracted brief attention among the Wall Street Occupiers last year when innocent young Brooklynites went to see him to offer their services to a progressive, party-based, 99%-er platform. He told them to fuck off.

To add to the fun, Eric Schneiderman, the turncoat state’s attorney, also has been scorched. Schneiderman is fresh from selling his soul to the Geithnerites at Treasury by wrecking his very promising investigation of the banks’ role in the mortgage scandal and has explaining to do for his part in this insider cover-up. His announcement of a new investigation of private equity funds (like Romney’s Bain Capital) and their tax shenanigans is very timely as it will provide headlines favorable to the Obama re-election effort—and will help to cover Schneiderman’s sorry and unredeemable ass.