Category: Uncategorized

For those of you who may not have comprehended the reference of the title of this blog, it refers to the Black Sox Scandal of 1919. That year eight Chicago White Sox players were accused of “throwing” the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. It was arguably the worst black mark against baseball ever, and the eight players were banned from the sport for life. This was inconceivable. The fans were shocked. Their faith in the sport was damaged severely. The continued viability of the sport as “America’s Pastime” was in danger. Supposedly, one distraught young boy confronted “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, one of the accused, and said, “Say it ain’t so, Joe. Say it ain’t so!”

And so, we come to the June 24 Dem primary for mayor in which Zohran Mamdani scored an upset victory over Andrew Cuomo and others to snare the nomination of the Dem Party. To be sure, Cuomo was a flawed candidate with a lot of “baggage.” Nevertheless, this was hard to believe since there are 1.3 million Jews living in NYC, the most of any city outside of Israel. Surely, thought the prognosticators, Zo, an avowed antisemite, would not get their support. Wrong!

In the wake of the primary various local politicians are scrambling to “stop Zo” by mounting independent challenges. However, I believe that is a long shot. I am not cognizant of any third-party candidate ever winning an election. Given the heavily Dem composition of the electorate in NYC it is very likely that his nomination will be tantamount to winning the election.

Make no mistake about it. Zo is not just a socialist. He is a COMMUNIST as well as an ANTISEMITE. Some of the policies he has been espousing sound like they were written by Karl Marx. He will probably try to moderate some of his prior statements and views in order to win the election, but don’t be fooled.

Mamdani, 33, was born in Kampala, Uganda but moved to New York City with his family when he was seven. He is currently the three-term representative for Assembly District # 36 of the New York State Assembly, which is located in Queens. He is the first South Asian man and Ugandan to serve in the Assembly and the third Muslim to do so. Prior to that he worked as a foreclosure-prevention housing counselor and in the film industry as a rap music producer and writer, not your classic background to qualify one to run a large and complex city like NY.

Some of his policies include the following:

1. In his view the entire police force is racist. He has said he wants to emasculate the department by freezing the level of membership and/or reducing its funding. Now, he is trying to moderate some elements of this radical policy, but the police are not buying it. According to multiple media reports if he were to win police officers will see the handwriting on the wall and leave in droves. He wants to create a Department of Community Safety whose members would presumably assume some or most of policemen’s duties. Many 911 calls would be handled by “violence interrupters” and “mental health teams.” No one knows what that means, but it sounds inane. These people are supposed to confront violent criminals?! Good luck with that. Needless to say, the city will be even less safe than it is presently.
2. He advocates free bus service, but he doesn’t articulate where the money will come from to pay for it.
3. He wants to freeze rents on some one million privately-owned apartments, and tax homes owned by white people at higher rates than those owned by non-whites. This in a city with sky-high housing costs.
4. Besides “immediately” freezing rent for rent-stabilized tenants, Mamdani’s platform also outlines a plan for constructing some 200,000 new “affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized” units over ten years and fast-tracking approval for “affordable” developments.
5. Among Mamdani’s plans to “resist” Trump are strengthening sanctuary city protections by ending cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and barring them from city facilities, increasing legal support for migrants, preventing personal data from being given to ICE, protecting abortion rights and increasing the budgets of the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the NYC Commission on Human Rights.
6. Running on a platform of pushing back against the proverbial “big guys,” Mamdani has proposed an extensive series of soak-the-rich policies. He maintains that they are “not driven by race” despite his assertion to significantly raise property taxes on “richer and whiter neighborhoods.”
7. He asserted that billionaires “shouldn’t exist.” “I don’t think that we should have billionaires, frankly.” Note that NYC has more billionaires (123) than any other city in the world.
8. He advocates levying a 2% tax on residents earning above $1 million annually and raising the corporate tax rate to 11.5%. I can see the stampede to other states now.
9. He advocates a Green Schools for a Healthier New York City initiative that will seek to renovate some 500 public schools with renewable energy infrastructure and HVAC upgrades, make asphalt schoolyards into green spaces and build hubs in 50 schools for community emergency situations.
10. Another cost of living strain on New York families, beyond rent, is the price of essentials, like groceries. Mamdani has said he plans to address the cost of food by creating city-owned grocery stores that will pay no rent or property taxes, buy and sell at wholesale prices from centralized warehouses and partner with local vendors to keep prices down. (Pure Soviet doctrine.)
11. Mamdani claims he will offer free childcare for every New Yorker aged six weeks to five years. He will also seek to implement the distribution of baby baskets to parents of newborns, which would include items like diapers, baby wipes, nursing pads, post-partum pads, swaddles, books and local resource guides.
12. Mamdani will aim to raise NYC’s minimum wage to $30 by 2030 and regulate delivery apps like DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats by strengthening licensure requirements.
13. He has declined to support the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state, refused to denounce the term “global intifada” and supports an organized effort to put economic pressure on Israel through boycotts and other tactics.
14. Apparently, his extensive antisemitic, anti-Israel beliefs are no longer as toxic as they once were. He received support from many Democratic voters, including Jews, who have grown dismayed by Israel’s conduct in the war and are deeply critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That is especially true among younger, more progressive voters, many of whom have rejected the once-broadly accepted notion that anti-Israel sentiment is inherently antisemitic. Also, support for Israel has declined since the advent of the current war. According to a March poll by the Pew Research Center a slight majority of Americans now express a “somewhat” or “very” unfavorable opinion of Israel, compared with 42% in 2022. Overall, Democrats’ views are particularly negative, with nearly 70% holding an unfavorable opinion versus less than 40% of Republicans.

The allure of all this largesse is seductive. Who doesn’t like free stuff? But it is totally unrealistic and irresponsible. Be warned that all this free stuff is not really “free.” It has to be paid for by someone, somehow in some way. Zo doesn’t specify where the money will come from to pay for all of it. Hint: he plans to get it from the “rich,” i.e. people like you and me, but that won’t be nearly enough particularly with a shrinking tax base. According to the NY Post NYS is already the “number one exporter of residents to other states,” even ahead of CA, which has a much higher population. Surely, Zo’s agenda will bankrupt NYC and maybe NYS (joining CA).

I don’t understand the motivation of Jews who support Zo. In my view, they may be well educated, but nevertheless, they are ignorant. They demonstrate a deep lack of knowledge of Jewish history and the current conflict in the ME. Put simply, Zo and others who share his antisemitic bias are very dangerous for Jews’ welfare. The argument that American Jews don’t have to worry, that they have always been safe is deeply flawed. I would remind readers that Jews were living in Germany for some 500 years before the rise of the Nazis. They were an integral part of the German culture. They, too, were safe, until they were not.

Droves of politicians are scurrying to distance themselves from Zo, including Dems who are afraid he will hurt their re-election chances. For example, NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand denounced him. President Trump labeled him a “pure communist” and vowed that if he were to become mayor federal funding could be at risk. Of course, (Up)Chuck Schumer’s reaction was typically benign. He did not condemn Zo’s antisemitic policies. He merely said he “looked forward to meeting [with] him to discuss his ideas.” Way to stick up for your brethren, Chuck.

CONCLUSION

In my opinion, NYC has always been the shining light of the US if not the entire world. It has been a symbol of all that is great about America. It has always been a vibrant, exciting city and a leader economically, politically and culturally. Unfortunately, in recent years under the leadership of a succession of various ultra-liberal politicians it has begun a slow deterioration into the abyss. Zo’s election as mayor would accelerate this slide, perhaps, irrevocably. In plain English it would be the death knell for the city as we have known it. In the computer and internet age it is no longer necessary to be physically located in NYC. The exodus of the middle class and businesses would accelerate. There is a plethora of other locations with lower taxes, lower crime and lower cost of living.

In short, Zo is a threat to the American way of life as we have known it and MUST NOT BECOME MAYOR.