Dirty birds of a feather

cuomo-silver

New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a deeply loathesome figure, and Sheldon Silver, a figure if possible even more deeply loathesome, or at least loathesome for a longer time, and a couple of other inconsequential whores from the New York state legislature, have jetted off on a solidarity visit to poor beleaguered Israel. (Shellie is the one all the way to right, whose face is half cut-off by incompetent photo cropping. Competent cropping would have cut off his entire face and all six of his limbs.)

Might also be a good idea to re-think that logo under Cuomo’s right shoulder. Could be misread.

The governor’s press release makes entertaining reading:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Co-Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced a unity visit reaffirming the State of New York’s support in light of the continued threat of attacks by Hamas and other terrorist organizations….

[Cuomo said]” As Hamas and other terrorist organizations continue to threaten Israel, now is the time to deliver that message of solidarity in person.”

Senate Co-Leader Dean G. Skelos said, “During this important moment in history, it is incumbent upon New York to reaffirm its strong and unconditional support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas-led attacks…[I] look forward to bringing the good wishes of the people of my district and the state of New York to our nation’s most trusted and reliable ally.”

Senate Co-Leader Jeffrey D. Klein said, “As the grandson of Holocaust survivors the State of Israel is not only personally sacred to me but a beacon for the values and rights inherent in a Democracy which I hold dear.”

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, “… I am proud that many New York businesses were started there.”

New York is home to more than 1.7 million Jews…

Much to ponder on here. Those 1.7 million New York Jews, for example, have chosen to live here rather than there. A very intelligent choice, I’d say. This state is pretty much a shithole, but it’s better than wretched Israel.

I had never heard of Dean Skelos before, since the obscene monkey-tricks of the New York state legislature have never seemed either interesting or amusing to me. But I looked him up. He represents a district in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, which includes the raffish and rather likable beach town of Long Beach, a quick easy train ride from sweltering Manhattan. The beach is much more ethnic and working-class than further-out beaches like Jones Beach, which are much whiter and more middle-class, as intended by that deeply evil man, Robert Moses. I remember some long sun-dazed afternoons, years ago, of swimming in the modest surf and napping in the sun on Long Beach, the best of them in pleasant company.

Less pleasantly, Long Beach is also home to a number of warehouses for elderly Jewish people, among them the King David Manor, shown below. It is a safe bet that none of the people playing volleyball in the foreground is a resident.

kingdavidmanor

I remember the King David Manor because it used to advertise extensively in the subway. The ads were definitive for chutzpah. Everybody knows what an old folks’ home is really all about, but the KDM ads suggested that every resident made Zorba the Greek look like a wimp, as regards vitality, gusto, sex drive, and general joie de vivre.

Israel itself is, I suppose, a kind of King David Manor too — a dead end on the beach. Though some of the inmates are a bit younger.

I find it encouraging that fewer and fewer young people outside of Israel, including Jewish young people, are residents of the mental King David Manor in which our various jailers like Cuomo and Silver and Skelos still dwell. The latter remain balls-to-the-wall for Israel, come what may, and will be so to the bitter end, but the public increasingly are not. I wonder when, and how, push will come to shove on this topic. I now feel that I can reasonably hope — though I am not, generally, an optimistic kind of guy — that I shall live to see it.

9 thoughts on “Dirty birds of a feather

  1. It’s interesting here to see “states” more and more taking action, as though they’re actually independent states, rather than little peons to Uncle Sam. If New York can have solidarity with Israel, can California send its own mission to Palestine? Kansas to Belize? Can Michigan become a sub-province of Canada? It brings to mind Jeb Bush sending Florida troops to protect Terri Schiavo from the Feds, and the Feds raiding medical marijuana dispensaries in California.

    How cute it would be if the whole confederation collapsed. In just a year or two, I could be using my tablet to calculate how many rubles I can get for sixteen Massachusetts Dollars, while my friend watches a live feed on “the developing situation” between Texas and Oklahoma.

    • I’m not so sure. Israel is the indispensable distraction from Our Oil. There might be some creative popular moves, but I think the duopoly’s lockstep is a shibboleth of BAU. That ain’t gonna change without a huge eruption from below, IMO. That, in turn, requires somebody to figure out how to break the near-total triumph of “media usage.”

      • Oh, nothing of consequence will happen through the electoral process. That’s certain. But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: History is not over.

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