Carl Paladino: The street fighter

It’s easy to fall into a trap with Carl Paladino, reducing the brash developer’s intensity and inflammatory sound bites to a highlight reel of political incorrectness.

But there’s more to the bomb-thrower who has upended the status quo on the Buffalo Board of Education.

A fuller description paints a man who worked as a trash collector to pay for college, who lost his own son but is determined to keep thousands of other kids from being forsaken by a broken school system.

Paladino is a man of contradictions – as happy to tear down the Buffalo schools superintendent as he is to console his cleaning lady.

He can gleefully recall the retribution he brought on a man who denigrated his father with Italian slurs, and espouse the needs of 34,000 Buffalo schoolchildren – more than half of whom are African-American. Yet he has no problem repeatedly offending the district’s black, female leadership, referring to them as “the sisterhood” and “racists.”

Since joining the board in July, Paladino has introduced three dozen items calling for resignations, firings and reams of information – only a handful of which have gone anywhere.

Yet in that time, he has had more impact on district operations than any other board member in years.

Because of him, the board cast a vote showing the district superintendent is hanging onto her job by a thread. Routine, closed-door board meetings to circumvent the Open Meetings Law have ended. Paladino forced the board to review and “rehire” dozens of central office administrators improperly hired in the past. He unearthed shoddy contract paperwork and huge cost figures that helped drive out a controversial and expensive consultant.

“It’s high time that somebody spoke up, spoke plainly and fairly,” said Jennifer Usiak, one of hundreds of parents, teachers and community members who...

I liked Carl. I voted for him. I even didn’t mind the tough guy, so called politically incorrect sound bites...I liked them.

I got ticked off at his moving to the GOPe during the election cycle and not getting his true points out.

we need to get rid of CuHomo...he is a facist and a marxist all rolled into one.

my suggestion is for Paladino, if he decides to run, is to stick with the Tea Party end of the spectrum and not be a tool of the loser GOPe.

Paladino is an unstable individual who crashed and burned last time.

He is also a moral degenerate.

If conservatives keep going back to the same losers, they will keep getting the same results.

Cuomo is beneath contempt. He is an enemy of the Constitution and of Christianity. He needs to go.

If you want to keep Cuomo, support Paladino as Cuomo's opponent.

If you want to get rid of Cuomo, find someone else who can actually unseat him.

Spoken by a person from “New Joisey”

I was born and raised in New York State. I have lived 75% of my life in New York.

I am from New York. I own property in New York. I am a New York taxpayer. I live in New Jersey.

Yep YOU know “moral degenerates”, YOU have an ENTIRE STATE of them!

You are stating this from inside a glass house whose walls are 1/16" thick.

They had an affair, a ONE time occurrence BTW. He accepted the pregnancy, set her up in her own house, Cared for the baby, supports mother AND child. Sarah is a beautiful young lady, she ended up being the best thing that happened to Carl and his family.

His wife has accepted Sarah as one of their own, his kids love her and she is a huge part of the family.

You act like you THINK you know him, DO YOU? To call him a moral degenerate is so far off base, it disgusts me.

I know Carl, he is my best friend, I drove him around this state, I talked him in to running for governor. He donates more money every year than you may make in a life time. Million upon millions he has donated to help the poor, indigent, needy, homeless and even set up, supports a home schooling Church for kids that don’t have a place.

Off the wall comments like this is not what we need. Come to Buffalo, I will introduce to Carl Paladino so you can find out just what kind of a caring, loving human being he is.

They had an affair, a ONE time occurrence BTW.

Oh, of course it was.

He accepted the pregnancy

Wow, how big of him. What an incredible guy, agreeing that someone else might have a right to exist whether it was convenient for him or not.

Cared for the baby, supports mother AND child.

Wow. When do I get my adulation and my medal for doing what it is my moral obligation to do: supporting my children?

His wife has accepted Sarah as one of their own

Wow, I guess Carl Paladino deserves 100% credit for his wife's saintly nature. That's his moral achievement, not hers, right?

To call him a moral degenerate is so far off base, it disgusts me.

You know what disgusts me? Dirtbags who take advantage of women who depend on them for a paycheck. Also, dirtbags who betray their wife and children by cheating on their family.

I know Carl, he is my best friend

So you're a really objective judge, then. We can count on you for impartial analysis.

Million upon millions he has donated to help the poor, indigent, needy, homeless and even set up, supports a home schooling Church for kids that don’t have a place.

Good to see that he makes sure his left hand knows what his right hand is doing. What a paragon.

Off the wall comments like this is not what we need.

Off the wall comments like threatening a journalist because he asked a question that Paladino didn't like? Melting down during a statewide broadcast press conference like a gibbering lunatic?

Your bromance is touching, but NY needs a stable, unconflicted conservative voice.

Cuomo needs to go.

One candidate has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he absolutely does not have what it takes to defeat Cuomo.

One guy has shown that - even before Cuomo had any experience as governor - Cuomo could whip his butt by 30 points.

You know what the definition of insanity is, right?

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