Free Republic

Since the 45th president first leapt from the world of business and media into politics, pundits have speculated endlessly about the origin of his populism. To the 21st century reporter and even casual observer, Trump’s aggressive and bombastic tribunesque populism appeared to come out of nowhere. Critics looked quickly at foreign political examples, such as Mussolini or Hitler, conflating the use of personal political charisma with the worst who ever employed it. But perhaps the real role model came from closer to home. About the same time that Donald Trump emerged to impose his will on the real estate market...

“The people have spoken,” said former New York City Mayor Ed Koch after the Democratic mayoral primary of 1989, “and they must be punished.” The understandably bitter Koch had just been defeated by David Dinkins and was bidding his farewell to politics. And in fact, the people were punished: The one-term Dinkins, who defeated Rudy Giuliani in the general election that year to become the city’s first black mayor, saw crime soar on his impeccably tailored watch, with murders hitting a high of 2,605 the following year. Four years later, even the Upper West Side had had enough and called...

First, New York Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon roasted her primary opponent Gov. Andrew Cuomo during an address to the annual Legislative Correspondents Association dinner last May. “Vote for the homo, not for the Cuomo,” Nixon said during her remarks. The line was a reference to the 1977 New York City mayoral campaign which pitted Ed Koch against Cuomo’s father, Mario. During the campaign, flyers appeared with the line saying “Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo,” which Koch had blamed on the Cuomo camp.

Gay activists fume over de Blasio’s role in rentboy.com raidGay activists are furious over the rentboy.com raid and arrests for prostitution — and they are wondering why Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton worked with the federal prosecutors in Brooklyn. Both the mayor and Bratton march in the very same gay pride parade in which rentboy.com has a float. “Koch, Giuliani and Bloomberg didn’t go after rentboy.com. Why is de Blasio?” wondered one gay man who has used the service.

New York City shouldn’t exist. Its population of waiters waiting to become actors, professors waiting to write bestsellers, muggers waiting to become drug kingpins, welfare cases waiting for American Idol and cyclists waiting to become international humanitarians are the natural constituency of the left. Like every major city in the last fifty years, New York City is caught between a progressive death wish to embrace every single insane policy of the left from midnight basketball for crackheads to a 99 percent tax on everyone who has a job and the common sense competence that keeps it afloat. Every election is...

Ed Koch: I Knew Obama Would Betray IsraelI admire former Mayor Ed Koch’s willingness to break with his own party on issues of principle, but his comments to the Algemeiner today are mind-boggling. In between some very strong denunciations of the Chuck Hagel nomination, Koch casually let it drop that he suspected Obama would abandon his pro-Israel positions after the election. The former mayor, of course, endorsed Obama’s reelection and served as one of his surrogates to the pro-Israel community: “Frankly, I thought that there would come a time when [Obama] would renege on what he conveyed on his support...

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch, who died earlier this month, was a legendary political figure. Barry Farber was a legendary talk radio host in the Big Apple, whose voice dominated the powerful WOR throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The two larger-than-life figures would face off in 1977, when Koch was seeking his first term as mayor. Farber was interviewed in The Right Frequency: The Story of the Talk Radio Giants Who Shook Up the Political and Media Establishment by Fred V. Lucas (History Publishing Co.). Below is an excerpt: *** Covering a quarter of WOR’s airtime was enough exposure...

One of former New York City Mayor Ed Koch's last interviews before his death on Friday came in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire. The most interesting part of the Q&A came when he was asked who was what living person he "most despise[s]." ... Which living person do you most despise? Former president Jimmy Carter.

Former New York City mayor Ed Koch died Friday morning at the age of 88. He plans to be buried in Manhattan, the three-term mayor said in 2008. His headstone and a memorial bench, placed at Trinity Church Cemetery in 2009, evoke his faith and his admiration of a murdered journalist. Koch explained his plans to the Associated Press: The marker will bear the Star of David and a Hebrew prayer, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” It also will be inscribed with the last words of journalist Daniel Pearl before he was murdered by...

Ed Koch, the brash, colorful and often confrontational mayor who helped to lead New York City out of its brush with bankruptcy in the 1970s, launching an astonishing municipal turnaround that continues to this day, has died. He was 88.

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch is back in the hospital for the third time in recent months. Spokesman George Arzt says Koch went to the hospital around 10 p.m. Saturday with swollen ankles. He says tests on Sunday showed Koch also has some fluid in his lungs. …

....I depart and return to Israel with a sense of sorrow and dismay. For many, Israel remains a focal point of their lives enriching their collective sense of responsibility and Jewish identity. For these American Jews their frustration has only been reinforced by Obama's reelection only to be followed by him turning his back towards those very American Jews aligned with the White House, those Jews who wholeheartedly supported Obama's reelection yet now find themselves unable to defend his latest betrayal. Two major supporters of Obama, former NY Mayor Ed Koch, a life long Democrat and Prof Alan Dershowitz have...

"Former Mayor Ed Koch is back on President Obama’s side and will be by his side during a fancy White House bash Wednesday with British Prime Minister David Cameron. Koch said he scored an invite to the swanky soiree in honor of Cameron and his wife, Samantha. Koch, a Democrat, raised eyebrows and ire last year when he backed Republican Bob Turner over Democrat David Weprin in the special election to replace disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner in a Queens-Brooklyn district. Koch said the cross-party endorsement was to send a message to Obama to be a better friend to Israel —...

Governor Cuomo caved. Our lawmakers lied. After more than a year of fresh air in Albany — led by a governor who passed gay marriage, reformed ethics laws and capped property taxes — the state capitol again stinks. After midnight on Thursday, and behind closed doors, the proverbial three men in a room — Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos — cut a deal carving legislative election districts that virtually assures the lawmakers who approved it will be running things for years. Instead of forming an independent panel to create districts that actually represent the...

Mayor Ed KochÂ’s practical progressivism saved GothamÂ’s finances and restored its spirit.This past summer, Edward I. Koch, a Democrat, made headlines by noisily endorsing Republican Bob Turner in a special election to fill the congressional seat of disgraced Tweeter Anthony Weiner. The former mayor explained that heÂ’d decided to rally Jewish voters in Brooklyn and Queens to chastise President Obama for his Israel policy. KochÂ’s outsize role in TurnerÂ’s surprise victory made for big political news and led to speculation that Obama could be facing trouble in his reelection bid. The episode was unusual, but unusual has always been de...

Almost everyone who lives in New York City knows that I am Jewish. Most know that I am a secular Jew who believes in God, the afterlife, reward and punishment, and that I hope to be rewarded. I have spent much of my professional life stressing how important it is for Jews to strengthen the Jewish-Catholic relationship. Jews should also convey their deep appreciation for the support that evangelical Protestants give to both Israel and the American Jewish community. Regrettably, a number of mainstream Protestant churches have been supportive of the Palestinians and Arab causes for years, and hostile to...

Absolutely amazing, 9 days after Ed Koch said in an Op-Ed in the NYDN "If he [Obama] doesn't read the tea leaves and change his position, you can be certain I will continue to bang my drum. I will campaign against him not only in New York, but in other parts of the country next year." Well today, Ed Koch endorsed Obama for president in 2012. I'd love to know what went on behind the scenes abcnews It turns out that failed New York congressional candidate David Weprin and former NYC Mayor Ed Koch have more in common than many...

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch recently endorsed Republican Bob Turner in the special election for Anthony Weiner's old congressional seat, helping him pull off the upset against Democrat Dave Weprin. Koch, who supported Obama in 2008, wanted to punish the Democratic party over "President Obama's open hostility to the State of Israel." But that was all a few weeks ago! He's now changed his mind and endorsed Obama, after being invited to a fancy party. Koch released a statement today that, for the most part, is a party report with several off-topic detours along the way: I attended...

Democratic senior statesman Ed Koch says Israel is facing its “most dangerous and critical period” and he is ready to break with his party in the next presidential election over President Obama’s policies on the Middle East. In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, the former New York City mayor said, “Mitt Romney correctly summed it up when he said that President Obama has once again thrown Israel under the bus. “I believe this is the most dangerous and critical period that Israel has ever faced and regrettably it does not have the support of the President of the United States,...

As I see it, in the current battle for public opinion Sarah Palin has defeated her harsh and unfair critics. After the January 8 shooting of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the murder of six others in Tucson, Arizona, some television talking heads and members of the blogosphere denounced her and held her in part responsible for creating a climate of hatred that resulted in the mass attacks. An example is Joe Scarborough and his crew on the "Morning Joe" show, which I watch and generally enjoy every morning at 6:30 a.m. when I rise to start the day. Because...