Posted on 05/17/2019 4:59:18 AM PDT by Kaslin
The most rational response to the news that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to be president is to ask, "Of what?"
When informed that he wants to be president of the United States and not of, say, the local organic hemp co-op, perhaps the next best response would be to take a page from the South and say, "Bless his heart."
One of the more charming things about de Blasio is his amiable lack of self-awareness. He seems to have no idea that he doesn't impress anybody. The obliviousness is somewhat understandable. He did get elected -- twice. But his victories have more to do with the dysfunction of New York City politics than any strength on his part. In 2013 he won the Democratic primary -- which assured victory in the fall -- in the lowest election turnout in decades. After 3 percent of New Yorkers voted for him, he saw a landslide.
He must bring a similar perspective to his poll numbers. According to a Quinnipiac survey released this month, 76 percent of New Yorkers don't think de Blasio should run for president -- and it's not because they're desperate to keep him on the job.
It was famously said of George H.W. Bush that he was the kind of guy who was born on third base and thought he'd hit a triple. This was always more than a little unfair to the elder President Bush, given that at 17 he signed up to become one of the youngest combat pilots in the Pacific during World War II and went on to work harder at politics and public service than arguably any president since (with the possible exception of Jimmy Carter). But the barb drew blood because it sounded clever and exploited the always reliable American resentment against affluent political dynasties.
The same dynamic isn't at work with de Blasio. He didn't grow up poor, but he didn't grow up rich either. Politically, he is the consummate example of someone born -- or in this case elected -- on home plate who can't understand why no one in the stands is cheering his home run. When he was poised to win re-election, he was asked by New York Magazine why he wasn't more popular. He admitted that he was somewhat mystified. Given the strength of the economy and the low crime rate, "You'd assume they'd be having parades out in the streets" in his honor, he said.
They're not, because he is a Ferris Bueller. In the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," Ferris (Matthew Broderick) jumps out in front of a parade and acts like he's leading it. De Blasio inherited the successes of Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, two mayors who wrestled the city back from the brink of social and economic collapse.
"De Blasio's record as mayor doesn't have a policy theme," writes Nicole Gelinas in City & State New York. "It's just a mishmash of half-executed ideas that add up to a city little different than it was before he got here. Even his biggest accomplishments, rather than striking out in a bold new direction, are building on existing trends."
Worse, de Blasio takes credit for the successes of his predecessors on crime, poverty and the economy but refuses to take responsibility for the growing problems on his watch, from abysmal mass transit to an exploding homeless population.
And that points to the real problem with de Blasio: He's lazy. He's famous for being asleep on the job -- literally. He often oversleeps, arriving late for important events such as funerals or, in one case, an event in his own residence. "Some voters have a perception that he has an up-at-the-crack-of-noon attitude," political strategist Gerry O'Brien told the New York Post.
This laziness isn't just physical but intellectual. Like the president of a college chapter of the Young Socialists, de Blasio is the sort of politician who thinks rolling out of bed and announcing something is the same thing as doing something, that boldness in rhetoric is a substitute for boldness of action. New Yorkers -- even very liberal New Yorkers -- see that.
Still, it makes sense that de Blasio is running, because in a field of 24 (and counting) contenders, and with no future political prospects in his home state, he's got little to lose. He can raise money from rubes who haven't been burned already, get on a bunch of TV shows, and -- who knows? -- he lucked out before. Maybe he'll stumble to the front of another parade.
Ferris Bueller was brilliant, funny, and cleverly devious. DiBlasio ain’t none of those things.
Just from the title
Ferris Bueller was a likable libertarian
Big-bird Wilhelm is a hated Marxist nanny-state dictator.
What is with the Townhall articles these days?
Are they trying to unseat NR?
Dangerously naïve.
He doesn't impress any of us.
But you don't get the Democrat Party nomination to be Mayor of New York City, much less win the office (twice), if you don't impress anyone.
I'm not particularly impressed by aardvarks; but other aardvarks are.
ML/NJ
I was thinking that.
As for NYC, I LIVE here on Staten Island and IDGAF what happens to it.
The devastation is REAL. (the transit system IS devastated at this point, the staggering debt, etc)
It never really hits us nearly as hard as the other 4 boroughs, so we survive until the other 4 boroughs finally wake up after 20 or so years and elect another Giuliani.
Now that his kids went to the best New York schools, deBlasio’s primary concern is ruining them by replacing ‘performance’ with race. They love him in Park Slope...
The end of educational meritocracy and the final destruction of the New York Public School system is the primary goal of the teacher’s unions, and that’s why they love him.
He knows the demographics are continuing to change,and his future is guaranteed if he can make Stuy, Brooklyn Tech, etc. “race-based admissions” schools...
Like the Ivies.
[the successes of Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg]
Bloomberg? The Leftist soda pop Nazi?
DeBlasio is out there to stir up as much trouble as he can. He’s not naive. Communists are always trying to upset the apple cart. Such strategy has also gone under the title of “Hope and Change”.
Ugh... Jonah Goldberg.
DiDlasio wants to be the walrus.
Tucker mad a comment last night, the only one who doesn’t know he’s a dope is bill deblasio
[DiDlasio wants to be the walrus.]
I believe this one is teed-up for you....
[D-0-0]
D-O-O
Not D Zero Zero, LOL
I was in bed pretending to be sick. And I had to run through a lot of backyards, too.
More like the Mortimer Snerd of Democratic Presidential Candidates.
I missed class that day.
Too bad. I always wanted to hear about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.
Also known as the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxPVyieptwA
The Laffer Curve
Something called “something D-O-O economics” by GHWB - and then he becomes VP...
“Ferris Bueller was brilliant, funny, and cleverly devious. DiBlasio ain’t none of those things.”
Horrible comparison by that moron Goldberg. I have no idea how he’s able to get paid writing such drivel.
It’s my lack of sleep, LOL.
I just made BBQ beans last night for a small church event on Saturday. I was up most of the night adding a bit to the big dutch oven and up early to put it in the fridge. Too early, it seems, LOL. Back for some more sleep.
8 cans pork and beans, 2 cans Great Northern beans, ketchup, a little mustard, some white and red onion, a little pre-cooked hamburger, some diced hot dogs, 2-1/2 bottles of BBQ sauce, some paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, garlic salt, a little bit of salsa, some diced bacon, about 1/2 cup of white sugar, 1-1/2 cups of brown sugar. It was in the oven for about 6-1/2 hours of cooking. I also used the drippings from the 2 New York Strips I cooked yesterday (basted in butter, pepper and garlic salt). You know it’s a weird time when I’m actually eating steak. (very rare occasion because of cost - but it was worth it this time)
I forgot the hot dogs and put them in later. Oops.
Tucker on this subject was so funny last night.
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