Posted on 08/30/2009 8:05:34 PM PDT by neverdem
News that Gov. Paterson’s plan to have Richard Ravitch as his lieutenant governor was torpedoed by the court was quickly overshadowed by reports that he was embroiled in a yet another controversy.
Appearing on New York Daily News’ reporter Errol Louis radio show on WWRL-AM last week, Paterson let his interviewer know that he wasn’t pleased that Dominic Carter, host of “Road to City Hall”on NY1, had chosen to discuss with the Rev. Al Sharpton his alleged late night outing.
After refuting the rumor, Paterson tore into Carter, suggesting that such reportage was an example of the negative media coverage he has endured. “We don’t have the kind of forces in the community that we had before,” the governor asserted.
“In other words, our Black media outlets, save your program and a few others, are the only ways we have access, and even our own reporters from our own community buy the public line, which is, ‘We’re going to get rid of David Paterson,’” he added.
Paterson, according to the New York Times, then implied that Carter often “ingratiated” himself during his interviews with certain guests. Carter took exception to this characterization, interpreting Paterson’s suggestion as demeaning and that he was an “Uncle Tom.” Carter said that was the first time in his life he’d been called an Uncle Tom.
The following evening during his broadcast, Carter took time to put the entire brouhaha in context, even airing portions of the interview he did with Rev. Sharpton to vindicate himself from any unto-ward accusation of the governor or his family. “I really feel the governor owes me an apology,” Carter said.
“In the African-American community, one of the biggest insults you can direct at another African-American, from a historical point of view, is to call them ‘Uncle Tom’ or to imply that they are an ‘Uncle Tom,’” Carter told the press. “He owes me an apology for basically calling me an ‘Uncle Tom’ but without actually using the term.”
Then it was the governor’s turn to ask for an apology. Paterson claimed Carter exaggerated the details of a party Paterson attended with his daughter and demanded an apology.
“Quite frankly, anybody that does that, I just see them as a son of a bitch,” Paterson said in an interview with reporter Gerson Borrero on Monday. Borrero is often a guest on Carter’s “Road to City Hall.”
In his show on Monday evening, Carter made a valiant effort to defuse what had become a nasty dispute, hoping the words between him and the governor would not escalate into a full-fledged battle.
Meanwhile, Paterson was taking heat from another quarter. When the governor told Louis that the media has exploited stereotypes in coverage of him, President Obama and Black Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, the Obama team was not comfortable with the president being dragged into the conversation.
Spokesperson for the president Bill Burton said, “In terms of media coverage of the president, he thinks that there are a lot of people who agree with him in the media, there are a lot [of] people who disagree with him in the media, and there are a lot of folks who play it straight.” Burton was speaking to the press from Martha’s Vineyard, where the president is vacationing with his family. Former Mayor David Dinkins told the press that the governor should definitely “get off the racist thing. Right or wrong, it’s a fight you sure can’t win.”
Dinkins, who has known Paterson since he was a child and is very close to the family, questioned whether the governor really believed there was an orchestrated campaign by the media to destroy him. “I don’t think he means they’re picking on him because he is Black,” Dinkins said. “I suspect he more means, were he not Black— and maybe it’s pretty hard to make the distinction—those kind of comments would not have been made.”
As for the Ravitch setback, Paterson offered this statement: “I’m obviously disappointed by the ruling of the Appellate Department, but I am determined, based on the part that the Appellate Division has granted us leave, to take this to the court of appeals, where we all believed this case would be resolved anyway. We will try to persuade them that under Public Officer Law 43, the governor does have the right to fill vacant offices—the explicit right—and we see that the lieutenant governor is one of those offices.”
With things spiraling out of control and his re-election chances dwindling, Paterson needs Ravitch nearby in some capacity.
Who cares what color he is, he’s a terrible Govenor. Fits right in with Spitzer.
Why do the blue states seem to get stuck with so many embarrassing politicians?? It hardly seems like a fair and equitable distribution of tools.
He should resign. Paterson, that is.
But, let's face it, nobody was saying blind people are incompetent, when they said Paterson was incompetent. Likewise, nobody is saying black people are incompetent, when they say Paterson is incompetent.
It's just Paterson, that is incompetent. His handicap and his race have been used to deflect much deserved criticism, for too long.
Oh WOE is me... why's everybody pickin on me???
“In the African-American community, one of the biggest insults you can direct at another African-American, from a historical point of view, is to call them ‘Uncle Tom’ or to imply that they are an ‘Uncle Tom,’” Carter told the press. “He owes me an apology for basically calling me an ‘Uncle Tom’ but without actually using the term.”
Too bad these guys don’t know that there is no statutory prohibition in reference to dueling in New York.
On another note: I can’t wait to get the effffff outta this state.
Poor Dave ... can’t even play the ‘race-card’ correctly
Actually he is using his race to try and keep folks from confirming that he’s a liberal’s Uncle Tom.
It’s because the blue states tend to be one-party states, thanks to the idiot voters there.
BROOKLYN ALERT !! Democrat Congresswoman Clarke Townhall Monday 8/31
Concern Is High That the Mob May Seek a Cut of the Stimulus Pie
W Va hospital early adopter of mandatory flu shots
A New York State law that takes effect this month requires hospitals to provide records showing all their workers have seasonal flu vaccinations or face fines,
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
Thanks for the ping!
Shoulda let Caroline have that Senate seat!
I didn’t get a harumph from that guy. You better watch your ass.
The look of an inbred.
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