As the clock continues to tick and the weeks become mere days, we look and see what we really have as our candidates for governor of this great state of ours. Over the past few weeks on this page, we have looked at Andrew Cuomo and what he must do to garner the vote of the Black community. We have talked about Charles Barron as an option, but we have also said in no uncertain terms that we will not support Carl Paladino for governor, and now it is time to tell you why:
“I’m not politically correct, and I don’t want to be!” That is what Palidino has said to NPR and anyone else that will listen to him. While some may feel he is a free spirit, there is more to it than just being politically incorrect. There is something to say about sensitivity to people and the way in which politicians interact with their inner circle and the public in general. Citizens want someone to represent them who has at least a modicum of decorum and shares at least some of the same values.
But where does Paladino fall on this scale, be it via e-mail, in person or a combination of both, with his ideas of what people on welfare “should do”?
Let’s begin.
In terms of e-mails, Paladino has sent the following, apologizing only to the “ladies” he may have offended:
* a video of dancing African tribesmen under the title “Obama Inauguration Rehearsal”
* a video titled “Miss France 2008 F$#@ing”
* an altered image of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dressed as a pimp and a prostitute
* an image of a cargo plane landing in an African desert behind a group of panicked men titled “Run, Niggers, Run!”
* a video portraying a woman engaged in copulation with a horse
* an e-mail subject line “Proof the Irish Discovered Africa” containing a video of monkeys that appear to be doing a River Dance-style jig.
If these examples were not enough to question Paladino’s fitness for political office, we see that he is also capable of a purely personal and hypocritical attack. He has accused Andrew Cuomo of cheating on his former wife while at the same time Paladino has a child with a woman who is not his wife but was born during his marriage. His wife was told of the “love child” just hours after the death of their own child.
Paladino–the political amateur–invited the media into his personal life by sharing the details of his out-of wedlock-child and then cried fowl when press folks were actually interested in the details of his situation. He only asked for privacy when he realized that he could not control the direction of the story, and he tried to throw mud on Cuomo to drag him into the mucky-muck that he himself had slipped into.
And if his poor handling of the personal side of this campaign or his lack of discretion on the Internet weren’t enough to disqualify him as a candidate, Paladino also has proposed idiotic policies as well. According to the Huffington Post website, Paladino railed against the welfare system saying, “Instead of handing out the welfare checks, we’ll teach people how to earn their check. We’ll teach them personal hygiene…the personal things they don’t get when they come from dysfunctional homes.”
Paladino has shot his venom toward our current governor, David Paterson, saying, “I’m telling you that Paterson is not your friend. Paterson is a drug addict. He’s been a drug addict his entire life,” in a quote in the Watertown Daily News.
His thinking often has no logic. On WNYC Radio, he recently compared the health care reform act and 9/11 saying that, “The day that that bill was passed will be remembered just as 9/11 was remembered in history. It was an attempt by these people in Washington to defy the Constitution.”
These are just a few of the ways in which Carl Paladino has demonstrated he is just not ready for primetime or to run the Empire State. He’s been able to amass a fortune by exploiting cronyism at its worst in Upstate New York and in Albany. But we must not let this stupid man control the levers of power in our great state. We saw the damage that our former “empty suit” governor–George Pataki–could inflict on our communities with 12 years of incompetent rule. Carl Paladino, who is not only ignorant, but also mean-spirited, could be even more destructive. He is a bully with a big bank account, unfit to lead anyone or anything. We must not allow him to be elected governor.