Blog: Wild World of Politics
Dick Brennan
Much ado about ID
I’m fascinated by the generational divide that exists over the topic of voter ID. It all seems so simple. You should have an ID to vote! Yes, simple, right? You need an ID to get on a plane, to get in many buildings, to, well, in the post-9-11 world, the list is endless. But for [...]
Give refs a break
There is a national uproar over replacement refs in the NFL, who have proven just how good the regular ones are. You remember those guys, the ones routinely ripped for getting calls wrong? The ones considered so bad the league had to institute rules to review seemingly every play, as if getting one wrong would [...]
Shocking weather
I was working Saturday morning, September 8, when we had a report of a tornado touching down in Queens. I’d heard this one before: usually it takes a day or so before the National Weather Service can confirm if indeed there was a touch down. But the brave new world of technology has changed things. [...]
All eyes on Christie at RNC
It is the moment of truth for Mitt Romney, but this week was also crucial for the future of a rising star in the Republican Party, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. And his turn as the keynote speaker at the Republican Convention will no doubt put him on the radar of the national GOP. [...]
Comedy stage is set
The last political convention that actually had some drama was way back in 1976, when President Gerald Ford fended off a challenge from a governor named Ronald Reagan. Ford would select Bob Dole to be his vice presidential nominee. The posters read “Ford-Dole,” one syllable each. Dull and duller. But had he not pardoned Richard [...]
Purpose behind veep pick
We’ve barely touched the presidential race in this space in the past few months, and with good reason: I didn’t want to bore you. But the boredom season is over. Bring on the demagogues! Mitt Romney’s selection of Congressmember Paul Ryan to be his vice presidential candidate means the battle has been joined. Was the [...]
Pay raise for pols?
It may not surprise you to know that 80 percent of New Yorkers oppose a pay raise for New York State’s legislators, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. After all, this was the place known for its rampant dysfunction just a few years ago. And let’s not forget the crooks the legislature has recently turned [...]
We need action, not talk
The level of intelligence in the gun debate has never been very sophisticated. It usually comes down to something like this: “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” The high-level response is: “People with guns kill people.” Okay. That settles everything. One thing is indisputable: People with bigger guns kill more people. Sorry I used [...]
The return of Weiner?
It appears that former Congressmember Anthony Weiner, it turns out, is not running for something. Or maybe he just wanted to see what the reaction would be to a possible candidacy. Reports insisted Weiner might want to run for mayor or perhaps public advocate, but he told the Wall Street Journal, “It’s a clown story, [...]
The more things change…
I covered the high school Regents scandal at Stuyvesant High School, and we were all supposed to be shocked – shocked — that there was cheating going on in such an institution! But none of this seemed to surprise the many high school students I spoke to at Stuyvesant and elsewhere. This week 71 kids [...]
