Soundpolitic Sundays: Look On The Bright Side Edition

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Sunday May 16, 2010 · 3:23 AM PDT

2010/05/16 · 03:23

This column has been nothing but doom and gloom and demanding apologies and giving them for the past couple of weeks. This is not at all what I intended...and subsequently readership has fallen.

Friends, it's time to rememdy this lot.

My most popular post was a look at how a certain British sketch comedy troupe of yore could still be relevant to politics as well as tickle your Sunday funny bones in between bouts of talking heads.

Dear readers, I may be slow, but by popular demand (and out of spiritual necessity), this week on Soundpolitic Sundays, I'm going get back to looking on the the bright side:

Below the fold, more Python videos than should probably be allowed, coupled with some tidbits on their relevance to satisfy the political junkie in us all...

Soundpolitic

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Thursday May 13, 2010 · 4:58 PM PDT

2010/05/13 · 16:58

Cross-posted on The Albany Project

When President Obama visited Buffalo today, he was greeted, according to CBS News by a billboard with a simple message:

I NEED A FREAKIN’ JOB

The billboard, and the YouTube video below, are part of new web-based movement created by out-of-work New Yorker, and is aimed at changing the national narrative to focus on us young people who are in a depression due to lack of work.

I’ve been out of work since January of last year, and this story touches me, because it is my story...the story of a lost generation.

Soundpolitic

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Wednesday May 12, 2010 · 12:07 PM PDT

2010/05/12 · 12:07

Cross-posted on The Albany Project

More than a week after State Senate candidate Luke Martland called on Senator Neil D. Breslin to fully disclose the amount of money he makes and who he represents at his second job at a union-busting and financial industry lobbying law firm, the Assistant Majority Leader has failed to respond.

Undeterred, Martland yesterday brought forth the issue again, and vowed to continue doing so until he succeeds in getting Albany County voters the full disclosure we deserve. One thing Martland's press releases never fail to do is hammer the secretive Senator while tying his attacks in with recent legislative events:

"Instead of caring about New York’s families that are suffering pay cuts and job losses, Breslin is more interested in hiding his pay increases and multiple side clients. If only working families were as important to him as his secret clients, maybe the state budget would get passed and the furloughs avoided."
- Luke Martland

Soundpolitic

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Tuesday May 11, 2010 · 12:26 PM PDT

2010/05/11 · 12:26

Announces Intent to Challenge Sen. Breslin in front of Albany County Legislature

And then there were three. Yesterday, Albany resident Tim Carney made a public comment to the members of the Albany County Legislature and citizens in attendance that he will be challenging Assistant Majority Leader Sen. Neil D. Breslin in the 46th district, which encompasses all of Albany County.

During his address, Carney summarized his listening tour of all county municipalities and proposed that school taxes transition from property-based to income-based before stating his intent to run for the seat. This received an objection from one Legislator, sustained by the Chairman only after another Legislator offered an on-the-spot endorsement.

If that's not what you were expecting, then you're in good company. This blogger was expecting something completely different, and in that sense I got exactly what was coming to me. Carney's prepared statement and a full account of the miniature legislative circus it inspired below the fold...

Soundpolitic

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Sunday May 09, 2010 · 9:37 AM PDT

2010/05/09 · 09:37

Good morning and a happy Mother's Day to all you Kossacks out there. Today is the day we pause to sing the flowery praises of the women who brought us into this world. Today we brunch and visit and put politics aside...

...well, for the purposes of this blog, that last part is not going to happen. Instead, I'd like to smash the Mommy Party myth. I'm quite frankly sick of the Democratic Party being referred to as the Mommy Party and being accused of trying to build a "Nanny State."

Why?

Because the reality is it's the other way around. For context, I'll need a little help from my friend Pink:

In this edition of Soundpolitic Sundays, I'll prove, below the fold, why this brick in the wall was put there by the Republicans.

Soundpolitic

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Sunday May 02, 2010 · 1:09 PM PDT

2010/05/02 · 13:09

I'm usually very proud of my diaries and comments. Often my subject matter contains opinions which I’m quite passionate about. But pride, being a vice instead of virtue, can sometimes catch up with me.

This past week, with relation to both last weeks' edition and the week in reporting a local State Senate race, they did. Now I'm presented with a rare opportunity. Instead of blogging about how right I think I am, I now find it prudent to write about just how wrong I might be and how self-righteously foolish it made me sound.

In other words, I'm going to take this guy's advice:

In this week's edition of Soundpolitic Sundays, join me in one more cup coffee as I take a step back from last weeks' boiling points...

Soundpolitic

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Thursday April 29, 2010 · 12:23 PM PDT

2010/04/29 · 12:23

It’s been over a month since I had to step down as organizer of the Albany Coffee Party. But that hasn’t stopped other participants from becoming organizers themselves: there are now two Coffee Parties in Albany County meeting regularly, as well as groups meeting in surrounding counties. Still privy to the Coffee Party’s message boards, I see that the same pattern holds true across New York State and the rest of the country.

In fact, the movement has gained such national traction it is the subject of a current feature article in Newsweek.

The Coffee Party Heats Up

Tired of all the Tea Party talk, Annabel Park decided to throw a Coffee Party—and 200,000 people showed up.

The rest of the article references some of the challenges facing the growing movement, but taken together paints an accurate and hopeful picture of what the Coffee Party USA has been up to in the past month.

Below the fold, a round-up of the Coffee Party’s most recent initiatives, an inside-look at their current letter-writing campaign, and how Senator Schumer’s office is taking action as well.

Soundpolitic

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Monday April 26, 2010 · 2:02 PM PDT

2010/04/26 · 14:02

Albany Native to Challenge Assistant Majority Leader Breslin in Dem Primary

Yesterday, Luke Martland, a native of Albany, former Manhattan assistant DA and counsel to the Governor, made his official announcement that he will challenge State Sen. Neil D. Breslin in the 46th State Senate district, Albany County.

Martland has been hammering Breslin, whose two brothers hold the County Executive and Judgeship, in several press releases on as many issues for the past month. His announcement yesterday summarized these points and introduced even more. It also marks the first time a challenger to the entrenched incumbent has been given a full court press.

The full speech, announcement release, and links to extensive press coverage after years of giving Breslin a free pass are below the fold.

Soundpolitic

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Sunday April 25, 2010 · 12:14 PM PDT

2010/04/25 · 12:14

Imagine your feet in these shoes: Shiny black, size ten-wide, worn-out soles, walking across the carpet of the lobby of an Albany law firm. Your job title for the past two months has been Legal Secretary. Christmas is coming...

And you've just met the boss. He's exiting a boardroom, wearing athletic sweats. You look at him, he looks at you, and you introduce yourself. You express your thanks to be working in a fast-growing firm, your respect for the man who built up the business, and appreciation of the rewarding challenges thrown your way. You extend your hand to shake his...

Now imagine your boss's response is to turn his back on you after asking you:

"You're not afraid of guns are you? A lot of us carry guns around here."

In this weeks' edition of Soundpolitic Sundays, I'm telling this story for the last time as my excuse for missing last two weeks. The rest of the story and its moral lies below the fold...

Soundpolitic

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Saturday April 24, 2010 · 7:20 AM PDT

2010/04/24 · 07:20

Earlier this week, I reported here on TAP that the Albany County Democratic Committee's candidate reviewing process lead to a surprising non-endorsement of Senator Neil Breslin. I maintained that this was a big story in the follow-up report on the political fallout for Breslin and the responses of his primary opponents, Luke Martland and Tim Carney. This stance of mine was initially disputed, though, and after all I'm just a blogger...

...but now even the most main of the mainstream press agrees:

(Cross-posted on The Albany Project)

Soundpolitic

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Thursday April 22, 2010 · 2:28 PM PDT

2010/04/22 · 14:28

Cross-posted on The Albany Project

Two press releases in as many days see State Senate candidate Luke Martland slamming the seven-term incumbent Neil D. Breslin. Martland calls him out both as a flip-flopper on his support for turncoat Senator Pedro Espada as well as his waning political support in the district, Albany County.

Breslin, who announced his bid for re-election yesterday, is cited as having supported Espada before going on record against him. Martland will be formally announcing his challenge to the entrenched Assistant Majority Leader on Sunday, April 25th. He will also be facing a second challenger, Tim Carney, who made his thoughts known via the above-linked blog.

All this and we had a fantastic article on this fast-developing race in the Legislative Gazette I missed earlier this month. I will try not to miss a thing below the fold...

Soundpolitic

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Tuesday April 20, 2010 · 2:37 PM PDT

2010/04/20 · 14:37

With seven terms under his belt, yet facing two primary challengers in as many years, Senator Neil D. Breslin has been denied the automatic endorsement of the Albany County Democratic Committee, according to TU Local Politics:

(Cross-posted on The Albany Project)

There’s about 500 words in Carleo-Evangelist's story, with plenty of quotes from Albany County Committeemen telling us not to read too much into it. I’ll provide some more choice quotations below the fold, but I rather like the way the Times Union journalist closes his post:

Cue rampant speculation.

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Soundpolitic Sundays: Look On The Bright Side Edition

I Need A Freakin' Job

NY-SD-46: Show Me The Money!

NY-SD-46: Carney Makes It "Official"

Soundpolitic Sundays: Mother's Day Party Edition

Soundpolitic Sundays: Tone It Down Edition

Coffee Party Sees Print, Gets Printing

NYSD-46: Luke Martland Makes It Official

Soundpolitic Sundays: Ready Aim Fired Edition

NYSD-46: Follow Up on Breslin Non-Endorsement

NYSD-46: Martland Slams Sen. “Flip Flop” Breslin On Politics, Policy

NY-SD-46: Albany County Dems Refuse to Endorse Sen. Breslin