Posted first at
DailyGotham
For anyone who thinks NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg is a Democrat at heart, hopefully this news story will set you straight once and for all. When asked to comment on Cindy Sheehan, Mike did his best version of the Harlem Shuffle and came out sounding like the Republican stooge that he is.
Pukeworthy:
"It's not a local issue, and I don't have anything to say," Bloomberg replied when asked about Sheehan's ongoing protests near President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Sheehan's son Casey, 24, died in Iraq last year.
The brother of a young man killed in this stupid, senseless war handily destroys Mike's weak-ass argument:
The mayor's response, or lack thereof, elicited an emotional reaction from Carmen Depompeis, whose brother, Pfc. Hernando Rios, 29, was killed earlier this month in Baghdad. The father of three, who lived in Woodside, was one of 10 members of the Manhattan-based Fighting 69th Army National Guard regiment killed in Iraq.
"He was born in Manhattan, he was raised in Queens, he was a local issue," said Depompeis, 40, who opposes the war and supports Sheehan. "Many soldiers from his unit have died. That's a local issue."
The mayoral candidates, predictably, jumped all over Bloomberg. It would have been nice if we had known they felt so strongly BEFORE it looked like their only purpose was to add their opinion to the pile. It goes without saying that Democrats--in particular those in blue state or city strongholds--need to be PROACTIVE in calling Republicans to the matt on both Sheehan and the disaster that this war is. Their hands need to be forced to expose their true colors.
On a side note, for all his millions, you'd think Mike could afford to employ a copyeditor, or at least the cost of a spellcheck program.
Late Sunday, Bloomberg himself e-mailed a statement saying he respected "Cindy Sheehan's right to protest and greive [sic] in any way she likes."
The mayor added that he's attended many soldiers' funerals, consoled their families and is "acutely aware of the tradgic [sic] sacrifices that are being made every day."