Long before the Tea Parties there was Queens. These people take their politics very seriously. Being an outsider I can give you an objective opinion on this. The present Assemblywoman is AnnMargeret Carrozza. If it sounds familiar it could be from her well documented attendance problems in the Assembly. Mrs. Carrozza herself has called her 37%  show-up rate abysmal. It also could be her dual residencey claims. Her husband and 2 children are out in Glenn Head and supposedly her mother is in a co-op in the district who she claims to live with. Yet she claims tax rebates in both locations. Sounds a little fugazy but when we have the man in charge of the IRS as a documented Tax Cheat it doesn’t sound so bad. Or our Attorney General who in his private practice defended terrorists and now defends us against them by attacking the C.I.A. makes sense right? I digress.

The man looking to challenge her is Vince Tabone. I’m from Brooklyn and kept calling him Vinny and he politely said “Andy we’re in Queens it’s Vince” I obliged. I met Vince for the first time at the Halloran campaign. I instantly got a good vibe from him and was pleased to find out he would be running for the seat. He has impressive credentials when it comes to economics and education and was under both the Gulianni Administrations and Bloomberg. Now you can fight back and forth about the good and or bad those fellows did but what you can’t deny is the knowledge you glean from working so closely with heavyweights of that nature.

Vinny much like Halloran has a stake in the community. He lives here his kids go to school here his friends are here and the special interests he represents are plenty. They’re the residents of District 26 and he wants to improve their lives along with his own of course.

When I sat down with him and saw the people working late on a saturday stuffing envelopes and smiles all around you get that feeling like you can make a difference. It’s not always about money or connections or who you know. Just ask Martha Coakley A.G. from Massachusetts she was running for the Senate and that guy with the truck beat her. That guy was Scott Brown and he now sits in Ted Kennedy’s seat even though Martha knew that guy from Chicago….mmmmm what’s his name ? …. he had 2 names mmmmm oh yeah Barry Sotero wait now he goes by Barack Obama the President. Or what most Campaign Advisors call “The Kiss of Death”

Any incumbent is low hanging fruit right now. People don’t like being told what’s good for them. They like to make those decisions for themselves and it all starts on a local level. Go get ‘em Vinny oh I mean Vince!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqiiYvyIxk8

Dr. Drew Albany needs you! Rangel, Monserrate, Smith, Meeks and our Governor ” Quack, Quack” lame duck Paterson. This is truly a disgrace. Is it any wonder that Ground Zero is still a pit of s–t? If we had some leadership and people who put the state ahead of selfish vices maybe we wouldn’t be in such horrid shape financially not to mention the complete stalemate in the heart of downtown which is a daily reminder everyday that our enemies claim victory. How bad it is when Rev. Al Sharpton is the only one not embroiled in some scandal?

You know maybe he can play himself off as some legitimate statesman but I’m old enough to remember Tawana Brawley and how he and others destroyed the lives of innocent people caught in the collateral damage and to this day has never apologized for his role in it.

Only in liberal-land would a scenario such as this occur. Had it been a conservative in this position he would of been banished from public service for sure and men like Rev. Al would be calling for the man’s head. Today he is being invited to the White House and treated with all sorts of reverence. You know Rudy had it right he never gave this man the time of day when he was mayor but Bloomberg got in and all but kissed his ring.

Not only are 40% of mortgages upside down but so is our value system. When we look out at the political landscape on the Democratic side and see that Rev. Al the Don King of politics is the straight arrow and Charles Rangel from Harlem the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee whose job it is to write the tax laws is under investigation on  half a dozen ethics violations all of which you and I would most certainly go to jail for is refusing to resign from his position. Something needs to change.

Great things start at the local level and so it must here. It looks like the Hiram Monserrate and Jose Peralta primary for the Senate will be the “Lesser of 2 Evils Campaign” Each have scandals of their own so it’s a choice of who’s is more repulsive and hopefully he will lose. Leaving the winner to run against a relative unknown unless you’ve done something wrong and have appeared before Judge Bob Beltrani. Judge Beltrani has an impressive spotless record for his civic duty and in this special election has been called off the bench to shoot the game winning free throws. After a serious gallbladder operation he accepted his party nomination and is running against Albany’s Animal House Elite and a seat in the Senate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulmLmt1wB6E

One seat at a time that is how real change begins. Not all at once or against the will of the people. Here comes the “Judge” I know, I know I set that up on purpose. Pretty good though huh?

Prostitution, drugs, philandering, divorce, physical abuse and corruption. When you read words like these I know the first group that comes to my mind is Hollywood. Charlie Sheen, Bobby Brown, Whitney, Lindsay Lohan, Ike and Tina and maybe a post nervous breakdown Britney. It seems New York politics is getting just as salacious. The most blatant area has got to be the governors’ office.

Eliot Spitzer who came out of ther box like the Lone Ranger looking to bust all of Wall Street and did have some impressive collars. His persona was that of a straight arrow a clean cut Eliot Ness if you will. Now I knew this guy had a creepy side. A friend of mine who is a very attractive personal trainer had Mr. Spitzer as a client. As a trainer she was known as the Spin Nazi. She could push you to your outer limits and beyond and took no guff from nobody. Even the most juiced up “Jersey Shore Wanna Be” didn’t mess with Kelly. She told me he gave her all sorts of slimey come on’s and ended up dropping him as a client. BTW you’re talking anywhere from 300 to 500 dollars an hour when training these blue chip clients and being a single mom it was very difficult to give up that type of money.

It wasn’t long after when Ashley Dupre became famous for her ” Client # 9. We all know the aftermath of that revelation and the painful look in the eyes of Spitzer’s wife Silda. Mr. Spitzer later resigned the governorship and handed it to David Paterson who right off the bat confessed to drug use and affairs by him and his wife. I can see it now ” Governors Gone Wild” video put out by that slimebag who makes videos and has sex with those barely legal girls on spring break as I’m sure he tells them he’s going to make them a star but I digress. I think it’s time we start bringing some dignity back to N.Y. politics. Another black eye on the office of the governor is the fact that his personal assistant was accused of domestic violence and it seems like Mr. Paterson spoke to the victim on his behalf and convinced her not to bring Mr. Johnson up on charges. This has not been confessed to but the fact that David Paterson has officially withdrawn from the governor’s race is all but an admission of guilt.

Hopefully Rick Lazio will now be given the spotlight he deserves and this should draw A.G. Andrew Cuomo out of his foxhole to finally take some stances on the issues instead of sitting back and enjoying everyone from the mainstream media to our Community Organizer to say all these good things about him while he sits mute.Mr. Lazio has been to all the Terror Trial protests long before it became fashionable I.E.( Schumer Bloomberg). Not only that he has told me he will clear the table of all this disgraceful red tape that has held up the rebuilding of Ground Zero and that means jobs!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg1iCkIznxY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW3QCASn5c4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r50r7jRG0ek

One Irishman to another discussing everything from Terror Trials to Health Care to what boxing gyms we go to. Congressman King was way out ahead of all of his peers when it came to condemn the NYC location of putting KSM and his cohorts on trial. It seems when Congressman King testified at City Hall about the Terror Trial he found out that Eric( I’m not Stedmund Winfrey)Holder made this decision without consulting Paterson, Bloomberg and Ray Kelly whose job it would be to keep the city safe during this show trial.

What really is comical is there reasoning was to show the world our great justice system and what a moral country we are under the wonderful Obama. Even though Holder, Robert Gibbs and Obama all said on record that God forbid KSM got off they would hold them anyway and be put to death. Don’t you think statements like that would taint the jury pool just a bit. Some beacon of justice we are.

It was great getting the inside dope on what goes on behind the scenes and in this interview you really get a great picture of Mr. King who kept telling me to call him Pete. I ask him about him running for Senate which I was hoping he would reconsider but he felt it would take away from his real passion which was keeping us safe from terrorists. He after all is the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee.

He has great hopes that the Republicans will retake the houses in November and he will be top dog in a job he seems born to do. He’s got great instincts and is a stand up guy as much as I ever met. Meeting a bonafide politician with solid core beliefs who can’t be bought or pushed around makes you feel like there is people in this field on your side who really wants to help his fellow man. I know only the bad stuff gets the press but once and a while we got to look at some of the good ones and give them their due credit and thanks. Thanks Pete keep up the good work.

The great thing about irony is that it’s so damn ironic. Congressman Gary Ackerman of district 5 in his 14 term who has never had a true threat to his seat is now in a very precarious anti-incumbent era. When you look out over the candidate landscape there seems to be a void where a solid conservative would do quite well at this present time. Then suddenly as if the political Gods have spoken a movement is born. Hundreds of district 19 residents have formed a ” Draft Dan Halloran for Congress” movement. Anthony Carollo former N.Y.C. Police Officer and current President of the Whitestone Republican Club has spearheaded the movement and is rapidly picking up steam.

As if on queue the Tea Party people have picked up the scent of a candidate who values fiscal responsibility, smaller government, tax cuts across the board and a robust National Security. This changes everything. The Tea Party factor can make a race out of anything as long as the one they’re supporting is true to their core beliefs.

During Dan’s Councilman’s race against Kevin Kim they couldn’t attack the man on policy so they went after him personally. It came in the form of the religion that Dan worships : Theodism. I don’t know enough to talk in detail about it but if you don’t hurt anyone and it makes you and your followers feel good then live and let live freedom of religion happens to be a right in this country. The biggest pusher of this smear was the Ackerman owned Queens Tribune. And so completes the circle.

When I questioned Dan on the possibility of him running so soon after winning the council seat he was quite apprehensive. He didn’t want to come off as opportunistic to his extremely loyal residents who put countless hours in on getting him elected. I explained to him that as noble as that sounds it’s those same people who are pushing you to take on this race. He again spoke of voter fatigue and financial shortfall and I told him the story of a man that was 30 pts. behind in the polls and not a dollar to his name and trying to get the seat of a man who was the ” Lion of the Senate” That man was Scott Brown and that lion was Ted Kennedy. The Tea Party Factor is unlike any movement we have seen in our lifetimes and if you are picked to serve, serve you must not because you are being forced it’s because we need you.

Andy

bluecollarcorner.com

Twin Towers ,  When is the last time you heard that name? Probably not in 5 or 6 years or even longer. Isn’t it a shame?  These buildings were mighty symbols of our way of life and they were taken from us in the most violent of ways along with 3 thousand souls. Yet here we are with not even a memorial or anything for that matter built in its’ place.

These structures represented American ingenuity, our freedoms, liberties and most of all our economic strength. It has been nearly a decade and we are no closer to rebuilding the area. Not only that,  I for one am sickened by the fact we are not building them back to their former glory with maybe the addition of an extra floor just to show the planet our defiance in the face of terror. Not even that is too much to ask. We can’t even fill in that crater of death that now occupies the heart of the financial district.

Between the Port Authority and Silverstein Properties neither will give me an interview much less talk to the main players in this delay. Chris Ward who is the executive of the P.A. has told my source he will not build one square foot of commercial space unless it is rented out beforehand. Anyone familiar with commercial real estate knows this is a fairy tale situation and never happens in the real world. The other obstacle is Mr. Larry Silverstein who is getting paid 100 million dollars a year from his insurance company. What a deal! Some couple of patriots we have here. The only other option we have to get things in gear would be the governor and as it stands now who knows who’ll that will be.

The Pentagon got hit and suffered massive damage but was rebuilt right away. When a restaurant gets hit in Israel they have a crew there the next day and within a couple of months it’s as if it never happened.

With this Terror Trial and the attention it has brought to the downtown area people are talking about the danger of having it here or the platform it gives these animals to spew their hate and put our whole previous administration on trial which some think was the purpose of our present administration. All that might be true but no one has said we should be ashamed of ourselves and the shape that Ground Zero is in. Can you imagine Al-Jazeera everyday showing the entire Islamist Jihadist base “Hey look my brother we have won we have broke their spirit they cannot even rebuild something they were so proud of please come here brothers and do the same they are weak and ripe to be destroyed” That is what scares me that is why we should build our Towers back 

ed.

Where is the outrage? I am stunned by the nation-wide apathy when it comes to rebuilding the  World Trade  Center. I don’t know which is worse the fact that we aren’t going to build the towers back to their original stature or the shameful amount of time that has passed and all we have is a damn SUBWAY on a single structure in the middle of that crater of death. Wars have been started because of this single act and people go off to fight for our freedom overseas and we can’t get ourselves together to rebuild this symbol of our way of life.

The world must laugh at us when they come here to see the pathetic hole of death. It seems not only were loved ones lost but so was our pride and love of country. Young soldiers dying in caves and foxholes and we play politics with the very symbol that used to symbolize our greatness.

I cannot in words explain to you my frustration and anger over this matter. We have managed to build up everything all around it yet still we have our pit of shame. Am I the only one that cares about this? We will win nothing till we have healed as a nation. The destruction of our Towers was a dagger through the heart of Freedom and Liberty yet I feel like the only one that cares. How sad.

The Queens Village Lincoln Dinner for the Republican Club was in many ways a rejuvenated political party. The City Council just had a major influx of republicans unseat 5 democrats. Now a year ago nobody would have saw that coming. One of the 5 that attended was Dan Halloran who blew us all away with his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Dan who ran a great campaign against a democratic machine that used all its’ influence to try and claim district 19 was propelled to victory by the superhuman efforts of his voters. This win over a very strong Kevin Kim who had Chuck Schumer stumping for him was very telling about the mood of the people. It was elections like this that made the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts happen. The main speaker of the event was Ms. Betsy McCaughey. Betsy is featured regularly on the political talk show circut and her knowledge in medicine and health care is beyond question even by the most harshest of critics. Pile on top of that her P.h. D in constitutional history and you have a powerhouse of credibility giving supporters of this Obamacare Nightmare headaches beyond medicine.

Another notable award was given to Candace de Russy, P.h.D. An expert on education and cultural issues. After the talk of the lefts relentless pursuit of a socialist agenda they promptly spoke of National Security and the Administrations obsession with attacking the ones’ that protect us (C.I.A.)and protecting the ones that attacks us.(KSM and co.) Well the people at this dinner most definately had a problem with that.

 These recent victories across the country by the GOP or the chosen candidate of the Tea Party has all the pundits scratching their collective heads. Virginia and New Jersey both have newly elected republican governors and the real stake through the heart of the DNC was the loss of Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat in Massachussets. Stunning how a young President with the whole world behind him and a loving media has managed to completely polarize almost everybody and as it stands now people who are up for the 2010 elections are opting not to have Obama speak for them on their behalf. How is it the man who told us about the healing of our world and nation was about to occur  suddenly with super majorities in both houses cannot pass his holy grail of a Health Care Bill.

As much as they hem and haw about us being the party of no and being the obstructionist ones we all know they are using this charade to mask the fact that the bill is so costly and government-controlling that the dems will pay serverely come November. BTW there was an ammendment 28 that stated if you vote for this H.C. bill you will automatically be put onto one of the government regulated health plans immediately. Do you know how many voted for that provision…………..Zero! That should tell you something.

GOP Tea Party is watching you better be good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtZacrTh-H4 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCI34ijby2A   Check out interviews with Dan and Betsy

Harlem has a new Reverend in the 15th congressional and he’s coming for Mr. Ethics challenged Charlie Rangel. At the press conference on Friday at the Gospel Uptown to a packed crowd of supporters and the curious Michel Faulkner former NFL player announced to all that it is time for new leadership in Harlem. Coming to the table with a masters in Education and a Vice President position with the Urban Ministry he grew up in D.C. and feels that experience will truly help with the 15th.

When pressed about his oppenent he adamantly expressed that this is not a anti- Rangel campaign and a really a pro Michel Faulkner campaign. Without a teleprompter or crib notes on his hand he said he is for small government and lower taxes whose position is based on belief and not party. 

He drives home the fact that he believes that Government can’t solve people problems. He says he wants to give the community a voice.

I met Mr. Faulkner at the C.O.R.E. Dinner and was a little star struck by all the political heavywieghts there but to my surprise he was at my table talking to a table full of elderly ladies; ordinary citizens who were all over him with ideas and suggestions and  he was so pleasant and humble. I’m saying to myself why isn’t this guy going after all the “Whales” in the room who are the power levers in the political spectrum. I came to the conclusion he really is for the people and a man to keep my eye on.

I have included some video snips – its of the press conference.  Forgive the unpolished editing as I’m a caveman in the world of technology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OrEzEDzODA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW42wyb-Gjk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef0wIM9VnEE

I know this is a break from the norm but here is a subject that comes up a lot in our daily life.

How we feel about our own bodies. God has made us all unique in our own way but society at large defines what beauty is and most of the time it is what we see in magazines such as the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.

Of course these ladies in their own right are flawless but these aren’t what real women look like as the norm. The size 0 to 4 are out there but are few and far between and not many get this way through the gift of genetics. No many due to the pressure of looking “thin”will go to great lengths to achieve the look and sometimes even dangerous ones at that.

This worries me. I have a daughter and I know there will come a time when Daddys’ little girl will look at herself and use these women as a template of what real beauty is. You hear the stories about bulimia and anorexia and drug use all in the quest for perfection and it scares the hell out of me. I personally adore the female form. I think it comes in all sizes and shapes and are all to be loved and taken care of. I’ve discovered that no matter how gorgeous and striking a woman is if she doesn’t posses the true inner beauty after a short period of time the exterior beauty fades and in extreme cases can be quite ugly.

Maybe I’m old fashioned but I love my gals with the curves. So all you model chasers and juice heads who like plastic instead of real ones they’re all yours gimme my 14 to me they are perfect.