After Yesterday's Marathon, the Marathon Mayoral Race Ends Tomorrow

Voter turnout will determine who will lead our city for the next four years. It is imperative that you and everyone you know casts votes tomorrow.

Surprisingly Dishonest Campaign by Mayor Bloomberg

Mayor Bloomberg did not surprise us by spending more than $100 million in his efforts to secure a 3rd term for himself. He did surprise use by focusing nearly all of the $100 million attempting to tarnish the reputation of Bill Thompson, a man Mayor Bloomberg said was the best Comptroller in the history of New York City.

As the New York Times pointed out days ago, "Both the mayor and the comptroller have misrepresented each other’s records, but Mr. Bloomberg has taken the biggest liberties."

Bloomberg's one hundred million dollars of campaign spending focused on spreading false information about his opponent is consistent with the cynical manner in which he fought to reverse two referenda creating term limits; the racially discriminatory manner that he has promoted the abuse of stop-and-frisk tactics in minority communities; his refusal to accept food stamp assistance from the federal government; his regressive taxation obsession; and his invocation of Detroit when asked if he was comfortable with Rudy Giuliani's race-baiting campaign rhetoric of Bloomberg's behalf.

Voting Imperative

As we say at every election:

It has long been a cliché to many, but it is a truth that one cannot ignore. For many of us, our ancestors died to give us the right to vote. To squander that vote or to relinquish it because of inconvenience would be obscene, whether we have faith that our individual votes will shape the outcomes of elections or not. Because the 15th Amendment (1870) and the Voting Rights Act (1965) were victories secured by the blood of our ancestors, every election day is a sacred day, and we show our respect for those who made our votes possible by going to the polls and by encouraging everyone we know to join us in that sacred activity - tomorrow and every election day of any sort.

NYPD DUI Cases

Two recent incidents involve NYPD officers allegedly driving while intoxicated at the time that they killed New Yorkers with their vehicles. In both cases, the officer in question refused to take a breathalyzer test. In both cases it was at least 5 hours before a warrant could be obtained and blood drawn for a blood-alcohol test.

It seems that reform is needed in this area. Killers with familiarity with the rules may be able to escape successful prosecution through the use of the refusal to take a breathalyzer test and allowing the passage of many hours to allow the body to eliminate the evidence of the alcohol from the bloodstream. NYPD officers should not be able to kill our fellow New Yorkers without being held accountable, and the system for testing the blood-alcohol level of a killer should be streamlined to hold killers accountable.