Horns of a Dilemma, Casino Edition

We have a special election here in the NY State Senate district 60 to replace Byron Brown, who was recently elected Mayor of Buffalo. There are two candidates running - the Democrat is my City Council member, Marc Coppola, and the Republican is Chris Jacobs.

The Seneca Nation of Indians is poised to build a casino in Buffalo. I am against it, although some consider it a done deal.

The Republican candidate has taken a stand against casino gambling.

The Democratic candidate, as majority leader in the City Council, has (I believe) been in support of the casino in Buffalo.

Hence my dilemma: Do I vote for a Republican and give the One True Party another seat in the State Senate (Brown is a Democrat) but one who agrees with me on this issue? Or do I vote for the Democrat, who does not agree with me but is not a Republican?

If the Republican wins, the City Council keeps a pro-casino voice and the Senate edges more Republican.

If the Democrat wins, the City Council seat is up for grabs and the Senate balance stays where it is. Brown was also pro-casino, so that position would not change.

I guess that answers it - I'll hold my nose and vote for the Democrat, and hope that we can recruit an anti-casino vote for the council. I wonder if Judy Einach lives in my City Council district.

Update: It occurs to me to wonder how the City Council seat would be filled if Marc Coppola wins. Does the Mayor get to appoint? That would be bad.

Not My President

We have a new member at one of my other online haunts. We have generally been opposed to Bush, but the new guy is definitely not. He may even be characterized as a wingnut. He was rehashing Swift Boat Liars propaganda about Kerry, untruths about Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, and bullcrap about wmd having been moved to Syria before the Iraq war. He got me going:

The fact remains that George Bush gets bored easily. That's why he bugged out of his Texas Air National Guard service, that's why he has failed in every venture he has undertaken - from his oil business to his mis-begotten presidency.

The man was a drunk, and may now be a dry drunk. He was on the way down while he was in TANG, and in fact his flying privileges were curtailed. He says he got transferred to Alabama, which did not have the kind of aircraft he was trained to fly, but they have no recollection of him ever showing up.

He surely showed up at the campaign headquarters of the candidate he was supposedly working for - generally mid-day, hung over, boasting of his exploits the night before.

He manages to get bailed out by his friends, or Poppy's friends, including friends in TANG who purged his records before his run for governor.

He was bailed out of being prosecuted for his illegal stock deals with Harkin Energy. He made millions off the taxpayers of Austin by finagling a publicly financed stadium for his losing Rangers.

The UAE (Dubai) ports deal is just more of the same back-room dealing. You don't think he threatened his first veto because he thinks the deal is good for the country, do you? He or his friends stand to profit monetarily.

If you are a conservative, wake up and smell the coffee! Your man is no conservative. He is a radical thief. He is using you and your language to gain power, and then you will be discarded like a used ... tissue.

That is what this is about. Are we becoming the first American kleptocracy? And don't tell me it has been worse before. This presidency and Republican Congress is a perfect storm of venality, secrecy, and disenfranchisement, not to mention vote stealing.

This president, and the Republican One True Party (tm), threatens the very fabric of our country. They are intent on rolling back every good thing about it, it seems. They look back with nostalgia on the 1930s, when stocks were a good buy, and there were no taxpayer financed social safety nets.

Forget your bull---- about Kerry. That battle's over. Your Swift Boat Liars won it, accompanied by voter suppression in Ohio and hacked Diebold electronic voting machines across the country.

Those of us who have a shred of sanity left are praying for this long nightmare to end.