A friend just emailed me this item from Politicker (June 4), reporting that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn accused her opponents of pandering to please voters when it comes to trash, policing and circumcision.
In an interview with WOR’s John Gambling, Quinn said: “You know what else is wrong, John? Going into communities and pandering and telling them what they want to hear just so you can get their vote. That’s not leadership and that’s not being a mayor.”
Gambling cautioned. “Careful, Madame Speaker. Because there’s a lot of that going on right now,” but the speaker lady wouldn’t listen.
“You gotta say, ‘fair’s fair,’” she said. “And it won’t make people happy, and I get that. But whether it’s the Upper East Side transfer station or going into a synagogue–as I did last week–and saying that practices around circumcision that are done in particular ways that are unhealthy for children aren’t gonna continue without proper notification. You just have to stand up sometimes, even if gets you booed, as supporting Ray Kelly has done for me in some places and as has supporting the Inspector General bill has done for me in other places–’cause you have to lead, not seek votes.”
What’s amazing is that politicians today think that You Tube is turned off whenever they say something dumb. But, alas, You Tube is alive and well, and, also, it’s a pleasure, when these things come up, to have on hand the reports—both in text and video—of our swift man on the scene in NYC, Jacob Kornbluh, who just the other day sent us this video:
“Speaking to NY1′s Josh Robin at the MET council legislative breakfast, ahead of the Celebrate Israel parade,” Jacob reported, “mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn boosted her pro-Israel credentials with the common phrase: ‘Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.’ Ms. Quinn urged the US government to immediately recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish State.”
No, Ms. Speaker, no pandering over here whatsoever.