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Also In This Issue:

HE IN!

Mike Hein's historic inauguration ceremony ushers in a new and more accountable form of government for beleaguered Ulster County -- we're pulling for him anyway.

Nobody’s Business
As their parent company goes into receivership, Taconic Press (weekly newspapers covering Dutchess and Putnam counties and The Independent (Columbia) go the way of the dinosaur, creating a gaping hole in the community journalism landscape in the Mid-Hudson region, and a golden opportunity for someone else to move in and screw up just as bad.

How Obama Reformed
At Least One
Potential Terrorist
OK, revolutionary anarchist, like there's really a difference. Our roving reporter Molly Eagan attends the Inauguration/Coronation/Anointing Ceremonies and comes home converted.

Sick Sudoku Solution
The answer to what puzzles you is here!

In the
Dec./Jan. Issue:

Indian Winter

Since WAMC has been bringing up the subject of American Indians in the aptly named Empire State of late, it seemed timely to weigh in with this old chestnut from the vault, if only to educate Joe Donahue, Sarah LaDuke and company that things were more complicated than they've led listeners to believe, and that the mighty Iroquois weren't the only game in town.

Nobody’s Business
Welcome to Tax Hell, USA!

Toward a Property Taxpayer's Bill of Rights
Nora Post tells it like it is.

Sick Sudoku Solution
The answer to what puzzles you is here!

In the
Oct./Nov. Issue:

Wikman's War

A modern-day Don Quixote figure tries his hand at river piracy to make an obscure point.

Doesn’t anybody else notice that the big Presidential-looking eagle seal behind the debating candidates is THE ANHEUSER BUSCH LOGO!!!? (without the big ‘A’ ). There’s a reason for that.

Celente was Right
The Hudson Valley’s resident prognosticator had it right on the money way back in August 2007: we’re toast. Buy gold, guns and ammo, and don’t give up that self-storage unit just yet. You’ll probably be living in it.

Nobody’s Business
What if Barack Obama really is the Antichrist?

“All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it.”
-- H. L. Mencken

News Links
WAMC Northeast Public Radio
ReadMedia Newswire
Ulster Publishing (Mid-Hudson)
Daily Freeman (Upper Mid-Hudson)
Kingston Community Radio
Poughkeepsie Journal (Mid-Hudson)
Journal News (Westchester/Putnam)
Times Herald-Record (Orange, Rockland, Sullivan; Ulster)
Albany Times Union

Blog Links
Kingston Citizens
Blaber News
Cahill on Kingston
Ulster County Politics

Other Interesting Links
LieKiller.com
Mt. Losemore.com

Interact with Us
E-mail our editor

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Comment, Connect or Blog at
Chronic Complainer

Copyright 2009
The Chronic Company

Publisher and Editor
Steve Hopkins: steve@hvchronic.com

Associate Publisher Emeritus
Paul Joffe:
pauljoffe@pauljoffe.com

Contributors
Molly Eagan and Paul Joffe. More To be announced. I look forward to working with others who are on deck. Writers may feel free to contact the publisher and make a pitch, or throw something up on the Chronic Complainer (see above) that catches our jaundiced eye. All inquiries are welcome!

There's Something
About Kirsten

Schumer and
Gillibrand
turn a blue state
mauve

By Steve Hopkins

If you listen to WAMC all the time like I do, you start to get the feeling that New York is the bluest of blue states, the standard bearer of the “Progressive” wing of the Democratic Party – or what some might less kindly call the “Liberazi” wing. New York’s liberal left has been feeling its oats of late, what with the solid Obama victory, the successful Democratic assault on both Congress and the statehouse, and the elevation of one of its prize warhorses, Hillary Rodham Clinton, to the lofty post of Secretary of State, where she’ll try to do better at saving the world than she did at implementing national health insurance.

But things are never that simple. Obama has been decried in conspiracy circles as a closet tool of the Chicago-based patronage mob, recruited to loot the Federal Treasury just as surely as was G.W. Bush before him by the Texas Oil-based contingent of the same mob. In her heart of hearts, Hillary’s not really a liberal, she’s a social anarchist.

And how does one explain Kirsten Gillibrand? Alan Chartock and the rest of the liberal firmament almost went into cardiac arrest a few Fridays ago when Gov. David Paterson announced Gillibrand as his choice to replace Clinton as the state’s junior U.S. senator after a Shakespearean performance during the two-month-long indecision process. Much ado was made over the fact that Gillibrand condones hunting and private gun ownership, and that her voting record as a so-called “Blue Dog” Democrat was mixed on issues like immigration and gay rights. Calls to the radio station ran 2-to-1 against her, and later in the day during the actual intro event in a packed conference room off the Empire State Plaza concourse, you could hear the teeth-gritting from the Manhattan-based journalists waiting to pounce on her and Paterson for dissing the Kennedy and Cuomo camps, as well as for making their jobs harder.

Maurice Hinchey, the longtime liberal firebrand from the 22nd District who no doubt had designs of his own on Clinton’s Senate seat, went on Chartock’s “Congressional Corner” this week and gave a chilly non-endorsement to his former House compatriot from across the river, saying he was “surprised” at her selection and forecasting trouble ahead for Democrats in statewide races with Gillibrand leading the ticket.

Yes, it was ugly, and every jaded political wonk within earshot was shaking his or her bald/frizzy head, pronouncing Paterson dead in the water and Gillibrand as being the second coming of Josef Mengele.

Enter the Dragon

But not so fast. First of all, if you have a problem with Kirsten Gillibrand, don’t blame poor Paterson. The governor, while a peach of a guy and a breath of fresh air in a position that has seen its fair share of megalomaniacs and personality-challenged suits, is no steamroller. The most powerful individual in New York State politics in a generation (if not ever), U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, already the third-ranking member of the Senate leadership with a bullet, has been calling in his chips earned from delivering a near filibuster-proof 58-vote majority (not counting that pesky Minnesota race) in November’s election and is positioning himself to challenge for even greater spoils. He has made himself so indispensible to the running of the 111th Congress, particularly with regard to the economic bailout and the fate of Wall Street and U.S. banks, that even the new president seems to be (reluctantly) eating out of his hand.

And it was Schumer, not Paterson, who chose Hillary Clinton’s successor. During the Jan. 23 announcement he played proud papa to the young upstart, who during her short, effective career in the House has earned from some of her less ambitious peers the nickname “Tracy Flick,” a reference to the scheming class president candidate portrayed by Reese Witherspoon in the classic 1999 teen comedy, Election. (It’s not far off, actually, and she seems to accept the stigma with good-humored resignation.) Schumer stood and smiled beatifically over her left shoulder as Gillibrand worked her aw-shucks magic on the crowd during a nearly interminable acceptance speech that had Sheldon Silver yawning and rolling his eyes, and even kept President Obama on hold waiting for her to take a breath for two seconds so he could congratulate her.

More than meets the eye

In an odd and some say telling juxtaposition, the man Schumer beat to take his position in 1998, former “Senator Pothole” and current heavyweight lobbyist Alphonse D’Amato, was hovering over Gillibrand’s right shoulder, sending the city-based press boys and girls into fits of apoplexy. But D’Amato, some of us knew, was a mentor to the young Gillibrand during the political training that followed her upbringing as the scion of a key contingent in the powerful O’Connell dynasty that ran Albany for half a century. Her grandma was Dorothea “Polly” Noonan, Mayor Erastus Corning’s longtime secretary, right-hand woman and rumored mistress. Her polymorphously bipartisan dad, Douglas Rutnik, is a lobbyist himself who was mentored by Corning, is a friend of D’Amato’s and – after breaking up with Gillibrand’s mom – even went out for 12 years with the former senator’s (and former Gov. Pataki’s) secretary, Zenia Mucha, who is now a VP of communications at Disney.

So, Gillibrand’s no fresh-faced ingénue. Her bloodline has been around the political block at least as many times as the Kennedys and Cuomos have, and is at least as interesting. Ask William Kennedy.

By the way, as an aside, another “surprise" fresh face to watch out for in the future is newly minted Ulster County Executive Mike Hein, who somehow got himself invited onstage for the Gillibrand announcement with only 21 other people, mostly true political bigwigs of state and national repute. Watch this guy – he’s going places.

Good morning, Mrs. President?

At any rate, back at the ranch, Schumer, who has a well-earned reputation as a publicity hound (former Vice President Robert Dole once famously opined that the most dangerous place to stand in the District of Columbia was “between Chuck Schumer and a television camera”), is a pro, and knows when to beat a hasty retreat. By the time the Q&A session began – during which the media wolves got their chance to tear into the governor about Gillibrand and her qualifications – the perpetrator had already left the building.

While probably too much of a political lightning rod to consider a presidential run himself (among other things, he is blamed by many conservative Republicans for singlehandedly bringing on the Great Recession by badmouthing IndyMac in a letter to the FDIC, causing a $1.3 billion run on the bank), Schumer in Gillibrand has the perfect protégé, and a means of extending his massive influence deep into the next generation. Like himself, Gillibrand is hyper-intelligent, a political pragmatist, a workaholic and a savvy strategist. Presumably with his help, she’s already gotten seats on four Senate committees, most importantly the Foreign Relations Committee, where she’ll get the chance to make some noise. She also scored seats on the Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Agriculture Committee and the Special Committee on Aging.

She’s already had the opportunity to put her two cents in during the talks over the infrastructure pork being doled out in the looming Economic Stimulus bill, and even got to talk about it a little after both she and Schumer voted yes to the $838 billion Senate version that passed on Tuesday, Feb. 10. “The investments in infrastructure and alternative energy development will create jobs and build a foundation for long-term economic growth in our state,” she chirped, not sounding at all like the balanced-budget crusader who voted against both $350 billion bank bailout packages while in the House.

On the podium at the announcement of her appointment, Schumer the queen-maker alluded to Gillibrand’s coming malleability with a comment regarding her stance on gun control, which is diametrically opposed to his. “Her views will evolve,” he said, flashing that trademark Cheshire Cat grin.

So will she. Watch as she is groomed by Chuck Schumer over the long haul to be the antidote to Sarah Palin in the coming all-female Presidential Sweepstakes – which, depending on how Mr. Obama negotiates the minefield he’s been dealt, could kick off sooner than expected.
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