The people I really don’t like
In my writing life I have used two phrases over and over again. One I picked up from my twin brother, Lewis, who often said, “Him I don’t like.” Let’s face it -- there are people we don’t like. In my case, I could easily say of Donald Trump, “Him I don’t like.” In fact, I could truthfully say, “Him I REALLY don’t like.” It’s not just that I think the guy is trying to lead our country into fascism and totalitarianism. It’s not just that he is leading a war against the Blue states trying to get even with them for voting for Hillary. It’s not just that they guy offers up the constant threat of nuclear annihilation but he is a liar of the first order and he has brought shame to this country. I can only say, in capital letters “Him I REALLY, REALLY don’t like.”
Trump’s not the only one. How about the turkeys on the New York State legislature who just won’t do the right things, the very things that the people want such as term limits, an end to partisan gerrymandering, an end to corrupt practices including hiring for partisan advantage, an end to currying favor with the well heeled, and so much more. To that group of political prostitutes I say, “You I really don’t like.”
Then there are the practitioners of hypocrisy. For example, Andrew Cuomo says that he wants to put a stop to the current pay to play campaign finance laws, to political corruption, and to the divisions in the Democratic Party that have led to the Republicans controlling the State Senate. Were he to use his immense power to actually make the changes he says he favors, he could do so. Nope, instead he says one thing and does little to make it happen and to him I say, “You I don’t like.”
There’s also the group of politicians who propose things that they know they can’t make happen. That way they can get the credit for trying rather than actually doing the work to solve a vexing problem. For example, take New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. He knows damned well that he is not going to solve the problem of congestion on New York’s streets by raising the taxes on the richest New Yorkers to pay for subway and mass transit improvements. Not only won’t he get his way through the Republican state senate but his arch enemy, Andrew Cuomo who is the handmaiden to the rich, would veto such a bill to block the left leaning mayor from running for president. In this one, Cuomo is right about his proposal to institute to congestion pricing on cars that want to get into the heaviest travelled parts of Manhattan. So, reluctantly, I have to say to the politicians who pull that kind of nonsense, “THAT I don’t like.”
A second utterance that I can frequently be heard saying is, “Who he?” or “Who she?” This refers to a group of politicians that no one has ever heard of. Take the lieutenant governor of New York, Kathy Hochul. I guarantee you that if you stood up in front of the Empire State Building or the State Capitol and asked the first hundred passers the name of the lieutenant governor, you would be lucky to get a single correct answer. This matters because in the unlikely event that Andrew Cuomo was to run for and win the presidency in 2020, she would become governor. Not that she isn’t a nice, competent politician and hasn’t served as a competent surrogate to help the governor when he needs such a helper. When she is tasked with the thankless responsibility of introducing all the various players at the State of the State message which, frankly, made me want to throw up, I’ll bet at least one person in that cavernous hall was heard to say, “Who she?”