7. He’s kept crime going down without the Mussolini-like police tactics of Giuliani. There have been no mayorally-sanctioned police hate crimes like Diallo, Louima and Dorismond.
Well, as long as Mike didn’t sanction Sean Bell and Michael Mineo, I guess he’s fine. Though retaining Ray Kelly no matter what happens (I know, I know, he gets results, dammit!) seems like a tacit endorsement of whatever shit goes down. Like, you know, refusing to turn over any documents relating to the GOP convention (or was that also ok because it just involved infringing on the rights of dumb hippies who ran red lights?), and all that illegal domestic spying. (did you argue the merits of warrantless-wiretapping?) It should probably be more explicit: a vote for Mike is a vote for having your community policed by a paramilitary counterintelligence agency that operates entirely without mayoral oversight.
This is only the second-most disgraceful thing about Bloomberg, obviously, this pretending to be better than Giuliani while the NYPD continues to do do whatever it wants without consequences. Personally I still find the 40,000 people in shelters thing a little more upsetting.
My weekend football predictions. Call your bookie now.
Rams at Lions final score: 5-5. That’s my lock of the week.
“The first couple of days will be the usual mess. But I think you’ll find readers will contribute unexpected things” —Nick Denton
Rex/Pareene, do you take issue with Jay Chrepta calling Minneapolis “the Upper West Side of Middle America”? Because I would.
Jay Chrepta commutes from 83.7% white Rochester, which is sort of the Greenwich of Minneapolis.
Twins bandwagon, here I come! (until opening day 2010)
This adorable fellow — T.C. Bear — became a Twins mascot in, according to Wikipedia, the year 2000, well after the point when I’d feel the need to defend his generic mascot-ness based on childhood nostalgia. But! There is history: he is basically a straight rip of the adorable booze-shilling bear mascot for Hamm’s beer, the Hamm’s Beer Bear. Hamm’s is best known today for being the beer some guy on Mad Men wasn’t drinking, one time.
The tragic story of Hamm’s is the same as the tragic story of every other middle state-intoxicating mid-century brewery, and it’s ably told in this great Salon feature.
Anyway! Go Twins! What a fucking game.
Moe and Peggy Noonan and I are guest-editing Deadspin today!