Sunday, January 17, 2016

New York Values

Perhaps it’s not the best way to open a post on New York values, but here goes. In sixteenth century Italy a courtier named Baldassare Castiglione wrote a book called: The Book of the Courtier. In it he defined the rules of etiquette and ethics for those who serve in courts.

Among his salient remarks were these: a man’s character is not judged by how he exacts in an extreme situation but on how he behaves in his everyday life. It’s not in a time of crisis or danger that you see what a man is but you see it when it doesn’t really seem to matter.

Since anyone, Castiglione explained, will run into a burning building to rescue a child, it is not a very good test of character. How you treat people in your everyday life is far more important… precisely because doing the right thing when it does not seem to matter is a better indication of how honorable an individual you are.

So, today, thanks to Donald Trump Republicans around the nation standing up for New York values.  Which are, of course, liberal democratic and politically correct values.

Obviously, Trump supporters were seriously offended when Ted Cruz called out Donald Trump for his statements favoring, for example, partial-birth abortion in 1999. They were even more offended that Cruz drew attention to Trump’s disinterest in cultural issues and his willingness to cave in to the dominant opinion in New York. The truth is, to do business in New York, you do need to embrace certain politically correct values.

Trump supporters believe that New York values were most in evidence during the attack on the World Trade Center, but are far less evident in Comrade Bill de Blasio and the radical leftist influence on the city’s politics and its culture.

It is perfectly reasonable to say, as Cruz did, that New York values are the policies that New Yorkers vote for again and again.

New York is a leftist city where Republicans and especially conservatives are routinely punished for holding politically incorrect opinions. Please do not say that you are going to attack political correctness while you are defending New York’s politically correct values. The mania about political correctness on college campuses is a direct manifestation of New York values.

Today, the New York Times, of all papers, reports on what it is like to be a young Republican in New York City.

In its words:

Interviews with a dozen or so members of the club, the oldest Young Republicans chapter in the country, made it clear that being so outnumbered can pose serious challenges. Some believe that they have ruined job interviews by disclosing their Republican leanings; others said they lie about their political beliefs to avoid confrontation. Out of fear of retribution in their industries, several members refused to be interviewed or would give only their first name.

One attendee, Andy, 30, said he had lost friends after “coming out” as conservative. “When I told my mom,” he recalled, “she said, ‘I failed you as a mother.’”

Those are the New York values that Republicans and conservatives live on a daily basis. If you want to defend them, be my guest.

Amazingly, Trump supporters have been saying that Cruz should never criticize New York values because he held fundraisers in New York City and because his wife works for Goldman Sachs.

If that were true, then only self-funded candidates should ever run for president. But, self-funded candidates might have a considerable personal financial interest in any government policy. Do you think that a man who has handed his real estate and marketing empire over to his children might not tend to make decisions that favor their fortunes? Or that favor the fortunes of his friends and cronies?

As for the other canard, namely that Ted Cruz was really attacking liberal Jews, let’s keep mind that liberal Jews were instrumental in putting Jeremiah Wright’s protégé in the White House. Said protégé has consistently treated the prime minister of Israel with contempt and derision, thus making it more acceptable to be anti-Semitic in America. 

And let us not forget that liberal Jews have rallied to support the protégé of a man who considers Jesus to be a Palestinian and who is a close friend and associate of Louis Farrakhan. Said protégé sold out American and Israeli interests in favor of the Iranian mullahs. 

And let’s not forget that when the Obama administration, backed fully by liberal Jews, had the chance, it happily embraced an Egyptian president who represented the Jew hating Muslim Brotherhood.

And let’s not forget that presumptive Democratic candidate Clinton’s closest advisor is a Muslim whose family has devoted itself to working for the Muslim Brotherhood and radical Islam.

Keep all that in mind before criticizing Ted Cruz on New York values.

7 comments:

  1. Interesting read. Stuart Schneiderman has hit some home runs recently. This article is one of them.

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  2. I would suggest that the phrase "fly over country" demonstrates a lot about how people treat or mistreat others. It is also engendered when one meet a significant number of NYC residents outside their environs. Living in Florida i get to meet a lot of people from various countries and states and noted distinct differences in manners. I would point out that I know a large number of retired NYPD, NYFD and sanitation worker, the vast majority of which are former military, who are great people to know. Some of them are my neighbors.
    If one wants to get an idea of who creates attitudes about NYC people go to Palm Beach south. Sometimes not a pretty site especially seeing people being treated as servants or worse.

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  3. Speaking of "New York [City] Values", this sounded crazy, 1.4 million open arrest warrants for ‘quality-of-life’ crimes?!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad8aK5qn5l8
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    There are more than 1.4 million outstanding arrest warrants in New York City stemming from lapsed summonses for "quality-of-life" crimes - things like biking on the sidewalk or being in a park after closing. Critics say they burden the court system and police, who must arrest anyone they find with a warrant, and add to the distrust and fear of police, especially in minority communities. While the City is working to streamline the summons process, Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson is working to clear up the backlog, hosting events to vacate hundreds of warrants at a time. Megan Thompson reports.
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    If you live in a world where people who refuse to show up to court, and get away with it, compared to honest folks who follow the rules, its going to generate resentment by law abiding citizens, and potentially push otherwise nonviolent citizens into hiding, and in harms way, when they're afraid of asking for police assistance for fear of their own warrants.

    And then we have the case of Eric Garner, who was killed unintentionally by police for selling untaxed cigarrettes.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner

    So whatever Values we're discussing, police being able to generate more charges than the courts can process looks like a problem, looks like chaos! I'm sure Libertarians would agree.

    I wonder if Cruz would get more support if his apology included Eric Garner's death?

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  4. Thanks to Donald Trump Republicans are standing up for liberal and political correct values? Name one.

    Try again, Stuart.

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  5. How did Cruz manage to repay his $750,000 loans?

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  6. Marsh, this? I suppose a 3% interest loan is what you can get on a really good mortgage these days.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/us/politics/ted-cruz-wall-street-loan-senate-bid-2012.html
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    A review of personal financial disclosures that Mr. Cruz filed later with the Senate does not find a liquidation of assets that would have accounted for all the money he spent on his campaign. What it does show, however, is that in the first half of 2012, Ted and Heidi Cruz obtained the low-interest loan from Goldman Sachs, as well as another one from Citibank. The loans totaled as much as $750,000 and eventually increased to a maximum of $1 million before being paid down later that year. There is no explanation of their purpose.

    Neither loan appears in reports the Ted Cruz for Senate Committee filed with the Federal Election Commission, in which candidates are required to disclose the source of money they borrow to finance their campaigns. Other campaigns have been investigated and fined for failing to make such disclosures, which are intended to inform voters and prevent candidates from receiving special treatment from lenders. There is no evidence that the Cruzes got a break on their loans.

    A spokeswoman for Mr. Cruz’s presidential campaign, Catherine Frazier, acknowledged that the loan from Goldman Sachs, drawn against the value of the Cruzes’ brokerage account, was a source of money for the Senate race. Ms. Frazier added that Mr. Cruz also sold stocks and liquidated savings, but she did not address whether the Citibank loan was used.

    The failure to report the Goldman Sachs loan, for as much as $500,000, was “inadvertent,” she said, adding that the campaign would file corrected reports as necessary. Ms. Frazier said there had been no attempt to hide anything.
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    There would have been nothing improper about Mr. Cruz obtaining bank loans for his campaign, as long as they were disclosed. But such a disclosure might have conveyed the wrong impression for his candidacy.
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    Both loans had floating interest rates around 3 percent, according to Mr. Cruz’s Senate disclosures, which appear to be generally in line with rates available to wealthy borrowers at that time.

    During the remainder of 2012, the Cruz campaign repaid Mr. Cruz for about half of the money he lent. His Senate disclosures show that he and his wife paid off the Citibank loan that same year. As for the Goldman Sachs loan, it remains outstanding, though the balance has been reduced to between $50,000 and $100,000.
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  7. Yes. How did he repay that huge loan on his salary? It's not possible.

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