My Life In Brooklyn

I didn’t vote for Clarke, somehow I am not surprised.  A political activist in DC sent me this link. 

In the current issue of Black Agenda Report  there is an article on the latest report card published by the CBC Monitor.

From the Report Card:

“CBC Monitor is a group of nonpartisan African American activists who insist that the Congressional Black Caucus ought to represent the political will of Black communities, rather than party leaders, campaign contributors or corporate donors. CBC Monitor has partnered with Black Agenda Report at www.blackagendareport.com to produce twice-a-year report cards on the performance of the Congressional Black Caucus from an African American political point of view.”

Clarke was given a D, and ranks among the 5 lowest scores.  “Clarke’s offense was not so much in voting wrong, as in failing to show up, having been absent for many of the ten votes on which the current Report Card is based.”

Disturbing: Yvette Clarke — the person who used the blaring loudspeakers yesterday and littered the street with signage and leaflets; lied about obtaining a college degree (forgot to transfer credits); defaulted on a student loan; and favors Atlantic Yards development won the primary.  This is the person that — Post Lieberman loss — jumped on the “end the war” bandwagon.  It saddens me to realize people think all of this is okay, voters are, at times, like a herd of sheep.  And I will only mention in passing the amount of registered voters who think voting in the primary is a waste of time.

So lets see — Clarke wins with approximately 30% of a 20% (or less) voter turnout.  That means she wins with less than 7% of possible votes.  Something is very wrong with this system.

My association with Yvette Clarke is her unkept promise to the Lefferts neighborhood to replace the concrete trees on the corner of Empire, Flatbush and Ocean Avenues.  She talked this up at more than one LMA meeting and subsequently said the “winning design” was declined by the city committee that approves public art. She said it would be worked on but not a word since and it has to be a couple of years at least.  So to me YC evokes unkept promises and reminders of the meaningless “proclamations” (think Wizard of Oz) she issues all the time.

If there had been IRV (Instant Runoff Voting) I can’t help but think the results would have been much different.

Remember, this is my opinion and I am entitled to it.

First, allow me to just say that any candidate who sends a car/truck with loudspeakers — and I do mean LOUDspeakers — blaring a pre-recorded last minute plea for a vote, please note:  I will not vote for you.*

Secondly, I did vote in the primary this morning.  I honestly wasn’t sure who I was going to vote for as I entered the building, though it was narrowed down to two candidates (for the 11th Congressional District).

All along the walking route to the school it was almost offensive to see how many signs were attached to almost every available vertical space: lamp posts, parking/traffic signage, trees.  They all seemed to be for Yvette Clarke, though there were a few for Carl Andrews.  If I see a sign for Yvette Clarke I guarantee I will remember it and do not need to see one every six steps.  To me this is much like the spam we all receive on a daily basis — only it is paper (which is a huge waste) and we can’t filter it into the garbage.  On a side note, I did enjoy seeing many of these signs — particularly those affixed to the narrrow parking sign poles – had managed to slide and were actually on the ground.

Outside the elementary school (where one votes in this district) there were at least a dozen people distributing leaflets. I declined all leaflets and continued toward the entrance noting the huge amount of litter on the sidewalk: all political leaflets.  I wonder if the election committees do a post-election clean-up of their sign postings and leaflet distribution.  My guess is probably not, but I will report on this tomorrow and possibly subsequent days on my daily walk.

Gorgeous day for the primary, looking forward to watching the results.

*None other than our own Yvette Clarke  I awasn’t planning to vote for her anyway, but invasive loudspeakers would seal the deal if I was undecided.  Displaying the MOST POSTERS and being the LOUDEST with broadcasting on the street the eleventh hour does not make anyone the best candidate.  Sorry, but that is how I feel. 

A day of sadness.  Last night we watched about ten minutes of the documentary about 9/11, that was all we could manage.  Later Llewellyn worked on adding some WTC images to flickr.  Plus excellent text.

This is also the day before the primary.  Over the weekend we received the “robot” calls with messages from Major Owens (twice), Hillary Clinton, Mark Green, Andrew Cuomo. Today I heard Al Sharptons’s recorded voice endorsing someone. Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day here in terms of election results.  And interesting in Takoma Park too, where Jamie Raskin is in a close race with the incumbent — though his Washington Post endorsement this past weekend has to be an asset.  The weather is supposed to be quite good and that will affect voter turnout.  It will indeed be interesting.

My own opinion for the 11th?  I don’t like Carl Andrews and I don’t like Yvette Clark, neither will receive my vote.  Both are like talking heads to me.  In some respects I think Andrews and Clark are feeding the voters info they want to hear, such as the end the war bandwagon most politicians are utilizing these days.  And of course Clark has Unions endorsing her — she supports Atlantic Yards.

I favor Chris Owens in terms of intellectual ability, but at the same time I am not certain he is the most experienced and I do not favor endorsing a political family dynasty, something well underway should he win.  Yassky was endorsed by the New York Times which means something, and yet his connections/contributions from developers doesn’t hold well.   Too bad this is a four-way race with an archaic system — second guessing the value of your vote is just wrong.

Is IRV (Instant Runoff Voting) the solution to the current campaign woes in the 11th District? The Progressive Populist just published this article on the Brooklyn race, describing how it would help.

And no, the author’s surname is not a coincidence.