By Dee Richard
It was disappointing to see U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner so docilely agree to step down and resign. We never thought he would fold like a cheap camera so early in the game. We thought he was made of much tougher stuff.
In the last few days, before his wife Huma Abedin returned home, Weiner looked rather gaunt and haggard with dark circles under his eyes. Whatever “the message from Garcia” was that his wife brought home, Weiner resigned with alacrity and on Friday he looked at ease, refreshed and agreed to resign.
Hmm! What kind of a deal was made? It had to be something pretty good! Was pressure put on Weiner as a long-standing, good member of the Democratic Party to step down now rather than run the risk of accruing more damage to the Democratic Party and, heavens to Murgatroyd, under those circumstances it might produce the possibility that perhaps a Republican or Conservative could possibly pick up his seat.
Now we can’t have that, can we? I still think Weiner could have survived had he stuck it out, but I’m also sure that whatever deal they offered, he thought it was the best for his party, him and his family. After all, it is his decision and his life, not ours. So good luck to you, Congressman Weiner, in whatever the future holds for you.
On Tuesday night, the Whitestone/Bayside Lions held their charter signing dinner at the Bourbon Street Cafe in Bayside. What a great turnout they had. It was well over 100 people. It was the revival of the original Whitestone/Bayside Lions, which started to wane in the early 1970s.
Now through the efforts of newly installed President Paul Vallone, the Lions are in the process of a comeback. The Lions International is the world’s largest service organization, with more than 1.35 million members in 206 countries in the world. I was so impressed I signed up and became a charter member. If you are interested in joining, they will not meet again until the first Wednesday in September, as there are no meetings in July and August.
Wednesday evening started out with the Clinton Democratic Club’s last meeting before summer vacation. Their keynote speaker was Queens DA Richard Brown, who is running again for his position. He has the endorsement of the Democratic, the Republican, the Conservative and other parties. What a tough race that one will be, considering he has no opposition.
After the stop at the Clinton Club, our next stop was at the Northeast Queens Republican Club’s last meeting before summer break and their speaker was Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, who apparently intends to take on Kirsten Gillibrand for her U.S. Senate seat. Good luck, George.
As if those two events were not enough action for a Wednesday night, Jim and I hopped into his car and took off to drive down to Washington, D.C., to attend my favorite annual election seminars, which are held for three days every June. While I am approximately $2,500 poorer in cash, I feel $2,500 richer in the political knowledge gained.
Just as I had reported about the New York Press Association’s convention and how things have changed so drastically to include the electronic media, guess what? Politics have also changed with their version of the electronic media, social networking, and in-depth online processing as well as fund-raising. The world and everything in it is changing so rapidly it’s becoming almost impossible to keep up.
There was so much to learn at the conference it could have been extended an extra day just for me to absorb everything presented. Fortunately, they provided you with an outline of the seminars with suggested reading that pertained to the subjects that you have an interest in.
On Friday night, we relaxed with a few drinks at Old Town in Alexandria, Va. On the way there, we drove past our nation’s monuments, which were illuminated. It gives one a sense of pride to be American.
In the June 9 edition, I wrote about the June 4 wedding of John Catsimatidis’ daughter Andrea to Ed Cox’s son Christopher, and with tongue in cheek I mentioned my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail. The column came out June 9; on June 10 at 6:30 a.m. I received an e-mail from John thanking me for mentioning his daughter’s wedding and he said I should have been invited.
Did you know billionaires read TimesLedger and also the Dishing with Dee column? It appears TimesLedger is coming up in the world.
I look forward to your voicemails at 718-767-6484, faxes at 718-746-0066 and e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com.
Till next week, Dee.
