HLRGazette Archives

Relive some of our best stories.

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size

Dash of Pepper

E-mail Print PDF
Nanny Bloomberg for president?
By SHEILAH PEPPER
The Gazette Staff
This past week, the Internet was abuzz over a report in The New York Times that New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is getting bored and looking for fresh fields.
According to the report, he has been quietly sounding out advisors and operatives on the possibility of running for president as an independent candidate.
On January 6th, a conference will be convened at the University of Oklahoma with the objective of prodding major presidential candidates to "renounce partisan gridlock."
To observers with a cynical turn of mind (like me) this event formally introduces the return of the "Can't We Just All Get Along?" crowd. (This phrase is most effective when repeated three times in a whiny, high-pitched voice.)
Personally, I'm not always against gridlock, especially if it stops some nincompoop in Washington from passing foolish legislation. But does it never occur to these get-along folks that some politicians, on both sides of the aisle, actually do hold a set of deeply held beliefs - beliefs also held by those who voted for him/her? These same beliefs can cause an office holder to hunker down on a specific issue that goes against a core belief. This is called acting on principal, having integrity and doing the right thing according to one's conscience.
Apparently the get-along folks think Bloomberg would be a good choice and have invited him to their shindig tomorrow in Oklahoma. It's being organized by some former senators, both Democrats and RINOS. (Republicans In Name Only. They use GOP funds to get elected then immediately suffer amnesia when it comes to recalling Republican core beliefs.)
Also attending will be another new Get Along group that calls itself "UNITY08." It has been founded by actor Sam Waterston who said he felt the group could support a Bloomberg candidacy. It all smells every East Coast and elitist to me.
Apparently, during his first mayoral campaign, Mr. Bloomberg had female voice-overs on his campaign commercials. His operatives had reservations about the sound of his voice. He is also, according to reports, rather short. Some see being too short or too tall as a disadvantage in politics - we seem to prefer our elected representatives to be rather average, at least in height. Some mean-spirited folks might see them as rather average to other ways, as well.
To date, the mayor's administration has dedicated itself to such weighty matters as eliminating smoking sections in NY restaurants, and banishing it from New York bars. Not only is the hard-working cop or fireman deprived of his smoke and brew at his neighborhood bar, but the well-to-do businessman can no longer look forward to his after-hours brandy and cigar. The famous Cigar Bar at the Four Seasons no longer allows cigars.
More recently, Nanny Bloomberg's behavior police have cast a jaundiced eye on junk food and have censured the fast food franchises publicly. They have even talked about forcing restaurants to supply calorie and nutritional information beside each menu offering, thereby discouraging patrons from ordering the potatoes au gratin and chocolate soufflé on top of the salad and steak au poivre! I wonder what this will do to the careers of our top pastry chefs.
What would be next in a Bloomberg White House? Forget about the War on Terror, homeland security and finding Osama. The big question is - are they coming for our Twinkies and our Ding Dongs? I envision large placards on Pennsylvania Avenue saying "Help! The President is killing the pastry chefs of America."
These are weighty considerations we must all keep in mind as we head into the presidential campaign ... meanwhile, I'm going to check out the shelf life of a pack of Twinkies.
It may be time to stock up.
Copyright©2008SheilahPepper
Last Updated on Friday, 12 June 2009 15:31  

The only searchable local paper.