COMMON SENSE: Round One

As they say in the political business, Congressmember Michael Grimm came to play and Domenic Recchia will now have to explain.

The congressmember — who knows how to throw a punch — seems to be looking to knock Recchia out early in his campaign for Congress with some hard hits on Recchia’s City Council voting record.

Recchia in the Council voted for higher property taxes and for congestion pricing which would toll East River bridges like the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge, certainly not popular positions in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights.

Domenic — who was one of Christine Quinn’s top deputies and supporters for mayor — says that his crummy votes show leadership. Personally, I would forego the leadership and argue that higher property taxes and tolling the bridges was simply a bad idea put forward by Quinn and Bloomberg.

Domenic showed very little leadership in simply going along. It leaves you with a belief that he would rubber stamp Pelosi if he ever got to Congress. And, as we all know, that means Obamacare, ever-increasing federal spending and higher taxes.

In any event, on the Staten Island end of the two-county district, it looks like Grimm is trying to push Recchia right into the Narrows. Recchia is even being criticized for his response to Sandy in his Brooklyn Council district, which is understandably a major issue in the very hard-hit South Shore of Staten Island communities. Thus, it is not surprising that Staten Island Democrats are questioning the wisdom of nominating Recchia.

With Congressional nominating petitions presently scheduled for early March, we will soon see if Recchia makes the cut. Grimm, of course, will most certainly be the Republican and Conservative Parties’ candidate.

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I am no fan of President Obama, but I do think the criticism of him for the “Selfie picture” taken at the Mandela funeral is unfortunate. The photographer has adequately explained that there was a general atmosphere of celebration when the photo was taken. And apparently the First Lady was actually involved in the overall conversation before she turned away and was photographed with a rather dour look.

I also believe that President Obama thought too much of Mandela to be disrespectful.

Now, on the other hand, what was going on with the South African government allowing a sign translator who did not know sign language? Worse yet, he did not sneak onto the stage. He was the official translator who had been used by the government in the past. And there had been complaints on those occasions filed against him for not being able to “sign.” Absolutely amazing.

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Last week’s column marks my twenty fifth anniversary of writing Common Sense. And, in that time, I have never missed a column. That is 1,300 columns filed on a weekly basis. I am very proud of that fact.

In the first column in early December of 1988, I wrote of the incoming George H.W. Bush administration. Since then, we have covered just about every imaginable topic. It’s a column of opinion and, sure it is my opinion, so many will not agree. Yet I would like to believe that even if you disagree, the column gave you pause for thought.

I would also like to thank my editors and publishers for these many years. And, of course, I would like to thank my readers.