A rant, and an article nobody wants to read, but everyone should, if...
you really care about what goes on in the background.
I'm on our town and county Democratic committees, and get the usual amount of crap dumped in my mail and inboxes. I don't like our current candidate to replace the Trumpon in the House, but I'll get out the vote for him because we have to take that seat back. It's not just a party thing, but Lee Zeldin is really scum. Not as bad as some, but he has to go.
'Tis that time of year when I get lots of invites. Our guy, Perry Gershon is constantly inviting me to fundraisers where the entry ticket is a hundred bucks or so. The two bordering towns also love to invite me to stuff, usually $150 and up. Now is not the season to show up at a speech for the price of breakfast.
Our county committee invited me to the annual dinner where it's a grand to get in the door. You can order a table of 10 for a measly $30,000.
One of our new town council members was heard to complain about how much of her pay went to this kind of stuff, and to private organizations who may possibly support her, and even to the clothes she had to buy for various events. Elected officials don't go to party events in last year's fashions and buying the cheapest tickets.
I went to the convention last year and it lasted about an hour or two, most of which was speeches honoring people I never heard of. The actual business of the convention lasted maybe 15 minutes, when proposals and such were mumbled and passed without anyone voting on them. Or knowing what they were about. Good thing it was free, although they did have a place to drop checks.
This is not to piss on Democrats, but to piss on American politics, since every organized political group I've known works the same way. It's efficient, but efficient only to get elected, not to do the job they are elected for. It's amazing we manage to occasionally get a pothole or two filled.
(And do NOT get me started on school boards...)
http://riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com/2018/09/89198/column-democrats-sept-13-primary-surrogate-judge-conceals-scandal/
In late June, Ms. Scully, an attorney and registered Republican, answered what amounted to a “help wanted” ad posted by Newsday’s editorial board. This remarkable editorial called for someone to run for Surrogate Court who was not handpicked by party bosses in a backroom deal that put forward an approved candidate to be rubber-stamped on Election Day by voters who don’t know any better.
The bosses of the Democrat, Republican, Conservative and Independence parties care principally about power and patronage. The taxpayers and the integrity of the county court system are not uppermost in their minds. They — not you — will determine who gets on the bench. They want it this way because, in Surrogate Court, for example, the person they pick is then in a position to hand out highly lucrative appointments to lawyers favored by the party.
These party leaders do not operate idea factories. They don’t sit around discussing ways to improve life on Long Island or make government more efficient, honest and transparent. Essentially, they operate employment agencies. Their methods are corrupt, undemocratic and insulting to voters.
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