Zeldin Has Already Won
Because as Gunny Sergeant Hartman put it: "Guts is enough."
In New York State, Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than two-to-one. Further, when it comes to actually voting, heavily Democratic NYC is positively rabid about getting out the vote.
Yet here is Lee Zeldin, by some counts in a current toss-up with Kathy Hochul.
As your narrator related on-air this morning, Hochul has staked out a “status-quo” message. The true point of her debate performance (particularly on criminal justice) was, “I won’t be changing much.”
Politically, I believe this was a mistake. Her “why is this so important to you?” response to Zeldin (re: bail reform) was about as tin-eared as it gets. It won’t play well with voters afraid to ride the subways these days.
That said: I believe it was purposeful. She is assuring her base that she will stay the course.
Why, then, has Zeldin “already won”? Two words: Rudy Giuliani.
Yup.
While the circumstances are not perfectly analogous, recall the last time NYC descended into “the ungovernable city.” First time out, Giuliani lost the mayoral race to David Dinkins.
It wasn’t until four years later that Giuliani (barely) captured the NYC mayoralty, thanks to an utterly fed-up electorate. And the swing issue was crime. With that, the era of “broken windows policing” began — as did New York City’s rennaisance.
(Note: What many also don’t remember is that, near the end of his term, Dinkins himself had seen the light and begun to institute more and better enforcement. That this is forgotten is not fair to him. But it was simply too little, too late).
Numerically, there is no way that the New York governor’s race should be close. But it is. Zeldin has shown that it can be done — and he has shown that the simple issue of feeling that you and your family are safe is the issue that can do it.
He’s being vilified, of course. Military man, traditional family, pro-policing…. None of this endears him to our chattering class. It’s rolling off his back. Guy’s tougher than he looks.
And if the winds are blowing this way in New York, God-only-knows what November 8th will look like nationally.
The Zeldin story has been a major part of that momentum.
So irrespective of November 8 — he’s had major impact. Get used to his name.
(And in case you’re wondering: this is Gunny Sergeant Hartman. Truly, a voice from a different age).
Thoughts on the Oz-Fetterman race, through the public safety prism: This is Philadelphia, one of the nation’s major cities:
I think I got a contact high watching that.
We’ve written previously about the depradations of Philly DA Larry Krasner. But clearly, he’s not the only problem down there. This is genuinely sad. It’s degradation.
Obviously, something has to change.
So who best to help from the Governor’s mansion?
On one hand we have a cardiothoracic surgeon who’s succeeded at pretty much everything he’s done in life. On the other is an impaired socialist who got an allowance from his parents into his 40’s, and who was mayor of a small town that lost roughly 40% of its population over his tenure (and look at the state of the place).
The saddest thing: As anyone familiar with a stroke victim knows, immediate treatment and ongoing rehab is crucial to recovery. Ignore that, and you may never fully recover. You can’t get that opportunity back.
And the intense schedule of a Senate campaign… can’t be helping.
The Dems should’ve been honest with us — and themselves — and swapped in Conor Lamb.
And Fetterman shouldn’t be taking questions from a debate moderator. He should be taking them from his rehab nurse.
This is unfitting of our democracy, and, potentially, tragic.
Avoidable Disaster Department: We turn to a calamitous development just off NYC’s flank, in Suffolk County, Long Island (pop. 1.5 million).
Now, your narrator has some legal and operational experience with ransomware. It is baaaaad news. It destroys companies and lives. It’s also Russia’s premier export these days, along with oil and cannon fodder.
As of about six weeks ago, a BlackCat ransomware group apparently took hold of the Suffolk County, NY municipal computers. This is one of the first times a COUNTY has been so hacked.
At this time, the systems appear to still be compromised. A work-around 911 system is apparently operational (NYPD assisted with the 911 system initially), but web-based applications at Suffolk PD and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office appear to still be down (the county is being very tight-lipped).
Also compromised: the County Clerk’s office — which means real estate transactions are likely either lost or stalled.
Now, another (relatively recent) ransomware trend is that the hackers demand payment for not releasing the ID information they steal. Don’t want to pay? The data goes straight to identity theives on the Dark Web.
So here’s the drama.
In Suffolk, millions of records have apparently been compromised and may already have been leaked. If confirmed, Suffolk County is looking at massive lawsuit liability for inadequate cyber security.
Additionally, the County apparently did not have cyber insurance… or backups (!).
And: They had apparently been warned it was coming!
My word.
Suffolk held a committee hearing to ascertain next steps… which got pretty ugly. Apparently, the committee chair laced into the Suffolk’s Information Technology Commissioner. (Let’s just say the Commissioner’s performance at the hearing smacked of… distraction).
Everybody is scrambling, and apparently, some panic behind the scenes is setting in. The Ops Desk is hearing on background that many officials are ready to throw in the towel and pay (the demand is in the millions). But County Executive Steve Bellone does not want to acquiesce to extortion.
So as of now… a stalemate.
Billions of dollars, political careers, property ownership, tax records… all are at stake.
I see no way this ends well.
For NYC, the truest metric (with Goldman Sachs leading the way…):
More Finance Jobs Leave Wall Street, Lured Elsewhere by Tax Breaks and Lower Costs
New York City’s share of U.S. securities industry jobs is less than one in five
The finance industry has historically been the engine that pulls NYC out of doldrums. Without that, the only truly unique thing we have is… the lifestyle.
Uh-oh.
Well, this surely looks on the level: Zeldin Campaign Investigated Over Charge of Coordinating With Super PACs.
Nice try, New York Times.
Our savior as arrived! All we can say is: We hope the shadow-banning of The Ops Desk (oh yes, it’s a thing) stops now….
So: Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/TheOpsDesk
Now if only Facebook would knock it off….
And finally… every now and then you run into something that reminds you of how much America is worth protecting. As a law school instructor once told me, “Listen, the most important thing we’ve got here is the 1st Amendment. There’s a reason they put it first.” (Then he asked me why my paper was late).
I ran across this today in Times Square. In Iran, people are literally dying for doing what these women are doing at our nation’s busiest intersection:
More power to them.
Meantime… stay safe. (And we’ll see you tomorrow with another Weekend Buff).