February 25, 2005

Whatever It Is, We're Against It

John Podhoretz has an entertaining, and sadly accurate, column on New York Democratic mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner's propensity to oppose all things, good or bad, that Mayor Bloomberg favors.

Here's a taste:

They're Marxists, you see. No, I'm not red-baiting, because I'm not talking about Karl Marx. I'm talking about Groucho Marx, who once sang a song called "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It."

"I don't know what they have to say," Groucho warbled. "It makes no difference anyway . . . No matter what it is or who commenced it, I'm against it."

A Far West Side stadium?

Against it.

A Wal-Mart in Queens?

Against it.

A BJ's Club in Brooklyn?

Against it.

An Ikea in Red Hook?

Against it.

The mayor's budget?

Against it.

The mayor's education plan?

Against it.

Even the silly Central Park "Gates"? Yep. Listen to Democratic consultant Howard Wolfson, the James Carville of New York City, who told The New York Sun last week that the Gates project might be a political liability for Mayor Bloomberg: "I don't hear [Mayor Bloomberg] talking about making housing affordable, or improving our schools. I hear the mayor talking about three things: the Olympics, the stadium, and 'The Gates.' If those are his priorities, I guarantee you they're not the priorities of average New Yorkers."

I've wondered about the opposition to Wal-Mart, too, and what it tells us about elites who claim to speak for "the people." Surely those opposed to Wal-Mart in the Bronx, of all places, are the same as those who fought to keep Vermont pristine and Wal-Mart free:

Right now there's a whole lot of celebrating going on in the Democratic mayoral camps because two major discount chains announced they weren't going to try to build stores in those boroughs. Yes, what a triumph it is that Queens and The Bronx will be Wal-Mart and BJ's Club-free.

So what if there happens to be a Wal-Mart a few minutes from Queens in Valley Stream, where borough residents can happily shop for inexpensive quality goods? So what if there are BJ's in Brooklyn and Queens? After all, when you live in a retail paradise like The Bronx, why would you have need of such things?

Paradise, indeed.

— Winfield Myers

| Feb. 25, 2005 | 7:20 AM