The Writer's Life 12/4 - Good, Bad, Ugly

RIP Herman Badillo, 85, long-time NYC public servant. He came to America as an orphan at age 11, not speaking a word of English. He was the first Puerto Rican elected borough president (The Bronx, 1965) and the first elected to Congress (1970). He ran for Mayor six times, the first five as a Democrat and the last as a Republican. He helped get Rudy Giuliani elected, leading to the city's renaissance. How a liberal Latino Democrat became a Rudy Republican is a story itself. For Badillo, it was largely a matter of standards. He recognized that achievement was the key to rising in society and that too many government programs were holding back people like himself, as they were untethered to either learning or results. The one-time champion of bilingual education came to see it as a disaster and ultimately embraced education reform. He once told a Manhattan Institute gathering he considered himself lucky to have attended City College when it had standards. Years later he helped end open admissions and return the system to the standards that once again made a CUNY degree relevant. Today students, who might not even know his name, have a brighter future because he went against liberal orthodoxy. Well done, sir. (Edited by yours truly from an article in the NY Post.)

And from the positive to the negative: The pot and kettle metaphor is familiar to all. City Councilman Charles Barron is criticizing Al Sharpton for being too cozy with Mayor Bill deBlasio and supporting police commissioner Bill Bratton. He said Sharpton was exploiting his reputation as an anti-cop activist for personal publicity and “Families call me up all the time. Families need help. They don’t want all this politics. They don’t want people pimping them for attention.” He's not alone in his criticism. Nicholas Heyward Sr. of Parents Against Police Brutality said: “It is a very bad thing for him to be that close to the mayor. Sharpton is doing nothing for the black community. He’s been putting on a show for a long time. He is right now where he wants to get: rubbing elbows with the rich and famous." I despise both Barron and Sharpton. Barron, at least, does not seem to be a phony. Sharpton seems the epitome of one.

My thanks to Kinesha, who bought four books, Janet, who bought two, and the Russian woman who purchased a thriller in her own language.

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/