Protesters tried valiantly to save St. Vincent’s
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

NEW YORK — April 30, 2010. After serving New Yorkers for 160 years, the venerable St. Vincent’s Hospital closed its doors today.

Recently, as St. Vincent’s financial crisis worsened, residents of the West Village struggled to find a way to save their hospital: they marched and lobbied and vigiled. When it became clear that the hospital would be closed, community members worked to keep an emergency room in their neighborhood. Ultimately this effort also failed. During this period Mike Bloomberg also made news, offering his unique take on the health care crisis. Bloomberg, an advocate for working people everywhere, urged New Yorkers to use less salt. Thanks a billion Mr. Mayor.

Mike worries publicwise about sodium but mums the word
when it comes to keeping an E.R. in the West Village

Self Portrait
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

I’ve always identified with the subterranean souls, the underdogs, the ones that needed a helping hand and got kicked in the teeth for it. And so, as a young firebrand, I went into health care, working with the mentally ill.

***

25 years ago I was the young supervisor of a locked psychiatric unit. It wasn’t inpatient – it was locked because the patients didn’t respond well to medication and couldn’t function without a lot of staff assistance. Like all health care workers who deal with the disenfranchised, I learned to love these folks who wanted only two things: to live on their own and to have a job. Nothing grandiose about these desires. But of course, many of my patients would never realize their dreams. What most people take for granted. So, many of them had a short term goal — to be accepted as human. Sadly, this dream also proved elusive.

One man, very tall, very ill — a Jewish man we’ll call Daniel — lived on my unit. For the most part, his symptoms didn’t respond to medication. But he was harmless, a gentle giant. I liked Daniel although I didn’t know him well. I saw him everyday and he impressed me. Despite his suffering — he heard voices that berated him — he found joy in simple things.

One day a small man, very gray and frail looking, came to the unit. It was a stark contrast, father and son. The large Daniel and the small dad. They sat together sharing some candies and chuckling occasionally over a small joke. It’s an indelible image for me.

It was a warm day, the day Daniel’s father came. And so, midway through the visit he removed his sport coat and he rolled up his sleeves. I walked by the table where father and son were conversing and as I passed I noticed the numbers. I had never seen Holocaust numbers tattooed on an arm before and it was startling. Particularly as I am German American. I still grit my teeth whenever I think of it.

After the visit I could only marvel at the father’s ability to laugh. Surviving the Holocaust only to see his son stricken with schizophrenia. I have no words to describe the combination of emotions this image elicits — 25 years later.

***

Another mentally ill man I knew responded better to his medication than most of the patients who lived on my unit.

Joseph eventually graduated from a halfway house and lived in an apartment with other patients in recovery. Joseph lived simply with his one “possession” – a dog. The dog was a friendly little beast named Herman. A neighborhood girl, a grade-school-age youngster, often smiled at the dog when Herman’s owner took him for a walk. One day the girl asked if she could pet the dog. Joseph was anxious about interacting with people he didn’t know but he said OK. Later that night, the girl’s angry father showed up at Joseph’s home — armed with a baseball bat and accompanied by some like-minded individuals. They beat Joseph so severely that they fractured his skull. Several surgeries and a steel plate later the fracture was all but mended. And so, leaving Herman behind, Joseph got on a train and headed upstate. Somewhere north of the city he got off the train and walked into the woods. He sat down and waited to die from exposure. He was too frightened to continue living. The police called to let us know that he had been found dead. I don’t know whatever happened to Herman.

***

When I hear people talk about how they don’t want the mentally ill to live in their neighborhoods I think to myself that I have never met a mentally ill person who would use a baseball bat to crush another person’s skull.

If I could find a way to convey this to the intolerant, to speak out for the least among us, I would do so. I would be shouted down, perhaps threatened. But the truth would out.

Debi Rose, candidate for the New York City Council, District 49
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — If you have never seen a real people-powered, grassroots campaign — meet Debi Rose.

If you have an admiration for salt of the earth, working people, fighting the good fight, meet Debi Rose and her supporters: they are NAACP members, UAW members, CSEA, SEIU, Working Families Party, NARAL members, NOW members, Planned Parenthood members, progressive and independent Democrats and — if you live in District 49 — your neighbors. There is something very unique and very special about the campaign office when it is filled with Rose’s volunteers. Something very genuine, very hopeful.

The Rose campaign office the weekend before election day: a busy place
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

If you have ever rooted for the underdog, stood up to the oppressor, held your breath during a Hail Mary, whispered a prayer for a miracle, knocked on wood, gritted your teeth at injustice, refused to vote for the lesser of two evils, despised the Klan, smiled at the chutzpah of Rosa Parks, mourned and admired Karen Silkwood, raised your fist in solidarity with Norma Rae and her real life counterparts in the labor movement — meet Debi Rose.

Debi Rose is an unlikely hero. She is not part of the political machine. She is a progressive with thirty years experience as a community organizer. She is an African-American woman who has the courage and commitment to aspire to be — and is on the brink of becoming — the first person of color ever elected to any public office on Staten Island. She is already the first African-American to ever be nominated for elective office by Staten Island’s Democratic Party.

If you have been pleasantly surprised by Congressman Alan Grayson — and although NLN supported Alan early on we have been pleasantly surprised — meet Debi Rose. She is cut from the same cloth as Grayson. If you value integrity and honesty — we have a hunch you’ll like Debi.

Debi Rose shares a laugh with her hard working volunteers
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

If you respect a Democrat who is both a progressive — committed to change in deed as well as in word — and a team player, if you want a candidate who doesn’t claim to be for women’s rights while voting against women, a candidate endorsed by Planned Parenthood, NARAL and NOW — meet Debi Rose.

If you are dismayed that Ken Mitchell — a Democrat who courted Progressives — is now a Conservative, a Conservative who pledged not to campaign against the Democratic Party nominee, a Conservative who is actively campaigning against the Democratic Party nominee — vote for Debi Rose. If you are not sure whether Mitchell is a Democrat, or a Conservative, or simply part of the problem — help him clarify his position, vote for Debi Rose.

If you believe that the sort of political machinations Ken Mitchell is engaging in are unacceptable to any New Yorker who demands honesty and integrity from their elected officials — vote your conscience. If you are appalled that Mitchell voted against a City Council resolution that sought to protect women visiting health care clinics from harassment — claiming that the resolution was “vague and unenforceable” — send Mitchell a clear, enforceable, message. Vote for Debi Rose.

Grace under pressure: fighting the machine, serving her community — Debi Rose
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

If you recognize last minute frivolous lawsuits for what they are — political smear campaigns — stand up to bullies who use spurious tactics. Stand up to bullies who file suit a week before an election in an obvious attempt to damage a candidate’s reputation. The lawsuit in question, brought by attorney Randy Mastro — formerly Rudolph Guiliani’s Deputy Mayor for Operations — alleges that the Working Families Party, working on behalf of the Rose campaign, underpaid Data and Field Services (DFS) for work it did during the recent Democratic primary. The lawsuit does not affect ballot status and Congressman Mike McMahon, Ken Mitchell’s former boss, called the lawsuit “politically motivated.” McMahon underscored his position when he endorsed Debi Rose.

And McMahon is not alone.

Debi Rose has been endorsed by the UAW, CSEA Local 1000, SEIU1199, DC37, DC 1707, The Central Labor Council, the Motel and Hotel Trades Council, the UFT, the Freelancers Union, PSC/CUNY, the Tenant’s PAC, NARAL, NOW New York, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the League of Humane Voters, Staten Island Democratic Association, the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, the Detectives Endowment Association, Senator Charles Schumer, Congressman Mike McMahon, State Senator Diane Savino, and Assembly members Matthew Titone, Mike Cusick and Janele Hyer-Spencer.

Three days after the Advance’s political gossip columnist Tom Wrobleski wrote a piece about the lawsuit, the Staten Island Advance Editorial Board had this to say:

“We gave Mr. Mitchell a slight edge in endorsing him in February because we thought he had in-the-trenches Council experience. His expertise in government is clear. However, it’s not matched by accomplishments. And, after he was defeated in the primary, he seemed to lose enthusiasm, even though he is still the candidate of the Conservative Party. He said just last month that he did not plan to actively campaign for the seat.

Some question his sincerity on this count. In any case, we prize Ms. Rose’s steadfast determination in seeking this seat and we believe that trait will serve her constituents well. North Shore voters will not only be making history but, we think, also making a more hopeful future by electing Ms. Rose.”

At NLN we are proud to stand with Debi Rose in the streets — and in the voting booth.

Join us.

And while you’re voting — cast a vote for term limits, respect for the rule of law and for democracy. Send a clear, enforceable, message to Mike Bloomberg as well as Ken Mitchell.

Reporting from inside the Rose campaign — a campaign filled with hope and heart — this is Tom Good for Next Left Notes.

View Photos/Videos From The Event…

NLN Editor Thomas Good: “How green is Toyota?”
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

NEW YORK — Do you own a Toyota? Click Here: http://pol.moveon.org/toyota/

(Image: www.idollarny.org)

Stella D’oro is no more.

The brand will live on, but bereft of its soul.

Stella D’oro is a part of the Bronx. It was born there in 1932. And on Thursday, October 8, at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, it was taken from us.

The Stella factory is being abandoned by its former owners — Brynwood Partners will be looting the factory tomorrow, stealing the equipment paid for with the tax dollars of ordinary New Yorkers and delivering it to the new owners. The new owners will take the logo, the brand, and the machinery it bought from Brynwood for thirty pieces of silver — but it will leave behind 136 workers. It will steal their jobs and crush their hopes. For to Lance, Inc. and their silent partners at Goldman Sachs, Stella D’oro is but one more acquisition, one more betrayal, one more brand. A brand that will doubtless sink to the same subterranean quality of Lance’s junk food offerings.

In a country where Dr. Pepper is the only physician many can afford, junk food is cheap and fills the empty spaces. It is not nutritious, it is not healthy, it is not union-made, and it kills the body as well as the spirit. Lance, Goldman Sachs and Brynwood are an unholy alliance that represents much that is wrong with our country. They are soulless, they are profitable, they are spiritual death. In a country where a Nobel Peace Prize winning president is waging two wars and the insurance rackets rig health care to ensure that the U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate of any advanced nation — who could expect anything else?

In a city where a billionaire mayor taxes working people into poverty while increasing his net worth by a factor of four, in a city where a party-of-the-month mayor spends millions on re-electing himself after using legislative fiat to overturn two public referenda — the homeless huddle on barren streets. And the mayor, who does not act to help the homeless, refuses to act to help the workers at Stella who have joined the lines of unemployed.

In a city where a “green” mayor orders his police to brutalize critical mass cyclists, in a city where a “green” mayor flies helicopters into rock shows to stand next to a rock star he has rented for the evening, in this city, we have a mayor promised to keep jobs in New York. And he has not. He has done nothing to save Stella D’oro.

As the Star of Gold that once shone over the Bronx flickers and fades, some New Yorkers are still able to see that the mayor, whose green is counted in billions, has intervened but once in the Stella story — on the side of the Connecticut based private equity firm that sold out Stella to the North Carolina based union busting junk food giant that is funded by the Wall Street investment bank that specializes in insider trading and conflict of interest.

Bloomberg intervened but once in the Stella story — at the request of Brynwood. When the workers asked, the mayor said nothing and did nothing.

Stella D’oro is no more.

Where’s Bloomberg? He’s on Wall Street. He never left. And he’s spending some of his money, some of our money, selling himself on television as the savior of the middle class – trying to seduce, if it were possible, even the electorate. And sadly, it is possible. For Bloomberg may not love New York — but he has purchased it. What would it have cost him to save one cookie factory? More that he has in his bank accounts, more than he has in his heart — Bloomberg is an empire unto himself.

***

Stella workers and supporters outside City Hall
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

A union member holds a sign at McMahon’s town hall meeting
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — October 4, 2009. A carefully scripted town hall meeting hosted by Rep. Michael McMahon was full of sound and fury but very little was actually said — union members were scolded for holding political signs and the Tea Party shouted down anyone they disagreed with.

UNION WORKERS VERSUS THE “TEA PARTY” — MODERN DAY TORIES?

When I arrived at the Petrides School, P.S. 80, a number of union members from the Transit Workers Union and DC 37 — including Local 20 which represents health care workers — were milling around and chatting. But inside the auditorium, it was apparent that the ultra conservative Tea Party had stacked the meeting. Once capacity was reached — 800 occupants — over two hundred Staten Islanders were turned away.

In the auditorium a number of union members sat stage left, near the footlights. I joined them, introducing myself as a member of UAW Local 1981. Before the meeting began, wearing a fauz bandage on my head, I held up my sign. It read “Private Health Insurance Is DEATH By Denial — We Need Single Payer Now!” on one side and “Crime Scene Do Not Cross — Private Health Insurance Is Murder” on the other. Immediately the volatile Tea Party contingent began shouting and booing. Single payer advocates stood and clapped. Congressman McMahon ran down from the stage to scold me, “You’re not helping! I said no signs!” The Congressman’s expression was one of panic. I shrugged and sat down but the Congressman wasn’t finished trying to curtail any unscripted acts.

“Private Health Insurance Is Death By Denial”
(Video Still: NY1)

At one point McMahon threatened union workers holding signs: “I have a big decision to make and those who hold up signs to try to incite the crowd, when I have asked you to put them down, that will weigh in my decision.”

The statement that the behavior of a few individuals holding signs — behavior that paled by comparison to that of the Tea Party individuals — would influence the Congressman’s decision had a curiously paternalistic ring. It struck this observer as odd that McMahon’s decision regarding his position on health care reform might rest in part on punishing the unions for holding signs at a public meeting.

CHOREOGRAPHY VERSUS DEMOCRACY

Despite flanking himself with “health care experts”, a powerpoint presentation on health care reform that appeared designed to cure insomnia, and prohibiting signs and props, McMahon appeared flustered at times as he struggled to maintain control of the meeting. In the end, however, he prevailed and choreography triumphed over democracy.

His presentation cut short by a testy crowd demanding to know how he was going to vote, McMahon turned the microphones over to the restless audience.

One after another, Tea Party members spoke – often ignoring the two minute time limit. They accused Obama of being a “progressive liberal” who is simultaneously planning to provide health insurance to “illegal immigrants” while destroying health care altogether. Those advocates of single payer and other health care reform proposals who did speak were booed and shouted down. One man, a Bay Ridge resident named Drew, pointed out that none of the naysayers in the room had voted for McMahon — and would never vote for him. The Tea Party clapped and cheered this statement.

SHOUTING DOWN CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

McMahon smiled and joked his way through what was a long, occasionally heated, recitation of various fears that the government will “take over” health care and destroy “the best health care system in the world.” The well publicized failings of the system were raised by some speakers but their comments were interrupted by the very vocal Tea Party majority. NAACP President Ed Josey was shouted down as was CUNY professor and civil rights activist Georgina Ohene.

WHO WON?

If the intention of the Tea Party was to prevent dialogue their performance could be regarded as a victory of sorts but McMahon continues to decline to take a clear position on the issue of supporting H.R. 3200, the Obama administration’s health care reform package.

MEDICARE FOR ALL

As McMahon waffles, Congressman Anthony Weiner is talking up his amendment to H.R. 3200 that would transform the bill into a single payer system — essentially John Conyer’s H.R. 676.

View Photos From The Event…

Politicians experiencing erections lasting longer than two terms…
should seek immediate help.
(Image: Thomas Good / NLN)

What do Robert Mugabe, Hillary Clinton and Vito Fossella have in common?
They should all step down.

Mugabe lost the election, Clinton lost the nomination and Fossella has lost it, period.

After years of mis-representing his constituency and his country, Vito Fossella is coming apart at the seams.

Enough already.