[Filmmaker Neil] Barsky... doesn’t varnish Koch’s shift rightward in 1978 against mayoral opponents like Mario Cuomo. But he does make you sympathize with Koch’s 1978 beard-and-pony show, in which he held hands with Bess Myerson, the first Jewish Miss America, and broadly hinted at a marriage announcement after the election. Flyers reading “Vote for Cuomo, not the homo” had been plastered all over the place...
Barsky poses the right questions to Koch but doesn’t bother asking them a second, third, or fourth time. He knows there are places the man won’t — or can’t — go. Bess Myerson was Koch’s good friend, and there was never anything more! Whether he’s gay or not is no one’s damn business! It would have been easier to cave in to pressure from the African-American community — maybe he should have — but he stuck to his principles! Blah blah blah....
February 1, 2013
"Vote for Cuomo, not the homo."
A campaign slogan from 1978. Noted in the new documentary "Koch," which opens today, the day Ed Koch died.
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44 comments:
I think the link is broken.
And Andy's the big one on same sex marriage. If he can buy the votes.
Funny that.
PS If he was friends (or something) with Bess Myerson, it just shows the changing demographics (and attitudes) in Gotham.
It looks as if NYC's next mayor will be a lesbian.
Peter
And that fine work of an open-minded Democrat came from Andrew Cuomo.
I don't think Koch was gay. My hypothesis is that is was a wise man.
And that fine work of an open-minded Democrat came from Andrew Cuomo.
Well not Andy, his pop Mario, who was a disaster of a gov in the 80s and early 90s in my state.
Ed Koch was gay?
You mean...I watched him and listened to him all these years and my eyeballs never melted from the gayness, and I never lost a moment of time contemplating his sexuality, I just liked the things he said that made sense to me and disregarded the things that didn't (like his support for the magic negro, even though he disagreed with pretty much everything the magic negro stood for)?
Holy crap.
Funny. I'd have assumed as a straight, libertarian/conservative male my skin would've crawled and I'd have been forced to run away screaming, my ears clamped tightly around my ears.
At least, according to Althouse and the other usual suspects.
And Andy Cuomo is a horrid little person.
Nothing against actual little people. Mostly little people are quite amazing. The actress that was on Boston Legal was quite attractive.
But not Andy. Oh no.
Would the commenters here opining as to the lack of character shown by the good (but minor) deomcrat clan of Cuomo be an example of how stupid republicans are about gay this and gay that?
I'm just trying to keep my scorecard straight in case there's a tie in the 9th inning and we need someone to kick field goal. Or something.
I never knew Koch was gay. But I still loved him. Does this mean that I have evolved?
"It looks as if NYC's next mayor will be a lesbian."
Not gonna happen. Justin Bieber is Canadian.
Isn't Andy Cuomo the same guy now trying to take away people's guns in New York?
Seriously, what do his supporters see in him?
RIP, Ed Koch. You seemed like a decent man.
Ed Koch... Herb Kohl...
If Manti Te'o were smart, he would just announce that he was running for office as a Democrat. No need to mess with stories about fake girlfriends. The press would leave him alone.
traditionalguy said...
I never knew Koch was gay. But I still loved him. Does this mean that I have evolved?
No. When you consider gayness a qualification you'll have evolved.
were = was
(My ability to write English was temporarily overwhelmed by my dill and onion refrigerator pickles.)
If Google is to be trusted, this is a working link.
Mario Cuomo. Not Andy.
Stop trying to drag me out of the 80s and into the 10s.
Now I can't get the jingle, "Vote for Cuomo, not the homo" out of my head. Goddamn Dems and their cleverness.
Anyone remember Mario's radio show?
No.
From the article at the link:
It wasn’t Koch’s fault that New York was broke, that incoming president Ronald Reagan slashed aid to the poor and flooded the streets with the homeless mentally ill, that a mysterious illness — a “gay plague” — appeared seemingly from nowhere and quickly killed thousands upon thousands of New Yorkers, that a new, smokable form of cocaine had devastatingly addictive properties that would ravage entire communities.
I love Edelstein's revisionist history.
NYC was broke because of scandalous management by liberal machine politics. Reagan may have slashed aid to the poor, but the crazies were on the street thanks more to the ACLU than to RR.
And of course AIDS & crack were just natural disasters, like Sandy. No human agency was involved. None at all.
This is much how the Japanese discuss Hiroshima. It "happened".
@Scott,
I don't know what the grammatical term is, but "if he were smart ..." is quite correct English.
Now, I have real problems with singular and plural verbs because I grew up speaking Norwegian, which does not differentiate based on numbers.
To this day the jury's out on whether Vote Cuomo Not The Homo was a Cuomo or Koch ploy. After all, Koch's campaign understood that in Manhattan at least the blowback against an anti-homosexual slogan would probably be greater than the approval.
Andrew Cuomo is still doing penance for that outrageous attack. In fairness, he was very young at the time and can perhaps be forgiven for such a vicious slander. His persistent public denial of responsibility is understandable, but I imagine he privately knows it was wrong.
Still, more damning is his father's trust in him. Mario knew his young son would resort to something this low, or at least he should have expected it. It's on him.
The term is "subjunctive."
@Hagar: I think people who learn English as a second language have a better grasp of the mechanics of English than do those of use who learned it natively. I just write whatever sounds good.
(It was my first shot at refrigerator pickles. Julienne a large onion. Sprinkle some salt on the onions and let them sit for a half hour. Sprinkle on some sugar and some dried dill; toss. Pour in red wine vinegar. Let it macerate for at least a few hours before serving. The flavor gets better over subsequent days.)
If you think Andrew Cuomo is sorry he did that you have another thing coming.
He would do anything to win.
He is one of the worst most immoral politicans in America. And that is saying something.
His new abortion law is an abomination.
I just write whatever sounds good.
That should be, "whatever sounds well," dear.
Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiß nichts von seiner eigenen.
Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should.
I'd rather fight than switch.
If you think Andrew Cuomo is sorry he did that you have another thing coming.
He would do anything to win.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
I remember how the Albany (NY) NPR station I used to listen to just about worshipped Mario Cuomo during the 80s. I swear, if Barack Obama ever heard the way WAMC used to cover governor Cuomo père, he'd be envious.
Koch did his best trying to run New York, which was a cess-pool back then. He didn't cave to the race hustlers.
The Cuomo they are referring to is Andrew's dad - MARIO.
What I remember about Koch as Mayor was his visit to Tompkins Square Park where all of the squatters hung out in the daylight (they would live in abandoned buildings that NYC was littered with then) and offered them all jobs. They all claimed they couldn't find jobs and he went there to prove they were bums, not some disadvantaged youths. That's my kind of democrat.
CatherineM,
Andrew was the bigot running his daddy's campaign
CatherineM,
Andrew was the bigot running his daddy's campaign
R.I.P. Mr. Mayor - I thought you done pretty good. ( No grammar police please - I'm from Brooklyn.) And, Andrew Cuomo is pond scum.
Anyone remember Mario's radio show?
Oh, God, yes. I had to switch off the radio whenever it came on, he was so nauseating. So was the general media love affair with him. He is the sole reason I left New York state after I completed my training.
I'd vote for the homo.
mccullough said...
Koch did his best trying to run New York, which was a cess-pool back then. He didn't cave to the race hustlers.
Caving to race hustlers was the good old days. Now the politicians are the race hustlers.
He was a better man than either Cuomo. That is not saying much, but as much as I'll say.
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