Defense of DeBlasio

We’ve been harsh toward Bill DeBlasio.

We expressed disdain for the fact that he changed his name and disavowed his own father. He was actually born Warren Wilhelm Jr., son of an extraordinary man who was a Harvard and Yale grad and hero in WWII.

Our frame of reference, having had great Dads and being proud of our families, didn’t allow us to understand what it might be like to have a father who was “seized by demons.”

Similarly, we got personal when we criticized DeBlasio’s use of his kids as “political props” in his campaign. We couldn’t fathom how anyone would do that. Our every instinct would be to shield our kids from the media. But that’s between DeBlasio and his wife and the kids. Not our concern. And rather than this being some awful thing, like we feared, his kids appear to have thrived in the spotlight.

Lastly, we criticized the Mayor for being so focused on far left politics instead of the fundamentals of running a city. We’re on firmer ground here because it’s a purely political assessment.

That said, once everyone began jumping on DeBlasio for this perceived transgression, our views began to change.

The catalyst was the truly excessive outcry a short while ago when it was revealed that DeBlasio had met with unions and “plotted” a political campaign against the Senate Republicans. Everyone said: “There he goes again. He’s so misguided. He’s going to repeat his mistake from last session and kill his chances to get his agenda passed in the State Legislature.”

In the middle of all this criticism, we said to ourselves: “Wait a minute. Why is this so outrageous? He’s a Democrat and he’s supporting other Democrats. Isn’t that what he’s supposed to do?”

Of course it is. In fact, it’s only in a whacky Cuomo alternate universe that this seems unorthodox.

Moreover, why is it “bad politics?” Didn’t the Republicans just lose Skelos and Libous. Aren’t they paralyzed by the fear of Mike Long and teetering on the brink of extinction? Isn’t a distinct possibility that the Dems, duh, take over soon?

Yeah. Yeah. All of that is right and DeBlasio, simply ahead of the game, will end up looking good and sitting pretty.

In the same vein, it occurred to us that while it was a shitty thing for DeBlasio, as a former top staffer to Hillary, to withhold his support for her, it might not be a bad strategic play.

Why? Well, she’s no lock. And if there’s real competition for the Dem nod, it will, no doubt, be with some far left guy like Bernie Sanders, and in that event,  DeBlasio’s endorsement, as darling of the left, could be a lot more influential. Holding off would enable him to get far more in return for it.

Hmm. Maybe DeBlasio isn’t a lazy lummox after all. In fact, taking a huge step back, it occurs to us that DeBlasio, although he’s 50-something and aging rapidly in office, has a far more youthful orientation than any of his critics.

He’s got an audience. He’s got a demographic. He’s got a message. And yeah, he might yet be onto something.

Mark our words – he might be on to something.

Relevant, arrogant digression: A while back, this dorky little blog of ours might have been the ONLY outlet in the entire galaxy that didn’t totally dismiss Donald Trump. In fact, we took the media to task for what we thought was biased reporting against him. We suggested that, contrary to the running narrative of his being a buffoon, he might actually surprise people.

Now we hate people who make lucky guesses and say: Hah. Told you so? … But, hah, told you so!

We have the same feeling now. It might, it just might be the case that DeBlasio’s positioning, so roundly criticized right now, may look really good in a few months or next year.