“Who is to decide which is the grimmer sight: withered hearts, or empty skulls?”
― Honoré de Balzac

 

Do you really give a shit about your neighbor?

Schadenfreude is not really a new concept? How about racism? Liberalism? Democracy?

As a friend of mine said recently, Conservatives have always hated the idea of equality or Fair play. It’s always been, take what you can get, fuck the Blacks and screw the immigrants — even when that meant italians and the Irish arriving by the boatload. This is not a kind or tolerant society.

Take the Hamptons, for instance — that lily-white bastion of New York escapees who located a Shangri-La near the beach where they could set up shop and rip off their own heritage. Most of the residents in the Town of Southampton, for example, came from families in Queens, Brooklyn the Bronx and Staten Island –with a few escapees from Manhattan who saw how Grand Theft works in practice, for example. Of course, now that generational progress has occurred, their children, card-carrying members of the Suffolk County Civil Service long-con stand on principle, not just Bridgehampton potato farmer families.

So, it was never a question of having to wait for the current environment of a police state mentality to surface. It was always there. Now, however, the gloves have come off all across America. Apparently we hate and distrust everyone and have been trying to hide our dislike of Blacks, Gays, Latinos, Democrats, Women, Transgenders and all Immigrants — except for Russians and others with lots of cash. Except, we wear masks now so that the real reason for past pretense of humanity need not be pretended any longer. We don’t, apparently really like anyone. It’s all always been about optics. Not just Conservatives, but Democrats, Liberals, Magas, and Whites. All bullshit, all the time.

Take the Supervisor of the Town of Southampton, Maria Moore, for instance, who recently sued The Shinnecock Indian Nation for Freedom of Speech — over signage.

I could have warned the Indians about that, who are mostly Black, since Africans took over the tribe when the redskins died out. After all it was the Town of Southampton that pursued me for writing about corruption and racism. Why should they get a pass? If it were up to the Republican Party, the party of Trump, Code Enforcement, the Southampton Secret Police, would just arrest them. Optics, baby! It’s still somewhat the name of the game — standing in for morality in this Best of all possible worlds!. Patrick Heaney of course, the former Supervisor of Southampton, and his Code Enforcement Police were in operation long before ICE became a popular form of Secret Police. They pushed the criminal D.A Thomas Spota and his prosecutor Stavrides to pursue what is known as Civil Death against me for writing about the corrupt Supervisor and criminal Town Attorneys operating out of that office — sitting atop more than $2 Billion dollars in purloined transfer tax money, known euphemistically as The Preservation Fund. It’s money taken from New Yorkers buying houses in the Fabulous Hamptons where you can get arrested for writing avout criminal politicians. Moore left Westhampton Beach after running out of development deals to enrich some of her local friends on the Zoning Board, Building Department, Village Trustees, Village Attorney and real estate investors. In Westhampton Beach Village, the new Most Corrupt Village in the Hamptons. A place where you pay to get any deal.

Screw the little people! Who needs affordable housing anyway?

But it’s not just the Hamptons that has foisted this little-hidden immorality. SoHo suffers from another perverse sort of predilection. Elected politicians serve their personal fiefdoms downtown, like Assemblymember Deborah Glick and Brian Kavanagh and Community Board #2 which has all but ignored SoHo — except for pandering to the bike fascists, Transportation Alternatives, the SoHo BID and the Hudson Square BID people — and ignore Seniors and the Disabled and perpetually line their pockets at the expense of residents. CB2 is so disinterested in the lives of non-members that I described a sex-trafficking operation run by my landlord to the Board Chairman and was laughed at.

Numerous accidents have occurred here downtown as well, hurting or killing residents. Criminal behavior by influential real estate interests are ignored by politicians and CB2. But nothing is done. Even Alvin Bragg’s press sidekick Fife and his A.D.A’s don’t give a shit about SoHo.

It is the morality of cash. In the Hamptons, the politicians are so obvious its not even necessary to point the finger. In fact, when Heaney was Supervisor they found cash in an envelope on the front seat of his car and they did nothing. In Westhampton Beach the Village Attorney Anthony Pasca has lied in legal proceedings to win cases for Village real estate interests and his law firm. In SoHo, its done by approved deals, secret, rushed votes, or intimidation as was the case when Bob Rinaolo threatened Community Board members to vote for his Nursing Home deal. Downtown we get Citibike racks instead of space for Seniors and the Disabled to safely cross the street or hail a taxi using a cane courtesy of the Community Board’s speedy unannounced votes and the Hudson Square BID, assisted by Trinity Real Estate. And, donations to campaigns are commonplace. Jobs are offered. Cash is handed out on occasion. Or, with more subtle politicians, such as Roy Cohn, Trump’s former mentor, it’s The Favor Bank.

The current morality in America is basically, Fuck You! We have money and power and you don’t. And we don’t care about you. We don’t care about optics anymore just like our president. We run the world and we we don’t care about anyone.

Including each other!