Taylor’s Takes: “We’re back, Italians,” and other thoughts
I’ll admit it. I’m happy to see that the Italian Mob is alive and well in NYC.
I truly couldn’t decide what I’d like to write about this week, so I figured I’d jot down some quick thoughts on some of the hot issues of the week.
The Shutdown
We’re now in the second-longest government shutdown in American history. Unofficially, it’s the first-dumbest shutdown in American history. The Democrats have masterfully painted themselves into the furthest of corners with this one. They threw a temper tantrum over Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill cutting out fraud, waste, and corruption from Medicaid, and Obama-era subsidies they slapped an expiration date on. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.
The Dems have no bargaining chips. If they were sitting in the Oval Office with Trump and VP Vance, they would be told in no uncertain terms that they don’t have the cards. They’d get the Zelenskyy treatment and would have to say “thank you” to President Trump for the tongue-lashing of a lifetime.
Millions of Americans are about to see certain benefits run dry. While many will have to learn to reintegrate into the American job force as they are able-bodied enough to do so, there are those who legitimately receive benefits. My heart goes out to them as they have to swallow their pride and rely on human kindness in order to get by as the shutdown continues. Thank a Democrat on you way to the food pantry.
Republicans are unified and have voted a dozen times to reopen the government with no changes to the current budget. The Democrats are the holdouts. Simple as that.
Mamdani gets slammed
The charismatic Muslim extremist candidate for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, had his ass handed to him on a silver platter during his final debate with Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa.
Cuomo needed only 72 seconds to lay out how inexperienced and inept Mamdani is to step into NYC’s corner office. Mamdani, as Cuomo pointed out, has no executive experience, has never had a real job, and failed to show up most of the time for his position as an assemblyman.
It was a masterful takedown, but it may also be a case of too little too late.
I sincerely wish this race had been properly whittled down to two candidates. It had been, actually. Cuomo lost the primary to Mamdani, but elected to run as an Independent to continue his campaign. Many paint Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa as the spoiler. Yes, he polls lower than Cuomo, but he won his primary and is the mirror opposite of what Mamdani stands for. There are no blurred lines as there are between Cuomo and Mamdani.
My preference would be for Cuomo to drop out, as I don’t believe Sliwa should be forced to make the standard Republican sacrifice to save democracy on a small scale by withdrawing. But that will never happen.
Should Cuomo be able to defeat Mamdani, I’d still call it a win right after I call it a miracle. But it would be a victory that was too close for comfort all along.
Inexcusable Ink
The first-announced Democrat candidate for the Maine U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Susan Collins has had a rough go of it these past few weeks.
After the racist and pro-communist comments he had posted to Reddit years ago were discovered, Platner’s team tried to get ahead of another scandal before anyone caught wind of it.
The oyster farmer from Maine took to the Pod Save America podcast, showing a video of himself drunkenly dancing in his boxer briefs to a Miley Cyrus song at his brother’s wedding. The video revealed a Nazi-affiliated tattoo inked into his chest.
Platner confessed he had had the tattoo since 2007 and claimed he wasn’t aware of its meaning until recently. Another result of an ill-spent evening in the bottle.
Until these past few days, I’ve viewed these controversies as dumb decisions by a man who was never qualified to run for office. And while they are still that, I can’t help but think that these shadows of his past were too conveniently brought up. How did CNN discover Platner’s old Reddit handle when he never identified himself?
Platner entered the race in August, yet we’re only hearing his name for the first time in mid-October. Certainly, a controversy with nationwide appeal would elevate his campaign. And that’s just what happened.
Interesting.
The NBA/Mafia Scandal
I’ll admit it. I’m happy to see that the Italian Mob is alive and well in NYC. Everything I had seen or heard throughout the last few years told me the Mafia in New York was all but dead. But this week’s news of sports betting and rigged poker game scandals proved otherwise.
There’s always some dork on X making comments on Sopranos or Goodfellas posts complaining about the romanticization of the mob and how they’re dangerous killers in reality, not to be envied or admired.
True.
But largely and historically, the Mob doesn’t commit random violence. If you run afoul of a gangster, that’s your problem. People walk around in fear of roving illegal alien scooter gangs, not connected wise guys.
Give me the Mafia any day over MS-13 or Tren de Aragua. At least I know the homegrown organization loves their country and doesn’t mess with civilians.
