NY-11

  One of my childhood homes was on East 17th Street between Avenues O and P in Brooklyn. Manny Cellar was the powerful congressman from that district from 1923, long before I was born, to 1973, long after I had moved away. The district has been redrawn many time since then and it is divided between the current 8th (Hakeem Jeffries), 9th (Yvette Clarke) and 11th (Max Rose) districts. About 2 blocks from my old house, Yvette Clarke's district ends and Max Rose's begins-- the corner of East 15th Street and Avenue P.

If you vote for the lesser of two evils... you're voting for evilI spent a lot of time in Afghanistan-- and without an army. I was there twice. First time was in 1969 and I don't mean to toot my own horn, but you had to be either brave or crazy. I was just coming down off a 4-year psychedelic haze (and worse), that some people refer to as "college." The Afghanistan I saw was wilder the what the U.S.

A new poll done by Change Research-- a very good firm-- found that 60% of voters in rural counties in 9 states-- Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and West Virginia-- approve of the way Trump is doing his job.

Another colorful lesser of 2 evils race shaping up in NY: Rose v Grimm?There's a subway stop on the corner of Kings Highway and East 17th Street in Brooklyn, a few feet from the famous Dubrow's Cafeteria where JFK came for a rally in 1960. Back then that area around Dubrow's was the heart of Brooklyn's liberal Jewish bastion.

The DCCC got the shitty candidate it wanted in Staten Island, lame Blue Dog Max Rose but, unfortunately for them, so did the GOP. Moderate incumbent Dan Donovan eviscerated jailbird and Mobster Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm (63.9% to 36.1%), who Rose would have had a chance to beat. Now the only chance Rose has is if an indiscriminate blue wave sweeps over Staten Island.But within hours of Rose's primary win, the DCCC was up on the air with the ad up top.

Today, the furthermost corner of NY-11 is at Avenue P and East 15th Street. When I was a pre-teen, my family had a house on 17th right off Avenue P. One of my friends, Anne, lived with her family on East 14th Street between Avenue P and Kings Highway. We both went to PS 197. Back then we were also in the same congressional district-- Manny Celler's.

But will the issue persuade voters to defeat the GOP?In 2005 the FCC had a Republican chair, Kathleen Abernathy, a Republican, but not a Trumpist crackpot like Ajit Pai, the current chair.

NY-11 is all of Staten Island and the Trumpiest part of south Brooklyn. In fact, the district, the most Italian district in America, has a PVI of R+3. Although Obama beat Romney there in 2012-- 51.6% to 47.3%-- in 2016 it was Trump country. He beat Hillary 53.6% to 43.8%. The GOP establishment is happy to run incumbent Dan Donovan but former Congressman Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm is our of prison and trying to get back into Congress again as a Trumpist.

Is Señor Trumpanzee going to install a boxing ring in front of his desk in the Oval Office. Like he's always said, his style of management includes having his employees fight with each other. Collegiality is not a trait is encourages. Back-stabbing is. He's a sick cookie... always has been. But what would you expect from someone whose father was a KKK thug and whose grandfather ran a whorehouse?

Staten Island is the most Mafia-friendly place in America. And the other portion of NY-11, south Brooklyn-- just happens to be the most Russian Mafia-friendly place in America.