Carl Paladino wants to be your next governor.
Frankly, I never heard of the guy until he announced his candidacy.
Let's just say, his first impressions have not been favorable. He made a rather tasteless comment that Obama's health care reform would kill more Americans than the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We also learned that he apparently fathered a child out of wedlock 10 years ago.
Now come revelations by Buffalo blogger Alan Bedenko (his wife works in Batavia), who has exposed racist and pornographic (to put it mildly) e-mails Paladino forwarded to his political and civic associates. Click here, if you must, but keep in mind that even Bedenko's sanitized versions are not appropriate for children.
The images include screen shots (some parts blacked out) of pornographic movies, including one involving an animal, as well as blatantly racist shots at President Obama, such as a video of African tribesmen dancing under the caption "Obama inauguration rehearsal."
Here's what Paladino said about the e-mails, according to the New York Daily News:
"I confess to being human and imperfect, as are all of God's children," he told a Buffalo crowd Monday. "I am proud that I've created hundreds of jobs and opportunity for people of every ethnicity, color and sexual preference."
Paladino said he "didn't originate any of these e-mails" and was "somewhat careless" in forwarding them.
He said he tried to send the e-mails to "a very specific bunch of friends who somewhat enjoy that humor."
Paladino apologized to women for passing along porn -- but not men.
"I say this to the men out there who have never opened a graphic image on the Internet: Don't vote for me. For those who have, I welcome your vote," he said.
Paladino's campaign manager dismisses the revelation of the e-mails as "we think this is a smear campaign authorized by Democrats in Albany," according to the New York Times.
Paladino is running for the GOP nomination. The NY Daily News says he has ties to the Tea Party Movement.
UPDATE: Buffalo News has a pretty complete story on the topic of the e-mails. Apparently, Paladino thought he was being funny:
Paladino said Satalin referred to Bob Lanier, a Paladino friend and All-America center who led the Bonnies to the NCAA Final Four in 1970.
"He takes me to task, and I respond, "Jim, you've lost your humor,'" Paladino said, adding he was trying to explain he sent the items only for the sake of their humor.
UPDATE II: Now the Buffalo News reports that even tea party leaders want nothing to do with Paladino.
And in Albany this morning, the same Tea Party Express group that staged a rally at Erie Canal Harbor on Monday distanced itself from Paladino — who just a day ago was emerging as a key ally of tea party groups.
"You've seen the emails ... so what makes you think we would support him? That's absolutely incompatible with anything we stand for," said Mark Williams, the group's chairman.
"Pornographic, racist e-mails. How do you think that we would ever support something like that?"
What an idiot. I went through
What an idiot. I went through and I looked at those emails, very distasteful. I guess I have a different version of humor then him.
We have found some common
We have found some common ground Phil. I can't believe that anyone would find these funny. It makes me very sad to think that such blatant racism is still funny to idiots like Paladino.
The e-mails are distasteful.
The e-mails are distasteful. I don't find them humorous.
But let's just grant Paladino a little leeway on humor for the sake of arugment: What about the incredibly poor judgment, as a man of some public stature even before running for office, that in sending these out they wouldn't some day come back to bite him?
While the internet is a
While the internet is a wonderful invention of the last 20 years, it is making it more difficult for anyone to escape the scrutiny of the public eye. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has something in their personal lives, past or present, that they don't make public. This tool just allows easier access to the skeletons, and even easier ability to disseminate the dirt. While I don't find this really funny at all, I have seen way worse.
Ok, ok, ok. I'm not racist,
Ok, ok, ok. I'm not racist, but like 90% of the human population I have told a black joke or 2 and have even heard some of my black friends spin out some white jokes. I didn't get offended, I laughed. You people may not find humor in the jokes he sent but come on, not anyone that logs onto this site can say they have never looked and laughed at some sort of a pornographic image or listened to and laughed at a black joke or any other type of ethnic joke. If you say you never have, you are a liar. It is human nature. So what does this prove about this guy? He's human? OH NO! A real person in office instead of the robots were used to. Get off of your soap boxes people. It may not be all bad to have someone in office that enjoys the same type of humor that the rest of america enjoys. If he wasn't running for office but still had all these emails out and about to his friends he wouldn't be on the Batavian. So he has proved he is a liar on a few counts, as is every other politician on the planet. He has also proved he is a real human being, at least a little bit.
Sorry, Dade, those emails are
Sorry, Dade, those emails are NOT funny!
Not to paint with a broad brush.....but Paladino and his racist, misogynist email forwards, shows the very underbelly of what a large portion of the Tea Party movement is about(at least the racist side) and I beg anyone to tell me different. I've seen the signs -- they're all over the internet. This movement, in part, is propelled by racism and the de-legitimatizing of the first black President. Any of Paladino's populist appeal is epitomized by the very dark side that adds racism and misogyny to the family values and fiscal responsibility that he was espousing to represent.
The emails are more than distasteful they are repulsive. Bestiality is illegal and that video is promoting the most heinous of demeaning and illegal acts.
And Dade, when someone adds "I'm not a racist" as a prerequisite before stating that they've told "a black joke or 2"......well the two statements are a tad hypocritical.
No they aren't. It's like
No they aren't. It's like liking chocolate ice cream and not chocolate milk. I don't see race. I see humor. You are the soap box queen. It's fine though. I saw this coming. Just surprised there aren't 20 hateful retorts already. The fact that Obama is black isn't the issue. The fact that he is a bad president is the issue. Maybe you're the one just seeing color here in one form or another. :o)
Defending behavior with a
Defending behavior with a plea, "I'm not racist, but...," is as genuine as: "I love you, but...," "I meant to, but..." or the classic, "I remembered, but..."
I recommend seeing the film, "Bamboozled."
Bud, it is one thing to have
Bud, it is one thing to have the ghost of a twenty-something night of debauchery come back to haunt... This jerk is waving the badge of Christian Conservative vindicator while forwarding trashy emails to his friends. He is either stupid, ignorant, arrogant or all three.
Haha. I reccomend you watch
Haha. I reccomend you watch black comedians call themselves and other black people the "N" word. Same thing. Are they racist against themselves? Apparently Batavia is just loaded with fake people trying to be a hero. Plain and simple fact. Everyone has done this aside from the animal stuff. I agree, sickening. But really? People in todays day and age are going to try to say they have never laughed at a black joke? And go ahead and call me a racist. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ever laugh at a Richard Pryor act? Ever watch the movie Blazing Saddles without laughing? Just because you aren't emailing a racial joke to someone doesn't mean you've never partaken in the humor in a race joke. How about a blonde joke? Ever told one of those? Ever laugh at one of those? I'm willing to bet you all have. SAME THING. So again, stop trying to be a saint.
Dade, I have no soap box and
Dade, I have no soap box and you are not running for public office. There a lot of things that Paladino says that I like, but that is not what this thread was about. It was about stupid emails surfacing during what is to be a successful run for office. By the way, this doesn't make someone "real" to me in the slightest. Being pissed off at Albany and creating simple policies to fix it is fine enough.
Howard I completely agree. It dosen't matter I guess if the man is racist or not. How about just not having enough common sense to not send those out to people before you are going to run for public office. The one guy wrote back how bad it was for pete's sake and he still sent more.
This has nothing to do with Democrat or Republician, but just logic.
The only thing that shocks me
The only thing that shocks me here is that Paladino still seems to think that running for governor is a good idea.
As far as the racism thing goes, here's what non-racist folks do when they recieve emails like that: Click the delete button.
Dade I find a lot of things
Dade I find a lot of things that you have pointed out as humor as being funny. I love Richard Pryor and Blazing Saddles, but I think you're missing the context here just a bit. These were comedians doing bits.
I really could give a rat's behind if his friends think it's funny or not. If you want to be a private citizen and enjoy that kind of humor, rock on! This guy wants to lead a state, albeit one of the most dysfunctional in the union, but still. This is all about judgement. If this guy can continue to send this stuff after someone basically called him out, and while he was thinking of running? Pretty thin to me.
There are a lot of things that I like about Paladino, there are also things that I disagree with too. This is one where I diagree.
I read about this idiot from
I read about this idiot from Buffalo yesterday on The Daily Kos. I thought right then that he is done simply for being a serial forwarder. I forward e-mails very infrequently and if I had a friend like him, he wouldn't be my friend. Most of his close buddies love it, the rest don't, and he is too stupid to know which is which. Don't waste your vote on stupidity.
How is bestiality funny? How
How is bestiality funny? How is porn funny? The 'it's just humor' argument is a whitewash.
The photoshoped picture of Obama and Michelle ain't my brand of humor, but if that was just an isolated thing, I wouldn't think much of it. American political humor has a 225 year history of being rough and impolite.
What makes this group of e-mails so devastating for Paladino is the broad range of offensive material sent repeatedly, even after it was pointed out some might find it offensive.
It's easy for Paladino to say, "I'm not PC." But the whole political correctness thing is about issues far subtler than what was covered in these e-mails. It's a complete misuse of the term "PC" to apply it to this situation.
I don't think of myself as "PC" either, but I don't tell racist jokes, forward clearly offensive e-mails (when I've gotten such things -- only once in my life -- from a friend, I asked him to stop, and he did).
Like I said, engaging in this e-mail forwarding is beyond being just offensive -- any reasonable person would know that many, many people would find this material offensive, so it shows poor judgment for a man of his stature to engage in this sort of behavior. People of honor, no matter how course their own sense of humor, understand it's impolite to subject it on other people without a clearly defined sense of "it's ok between us" Judging from what Alan reported, Paladino was pretty indiscriminate at times about how widely this stuff was disseminated.
Don't believe me? Look at how the tea party leaders are scurrying away from him.
Totally unrelated, but big
Totally unrelated, but big props to Howard Owens for having the only comment section on the web I have ever come across that let's people edit their comments. A few let you delete them, but most offer neither option. The way Howard does it lets people correct typos they missed the first time around, or delete comments they made when they were mad, drunk, both, or just trying to be funny. For example, in the comment above Howard meant coarse of course, and no one can talk to a horse, of course, that is unless the horse, of course, is the famous Mr. Ed. Two thumbs, two big toes, and two hoofs up for Mr. Howard.
At the danger of getting off
At the danger of getting off top ... someday, when I can afford the programming, I'll set a time limit on editing ... an hour maybe, maybe only 30 minutes.
I'm going to call it the Denise Montgomery Rule. Denise, you may remember, is accused of being involved in a Meth Lab. She left a bunch of comments on here after her arrest, some of them seeming to admit guilt. A week later, she replaced her remarks with "*". That's altering the record in a way I'm not fond of.
Posted by Dade Murphey on
Posted by Dade Murphey on April 13, 2010 - 12:54pm
No they aren't. It's like liking chocolate ice cream and not chocolate milk. I don't see race. I see humor. You are the soap box queen.
Lorie is hardly a soap box queen. She is an intelligent, caring, and wonderful person who does not deserve to be put down by you.
Posted by Dade Murphey on April 13, 2010 - 1:12pm
Haha. Everyone has done this aside from the animal stuff.
Not "everyone". Maybe "everyone" in your circle but to make this a universal thing is a stretch.
Not everyone has boxes of porn that they just can't wait to drag out (the new tech age of the old "let me show you my etchings"). Not everyone feels the need to pass along this type of stuff.
"She is an
"She is an intelligent...person"
Then she should educate herself on the Tea Party groups, their makeup and what their message is. There is not just one group called the Tea Party. There are many smaller local groups that are able to organize their efforts.
Posted by Peter O'Brien on
Posted by Peter O'Brien on April 13, 2010 - 2:13pm
There is not just one group called the Tea Party. There are many smaller local groups that are able to organize their efforts.
...does that message include supporting Palidino's email fiasco? I think not. The Tea Party is walking away from him. Will you?
Where have I ever supported
Where have I ever supported him? You cant walk away from something you were never near. Simple Physics.
This email forward phenomenon
This email forward phenomenon seems to be quite popular with people that are 'right' leaning. I rarely ever get any political forwards from 'progressive' friends. What they send me are links to 'real' news stories. But I can't tell you how many times I get a forward from a friend from the right that is based on lies, legends and a perpetuation of misinformation. These email CC's are never ending and sometimes it takes a long time to scroll through all the recipients to get to the actual email. I'm not talking about the kinds of emails that Paladino was forwarding (those are just off the charts disgusting) I'm talking about the birther emails, Obama is a Muslim, Obama is the anti-Christ, Obama doesn't love America, Obama won't sing the Star Spangled Banner, Obama won't wear a pin, Obama wants to kill puppies, and some of the xenophobic immigration rants sprinkled in for a little variety. Most of the time I hit 'delete'. Sometimes I go to snopes or another site that sorts out fact from fiction and I'll send back a polite reply refuting the myth with a link and hoping that if the sender is misinformed that this will clear it up. A few times I have responded with a personal plea asking the sender to please take me off their forward list.
This is my question to this board. Why do so many on the right perpetuate this sport? My friends right and left know where I stand. Why do the people on the right almost make it a mission to send this to people like me who they absolutely know don't buy into it? I have NEVER sent a forward to someone on the right pushing my beliefs, yet there are a handful that seem to send them as if they're trying to convert.
Just curious.
The Batavian is the only
The Batavian is the only website I have ever commented on that let's you edit your comments, or remove them with a one letter comment like (*), but it is also the only website I have ever commented on that makes you post your real identity. It's a trade off we have all willingly made and it works well for the most part. Thanks again Howard.
Peter, I see enough from the
Peter, I see enough from the angry rhetoric, the poorly spelled signage, the silly costumes and the lawn chairs.
That's education enough for me.
Oh, and isn't the 'Soap Box' part of the Tea Party ritual?
Lorie, they do it because
Lorie, they do it because someone is telling them to forward it to 10 Democrats. Rush, Drudge, Fox and assorted associates are all hell bent on obstruction and self destruction. I say let them have at it. Mark their garbage as Spam, then use delete in November.
Lorie, ever see this essay:
Lorie, ever see this essay: <a herf="http://www.kenrahn.com/jfk/conspiracy_theory/the_paranoid_mentality/the… Paranoid Style of American Politics</a>?
Lorie, I get liberal slanted,
Lorie,
I get liberal slanted, forwarded emails form people I know and they are just as nasty and stupid has this guys. I just delete them.
John, I have a network of
John, I have a network of liberal friends and acquaintances across the state and I've never gotten one. Never received one email from a 'tree hugger'. Nothing from the 'anti-fur' group. I haven't even gotten anything from a socialist.
I just wonder who they are and why they stay in the shadows. They should come out and preach to the choir with some mass CC'ed emails to perpetuate the propaganda.
Thanks for the link, Howard. I'm reading it now.
My god. This is what's wrong
My god. This is what's wrong with the world today. Everyone wants to be a martyr. Charvella. Don't tell me you delete those. I have known you since I was 6 years old and graduated with you from Alexander. I know all too well who you are and what kind of person you are. This is what I'm talking about. People saying one thing and being someone completely different behind closed doors. Humor is humor is humor is humor. I laugh when kids fall over. Know why? Because they aren't mine and it's funny. Anyone with a problem with what I just said should shoot themselves in the head the next time they watch America's Funniest Home Videos. It's always nice when a public figure get's into trouble for something specific and everyone is quick to jump on them for it when in fact 99% of the people pointing the finger do nearly the same exact thing they just don't realize it. I'm not saying everything this guy did was right. All I'm saying is that It isn't as shocking as some of you are making it out to be. I lose faith in humanity more and more everyday because of personal grandstanding such as this. I wish people could enjoy life instead of being "shocked" by pointless garbage.
I didn't graduate from
I didn't graduate from Alexander with anyone named Dade Murphey, and if you know me that well, then you also know that I have never in my life put up with any sort of racist nonsense.
Who said they were shocked,
Who said they were shocked, Dade? Most people said that they were distasteful and not too bright. Where does this shock and awe statement come from?
I wasn't "shocked". I enjoy life just fine too. If Carl Paladino wants to send porn to all of his friends I say Cheers! I really couldn't care less what the man does in his own home. But if that man wants to put his life in the public spotlight? Then he has to expect this type of stuff.
I don't find the stuff he sent funny, but he didn't send to me, so who the hell cares what I think. What I do find suspect is his lack of foresight. These are not too brilliant acts if you want to run for governor. No offense, there are enough idiots in Albany who don't think past their next minute, I don't need another one.
For the record, I wouldn't
For the record, I wouldn't say that Chris and I are friends by any means, but he has been a stand up guy since I have known him and I don't buy that he is a closet racist.
Dade Murphy is a character in
Dade Murphy is a character in the 1995 movie Hackers played by Jonny Lee Miller, the former husband of Angelina Jolie. He doesn't even spell it right.
Lorie writes..."Not to paint
Lorie writes..."Not to paint with a broad brush.....but Paladino and his racist, misogynist email forwards, shows the very underbelly of what a large portion of the Tea Party movement is about(at least the racist side) and I beg anyone to tell me different. I've seen the signs -- they're all over the internet." You are qualifying your statement that the majority of Tea Partiers are racist based on signs you've seen on the internet? I am not a Tea Partier but I am tired of the left misrepresenting the entire group. A recent Winston group survey revealed that the percentage of blacks in the Tea Party movement is roughly TWICE the general population. Over 80 Tea Party events have featured black keynote speakers at their events. The media has shown the radical fringe totally misrepresenting the make-up. Visit http://crashtheteaparty.org/ to find out just how left-wingers have been and are helping to see to it that the organization continues to be falsely maligned. Carl Paladino engaged in completely inappropriate behavior and it should justifiably end his political career.
From my traveling and living
From my traveling and living in other parts of the country racism is more prevalent in WNY than any other region of the country I have been.
And kevin McCallister is a
And kevin McCallister is a character in the movie Home Alone. And a real life Kevin McCallister from Batavia just got married and had a kid. What's your point?
Hypocrites are the ones throwing stones.
Dade, check the e-mail
Dade, check the e-mail account you used to register with.
Rich, brace yourself, but I'm
Rich, brace yourself, but I'm going to agree with you here. The incidents of racism here that I've seen here have been at least equal in number to those that I've witnessed in other parts of the country that I've lived in, and that includes your great state of Texas.
Didn't graduate with anyone
Didn't graduate with anyone named Johnny Lee Miller either.
Jeff, unfortunately when you
Jeff, unfortunately when you lie with dogs, you get fleas.
It sounds like Scott Murphy certainly is making an effort to remove himself from the very group that helped elect him. Strange.
And, while I haven't been to a Tea Party, I've seen pictures and I don't see much diversity. Maybe I'm wrong.
Posted by Beth Kinsley on
Posted by Beth Kinsley on April 13, 2010 - 4:48pm
Dade Murphy is a character in the 1995 movie Hackers played by Jonny Lee Miller, the former husband of Angelina Jolie. He doesn't even spell it right.
Good catch, Beth. Want to take a guess who he really is?
lol
I remember when someone
I remember when someone forwarded me that
video of African tribesmen dancing under
the caption "Obama inauguration rehearsal".
Don't recall who, but I'm quite sure it was
one of my hardcore right wing Republican
friends. I didn't think it was funny but
I have almost no sense of humor at all...
never have had. Now this sudden uprising
of anti-racial disgust, from those who
obviously live in houses without glass
windows, has caused me to reflect on my
racial positioning and the first thing that came
to mind was one time I did laugh, really hard.
It was when Fred Sanford said:
"There's enough niggers in here to make
a Tarzan movie".
Now I'm fretting that I must be a racist. OMG!!!
Posted by Johnny Lee Miller
Posted by Johnny Lee Miller on April 13, 2010 - 4:52pm
"And kevin McCallister is a character in the movie Home Alone. And a real life Kevin McCallister from Batavia just got married and had a kid. What's your point?
Hypocrites are the ones throwing stones."
Point is, if you are making incendiary comments like you do and don't have the balls to use your real name like everyone else does, you are not only a hypocrite, you are a weasel. B T W Dave Olsen is a senior VP of Starbucks and one of the 4 guys who got it going. I've been trying to switch paychecks with him for years.
Why does this matter? Andrew
Why does this matter? Andrew Cuomo is going to be our next Governor regardless of who's running against him and people that think otherwise are kidding themselves.
Posted by Chris Charvella on
Posted by Chris Charvella on April 13, 2010 - 4:55pm
incidents of racism here that I've seen here have been at least equal in number to those that I've witnessed in other parts of the country that I've lived in, and that includes your great state of Texas.
Chris,
I have to agree with you. I was born and raised here and led a very sheltered life because I didn't realize how bad the racism was until I came back here after living away for a while.
Reading the posts, here, only highlights that racism is alive and well in Genesee Co. Sad, isn't it?
My kids were raised in a household that truly believed that belittling anyone was wrong. Using the N word was wrong. I know they carried that into their own families.
Somehow, I guess I believed that everyone was doing the same thing. After all, we were living in an enlightened age.
The "Tea Party" is not one
The "Tea Party" is not one national group like the dems or republicans. They are small, local groups who are tired of the two-party system that no longer works. Yes, they can be organized to march on Washington together or to do national acts together, but the whole point is, they are local groups who want to change the political scene.
And, if I went with the theory "I don't like a group because of what I see on tv/photos/etc" watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi3erdgVVTw
I don't see much diversity there either...
Take a look around there
Take a look around there isn't much diversity in Batavia. How many "people of color" or from multicultural cultural backgrounds work for the city or for that matter the county, are on city council, political committiees, city administration, in the school system, school board, school administration, fire department, police department. Hmmmmmmmmm? Growing up on Prune Street, most of the friends I had were minorities and they had to leave Batavia or join the military to get a job. Not much has changed.
I love Penn and Teller. I
I love Penn and Teller.
I think Chelsea makes a solid point here. Anything can be made to fit what any group wants. I have watched shows like Bill Maher that have cast all Tea Party members as "dumb hicks", Respected left leaning News People like Anderson Cooper and Keith Oberman call them Tea Baggers which is childish and disrespectful. I have listened to every person who disagrees with them say that they are stupid, racist and just the"puppets of the Republican Party".
My point is, I could walk out tomorrow and prove that most people who believe in something, don't actually understand what they believe in. The average person only needs a few things that mirror their opinions to join a group.
I am a Libertarian, but I do not hold with all of the different levels of that group. I hold to an overall principal that freedom of choice is my right and that no government should be able to dictate to me. That doesn't mean I want to live in some commune away from society, but that I just want the government at all levels to respect my privacy and freedom.
I think that any person that can come on here and call people names to dismiss their belief is wrong at the lowest level. Also, I believe that if you are going to call a group some dumb childish name (even though you didn't create it) You can't get all up in arms when someone calls your group something childish either.
BYE BYE CARL… This is a
BYE BYE CARL…
This is a bitter/sweet development...
I am, and yet I am not, surprised at
how raucous Paladino turned out to be.
The one "positive" thing that comes to me
is that at least Paladino isn't the kind
of deceptive, lying, conniver that most politicians are,
or he would have hidden this stuff.
With Carl "What you see is what you get".
On the "negative" side, how many of
these sleazy "associates" that Paladino emails, would have
ended up with Gov contracts and deals?
The catch 22 is that we want, and thought we were getting,
a house cleaning of scumbags from Albany with Paladino's campaign.
Rather it would have apparently just been
"out with the old, in with the new"... scumbags that is.
The BIG thing here, I can't believe how quickly the opposition
swung into action with their character assassination tactics...
AND how some who were close enough to Paladino
to receive these "close associate" emails were
so ready and willing to turncoat.
Let's hope by the time this is over no one
ends up in the Buffalo Harbor wearing cement shoes...
unless it is some of the scumbags
that are too impenetrable at the top in Albany.
**************************************
To think that it has come down to...
In America the #1 reason for an individual
to live a clean, decent, moralistic lifestyle
is, in case they want to get into politics!
"To think that it has come
"To think that it has come down to...
In America the #1 reason for an individual
to live a clean, decent, moralistic lifestyle
is, in case they want to get into politics!"
I don't agree with that, B Graz, I try to live that type of life, because it's how I was raised and it is what I believe God wants me to do. I believe most people feel that way.
I will agree that NY State politics is a pool of "scumbags".