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State Senators Vs. Bloomberg Spat Hits Godwin's Law
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 21, 2009
Modified Jul 21, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 21, 2009
Modified Jul 21, 2009
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Mayor Bloomberg has been complaining about the State Senate's refusal to vote on the issue of mayoral control of the public school system—and the State Senate Democrats have been complaining about Bloomberg right back. And while the debate is not an Internet forum, we're going to say their dispute has officially hit Godwin's Law.
On his Friday radio show, Bloomberg brought up Neville Chamberlain and appeasement negotiations while discussing mayoral control of schools—prompting Senator Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn) to say, "It's a sad comment. It's a comment that says to people like myself and to so many hundreds of thousands of millions of people who lost family in the holocaust. Even to raise the name of Hitler, in and of itself, should have a public rebuke and is worthy of apology. We're not Hitler. We're legislators."
Yesterday, Bloomberg was asked about the comments. According to PolitickerNY, NY1's Rita Nissan asked, "Your comments about Chamberlain on Friday--they’re upset by that and they feel they are owed an apology. They feel that you compared them to Nazis." (Keep in mind, the Senators called Bloomberg a dictator, a yenta and a plantation owner on Sunday.) Bloomberg responded, "I certainly did. What part of that did they not understand? This is ridiculous." Bloomberg's spokesman later said, "The Mayor couldn’t hear Rita’s question clearly, and neither could Andrew Brent, who was standing right by her."
Tagged
godwins law
hitler
mayor bloomberg
mayoral control of schools
nazis
Neville Chamberlain
state senate
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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