The New York Times to NYC Mayor Bloomberg: Break the Law—or Else!

By Nicholas Stix
April 12, 2004

The New York Times is not pleased with New York City Mayor Michael (“Mayor Mike”) Bloomberg. In a March 11 house editorial, “Mayor Bloomberg’s Commitment Issue,” the newspaper in so many words demanded that Bloomberg embrace same-sex marriage, and begin personally officiating at same-sex weddings in the mayoral residence of Grace Mansion, forthwith. Or else.

“He doesn’t officiate at weddings at Gracie Mansion, a previously time-honored tradition for mayors of New York. And it seems that he has a problem committing on the issue of gay marriage.

“In the month or so since performing same-sex marriages became a point of civil disobedience for a handful of other American mayors, Mr. Bloomberg has tried to deflect interest in his personal opinion of the debate. He said the city simply enforced the law made in Albany, which does not allow such unions. Go there to get the law changed, he told critics. Gay supporters were disappointed, especially in view of the mayor’s long history as a backer of civil rights for gays and his early comments rejecting President Bush’s idea of amending the Constitution to bar marriage for people of the same sex….

“To be re-elected, Mr. Bloomberg will need to convince Democratic voters in this overwhelmingly Democratic city that he still thinks like them, while keeping the city’s Republicans contented enough to forestall any serious competition for the
party nomination.”

There are at least three things wrong with the Times’ implied position: 1. Same-sex marriage is against the law in the State of New York; 2. Mike Bloomberg is a Republican; and 3. The Times is saying that Bloomberg should break the law, simply because certain ‘other people are doing it.’

Apparently, the Times’ editors, who have published dozens of pro-same sex marriage articles since last November, think that if the mayor of America’s most populous city were to join the ranks of criminal public officials, most notoriously San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and New Paltz Mayor Jason West, it would create a tidal wave effect that would wash away the law. Mayors of municipalities large and small across the country, starting with Chicago Mayor Rich Daley, would set course by the wave of anarchy, and all state attorneys general and judges would be swept away by the undertow. And so, the newspaper
is practically daring Bloomberg to break the law, suggesting that if he doesn’t, he’s a wimp.

This is the mentality of a 12-year-old. For the media and the rest of the Left, politicians are no longer permitted to be “tough guys” in support of law and order, but are obliged to be tough guys, in supporting lawlessness.

Now, Mike Bloomberg is no Ronald Reagan. Until he ran for mayor in 2001, “Bloomy” was a liberal Democrat. Today, he is a “RINO” – a “Republican in Name Only.” In New York, the Republican mayoral primary has come to function as an alternative Democrat primary for fresh-faced Democrats from outside the clubhouse. The founder and still owner of Bloomberg Business News wasn’t a politician, he was a self-made media magnate.

The terms “Republican” and “New York” co-exist uneasily in the same sentence. (That applies to both the city and the state; consider the case of Gov. George Pataki, who was a conservative Republican, until he got elected governor in 1994.) In “flyover country,” New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (1994-2001) would appear to be a Democrat. After all, he’s pro-illegal immigration (alright, forget that issue), pro-abortion, anti-Second Amendment, and pro-”gay rights.” In fact, as I once noted, Giuliani had been accused of being a closet Democrat. And yet, there was a huge difference, in New York, between Giuliani and the Democrat Party -- the difference between the rule of law and the rule of crime, between leadership and Clintonian followership. And in 1993, when despite a 5-1 edge in Democrat to Republican registered voters, Giuliani beat Democrat Mayor David Dinkins in their second head-to-head race, it was the political equivalent of a miracle.

And yet, even in the case of Michael Bloomberg, the adjective “Republican” still signifies something, even if that something cannot be expressed in terms of a clear political principle. Had Bloomberg’s socialist Democrat opponent, Mark Green, prevailed in the 2001 election, Green might well have broken the law this year, and married men to men, and women to women. Were Bloomberg to do so, however, he would surely lose the 2005 election, and might not even win the Republican primary. In any event, if New Yorkers wish to elect a socialist mayor, they will pull the Democrat lever.

Hence, the Times’ claim that it is dispensing sound re-election advice to Bloomberg, is as disingenuous as … well, most everything published on its editorial page.

But then, the Times is not interested in helping Bloomberg get re-elected; it is interested in forcing same-sex marriage on the nation. Indeed, it is hard to believe that the hard-left newspaper would ever endorse a Republican mayor, even a RINO, as opposed to a Democrat party hack. The paper’s veiled call for Bloomberg to break the law, was more in the matter of an ultimatum: Officiate at same-sex weddings, or we’ll destroy you.

There is more than a hint of desperation in the Times’ language. This is a newspaper whose top people on the editorial side are, as Reed Irvine, the longtime scourge of the socialist media and founder of Accuracy in Media revealed in 2000, overwhelmingly homosexuals who daily seek to force the gay agenda on America. But they have not prevailed… yet.

(Speaking of the Times’ language, in a March 30 story, “What Marriage Means to Gays: All That Law Allows Others,” “reporter” Thomas Crampton used the phrase “legally contentious” as a euphemism for “illegal,” as in “Homosexual
couples eager to formalize their relationship do have options short of a lawsuit or a legally contentious marriage ceremony.” For Crampton, who speaks of gay “families,” New York is only “a relatively gay-friendly city.” I suppose that at most, only San Francisco would count for him as an unconditionally “gay-
friendly city.”)

It all started when one man, Ulster County (NY) DA Donald Williams, stood up to New Paltz Mayor Jason West, and said, ‘Stop!’ New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has since forbidden the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but prior to DA Williams’ display of public courage, AG Spitzer had refused to do his job.

(AG Spitzer’s spokesman Darren Dopp differs with me on my interpretation. I still say Spitzer waffled, but my readers are free to give Dopp a hearing.

“Nicholas,

“… Spitzer’s conduct in the same sex marriage matter has been widely praised. Criticism has come from only two groups. One is gays and lesbians who would flout the law, rather than work to change it. The second group is people such as yourself who may not understand the specific role of an attorney general in New
York.

“Here’s a brief summary and explanation:

“When asked for his personal opinion, Spitzer said he has no problem with same sex marriage. He noted, however, that personal views are not relevant in the matter — that he must act according to the law.

“In this regard, when asked for a legal opinion, Spitzer took less than a week to prepare a thoroughly-researched analysis showing that same sex marriage is clearly against the law in New York.

“Spitzer warned public officials against performing such same sex marriages, saying that if they proceeded, they would open themselves to prosecution by local DAs. (In New York, prosecution of local crimes is the responsibility of a district attorney, not an attorney general.)

“The issuance of the legal analysis did not conclude Spitzer’s involvement. Spitzer is now preparing to defend New York Domestic Relations Law against a challenge by gays and lesbians. We are confident that, unlike the situation in other states, we will successfully defend this statute.

“Spitzer has indeed ‘done his job,’ and he will continue to do so. It is simply not true that he ever failed to do his job or equivocated in any way….”

“Regards,
“Darren Dopp”)

And on the same day as the Times editorial, even the California Supreme Court had a moment of lucidity, in enjoining against same-sex marriages, until it can render an opinion on the matter.

Four days later, the New York Daily News delivered yet another blow to the Times. The Times’ assumption that most New Yorkers support same-sex marriage notwithstanding, a poll carried out by the News – whose reporters had lionized Rosie O’Donnell for illegally “marrying” her girlfriend in San Francisco – found that 47% of New Yorkers OPPOSED gay marriage, as opposed to only 40% who supported it. (The rest of the respondents had no response.)

Were I a charitable man, I would say that in assuming that New Yorkers supported same-sex marriage, the Times’ editorial board was merely incompetent. But the Times simply has the same contempt for the facts that it does for the law and for the will of the people.

Thus are we confronted with a campaign by the most influential newspaper in America, a newspaper notorious for its specious, legalistic-sounding arguments undermining the Constitution, to bring about legal anarchy across the fifty states. The New York Times is hoping that it can bluff and threaten Mayor Bloomberg into committing crimes, and thus create new “facts on the ground.” Don’t let them snow you, Mayor Mike. For the important thing isn’t whether you’re a “Republican,” but whether you’re a republican.

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