The day before the election, we received a document that was curious even by the curious standards of the New Caucus/PSC. The breathless letter, which arrived via first-class mail, was signed by the PSC's chief political guru, Steve London. In the name of our Dear Leader, Barbara Bowen, it informed us that the PSC Executive Committee had met in emergency session, and had made an important endorsement for. . . governor of New Jersey??!!

The last we looked, the official title of our union is Professional Staff Congress of the City University of New York. And, again, the last we looked, New Jersey is not in New York. So why did our Dear Leader use our dues money to interfere in New Jersey politics?

Because, the London missive informed us, GOP candidate Chris Christie sought to "increase managerial control" (not a bad idea, some might think, in a state as corrupt as New Jersey) in his own state. A Christie win "will be touted as an endorsement for rolling back progressive labor policies" [actually, it's been touted as testimony to Jon Corzine's abysmal approval ratings] and "we do not want to embolden those in New York State who seek similar policies here."

What's next: will "Sidekick Steve" now be interviewing candidates for the vaunted PSC endorsement in the 2010 Wyoming gubernatorial race? At the very least, now that the "anti-union" Christie has been elected, we can assume that the PSC will establish a Trenton branch office to lead the fight against Christie's hypothetical anti-union policies---which, if passed, might somehow, hypothetically affect us here in New York.

After the Dear Leader was caught not reporting funds used for political activity in the Seidemann case, we might have thought the PSC would have been more careful about dubious political activity in the future. Apparently not.

 

BATTING .000 . . .
BUT STILL SWINGING FOR THE FENCES

The Curious Corzine Endorsement was the second last-minute selection by the PSC's crack political staff. The first, of course, was the announcement that our Dear Leader had conferred her blessing upon Bill Thompson against the unnamed "Republican candidate."

As everyone outside of the New Caucus' ideological cocoon predicted, Thompson lost to the unnamed "Republican candidate," in part because the unnamed "Republican candidate" dumped tens of millions of dollars of his own money into the campaign.

Why, then, did the PSC go out of its way to alienate the once and future mayor by making a meaningless endorsement whose only effect was to put CUNY faculty on record opposing Mike Bloomberg's re-election?

There's been no explanation of the curious strategy from PSC Central. Perhaps interested CUNY faculty should place a call to the PSC Trenton Office instead. Maybe they'll even get an explanation of why union resources were used to promote the doomed re-election campaign of a wildly unpopular governor in another state.

 

MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR

This curious endorsement scheme means that, yet again, the PSC has shot itself in the foot in its desperate search for political allies. And so, yet again, our Dear Leader has little choice but to turn to her strategy of last (and only?) resort: public protest.

Speaking of which: did you catch the photo of the Revolutionary Red-adorned PSC signs as protesters waved and chanted outside of Gov. Paterson's office? The photo captured a good image of one such sign: "Money for Education Not WAR"

Now, it's possible that if President Obama tomorrow ordered all U.S. troops to leave Afghanistan and Iraq, the federal government would immediately transfer all funds for the operations to higher education. But what does that message have to do with a protest targeting Gov. Paterson?

It's true that Gov. Paterson is head of the New York National Guard. But he doesn't have any say over whether the United States spends money on "WAR" or "education." Does the Dear Leader know this? Or are she and her minions so wrapped up in their ideological cocoons that they can't target their protest demands toward whoever they happen to be protesting?

 

Sharad Karkhanis, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Editor-in-Chief