The Bloomberg Way

Whatever you think about Mayor Bloomberg's tenure, even those who approve of it will confess that he is a supremely arrogant man. He knows best. He's smarter than everyone else. Anyone who dare challenge or criticize him is considered stupid, irrational, and pitiful. 

And the people who work for him are exactly the same way. 

Right now a fellow named John Haggerty is on trial for allegedly stealing $1 million from Bloomberg 2009 campaign. This Republican operative apparently siphoned off some dough being channeled through the creepy Independence Party so that he could buy a house. Sleazy. And illegal.

So his only defense is to put the Bloomberg way on trial -- to reveal the casual attitude that Bloomberg operatives have to the millions upon millions the billionaire mayor sloshed around to secure victory. Hey, money was everywhere, everyone had their hand out, and I took mine! It's a thin defense at best yet it's all he really has. 

But what's even more revealing is how arrogant and mean these people are. Patti Harris, the first Deputy Mayor, earns almost a quarter million dollars a year but also operates Bloomberg's charities. The reptilian Kevin Sheekey, a former Bloomberg Deputy Mayor and campaign manager accuses Democrats of "always" injecting race into political campaigns (maybe because, you know, it's always an issue you scumbag). These people just have no shame.

The Bloomberg way is the art of arrogance. It's the "I know best, screw you" attitude that pervades his administration. It's the highhandedness and disconnected insensitivity that we have to endure from him and his people. 

And this is one New Yorker who is sick and tired of the Bloomberg Way. 2013 can't come soon enough.