[OFFICIAL] NYC Mayoral Primary thread, was: Andrew Yang Announces Candidacy for NYC Mayor

well . . . not exactly

http://www.freespeechhistory.com/timeline-2/

 

you expressed freedom of speech as "freedom from" . . . the history of free speech is "freedom to." There is a big difference.

 

tomorrow's the day for Yang

https://althouse.blogspot.com/2021/06/it-was-yangs-answers-on-homelessness.html

June 20, 2021
"It was Yang’s answers on homelessness and mental health at the final debate that finally settled it for me."

"Every other candidate spoke of homelessness as a disaster for the homeless. Yang discussed it as a quality of life problem for everyone else. 'Yes, mentally ill people have rights, but you know who else have rights?' he asked. 'We do: the people and families of the city.' For Yang, I suspect, a successful mayoralty would mean restoring Michael Bloomberg’s New York, an extremely safe, pleasant place for tourists and well-off families like mine, but one where many poorer people were financially squeezed and strictly policed. Even if Yang could, as a political novice, stand up to the N.Y.P.D., he’d have little reason to, since his remit would be safety at almost any cost."

Writes Michelle Goldberg in "Eric Adams Is Awful. I’m Putting Him on My Ballot"(NYT).

The passage I've quoted gets very strong pushback in the comments at the NYT. I'll just quote one:

The big piece of evidence Michelle Goldberg uses against Yang is an answer to the homeless crisis that I happen to agree with, and I'm a liberal Democrat. Of course, the homeless need to have workable options of where to go. But progressives are just wrong to defend the rights of the "unhoused" against anybody who would dare challenge their apparent belief that they can set up camp on any square of sidewalk that they declare to be their own. I can't be the only non-conservative person in America who would like to stop the trashing of our public spaces. I mean, is that really the worst you can say about Andrew Yang? Seriously?​

Posted by Ann Althouse at 8:42 AM​

 

this is an interesting issue and part of the broader topic of "negative liberties" and "positive liberties"--or negative/positive rights, negative/positive duties, negative/positive freedoms, etc.

You're right that the founders codified a primarily "negative rights" conception of free speech in the Bill of Rights. On the other hand, most scholars assume that for the founders to have done that, they must first have had a conception of the (moral) right to free speech, i.e., a prima facie commitment to the positive right to free speech before addressing the political task of how to protect that right from government infringement.

but like I said, an interesting question and not a simple one by any means

 

or else people just liked the law-and-order f*ck-defunding-the-police candidate more

 

"Defying 'defund police' calls, Democrat Adams leads NYC mayor's race":

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/de...ocrat-adams-leads-nyc-mayors-race-2021-06-23/

excerpt:

June 23 (Reuters) - For months, as New York City faced a growing spate of shootings, mayoral candidate Eric Adams delivered the same line at one campaign event after another: "The prerequisite for prosperity is public safety."

Adams' message, which included a vow to beef up subway patrols, appears to have resonated with a broad swath of New Yorkers as the United States' most populous city undertakes a tough recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and confronts deep challenges including wealth inequality and police accountability.

In initial results from Tuesday's Democratic primary election, Adams was the first choice on more than 31% of in-person ballots. That puts him nearly 10 percentage points ahead of liberal rival Maya Wiley, who has called for cutting one-sixth of the city's $6 billion police budget. read more

A year ago, amid widespread demonstrations across the city over police brutality and calls to "defund the police," it might have been difficult to imagine a former police captain who advocated for more officers on the street emerging as the Democratic Party's preferred mayoral candidate.
​

more at the link

 

sheer racism and sexism? the voters clearly preferred black, female, and Latinx Irish-American candidates to the Asian candidate. kind of disgraceful when you think about it