Bloomberg: Thug Life

Oh boy, it was only a matter of time before somebody played the MTA race card: Bloomberg's Word Choice Still Under Fire.

NEW YORK - Four days after the city's transit strike ended, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was still coming under fire for his use of the word "thuggishly" to describe the actions of the leaders of a union that is mostly minority.

"Michael Bloomberg, don't be nasty and mean," attorney Norman Siegel said Monday, standing on the steps of City Hall. "Be positive. Together, we can improve race relations in New York."

The civil rights attorney noted that more than 70 percent of the Transport Workers Union's 33,000 members are "of color." And while he didn't believe Bloomberg's use of the word was in itself racist, Siegel said, "The perception out there is that it is racist. And the reaction has enormous racial overtones."

Unfreakinbelievable.

Basically, you cannot say a darn thing in or out of the public spotlight these days without the P.C. crowd decrying you as a chauvinist, homophobe or a white person bigot etc.

Bloomberg used the word Dec. 20 during a briefing on the first day of the three-day strike that forced millions of riders to spend extra hours commuting. The mayor complained that union leaders had "thuggishly turned their backs on New York City and disgraced the noble concept of public service."

Some criticized him for using the word, saying it was racist in the context of a mostly minority union. A Bloomberg spokesman said it was wrong to bring race into the situation.

Bloomberg mops up:

Bloomberg said he stood by his characterization of the union leadership's actions. A spokesman for Bloomberg, Paul Elliot, said Monday: "It is astonishing that some insist on continuing to divisively inject the subject of race four days after the strike has ended. One has to wonder what their motivations are."

Yep.

Unions... gotta love 'em!

Update: Ace reminds us who dealt the race card first...

Of course that's how it works. It's really too bad that Bloomberg brought race into this dispute. Unlike, say, one of the leaders of the transit strike, who compared his cause to Rosa Parks'.

Posted by Kyer at December 27, 2005 12:52 PM | TrackBack