Jewish Corrupter Ed Koch

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

Ed Koch


Koch and Colin Powell lead the US delegation for the 2004 OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism, held in Berlin, Germany (28 April 2004)

Early life

Koch was born in 1924 to a Jewish family in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. His father worked as a furrier. During the Great Depression, sales of fur coats and other luxury goods sharply declined, and the family moved from New York City to Newark, New Jersey. He graduated from Newark's South Side High School in 1941. (The school is now called Malcolm X Shabazz High School.) His mother, Joyce, died of cancer at a relatively young age. Koch attended City College of New York from 1941 to 1943.

Koch was active in advocating for a greater U.S. role in advancing human rights, within the context of fighting the worldwide threat of communism. He had particular influence in the foreign aid budget, as he sat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. In 1976, Koch proposed that the U.S. cut off foreign aid to the right-wing government of Uruguay. In mid-July 1976, the CIA learned that two high-level Uruguayan intelligence officers had discussed a possible assassination attempt on Koch by DINA, the Chilean secret police. The CIA did not regard these threats as credible until after the September, 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier in Washington, DC by DINA agents coordinated by Operation Condor. After this assassination, then-Director of Central Intelligence George Bush informed Koch by phone of the threat. Koch subsequently asked both CIA and FBI for protection, but none was extended.[4]

In 1986, Mayor Koch signed a lesbian and gay rights ordinance for the city after the City Council passed the measure (on March 20), following several failed attempts by that body to approve such legislation. Despite his overall pro-lesbian and pro-gay-rights stance, he nonetheless backed up the New York City Health Department's decision to shut down the city's gay bathhouses in 1985 in response to concerns over the spread of AIDS. The enactment of the measure the following year placed the city in a dilemma, as it apparently meant that the bathhouses would have to be re-opened because many heterosexual "sex clubs" – most notably Plato's Retreat – were in operation in the city at the time, and allowing them to remain open while keeping the bathhouses shuttered would have been a violation of the newly-adopted anti-discrimination law. The Health Department, with Koch's approval, reacted by ordering the heterosexual clubs, including Plato's Retreat, to close as well (Plato's Retreat then moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it reopened under the new name Plato's Repeat).

Koch became a controversial figure in the 1988 presidential campaign with his very public criticism of Democratic candidate Jesse Jackson, who had surprised many political observers by winning key primaries in March and running even with the front runner, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. As the April New York primary approached, Koch reminded voters of Jackson's alleged anti Semitism and said that Jews would be "crazy" to vote for Jackson. Koch endorsed Tennessee Senator, Al Gore, who had run well in his native south, but hadn't won 20% in a northern state. As Koch's anti Jackson rhetoric intensified, Gore seemed to shy away from Koch. On primary day, Gore finished a weak third place with 10% of the vote and dropped out of the race. Jackson ran ten points behind Dukakis, whose nomination became inevitable after his NY win.

In 1989, he ran for a fourth term as Mayor but lost the Democratic primary to David Dinkins, who went on to defeat Rudolph Giuliani in the general election. Koch's anti-Jackson campaign in '88 had angered many black voters, likely playing a major role in Koch's defeat.


Post-mayoralty years

In the years following his mayoralty, Koch became a partner in the law firm of Robinson, Silverman, Pearce, Aronsohn, and Berman LLP, (now Bryan Cave LLP) and became a commentator on politics, as well reviewing movies and restaurants, for newspapers, radio and television. He also became an adjunct professor at New York University (NYU) and was the judge on the court show, The People's Court, for two years, following the retirement of Judge Wapner. In 1999, he was a visiting professor at Brandeis University. Koch regularly appears on the lecture circuit, and had a highly rated local talk show on WABC radio.

Koch had a minor heart attack in March 1999.
Koch and Colin Powell lead the US delegation for the 2004 OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism, held in Berlin, Germany (28 April 2004)

In 2004, together with his sister Pat Koch Thaler, Koch wrote a children's book, Eddie, Harold's Little Brother; the book told the story of Koch's own childhood, when he tried unsuccessfully to emulate his older brother Harold's baseball talents, before realizing that he should instead focus on what he was already good at, which was telling stories and speaking in public.

From 2005 to 2007, Koch wrote a weekly column for the New York Press. He also writes film reviews for the Greenwich Village newspaper The Villager.

The former mayor occasionally appears in television specials and commercials that promote or advertise things about New York, such as commercials for Snapple (with the tagline "the best thing to ever come out of New York") and FreshDirect, a New York-based delivery service. He also made cameo appearances as himself in the movies Up At Lou's Fish (a documentary about the last days of the Fulton Fish Market), The Hebrew Hammer, We Own the Night and Eddie, and an episode of HBO's Sex and the City entitled "The Real Me".

In April 2008, Koch announced that he had secured a burial plot in Manhattan's non-denominational Trinity Cemetery, stating that "the idea of leaving Manhattan permanently irritates me," and that he hoped not to use the plot "for another 8-10 years." For the inscription on his memorial stone, Koch has requested that the marker will bear the Star of David and a Hebrew prayer, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." It also will be inscribed with the last words of journalist Daniel Pearl before he was murdered by terrorists in 2002: "My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish."[6] Koch explained that he had been moved that Pearl chose to affirm his faith and heritage in his last moments.
[edit] Political endorsements

Since leaving office, Koch has frequently endorsed prominent Republican candidates, including Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg for Mayor, Al D'Amato for U.S. Senate, George Pataki for Governor, and, in 2004, George W. Bush for President of the United States. Koch has also endorsed Democrats, including Eliot Spitzer for governor in the 2006 election. He endorsed Bill Bradley for President in 2000.

Though Koch supported Giuliani's first mayoral bid, he became opposed to him in January, 1996, and began writing a series of columns in the New York Daily News criticizing Giuliani, most frequently accusing him of being authoritarian and insensitive. In 1999, the columns were compiled into the book Giuliani: Nasty Man. He resumed his attacks, and had the book re-published, in 2007, after Giuliani announced his candidacy for President. In May 2007, Koch called Giuliani "a control freak" and said that he "wouldn't meet with people he didn't agree with... That's pretty crazy." He also said that Giuliani "was imbued with the thought that if he was right, it was like a God-given right. That's not what we need in a president."[7]

Koch originally endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for President during the 2008 presidential campaign,[8] then endorsed Democratic nominee Barack Obama in the general election. In his endorsement of Obama, Koch wrote that he felt that (unlike in 2004) both sets of candidates would do their best to protect both the United States and Israel from terrorist attacks, but that he agreed with much more of Obama's domestic policies, and that the concept of Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin ascending to the presidency "would scare me".[9]
[edit] Other political statements

Koch has often written in defense of Israel and against anti-Semitism. He is a contributor to Newsmax, a mainstream conservative magazine.[10] He also appeared in the documentary FahrenHYPE 9/11 defending President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and blasting Michael Moore. Koch was quoted in the film saying of Moore's film, Fahrenheit 9/11, "It's not a documentary, it's a lie."

Koch was an early supporter of the Iraq War. In July 2007, Koch wrote that he was "bailing out" of his previous support for that war, due to the failure of the United States' NATO allies, and other Arab countries, to contribute to the war effort. Koch wrote, "I would support our troops remaining in Iraq if our allies were to join us. But they have made it clear they will not." He added that the U.S. must still "prepare for the battles that will take place on American soil by the Islamic forces of terror who are engaged in a war that will be waged by them against Western civilization for at least the next 30 years."[11]
[edit] Personal life

Koch is a lifelong bachelor, and his sexuality became an issue in the 1977 mayoral election with the appearance of placards and posters (disavowed by the Cuomo campaign) with the slogan "Vote for Cuomo, not the homo." Koch denounced the attack, later saying "No, I am not a homosexual. If I were a homosexual, I would hope I would have the courage to say so. What's cruel is that you are forcing me to say I am not a homosexual. This means you are putting homosexuals down. I don't want to do that."[citation needed] After becoming mayor, Koch began attending public events with former Miss America, well-known television game show panelist and consumer advocate Bess Myerson.[12] The strategy made Myerson, who had political ambitions of her own (she later ran for senator),[13] seem like a "First Lady of New York" of sorts.

Koch has generally been less explicit in his denials in later life, and refused comment on his actual sexual experiences, writing "What do I care? I'm 73 years old. I find it fascinating that people are interested in my sex life at age 73. It's rather complimentary! But as I say in my book, my answer to questions on this subject is simply Fuck off. There have to be some private matters left."[14]

Randy Shilts, in And the Band Played On, his influential history of the early AIDS epidemic in America, discusses the possibility that Koch ignored the developing epidemic in New York City in 1982–1983 because he was afraid of lending credence to rumors of his homosexuality. Author and activist Larry Kramer has been more pointed in his criticism of Koch. He describes the former mayor as a "closeted gay man" whose fear of being 'outed' kept him from aggressively addressing the AIDS epidemic in New York City in the early 1980s.[15] John Cameron Mitchell's movie Shortbus features a Koch-like older gentleman lamenting at his poor choices while mayor of New York City while attending a gay event and seducing a younger man, played by Jay Brannan. In the 2009 Kirby Dick documentary Outrage, investigative journalist Wayne Barrett of The Village Voice states that Koch is gay.[16]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Koch

[scorpio]

I lived in connecticut  during the reign of Ed Koch. I had several friends in NYC  and went down there on weekends.
It was pretty much an open secret that Koch was corrupt and queer as a 3 dollar bill.
There were even quiet whispers of young boys...  :shock:  

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

There were even quiet whispers of young boys..

Not suprised at all Scorpio... I'm sure plenty of NY's finest Police officers lost their jobs because of what they found out or talked about after a good drink.

[kolnidre]

He's going to bind his soul to the earth with a hexagram on his grave erroneously associated with the mythical figure of David. Sweet!

The only good thing that happened to NYC during Koch's tenure was when the Mets won the World Series. And now the team is owned by a corrupt friend of Bibi and Lucky Larry with ties to Made-off...