Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and Councilman Charles Barron appeared on WABC this morning.
(I grabbed the summaries from the broadcastbecause I feel it's fair use of WABC's program and I believe it's for the public good.)
During the program, Charles Barron was feisty in ways that have appealed to me as an African-American and as a native Brooklynite concerned about the plight of the working class and poor.
But he also showed the sometimes excessive combativeness that makes you wonder how he accommplishes anything in a legislative body, anything beyond the pork hand-outs that party leaders give you simply for being in the club.
His discourse is often uncivil. I will concede that he, interestingly, never seems to curse.
(On the phone a few weeks ago, Barron yelled at me so loudly I thought he was having an attack of some kind. He was upset about my Amsterdam News column, saying it was pro-Jeffries and that he wouldn't speak to me again. Among the things that set him off, it seems, was my saying that he liked to burn bridges. Hmm.)
Getting back to today's TV appearance, I thought Jeffries fairly stated his progressive legislative background, which includes opposing Stop and Frisk and fighting for his constituents.
He did this in his lawyerly way, leaving an impression that seems to be catching on, that he's a kind of local version of Barack Obama, and that he can reach out to the broad social and ethnic spectrum that is the Eighth Congressional district.
He also gave the impression, with seriousness of expression, that he would take strong stands against public officials who commit injustices, like police chief Ray Kelly, who's been sending out police officers to stop and question so many innocent young Black and Latino men in the city.
I thought Hakeem's weakest point was his defense of his support of charter schools. Some of the problem may have been lack of time, but I came away feeling more needed to be said.
Charles tried to accuse Hakeem of backing charters because Wall Street types are helping Hakeem and they like the idea of these kinds of schools.
Although Charles interrupted Hakeem from time to time, the two shook hands at the end.
Here are the clips:
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