In Fairness, Central Kentucky Does Have a Certain French Flavor
Peter Berger, via Andrew Gelman:
[New York mayor Michael Bloomberg] resides in his private apartment on the Upper East Side. His co-resident is a woman to whom he is not married—something that he would probably not get away with as mayor in many other American cities. In an international perspective, however, he is in good company—both the current presidents of France and Germany live with similarly non-matrimonial partners. I cannot say whether Bloomberg’s quasi-European lifestyle has anything to do with his idea of New York City as a quasi-European welfare state.
Let me begin by introducing Dr. Berger to Jim Gray, Mayor of Lexington, Kentucky. Let me conclude by asking Dr. Berger to try to wrap his mind around the Honorable Mark Mallory, Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio.
But then people often mistake central Kentucky and southern Ohio for “quasi-European welfare states.”
awesome on two levels.
first, thanks for confirming my long-held belief that there isn’t a more european city in america than cincy!
second, i thought bloomberg was a job creator and therefore exempt from criticism on the right!
Bloomberg’s both “centrist” and a creepy authoritarian, and is thus capable of drawing fire from all sides.
captbackslap, we’re not talking about what rational people might have to say about bloomberg.
we’re talking about what right-wingers normally have to say about people who built (all by themselves!) multi-billion dollar businesses.
You are forgetting the Soros Rule.
excellent point,drdick, although in my defense, i figure the way the right sees it, soros is just some jew money manager, not a true individual he-man job creator.
I think it is more that they see him as a class traitor.
I took classes with Peter in grad school. He was then a fairly important figure in the sociology of religion, although it was clear even then (mid-1990s) that his best work was 20 years behind him.
I’m genuinely sad for him.
He’s also now 83 years old. Fuck, Peter, retire already.
Not that Peter Berger? Of “The Sacred Canopy”? Wow. That’s really sad.
So he’s just like that other great social democrat, Rudy Giuliani?
Yeah, good memory. Rudy moved in with openly gay friends after his wife kicked him out of Gracie Mansion. Can you imagine the response if he was a democrat rather than a republican?
Of course, 9udy Giu11ani married his cousin, which makes him true-blue American to a major portion of the Southern Repuke electorate.
As long as Jim Gray engages in traditional gay marriage, instead of living in sin with his boyfriend, that’s not European.
It’s common knowledge (with the caveat that common knowledge is often wrong) that Mallory is in a long term relationship with a *white* man. How’s that for some transgression?
This answer on the Mallory link is wonderful:
Who could fail to be reminded of this?
Lives at home, eh? That’s certainly . . . wait a minute, *I* live at home! Everyone I know lives at home! AAAAHHHH
Yeah, I don’t get that. Is “lives at home” a euphemism for something?
i bet he owns more than one pair of trousers too, the dirty closet-case.
“Lives with his mother” would be my guess.
Yes, that is correct.
In fairness, Kentucky’s liquor production clearly points towards a sympathy for the anicen regime.
The Bourbons aren’t the ancien regime — they’re arrivistes. The last real King of France was Louis XVI.
Um. Don’t you mean Henri III?
I look forward to sipping a cafe au lait and admiring the locals dressing in dashing berets, swinging their strings of garlic and baguettes, come next Derby Day
The New York Derby?
Uhh, the Derby is in Louisville. The French part of Kentucky is the Central part, with place names like Bourbon and Paris. Heck, we’ve even got wineries now.
As to the berets, eh, maybe not.
French, mon petit ane blanc! My sister lives in Versales (no it’s not spelled that way, but try saying it in French and they’ll shove a Big Gulp up your nose).
they smoke as much as the French do too….
How I long for the day when people disapprove of a politician for living with his boyfriend without marrying him!
Harrumph.
“people often mistake central Kentucky and southern Ohio for ‘quasi-European welfare states.’”
Well, quasi-welfare states , at least.
Not to mention the mayor of Houston, TX, that hotbed of European wlefare statism.
I know we’re a den of Satanic sinful communist breakerism, but here in San Francisco, we’ve had one mayor think it was a good idea to have himself photographed showering naked with DJs (Frank Jordan), the following mayor (Willie Brown)…….well, we’ll leave that one alone and the next mayor decided it was a great idea to have an affair with his campaign manager’s wife (Newsom). Oy.
Warren Buffett lives with his wife and his long-term girlfriend, and that’s in Omaha.
The very rich are different from you and me.
The three never lived together. His long-time girlfriend (and now second wife after the first wife died) moved in after his wife left.
Although, the first wife apparently introduced the two of them so that Warren would have someone once she left. And, Christmas cards from Warren were signed by all three of them, according to Wikipedia, which is kind of odd.
warren’s first wife wanted to pursue a career as a singer and moved to san francisco, and it was all very amicable, civilized, and, dare i say, european! i suspect part of why they didn’t divorce had to do with property issues, but who knows?
anyhow, much as i’d like to believe omaha was a hotbed of menage-a-troisdom, this isn’t an instance of it.
The mayor of Houston lives with someone she’s not married to. For 21 years now, this scandal has been going on.
The mayor of reasonably shit-kicking Silverton, OR is Stu Rasmussen, who is transgender – and was re-elected after identifying as such for the first time.
Fucking hell. In Silverton? That is really hard to believe, although kind of awesome. Granted, he’s clearly some kind of libertarian.
(FWIW, I grew up in Sublimity, which is a four way stop a couple of miles from Stayton).
I don’t know why, but reading about all these people has given me an attack of irrational exuberance. A nice way to end the week.
stag party palin, i’m with you: i had no idea, and vardibidian’s posting on hartford, below, suggests that there are probably other examples that aren’t generally known outside of their immediate community.
No respect for Hartford, eh? I thought not.
Thanks,
-V.
Also the Governor of Maryland – twenty-five years ago.