Blakeman's new hallmark — 'good citizenship' cards for kids

Daily Point

Nassau County exec catches 'em young to join the return-to-values campaign

At Nassau County’s lively celebration Sunday to mark the 100th anniversary of its police department, marchers tossed NCPD swag including T-shirts and Frisbees to young onlookers.

Being distributed directly to the youngsters on the sidelines was the latest taxpayer-funded Bruce Blakeman lit drop. It’s a palm card labeled “Young People’s Good Citizenship Card” featuring a photo of the county executive who is running for a second term this fall. The reverse says that the holder pledges to “Help build a better community ... and doing good deeds for the betterment of the residents to Nassau County.” Blakeman’s signature and title are included on the back as well.

Blakeman’s social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram first posted images of the card on April 1 with a photo of him handing it to a young student wearing a uniform at an unidentified school. On April 6, another photo showed Blakeman handing the card to students at a school for special needs children in Lawrence.

County spokesman Chris Boyle emailed that the effort to inspire young children to help their community began about three months ago and that it was a “government” effort, not a campaign initiative. He declined to answer how many cards were printed and at what cost.

Blakeman’s efforts come as the Trump administration insists that children are being indoctrinated in schools to hate America. In a White House briefing Thursday to celebrate the Trump administration’s first 100 days, deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said that because of Trump’s policies, "Children will be taught to love America, children will be taught to be patriots, children will be taught our values.” Miller blamed an unwavering assault on values from “the radical left, Communists and the Democrat Party.”

With his good citizenship cards, Blakeman has found a new frontier to flex the power of incumbency and align himself with the White House.

— Rita Ciolli rita.ciollii@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Blame Biden

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/aprilnationalcartoons

Reference Point

When Moses summoned McCarthy

The record-breaking Broadway box office success of George Clooney’s "Good Night, and Good Luck" has put the dark period of McCarthyism — Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s hunt for communists in Washington and Hollywood — back in the spotlight.

Newsday’s editorial board, of course, was around for the real thing in real time. But it wasn’t all about those deplorable hearings. Comparisons to McCarthyism had a way of cropping up in unexpected ways — including a turf battle over the grass in Central Park.

That 1959 spat involved none other than Robert Moses, the master planner who was a major topic for Newsday’s board for decades.

But Moses’ immense influence was beginning to wane when the New York City parks commissioner and chairman of the Long Island State Park Commission was again the subject of the board’s attention in a May 1, 1959 editorial titled "The Master Slippeth."

"In this particular corner of the world, one Robert Moses is universally accepted as Dean of the College of Invective, Master of the Cutting Phrase, and Bachelor of the Bludgeoning Arts," the board wrote. "It is a little disappointing to discover that the master has begun to slip ..."

This controversy dealt with the free Shakespeare in the Park program in which Moses was arguing that founder Joe Papp should charge admission to the shows to reimburse the city for damage done by audiences to Central Park’s grass. In that pursuit, Moses had "circulated an anonymous letter," the board wrote, charging that Papp had refused to answer questions in 1958 from the House Un-American Activities Committee about "his Communist background."

"Just what this has to do with the grass in Central Park, the collection of admission fees, or the quality of the proposed Shakespearian performances is hard to figure out," the board wrote. "It certainly has all the earmarks of a smear."

The board was similarly clear about Moses’ future.

"But if he keeps on this way, the time will come when even charity cannot stop most people from thinking it’s a pity that a great public servant — and a great master of invective — has to resort to anonymous letters and McCarthyism to discourage a project of which he happens to disapprove."

Moses’ dark appeal did not pay off. The Daily News backed him but the New York Post sided with Papp, as did Eleanor Roosevelt and regular folks who began mailing packets of grass seed to Moses. The matter ended up in court where Papp prevailed and Moses reportedly promised Papp assistance in building what would become the Delacorte Theater.

With that, the grass battle ended but the war over Moses’ reputation and influence raged for years.

— Michael Dobie michael.dobie@newsday.com

Pointing Out

Opinion weekend newsletter

Catch up on commentary you may have missed this week. Sign up here for Viewpoints, our Sunday morning newsletter highlighting the best and latest Opinion content.

Subscribe to  The Point here and browse past editions of The Point here.