On Friday, August 6, 2010 primary candidate hopeful Patrick Nicolosi found out something even he could not believe.  In a cruel twist of faith marked by a thinly veiled reliance on hyper-technical affidavit oversight (maybe) and marginally clever legal maneuvering, attorneys for Craig Johnson, a NYS Senator, and Mimi Pierre-Johnson the presumptive democratic candidate for 21^st Assembly district ousted his attorney and left Nicolosi fending for himself in an openly hostile courtroom.  A courtroom in which he was on several occasions bullied into near silence.  It was repulsive to see a Citizen reduced to raising his hand, as if in a first grade classroom, to ask a question; make a point or otherwise “be heard”.  As the Citizen, with the threat of jail looming, sat silent the professional wordsmiths, lawyers for the sitting Senator Craig Johnson and Mimi Pierre-Johnson, took hold of democracy and justice and ripped them both limb from limb.

As I see it, Johnson and Johnson and the Nassau Democrats have a simple game plan - invalidate the legitimate candidacy of a Citizen in favor of the party’s insider nominee.  As I see it by invalidating Nicolosi’s candidacy Johnson and Johnson and the Democratic Party engine get to bury the real story, a story of prima fascia fraud, forgery and conspiracy to disenfranchise another community of color on Long Island.  No LEGAL training required – just commonsense.  Review some of documents for yourself here later.  These are the documents the party machine is willing to keep hidden while Johnson and Johnson emails us about things they have done for us.  Things like:

• The NYC MTA bailout tax which local small business owners now pay while Elmont bus services are in jeopardy.  Where is the bailout for the N6 on Elmont Road;
• The $100,000 promised but not delivered to the Sewanhaka Central High School District for restoration of bus services to Private School Children.  We taxpayers are footing the bill now;
• The almost $150,000 promised but not delivered to the Elmont Union Free School District;
• The $100,000 promised but not delivered to the Elmont Public Library; and
• The countless $$$$ promised but not delivered to a variety of other local community organizations

Sadly, several of the promised but not delivered dollars were spent in anticipation of Johnson’s money and sadly, most of that money will have to be recouped by RAISING TAXES, the very tax Johnson “voted to cap”.

Long Islanders are preparing for local primary elections on September 14, 2010.  In the race for 21st Assembly District the Democratic Party nominee, Mimi Pierre faces a primary challenge from Elmont resident Patrick Nicolosi.  Republican Edward Ra has been tapped to replace retiring Assemblyman, Tom Alfano.

Today in front of the South Entrance to the New York State Supreme Court building in Mineola NY, primary candidate Patrick Nicolosi outlined a pattern of fraud uncovered as Democratic Party nominee Mimi Pierre, Senator Craig Johnson, and other slate member signatures were examined for legitimacy.  It is customary for candidates to examine the signatures collected and in so doing the Nicolosi team “have so far uncovered … hundreds of invalid, forged” and  otherwise illegal signatures and illegal behaviors by witnesses some of whom “are also state delegate candidates on the ballot”.  Nicolosi said “I am outraged by the outright fraud uncovered”.

When we first saw the heavily edited Shirley Sherrod video on FOX News, most of us experienced several emotions.  First there was shock which caused many of us to rush to judgment, just as Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, and the Obama administration did.

Then as the story began to unfold and change right before our eyes, we began to realize that this was not just the story of a woman victimized by right-wing conservatives, but it was the introduction on the world stage of a woman who was so severely impacted by discrimination in all forms (race, status, etc.) that she decided to devote the rest of her life to its eradication.  The video introduced us to a woman who has been fighting for a cause for her entire life; a woman whose calling became bigger than the woman herself.