Angry Teabaggers Interrupt Andrew Cuomo Speech

Oh, it was a bunch of Democrat thugs calling for taxes on the evil rich? Never mind.

A defiant Gov. Cuomo renewed his no-tax-hike pledge last night after a former campaign foe disrupted his speech before the state Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators with chants of "Tax the Rich!"

Cuomo, speaking to reporters as participants continued pro-tax chants in the halls after his address, reiterated his call to let a 2-year-old tax hike on New Yorkers making more than $200,000 annually expire at year's end.

"I don't believe in increasing taxes," Cuomo said. "I believe it's counterproductive for the state. I believe more people will leave the state and you'll have less revenue."

The governor was seconds into his speech at the state Convention Center when City Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn), who had made a quixotic third-party run against Cuomo last year, led a small band up the center aisle chanting, "Tax the rich" and, "Shame on you!"

Of course Barron is too dense to realize the "rich" are fleeing New York in record numbers.

Barack Obama's buddy, the very wealthy tax cheat Al Sharpton, also joined in with the class warfare rhetoric. Ironically, Cuomo's budget calls for massive cuts in education spending, but oddly enough, Obama isn't sending in his union goons to protest, as they are in Wisconsin.

Raaaaacist! 'Obama Should Mind His Own Business'

Oh, wait a minute. It can't be raaaaacist when a black politician criticizes another, can it? But if a white one says 'you lie' then it is?

Can someone lay out the rules for who can criticize Obama? We're all walking around on eggshells trying to avoid the perception of being raaaaacist, and we just can't have our betters on the left pointing fingers.

So in this case, we'll just let a black man do the criticizing after Obama threw the black Governor of New York under the bus.

It was all over after Gov. Paterson played the race card.

Sources familiar with President Obama's shocking effort to force Paterson out of the 2010 elections told The Post yesterday that the governor's rant last month about racial bias in the media spurred the move.

"If there's one thing that sealed the governor's fate, it was the racial comments, which is just what the president doesn't need," said a prominent New York Democrat. "It was a stupid statement. It wasn't true, it damaged the president, and the governor's paying the price for it now."

The White House had grown increasingly concerned that Paterson's weakness could hurt the party's majorities in Congress and encourage Republican Rudy Giuliani to pursue the Governor's Office as a platform for a White House run in 2012, sources told The Post.

Then, in August, Paterson caused a national furor during a rambling radio interview in which he accused a white-dominated media of waging an "orchestrated" campaign to force him and other prominent black Democrats from office.

How's that for some irony? Obama's surrogates all over the media have been shamelessly playing the race card from the bottom of the deck the past couple of weeks, and now Obama's concerned that Paterson's playing the race card is going to hurt Democrats.

Well, not so much Democrats, but him in particular. It's all about The O.

Publicly, however, Paterson supporters refused to accept reports that the president wants to push the governor aside, even though the White House by yesterday evening had issued no official denial.

"It's only a report from reporters," said US Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem). "There's absolutely no evidence to substantiate this, but all of a sudden, it's a news story."

City Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) said: "Obama should mind his own business. He's got enough to take care of in Washington. We don't need him to tell us who our governor should be."

Obama, naturally, is looking out for himself, the main reason Paterson today has tire tracks all across his back.

Obama knows that Paterson is the most unpopular governor in the United States, and -- given the problems that are racking so many states -- that's saying a lot.

And Obama, concerned with his own declining poll numbers, knows Paterson is so inept that virtually every Democratic elected official is holding his/her breath fearing the governor will cost the party key elective offices next year -- as well as the crucial control (from a redistricting point of view) of the state Senate.

But most importantly, Obama realizes that the only thing that could stand between his own re-election in 2012 and a direct challenge from former mayor and potential Republican gubernatorial and presidential contender Rudy Giuliani -- the man who defeated New York City's first black mayor -- is Attorney General Cuomo, the state's most popular politician and one who unfailingly beats Giuliani in the polls.

The way things are going for Democrats, they're getting way ahead of themselves thinking Cuomo can just coast to victory against Giuliani, if indeed Giuliani runs.

Hot Air links. Thanks!

Uh Oh: Restaurant Renames Itself 'Obama Fried Chicken'

Actually there are two places with some variation of the name, one in Brooklyn, the other in Harlem. Now racist NYC councilman Charles Barron, a former Black Panther, is outraged.

Obama posters. Obama T-shirts. But Obama fried chicken?

At least three city eateries have adopted President Barak Obama’s name to hock chicken nuggets and wings, leaving black leaders livid.

“It’s exploitative,” said Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn), who is planning a protest outside Obama Fried Chicken restaurant Monday if its green awning is not removed. “It's like saying Obama is a watermelon lover.”

In addition to the Brownsville restaurant, a Harlem chicken shop changed the wording on its red awning from Kennedy Fried Chicken to Obama Fried Chicken & Pizza.

And you hear the name “Obama’s” if you call up a Crown Heights restaurant now named Obama Flavor Caribbean Soul Food.

“Our president is a great person,” said Mohammad Jabbar, manager of the Brownsville chicken joint. “So many people encouraged us to use this name.”

Obama’s popularity has inspired a flurry of questionable marketing gimmicks — from presidential thongs to “Yes We Can” perfume.

But the government doesn’t always laugh along. Just before election day, the feds ruled that Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn had no right to dispense its Hop Obama draft because doing so violated certain alcohol sales rules, according to reports.

A restaurant, though, doesn’t need permission to use Obama’s name, unless they want a federal trademark, said Cynthia Lynch, an administrator for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The White House did not return a call for comment. And owners of the Harlem and Crown Heights restaurants could not be reached.

Cherise TrahanMiller, director of the Ashay Media Group in downtown Brooklyn, said the eatery owners used smart marketing tactics. “There is an opportunity to cash in on a name that has a lot of momentum,” she said.

For some, the use of the president’s name is a point of pride.

“I liked it even better when I saw the name change,” Tarik White, 16, said outside the Brownsville restaurant. “It is showing respect (to have) Obama’s name in the community.”

But Dennise Green, of Harlem, had a completely opposite take.

“It’s offensive,” said Green, 50. “It’s saying that black people always eat a lot of fried food.”

Wait until they find out about Obama Fingers.

By the way, the folks at AM NY might want to learn how to spell Barack.

Racist NYC Pol Heads to Cuba

What is it with these Democrats sucking up to Fidel Castro and Communist dictators?

Granted, this buffoon Charles Barron is on the outer fringes of the party and has long been an embarrassment to patriotic Democrats, if indeed there are many left.

At least one American politician is sorry to see Fidel Castro go.

City Councilman Charles Barron said yesterday Cubans get some of the best health care in the world and he wants to study their system.

Again with the Cuban healthcare system. Where exactly did this myth begin that this repressive island prison has quality healthcare? These people are driving 1950s automobiles, there's food rationing, nobody except the elite have any money and we're supposed to believe they have quality healthcare?

Please.

Barron leaves today for a nine-day tour of the communist island nation, where last week Castro - after 49 years at the helm - announced he would step down.

The Democratic Brooklyn councilman is going with a group of students from the City University's Center for Worker Education, and will also tour educational facilities.

Barron told The Post he has a special fondness for Castro because of the Cuban leader's efforts to help several African nations, particularly Angola, in their march toward independence decades ago.

"I think we should lift the embargo and normalize relations with Cuba," said Barron, a former Black Panther Party member. He said the economic embargo was hurting Cuban citizens.

Barron's support for Castro isn't the first time the outspoken lawmaker has embraced an international political outcast.

Five years ago, Barron hosted a City Hall reception for Robert Mugabe, the dictatorial president of Zimbabwe, an event most council members boycotted.

Critics said Barron had ignored international outrage over Mugabe's brutal and economically repressive regime.

He hasn't ignored it. Mugabe is a racist Communist thug. He and Barron are soulmates.

Update: Thanks to Monica at Babalu Blog for the link. She helpfully provides this link noting the ruinous state of Cuba's healthcare system.