For the Record, Mr. Lopez, I Love the Kings County Democratic Party

Last night, as he stepped from the dais at the annual Seneca Club Dinner in Greenpoint, Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito Lopez leered at me, extended his club of a hand, and said, "So, you're the guy who hates the Kings County Democratic Party."

I must admit that I didn't retort with any pithy zinger, though a slew of them suddenly snapped into my mind. In part, it was because I was caught off-guard that Vito - with whom I had never before exchanged two words - knew who I was without my even introducing myself. Certainly, I was aware that quite a few people read the Brooklyn Optimist and that I have made no secret of my opposition to Mr. Lopez's iron-fisted rule of our borough, but I was surprised to discover that Vito is apparently one of my loyal readers.

What really made me hold my tongue, however, was that I realized in the course of my split-second reflection that Vito's accusation was misplaced. I don't hate the Kings County Democratic Party. In fact, I love it.

Why else would I have spent long hours over the last couple of years exposing in my blog our elected officials' confounding, and often corrupt, machinations? Why else would I have run successfully to represent my swath of Greenpoint as a County Committee Member in the Brooklyn Democratic Party? Why else would I have proudly joined Gerald Esposito in his City Council campaign to purge our party of do-nothing machine candidates like Diana Reyna and Maritza Davila and bring about real change in Brooklyn? Why else would I have spent priceless hours away from my lovely wife and baby to fight to reform Brooklyn politics?

It is because I hold the core belief that dissent in the face of injustice and inequity is the foundation of our democracy. Or as our great Senator Robert Kennedy put it, "The sharpest criticism often goes hand in hand with the deepest idealism and love of country."

From time to time, I get letters from readers questioning how I can call myself an optimist, while at the same time detailing so many causes for cynicism. Invariably, I respond that it is my unwavering conviction that no matter how bleak New York politics may be, that somehow, some way, together, we can fix it and restore integrity to City Hall and Albany that truly makes me an optimist.

It is a sad old game of party bosses to insist that blind fealty to their rule is the only way to pledge allegiance to one's party. But what Vito Lopez calls "hate", I call "hope". By casting light upon our party's darkness, I do not aim to destroy our party, but to demand that our party be better.

Contrary to popular belief, the Kings County Democratic Party doesn't belong to Vito Lopez. It belongs to you and me. It is not just our right to assert our leadership of our party, it is our duty.

Once again, I differ to the eloquence of Senator Robert Kennedy, "We know full well the faults of our democracy - the handicaps of freedom - the inconvenience of dissent. But I know of no American who would not rather be a servant in the imperfect house of Freedom, than be a master of all the empires of tyranny."

Well, perhaps that's not true about Mr. Lopez, but certainly it's true about me.

Brooklyn's Newest Optimist: Fiona Lucia Pehme

Before I launch back into blogging, I want to thank all of the kind readers who took the time to encourage me to return to my keyboard and once again spread optimism across Brooklyn. Though I am certainly touched at the concern many of you expressed for my well-being, in truth, my hiatus from blogging wasn't the result of any distress, but great happiness.

On December 18th, my wife, Patricia, and I welcomed our first child, Fiona Lucia Pehme, into the world. Since then, we have tried to keep the strain of our busy lives at bay and concentrate as much of our energy as possible on enjoying our daughter.

But now that my darling Fiona has finally decided to take pity upon her parents and sleep through the night, I have resolved to once again conduct myself like a quasi-normal person. Among my top priorities in returning to this state was to return to blogging. There have been simply too many days that have passed when I read or reflected upon something that I longed to write about, and yet let the window of time pass when it would still be relevant.

I can't promise to be as diligent about posting as I once was in my pre-parental days, but I pledge to make extra sure that whatever I do write will be of greater significance to both you and me.

And please keep emailing me at brooklynoptimist@gmail.com to share your thoughts on all things pertaining to our borough and beyond. Your belief in change and your commitment to truth is the lifeblood of the Brooklyn Optimist.

So, without further ado, I present to you Brooklyn's newest optimist, Fiona Pehme, photographed by her proud daddy on Inauguration Day.

Brooklyn Optimist Wins Election in a Landslide!

Last week, the Brooklyn Optimist reported in passing the humorous circumstances under which he discovered he had won the Primary to represent his neck of the woods in Greenpoint as its newest Kings County Democratic County Committee Member.

Well, now the outcome is official! The New York City Board of Elections website has certified the results of the September 9th Primary and the numbers are staggering. The Optimist (a.k.a. Morgan Pehme) scored a landslide win over his opponent, Carmine Galeotifiore, taking a whopping 75% of the vote in the local race.

I know, I know. Percentages are impressive. Especially considering that the total vote count was 12-4 in my favor. It kind of reminds me of the final score in a Mets game, in which the team's bullpen has been called upon to save a 4-3 lead.

But, a win is a win and I'm not complaining. Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to vote for me. I sincerely appreciate your support. I won't let you down over my next two years in office. No graft or sex scandals, I promise.

Congratulations to all my intrepid friends who also pulled out big wins on Primary Day, like my neighbor James Zika - who won by a single vote despite his excellent campaign - Alex Low, Chris Henderson, and Bushwick City Council hopeful Esteban Duran.

My sympathies to all of my friends who came up short. I know you'll rebound in 2010!

"Farce": A Review of Last Night's Brooklyn Democratic County Committee Meeting

Last night, 181 Members of the Kings County Democratic County Committee huddled in an auditorium at St. Francis College in downtown Brooklyn to participate in the theatre of the absurd.

Move over Samuel Beckett, Vito Lopez in the hizzy.

Despite my unflappable optimism, I can't say I was surprised at how the night went. Though this was the first time I had attended the notorious affair, I had been warned in advance as to how these performances go. Basically, a bunch of elected officials and party loyalists take turns literally reading from a script to dutifully enact whatever agenda Vito Lopez has decided upon, and then call the meeting to a close as quickly as possible, so that its members don't get a headache from too much democracy all in one night.

Except for a few hiccups, that's precisely how last night played out. Taking every opportunity to eschew debate and neutralize dissent, the officials cast by Vito to read the script handed out to them earlier in the day did so as quickly as possible and then exited stage left.

The only people in the chorus who seemed to have missed the director's notes were Councilman Charles Barron, political blogger David Michaelson (a.k.a. mole333) and his wife Joy Romanski (corresponding secretary of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats), and the 50+ newly elected members of the County Committee from the New Kings Democrats political club.

Charles Barron, who incidentally is a far better actor than any of the extras sent by Central Casting to play Vito's goons, began his sparkling performance by challenging the largely ceremonial adoption of the Committee's rules on the grounds that he had not been given a chance to review them in advance. The fact that someone dared to disrupt the show early on palpably unnerved the crowd, which suddenly had to confront the possibility that the airy musical they had come to see had been surreptitiously replaced by the complete works of Ibsen.

Councilman Lewis Fidler, playing a toned-down version of Councilman Lewis Fidler, took it upon himself to calm the crowd, arguing that were the County Committee not to adopt the rules that the meeting would not be officially convened (bad), the Kings County Democratic Party would not be a legally sanctioned body and thus incapable of appointing judges (very bad), and that the globe would go flying off its axis and plunge into the sun (maybe not so bad if McCain gets elected).

A few eventful scenes later, Charles Barron again took the stage and delivered the evening's only noteworthy monologue. Unfortunately, I couldn't scribble it down fast enough in my program, but it began: "This is ridiculous! I've never been to a more scripted meeting in my whole life! This is insulting!" His eloquent soliloquy was saluted with scattered enthusiastic applause and then promptly dismissed as a rant.

The rest of the evening's sound and fury was left to the members of the New Kings Democrats, who tried their best in the role of "Reformers", but were overshadowed by Vito Lopez and the 670 Proxies. Every time the night's Chairman State Senator Marty Connor would call a vote on any proposal not in the script, if the yeas and the nays sounded even (NKD's members made up a vocal third of the audience), Connor would dispense with the pageantry and remind the crowd that there was a superstar with 670 votes to his name waiting in the wings ready to make a surprise cameo at any time. Since this one man was worth over three times the value of those in attendance (despite all the electeds there), Connor's forthright observation always settled the issue conclusively.

Speaking of Connor, this reviewer would be remiss in not acknowledging that he was genuinely moved by the veteran's performance as "Broken Man in Twilight". Now I can't claim to have seen Connor in his heyday, but as last night's Richard III, he brought an unexpected candor to the proceedings. He appeared not as a grand Senator, but as a mere man in need of a horse, beset with the anguish that comes when the realization that he will never again be king.

As for the rest of the ensemble, Vito Lopez was captivating, but unbelievable, in the role of "The Gentle Giant" (seriously, that guy is towering).

Assemblywoman Annette Robinson and District Leader Olanike Alabi were disappointing as "The Early Adjourners". For those critics who will allege that the New Kings Democrats didn't accomplish anything last night, I would point to the bit parts read by this duo as the reason NKD didn't get more of a chance to shine. By ushering the show to a close before any new business could be proposed, Robinson and Alabi cheated a good portion of the audience out of the cost of admission. I was particularly dispirited by Alabi's role. Usually, one of the only truly progressive District Leaders, she could have made something of her part, but instead preferred to mail it in. I know she could have done better.

Equally disappointing were "The Electeds". And I mean all of them, except for Charles Barron. Not a single one of them in attendance last night (District Leaders included!), has any chance of being cast in 2009's much-anticipated blockbuster release "Brooklyn's Real Reformers". Of course, their agents and acting coaches will try to convince you otherwise next September, but don't believe the hype.

Last, but not least, The Optimist found himself unexpectedly the central figure in one of the night's only moments of true levity. I attended the meeting not yet knowing of the outcome of the primary race I ran last week to represent my tiny swath of Greenpoint as its Democratic County Committee Member. The good people at NKD took it upon themselves to nominate me for appointment to the committee on their slate of candidates for the 50th Assembly District. When Chairman Connor read the competing slate of candidates, it turned out that in the 93rd Election District Morgan Pehme's opponent on the competing slate was none other than "Morgan Pehme".

I stood up in the meeting, announced that I happened to be "Morgan Pehme", and said that the reason NKD had nominated me was because I did not yet know the outcome of the primary. Chairman Connor smiled and said, "Apparently, you won. Congratulations. Everyone seems to like you." My victory was greeted with perhaps the warmest and only non-controversial round of applause of the night.

I wonder if I'm still going to be as universally well-liked after you read my review of last night's show?

As always, I will remain optimistic.

Bobby Fischer and Me

Though I never met him, nor saw him in person, my life will forever be inextricably entwined with Bobby Fischer's.

Like any kid in America who embraced chess in the 60s, my father's interest in the game was largely stoked by the international renown Fischer won through his successes over the board. Not only was he an astounding prodigy, who like Tiger Woods grew up to dominate the sport, by the summer of 1972 Fischer had been elevated to iconic status by our government and our media - a stirring symbol of America's inevitable victory over the Soviets in the Cold War. A boy from Brooklyn had taken on the Russians at their own National Pastime and put them to shame, wrestling away the World Championship from the U.S.S.R. for the first time since 1937.

Instantly following the World Championship, Fischer cemented his legend by disappearing like J.D. Salinger, never playing a single game to defend his crown. Soon after, the exponential growth in popularity chess enjoyed in America during Fischer's meteoric career waned, and the game returned to relative obscurity.

But many of those whose lives Fischer touched in that era never forgot their love of chess. When I was only 2 1/2 years old, my father taught me how to play the game and I took to it, primarily, at that time, because the pieces tasted good. But, almost immediately, my affection and aptitude for the game grew and by the age of six I was already competing in tournaments.

Fischer was always an essential part of my career. From the beginning, I studied his games in awe, marveling at his moves as if they were Michael Jordan's. And then, of course, as every talented American scholastic player experienced, there was always someone who would inappropriately compare myself or my rivals to the Great One himself. In chess, there was no escaping Bobby Fischer.

Though I never ascended anywhere near Fischer's heights, the game was kind to me. By the time I retired in my teens, I had won multiple New York City and State scholastic titles, captured the National Junior High School chess championship, and even had the privilege of representing the United States in the 1990 World student championships - a tournament that was captured artfully on film by director Lynn Hamrick in her PBS documentary "Chess Kids".

But just as my career was winding down, I again crossed paths with Fischer's specter. In 1993, Paramount Pictures released the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer", and though the movie wasn't so successful as to inspire the pandemonium that Fischer himself had once wrought, it did spark the most mainstream interest in the game since the movie's namesake disappeared.

Through no doing on my own, I found myself a side note to the excitement. The movie had been based on a non-fiction book by Fred Waitzkin, not about Fischer, but about his son, Josh, and his successes as a young player. I was a close friend of Josh's and his teammate at The Dalton School in Manhattan and, as a result, I wound up a character in the book, and eventually as the character "Morgan" in the film, portrayed by the actor Hal Scardino.

While I was by no means central to the movie, my character's part in the picture's denouement was enough to win me a degree of notoriety in the chess world, and even now from time to time I get asked about the film from its many fans. More often than not when the subject arises, the first question I am asked is, "So, you knew Bobby Fischer?"

No, I did not. Nor did I even ever see him in person, when he finally surfaced twenty years later.

Those who loved and admired the great grandmaster, who know how this second chapter in the Fischer saga - when he was found, so to speak - played out until his death, cannot help but feel embarrassment or contempt for the man. Personally, having heard countless tales of his lifetime of lunacy, I am inclined toward the former judgment. But it was never the man that inspired us, it was his genius.

Reading through Fischer's obituary on Friday morning, I suddenly realized something about myself. Of all the people in the world I've never met, I am hard-pressed to think of anyone who has had a greater impact upon my life than him.

The Brooklyn Optimist is Now Online!

This is the inaugural post for The Brooklyn Optimist! The Brooklyn Optimist is an online newspaper created by filmmaker and professor Morgan Pehme to focus on all things Brooklyn through the discerning lens of its most optimistic community journalist and citizen.

Please bear with me as I get a handle on the technological side of blogging. Once I'm up to speed, I'll be contributing regular articles on Brooklyn politics, the environment, arts and entertainment, local businesses, restaurants, and community activism.

I'm looking forward to exploring Brooklyn with you!