Bill de Blasio is a left-wing extremist who seems to side with every socialist movement that comes along.
His fondness for the Sandinistas and “democratic socialism” in the early 90s has been described in detail by the NY Times. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, democratic socialism means the end of market capitalism. A while ago I created a video clip of a Temple University professor explaining this to a gathering of eager young socialists. As for the Sandinistas, the Times notes “Today, Mr. de Blasio is critical of the Sandinistas’ crackdown on dissenters…”
But 1990 was a long time ago. Surely de Blasio outgrew his youthful flirtation with political extremism since then? Today the NY Post reports that de Blasio helped honor African tyrant Robert Mugabe at City Hall in 2002.
Brooklyn state Sen. Simcha Felder, then a first-year councilman, recalled being shocked by Mugabe’s visit.
“I asked around and found out what a madman Mugabe was,” Felder said, explaining why he stayed far away.
But de Blasio was there, along with other legislators, mostly from
the council’s Black, Hispanic and Asian Caucus, who still considered
Mugabe a hero for helping overthrow white colonial rule decades earlier.
De Blasio later admitted it was a “mistake” to honor Mugabe.
But de Blasio never seems to learn from his mistakes. In 2011 he spoke to members of Occupy Wall Street saying he hoped the Mayor would find a “peaceful” agreement with the squatters who had taken over a public space to push an anti-capitalist message.
In early 2012, de Blasio once again joined Occupy to protest Wal-Mart. Here you can see him denounce Wal-Mart using the “people’s mic” while standing beside a man whose sign reads “Arrest the Bankers!”
Given that Occupy collapsed under the weight of serious problems in camps including rape, assault, drug abuse, theft and vandalism it’s surprising that de Blasio hasn’t backed away from Occupy yet. But give him time. Like President Obama, de Blasio has learned how to distance himself from his more extreme beliefs and personal connections when necessary.