The Wyoming Institute (d/b/a The Manhattan Institute)

Chad Marlow

The Wyoming Institute (d/b/a The Manhattan Institute)

Today I was watching CNN Pipeline’s coverage of what it captioned a "[Dick] Cheney Terror Speech" at the Manhattan Institute. To be sure, I was terrified at the idea a man like Cheney was delivering a speech within the confines of the proudly progressive borough of Manhattan. I am certainly an unequivocal supporter of free speech, including the right of a morally bankrupt person like Dick Cheney to express his opinions, but I question why New Yorkers have been so silent in allowing the Manhattan Institute to poison our City's newspapers and airwaves by continually promoting Dick Cheney's reactionary political philosophies. New Yorkers marched by the millions in protest of the Republicans coming to our City for their national convention, but we seem resigned to allowing the Manhattan Institute to advance the agenda that made the Republicans so unpalatable in the first place. We must, together as New Yorkers, find a way to drown out the Manhattan Institute's efforts with a loud chorus of dissenting boos each and every time it seeks to promote unpopular, unprogressive and, frankly, un-New York views from within our borders. Let them move out of New York and become the Wyoming Institute; then they could promote their views while awash in local support. But as long as they have hijacked and continue to defame the name of a New York City borough and persist in advocating extreme political philosophies we do not share, they should hear our disapproval as often as possible.

Comments

Proudly progressive borough of Manhattan? This is the home of Wall St, $40M penthouses, $800 Bugaboo strollers and multiple nannies per household. Manhattan's progressive aura died during the Guliani era. This borough has been reborn as a Yuppie Ghetto.

I've always found the rival think thank fight an interesting one. Now you have pundit v. pundit, pol v. pol, TV network v. TV netowrk, and think thank v. think thank.

I'd like to see Chad Marlow take on Steve Malanga from the Manhattan Institue in some no holds barred debate for the future of the borough!

But seriously, I'm kind of at odds with the dualing think tanks thing. I think if DMI stayed out of this and continued the good work of shaping progressive policy for the city and the state it will help the real confrontation and that is at the DRM rigged black box voting machines..... ;)

Jason:

If you can get Steve Malanga to agree, I'm game!