Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr.: Mum on Paladino, mum on horrific anti-gay crime in the Bronx

Word came tonight that the usually loquacious New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. finally spoke up about the homophobic statements made by embattled conservative gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino over the weekend.

Or, rather, someone at The Albany Times Union reached Diaz and got the following:

Just got off the phone with Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., vocal same-sex marriage opponent. He declined to comment on @CarlPaladino's comments #nygov

No big surprise there. You might remember the 'good' Reverend made a show of inviting and embracing the anti-immigrant Tea Party candidate to the Bronx where he was "warmly embraced" by the Reverend and his religious acolytes back in August, according to NY1 ("Paladino stumps in the Bronx, receives warm welcome").

Now, as the Paladino candidacy seems to be going down in flames, we can certainly understand why the Reverend would rather stay quiet about their short-lived BFF status and clamp down on the bromance.

What is more difficult to understand is why the 'good' Reverend, who represents parts of the Bronx, has also stayed mum on the horrific crime committed by a Latino gang in his neighborhood against people they thought were gay.

After all, he did cast a rather surprising vote in favor of anti-bullying legislation back in June - which led to its passage.  Furthermore, a week ago, the Reverend proclaimed he was standing up against hate crimes when it came to a spate of recent attacks against the Bangladeshi community in the Bronx.

His non-homophobic son, who happens to be the current Bronx Borough President, did put out the following statement:

The news of these hate crimes sadden us all, and I am grateful that the NYPD has moved so quickly against those responsible for these homophobic attacks. Bronxites will not tolerate any form of bigotry in our borough, and we stand together as 1.4 million residents to condemn these actions and to oppose hatred in all its forms.

The Reverend? Still mum.  And Bronx Borough President Diaz, Jr. can't cover for him forever.

Perhaps the 'good' Reverend will call the Capital Tonight's Liz Benjamin tomorrow and respond to this blog post?

I'd ask him myself but, shoot! He's blocked me from his Twitter account (I wonder why) - See image on the left.

You, on the other hand, can still follow him on Twitter! Just click on @RevRubenDiaz and follow! And let me know things he wouldn't want to tweet to me!

As for Paladino and his unfortunate remarks at a Jewish synagogue in Brooklyn this weekend, The New York Times has an illuminating article posted online today ("Alliance with a rabbi has risks and rewards for Paladino") which follows Liz Benjamin's post earlier this weekend ("Paladino snubbed in Boro Park").

I mention this to point out that Paladino chose to align himself with the fringest of the fringestest conservative Orthodox Jewish figures in the city - Rabbi Yehuda Levin.  I also mention this to nicely tie up this post into the obligatory scary Paladino-Diaz-Levin triumvirate they will now escape from...

And yes, I have got video of Levin blessing Reverend Diaz and...



"Sodom on the Hudson" indeed! That's from an anti-gay rally held in May of 2009.

Nobody can say that rabbi Levin's statements weren't out there for anyone to find. Specially by Paladino who is now trying to place the blame on Levin for his statements.

The whole Paladino thing has certainly marginalized rabbi Levin to the sidelines. He'll probably never be reached by a political campaign ever again. And that is a very good thing we have to thank Paladino for.

If only the scandal would also help to marginalize the 'good' Reverend as well.

[Leading image of Senator Diaz and Carl Paladino courtesy of NGBlog].