A man wears a marijuana-inspired flag as he joined hundreds at the 2019 Cannabis Parade and Rally in Union Square on Saturday, May 4.
Photos by Jefferson Siegel
Hundreds marched down Broadway to Union Square on Saturday in the Cannabis Parade and Rally. The annual event drew people, some puffing away on indeterminate substances, who listened to speakers call for a renewed push for marijuana legalization in Albany before the legislative session ends in June.
By former Assemblymember Steven Sanders
Several weeks ago, I wrote a column describing the utter futility of Bill de Blasio’s flirtation with a race for president and his frequent trips out of town in pursuit of that office. An avid Town & Village reader emailed us this week to ask why persons would contribute to such a campaign with little or no hope of victory. The answers are varied.
Yes, there are some political donors who truly believe in a particular candidate come hell or high water or ones who are close friends or relatives. Some candidates run for higher office thinking like those who play the lottery. Even though the probability of success is near zero, as the Power Ball slogan exclaims, “Hey, you never know” or “You can’t win it if you are not in it.” The chances of winning the jackpot and the odds of a nondescript candidate winning the presidency is about the same.
In the case of Donald Trump, he at least had a celebrity following from his business ventures, tabloid exposure, and his television show “The Apprentice.” None of those experiences qualified him to be president, but it did give him universal name recognition and political momentum as a candidate.
But back to Bill de Blasio and other office seekers who are not counted amongst the rich and the famous.
