The Truth Hurts

What You Should Know
By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz
32nd Senatorial District
718-991-3161
 
The Truth Hurts
 
You should know that “The truth hurts” is an old saying that is used when people who engage in deception get angry when they are confronted with the facts.
 
You should know that the life of an elected official often involves bragging about his or her achievements, and it also involves spending huge sums of money to tell their constituents how great they are.
 
It is important for you to know that in the process of telling all about their greatness, some elected officials make false claims about other people’s achievements, calling it their own.  Some lie about their opponents, and some accuse their opponents of negative things in order to shine in other people’s eyes.
 
In the process of bragging about themselves, elected officials spend millions and millions of dollars from their campaign coffers, and some find ways to spend millions and millions of dollars in government funds.

Take for example, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has been spending millions from his campaign and millions from public funds to proclaim himself “the last Coca-Cola in the desert.” He has been keeping himself very busy trying to make people believe that New York State has become heaven on earth since he became our Governor.  At the same time, he has spent millions of dollars to paint his opponent as the wrong choice for New York.

My dear reader, you should know that this is what elected officials do in order to keep their jobs.  As I have said before, it is done in taxpayer-funded newsletters.  It is done in public debates. It is done in campaign literature.  It is done all over the place by every elected official.  Some use real and factual issues and others take credit for someone else’s efforts.
 
During this past primary season, there were tons of pieces of campaign literature mailed from elected officials claiming that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Universal Pre-K Program became law in the State because of them, and nobody else.  Others were busy proclaiming that every good thing that happened in the State of New York was because of them.

You should know that even while all of this self-aggrandizement and pomposity was at its peak, I never heard anyone in the media opposing it, nor did I hear anyone quoting the Bible to remind people why they should not boast about how proud they are of themselves.

Never … except until after I wrote an article, “Yes, I Am One of New York’s Most Effective and Proficient Legislators”  telling people that 16 pieces of legislation that I sponsored had become law in the State of New York.
For the past 10 years, the media has painted me as a two-issue Senator.  They have hoodwinked people to make them believe that I am only concerned with opposing gay marriage and abortion. I have to admit that they have been successful doing that.
 
No one in the media ever wrote that for a Senator in the Minority, how nearly impossible it is to pass a bill and have it signed into law.  No one in the media has ever paid attention to the fact that 16 pieces of MY legislation have become law in the State of New York, making me one of the most effective Senators in the Chamber.
 
You should know that when I did what every elected official does – and bragged about my work aside from my opposition to gay marriage and abortion – it caught the attention of Mr. Rex Smith, the Editor of the Times Union in Albany.
 
On Sunday, September 28, 2014 in a long article titled “What's real and what is an illusion?” Mr. Smith went to great lengths citing everything from Nanny Fine to Ernest Hemingway to the Holy Bible to try to put me down.
 
In his attempt to use the Word of God to explain why I should only let others praise my work, and for me not to do so myself, Mr. Smith wrote: “Judeo-Christian scripture suggesting that boastfulness is not an admirable quality, starting with the prophet Jeremiah, who wrote, "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches."
 
Well, my dear reader, you should know that for the past 10 years, the media – including the Times Union – have only written negative things about me, overlooking so many of my great achievements while fixating on my opposition to gay marriage and abortion.
 
It seems to me that it is hard for some people to know that Senator Reverend Rubén Díaz, the Black guy with the kinky hair and the broken English from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, cannot be pigeon-holed by those two issues.  It must be tough for them to have to admit that I am one of the most effective Senators in New York State, and that very few - if any - in the Senate Minority have had 16 bills passed and signed into law during the past 10 years in the New York State Senate.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, THAT IS THE TRUTH.  It might make some people angry because now people know the rest of the story, that Senator Reverend Rubén Díaz is more than gay marriage and abortion, and as such, the truth hurts. OOPS!
 
This is Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz, and this is what you should know.