Sen. Parker Points Out Outbursts Are Giving Him Attention

There's political upside to having a bad temper and calling some of your State Senate colleagues "racists" and "white supremacists"—you get invited to speak on political public affairs programs! State Senator Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn) said during an interview for WCBS 2's Eye on New York (which airs tomorrow morning), "It got me on this show. I've been in the senate for eight years and no one's ever invited me here." Here's some of the exchange:

CBS 2 HD: "What about the specific charge that they are … that the Republicans are white supremacists? Do you back off of that? Do you apologize?"

Parker: "Let's look at the evidence. We have a power authority board."

CBS 2 HD: "Are they white supremacists?"

Parker: "We have a power authority board that's been around for 70 years, never an African American, a Latino and Asian, a woman on that board."

CBS 2 HD: "But you're charging the Senate Republicans with being white supremacists. You're painting with a very broad brush."

Parker: "I didn't say every one of them was. I didn't even say just them. I also said some of the Democrats. The reality is we have a problem in state government where resources are not being distributed equally."

Well, Parker's statement about white supremacists was, "You have these ... long-term white supremacists ... Republican senators, who you know have been in the majority for a long time. They've lost the majority," which certainly implies he meant Republicans. Heck, the NY Times editorial thinks Parker was referring to Republicans; it also mentions his "frightening rages that could erupt at any time and on almost any subject." The Times-Union's editorial has this observation: "Anger and threats overshadow any valid point he might have had."

Guess what else Parker's temper gets him: An assault trial! NY1 reports that the Brooklyn DA's office will try Parker for allegedly assaulting a Post photographer, who broke his finger in a scuffle (the photog was waiting outside Parker's house; the Post was doing a story about how the house was near repossession).