The New York Sun
January 25, 2005
When Politicians Attack
By John P. Avlon
Mark
Twain once said, "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there
is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." But if
you really want to examine the ethical swamp that results when public service
and self-service collide, there are few better places to look than politics
in New York City and Albany.
The buffoonery and bribery of years past seem like quaint relics from a Currier
& Ives print compared to the recent outbursts and assaults we've seen
from our civic leaders.
Over the past weekend, Brooklyn state Senator Kevin Parker was arrested for
punching a traffic cop in the face when the officer had the audacity to give
the elected official a $55 ticket.
Two weeks ago, the generally genteel state Democratic Chairman Herman "Denny"
Farrell burst into the Albany offices of New York Post columnist Fred Dicker
during a live radio show and screamed at the reporter for printing a story
about a "love child" the 72-year-old state senator is having with his girlfriend.
"I just came in to let your listeners know what a piece of slime you are,"
Mr. Farrell said in the bizarre on-air confrontation. "I'm so freakin' mad.
If this was a neighborhood, you know how this could end."
Earlier this month, City Councilman Alan Jennings apparently cracked under
the strain of an ethics investigation regarding allegations of sexual harassment
at City Hall: he was caught by television cameras throwing a chunk of metal
at a reporter filming a segment outside the councilman's Queens home. The
image of Jennings hulking out from behind his house and chucking the object
with great speed and skill into the small of the reporter's back was replayed
on "The Daily Show" to the merriment of a national audience.
Our local elected leaders' out-of-control actions are making the Empire State
look like a joke. What's really sad is that the absurd incidents are becoming
so common that they are greeted with a bemused shrug rather than shock. The
insular and arrogant culture of local politics has made corruption commonplace.
Ethical rot has set in. It is time for a housecleaning.
If you want to get really angry, look beyond the entertaining recent installments
of "When Politicians Attack" and consider the litany of criminal actions
by state legislators in recent years.
Eighteen-year incumbent Republican state Senator Guy Velella from the Bronx
pleaded guilty to an influence-peddling scheme involving funds paid to his
father's law firm in return for public contracts. He was jailed on Rikers
Island, released when an obscure mayoral board took pity on his complaints
about the conditions, and then sent back to prison after public outcry.
In Brooklyn, 23-year Assembly incumbent Roger Green resigned his seat after
investigations found that he submitted false expense reports while receiving
chauffeur-driven service from a Florida corrections firm seeking state contracts.
Eighteen-year Assembly veteran and Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Clarence
Norman was indicted for grand larceny and conspiracy for rigging the judicial
nomination system. Both Mr. Green and Mr. Norman were easily reelected to
their offices this past November in elections without serious opposition
- a sign of life in a corrupt one-party controlled county.
Bronx Democrat Gloria Davis - a 24-year incumbent of the state Assembly -
pleaded guilty in January 2003 to a felony bribery charge after steering
a $880,000 state construction contract in her district to a favored firm.
The former chief legal counsel to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Michael
Boxley, pleaded guilty to charges of sexual misconduct after an assembly
staffer alleged that Boxley had raped her. He was sentenced to six years
probation in February 2004 and is now listed in the state's sex offender
registry.
In 1997, Republican state Senator John "Randy" Kuhl of Steuben County was
arrested for drunk driving, which led to the chairman of the State Standing
Committee on Transportation having his license suspended for six months.
Subsequently, divorce papers surfaced alleging that he had threatened his
former wife with a shotgun during a dinner party at their home. In the fall
of 2004, Mr. Kuhl was elected to Congress.
Finally, the chairwoman of the Assembly Alcohol and Drug Abuse Committee
- Democratic Assemblywoman Susan John of Rochester - pleaded guilty to driving
while impaired in March of 1997, was fined, and ordered to attend a class
further detailing the dangers of drinking and driving.
These are just a few vivid examples of the dysfunctional culture that has
emerged in local politics over the past several years. Insularity breeds
arrogance, and while we shouldn't expect public officials to be perfect,
it is appropriate to hold them to a higher standard. The ethical standards
evidenced by the Albany crew in particular would be enough to get them bounced
from a Wiffle Ball league, let alone public office.
Which brings us back to the most recent arrogant embarrassment by Senator
Parker. When a transit cop wrote him a ticket for blocking traffic in his
home district, Mr. Parker allegedly crumpled it up and threw it back in the
officer's face and punched him. When Mr. Parker tried to drive off, the cop
stood in his path, prompting another altercation, according to witnesses.
After being arrested with third-degree assault, and released from a precinct
in Flatbush, Mr. Parker told reporters, "Nothing happened. This was a mountain
out of molehill ... I was involved in a minor accident. People have traffic
accidents," according to the New York Post. But most people don't assault
police officers, even on our worst days, and most people aren't elected officials.
To make matters worse, there appears to be a track record of anger and abuse
from Mr. Parker. A 13-year NYPD veteran, Marybeth Meyers, spoke on Saturday
to the Daily News about an incident in December 2003, in which she witnessed
one of Senator Parker's driving-related outbursts. After watching the senator
cut off an elderly couple, nearly causing a collision, Detective Meyers said
she got out of her car and was subsequently berated by the senator for questioning
his actions. She recalls him saying, "I don't give a damn! There is nothing
you can do about it, b----! Go f--- yourself!" All while standing outside
of his car, bearing state Senate plates. This kind of knee-jerk bullying
and thuggishness shows contempt for his office and for his constituents.
Mr. Parker's out-of-control behavior is further evidence of an insular atmosphere
of entitlement, where the people elected to make our laws consider themselves
above the law. The fact that so many indicted and implicated New York politicians
have been serving in office for decades only confirms the pervasive sense
that such behavior is business as usual in local politics. This unaccountable
and ethically shoddy culture is so corrupted and compromised that it is not
recognized as such by the people inside it. New Yorkers deserve better, but
we're not going to get more reasonable and responsible behavior from our
local elected officials until we demand it by kicking offenders out of office.
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