Two Talented Columnists
Skewer Errant Legislators.
Can We Clean the Stables?

By Henry J. Stern
January 25, 2005

We may have been a day ahead of ourselves yesterday when, in the course of an article on the city's budget presentation in Albany, we fell into enumerating various sins of anger, greed, lust, pride and sloth which have been committed by our state legislators.  The only two of the seven deadly sins that the solons appear to have missed were envy and gluttony.  Further examination might uncover those sins, but they are generally not indictable.
 
Today we have two formidable articles for you which identify the rogues and depict their transgressions.  Clyde Haberman, in full stride, writes on B1 of the Times, in his NYC column, "From Albany, Auditions for Court TV"; the subhead, in the midst of the column, says: "In stories of lawbreaker lawmakers, fodder for a full viewing schedule."  Clyde is a master of the language and, like his retiring fellow columnist at the Times, William Safire, he is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science.
 
Your enjoyment at reading the Haberman column may be slightly dampened by displeasure at the pathetic situation he so richly describes, but don't shoot the messenger.  That phrase is attributed to Cleopatra's striking and threatening the poor fellow who had been sent to tell her that Antony had married Octavia (sister of Octavius Caesar), but the same point was made in 442 B.C. by Sophocles: "Nobody likes the man who brings bad news."  Of course, he said it in Greek.
 
In today's Sun, John P. Avlon strongly denounces the criminal element in public office in his column, which leads page 8.  The banner reads: "John P. Avlon on the culture of arrogance in local politics."  The headline is: "When Politicians Attack."  Avlon deals primarily with acts of aggression and intimidation by senators, assemblymembers, legislative staff, and one trouble-prone city councilmember, you know who. He is quite thorough, describing cases that we had never heard of.  He opens by quoting Mark Twain and closes with this powerful paragraph:

"... 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."

Avlon is right, but it is quite difficult to defeat legislators who have gerrymandered district lines to protect themselves and exclude potential opponents, as well as having been mailing encomiums to themselves at public expense for up to thirty-five years.
 
This is New York State's dysfunctional family to the nth degree, and they decide how $105 billion of our money will be spent each year.  The legislators are bought off with appropriations for special projects in their districts, which can be withheld by the leaders if they dissent once too often.  The system is self-contained and self-protective, and the only way to break it is by electing people who will speak truth to power, and then seize the power.

We believe that there are many decent and honorable men and women who serve in Albany, but they are relatively powerless because of the domination of the process by the classic "three men in a room," whose only commonality is their intense suspicion and dislike for each other.

This account would not be complete or truly fair without pointing out that Speaker Sheldon Silver is the best friend that New York City has in Albany (except for tort reform), and that Senator Joseph Bruno is far more helpful to the city than Governor Pataki.  Parks Rule 26-B (Tony Carbonetti's rule) is "Not all our friends are perfect."  It has some relevance here.
 
Those who are in public life must make constant judgments on issues when loyalty and principle may conflict.  If they make too many wrong choices, they can be marginalized in office or even, heaven forbid, defeated. Their communities would suffer from loss of projects which may have merit.  Then the outsiders would have to go out and find jobs.  But the insider who loses his seat can be parked on the legislative payroll until retirement, with the lucrative pensions the legislators have legally prescribed for themselves.  The club takes care of its own, even in prison.