December 29, 2006

We wrote an article on various forms of corruption in Albany as revealed in the year  2006, but it didn't seem right to send out a catalogue of official misconduct over the holiday weekend.  This is a time for reflection on the old year, celebration of the new year and preparation of plans for self-improvement, preferably enforceable with minimal effort. 
 
Then we saw a column by Billl Hammond in yesterday's Daily News, which to us is powerful and persuasive.  Hammond's  subject is Senate Majority Leader Joseph L.Bruno and his use of the power of the purse..  We believe the article should be more widely read and assimilated, because it explains clearly a set of facts which is confusing to many.  Hammond's column, OUST  HIM NOW, could, but is unlikely to, have influence on the choice the Republican state senators will make on Wednesday, January 3, the day the 2007 legislature opens. Link to it under Hammond's name.
 
We cannot help but note that while Bruno says he is 'guilty of nothing' and he has not yet been indicted, much less convicted, he was among the first to call for Comptroller Alan Hevesi's resignation, well before charges against Hevesi were officially brought. Bruno's demand for Hevesi's resignation came despite the fact that, if Hevesi were to be subject to impeachment at the request of the governor, it would be Bruno himself who could preside over the trial in the Senate.   Rule 25-O: "What goes around, comes around."
 
Bruno's twelve years as majority leader coincide with Pataki's twelve years as governor.  He was installed in 1995 when his predecessor as majority leader, Senator Ralph J. Marino of Nassau County, was ousted by state senators responsive to United States Senator Al D'Amato (also of Nassau).  Marino was not enthralled by the selection of freshman Senator Pataki as the Republican nomination for governor against incumbent Mario Cuomo.  D'Amato's choice of Pataki turned out to be  an inspired political move, resulting in three terms of Republican suzerainty in Albany.
 
Pataki at that time (1994) was new to the senate and sometimes opposed Marino's positions from the right.  Pataki won his Senate seat in 1992 in a primary against the seven-term incumbent Mary Goodhue, the only female Republican state senator.   She had hired Pataki to serve as an assistant, before he was elected to the assembly in 1984..
 
The twelve Pataki years are summarized in an editorial in today's New York Post.   Interestingly, Pataki ran both for state senator and governor as a conservative, and the Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, is unquestionably a conservative newspaper.  Link to "The Big Gov Who Wouldn't" for a critical review of the departing Republican governor's three terms in Albany.
 
We look forward to Monday: "Day One, Everything Changes". So far there have been strong indications of positive change, but also a few disturbing glimmerings that plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.
 
Enjoy the weekend and the New Year.  Two articles should not be too much to read over the long weekend.

With regard to the New Year, we cite Rule 26:  "Every day we live is a gift of God."   That rule applies whether or not you believe in God, because life, unless you hate it, is surely a great gift.  We did not earn our earthly existence, but we can justify it by our good works.

All the best to you and to your kith and kin, for 2007 and beyond,

StarQuest


#339 12.29.06   578wds