March 5, 2007

Day 64 -  Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose?
 
In Sunday's Daily News (I remember when they called it the Sunday News, and Dick Tracy was on the cover at the newsstand.), Michael Goodwin wrote a powerful column headed "3 MEN WALK INTO A ROOM...Spitzer joins a secret society, and it's no laughing matter."
 
You should link to Goodwin's column and read it, if you don't have the Sunday paper.  Published as it was on Day 63 (remember Day One - everything changes), it means the new governor's honeymoon lasted just nine weeks, as far as Goodwin is concerned.
 
The thrust of the article is that Governor Spitzer is conducting important state business in secret, dealing only with Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate leader Joseph Bruno. There has been no opportunity for public input or review of the actions he has taken. Nor has anything been done about the conflicts of interest or other abuses involving his two new partners.
 
These paragraphs, which are revealing, quote the governor directly. His words are in capitals, but that does not mean he shouted. We weren't there.
 
"Spitzer, in a brief, testy phone interview, defended the process and the outcome. 'THIS IS THE WAY GOVERNMENT SHOULD WORK.  FOR ALL THE NATTERING OF THE EDITORIAL PAGES, WE’RE ACTUALLY GETTING SOMETHING DONE.

"When I said it was my opinion he had given into the Legislature's usual scams of secrecy, he shot back: "I’M THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE.  I’LL BE LYNDON JOHNSON.  I’LL CRAFT THE DEALS AND I’LL GET THE JOB DONE.  YOU WILL WRITE AND I WILL DO.  THAT’S WHY YOU’RE THERE AND I’M HERE."
 
Goodwin concludes, in his own words, "Lyndon Johnson?  Wow. Twelve steps may not be enough to cure our new governor."

We have three specific comments on this enlightening dialogue:
 
  1) re Spitzer: We had not heard the word ‘nattering’ since Bill Safire in 1970 wrote into a speech Vice President Spiro Agnew gave in San Diego the timeless phrase “nattering nabobs of negativity”.  That was also a reference to the press, which had found fault with the Vice President, much as the media and the public complain about Dick Cheney today.  Did the governor, in using that most unusual word in connection with the press, identify with either of the two beleaguered vice presidents?

   2) re Goodwin and Spitzer: If our governor shows the ability that Lyndon Johnson had to get legislation adopted by Congress, he will be Presidential timber.  Johnson's downfall was the war in Vietnam, but his success in getting bills passed was remarkable, as Robert Caro has described so ably.  LBJ would be a good role model for ELS. We do not believe that Johnson, vulgar in private as he unquestionably was, ever referred to himself a steamroller, although he often used the intensifying expletive  as a gerund preceding a noun, which in this case is also a transitive verb. 

   3) re Goodwin: Does the reference to ‘twelve steps’ indicate that Goodwin believes that Spitzer is more troubled or delusional than an alcoholic, drug addict, gambler, overeater or sexual predator who is participating in the twelve step recovery program originated by AA.   If not, what does it mean?  If it does, that is permissible rhetoric by an outraged columnist, protected by the First Amendment and a free press.  Certainly this governor ought not complain about the expressive language of others.

An editorial in this morning's Times, "GOVERNOR GUNSLINGER", gives the Times' opinion on various agreements which have been reached in Albany.  Their concerns with the legislative process are expressed below:
 
"For all his early successes, Mr. Spitzer has not yet managed to change the way things get done in Albany.  These reforms were largely worked out the old-fashioned way -- in the backrooms of the State Capitol.  It makes sense that Mr. Spitzer wanted to push through some early victories, but if he plans to succeed over time, he should be doing more to bring the public into the discussion."

The column and the editorial reflect New York's differences of opinion.  The governor tells it as he sees it, and so do the writers, the columnist with concern and dismay, the editorialist with proprietary gentility. Michael Goodwin is the kind of journalist that Eliot Spitzer is governor; aggressive, intelligent, and productive. Neither suffers fools gladly.  The brighter you are, the more people you may believe to be fools.  It is important not to indicate to people that you believe them foolish,  because although fools they may be, they are smart enough to know what you think of them, and they can  be angry enough to do you harm if they have the opportunity. This admonition applies in particular to public officials at all levels.  Rule 26-W: A word to the wise is sufficient.

Is every public issue necessarily racial?  The columnist writes that public business is still being transacted in secrecy by "three white men." Although Spitzer, Bruno and Silver are all European-American males, and two of the three may have ethical issues, they are in the room because they were elected, either by the people or by their fellow legislators, not because of their race or gender.  Nor are they responsible for the racial and sexual discrimination that has occurred since the dawn of history, and possibly earlier if early homo sapiens disposed of the Neanderthals.  If  State Senator Malcolm Smith, an African-American who is now the minority leader, were to become majority leader and consequently the third man in the room, the dynamic of the trio would be unlikely to change.  The issue here  is not race or gender, it is power and process.
 
We believe that open government is generally better than secret government, with some kind of exception for issues involving national security.  As far as we know, there are no such matters before the state legislature, so we are in basic agreement with Goodwin’s point, to the extent that it is practical.  The legislators may be sheep, but sheep need shepherds,   and in our system, the herder is elected by the sheep, not that they have much real choice.  At any rate, with whom would you have the governor deal?  Backbenchers?  When a negotiation is undertaken, each party must be able, if agreement is reached, to deliver his side. We cite Rule 24-T: “What do you bring to the table?”

During the war on poverty in the late 1960’s, the rubric was "maximum feasible participation" by the poor in administering programs designed to help them.  That helped a lot of people to steal. Today we seek maximum feasible participation by the public and the legislators in the consideration and adoption of legislation and, in particular, the state budget.  The purpose is to prevent a lot of people from stealing.  We paraphrase Mr. Justice Brandeis: “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
 
Reformers want government to change for the better, but they are not truly comfortable with the exercise of power by anyone, perhaps because of their anarchist ancestors..  One definition of power is the ability to get people to do things they do not want to do, either because of their convictions or because it is not in their interest. You do not need power to get legislators to reduce taxes or increase spending.  You need power to pass bills which are unpopular but necessary.  In recent years there has not been enough power to make the legislature fiscally responsible, so New York’s pubic deficit has risen steadily, and debt incurred by public authorities has ballooned.  These are real-world consequences of Albany’s discord and futility.

Speaking of openness, Governor Spitzer is certainly open in expressing his feelings, and we should value his candor.  It would be easy for him either not to return the reporter’s phone call, or to say blandly that he will do his best to open the process. He could point with some justification to the state’s generation of stagnation, which has left the new administration to play catch-up on many public issues that have not been addressed.   Instead the man says what he thinks, like it or not..  How many congressmen did FDR consult preparing for the First Hundred Days in 1933?  Rule 23-I "I don't know and you don't know."  But the New Deal did not originate in Congress.
 
As you can see, legislative process is a difficult, even a vexing question.  All sides are partially right and there is no easy answer, etc.  In the crucible of conflicting opinions and different attitudes, hopefully a path will be found which will lead us to a responsive, responsible and inclusive state government.   It should only be.

 
#357  3.05.07   1439wds