Make no mistake: what started as a personal attack on David Paterson by the New York Times has become a full-on stoning: an execution by the hands of the public.
I'm not defending Paterson's behavior. What he did by calling Sherr-una Booker was unethical, misguided, foolish, and insensitive to victims of domestic violence. It's just that I see his media handling as totally overblown; a large-scale distraction from the systemic nature of our state's problems.
Somewhere in the most primordial realms of the human psyche lies the hunger for communally-delivered punishment; an execution by peers, the guilt of which can be divided into miniscule shares for each and every participating member of the horde. Stonings transcend culture and time, they've been practiced everywhere from Feudal Japan to ancient Judea to modern-day Nigeria. Stories of stonings litter our holy books -- the Torah, the Koran, the New Testament.
The New Testament, for example, offers the famous parable of Mary Magdalene.
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone..."
This statement reminds us of how no one has the credentials to lay blame on a fellow man. What it also suggests, however, is that once the rocks are thrown and justice is served and its sacrifice is taken, you're still left with a room full of sinners.
And in the particular instance of the Albany, you're talking about some of the world's most egregious.
To start with, take Senate President Pro Tempore Malcolm Smith.
Two weeks ago, the Post revealed that Smith, along with Rep. Gregory Meeks, was at the helm of a fraudulent charity for pee-wee sports in Queens. The group yielded no contributions to any extra-curricular sports programs. Instead, its fundraising manifested itself in $405,000 into salaries and mysterious consulting fees.
Oh yeah -- two weeks before that, he was busted for running a similarly fraudulent charity for Katrina victims, for which he's been subpoenaed.
Of course, there's Pedro Espada, who aside from leading a coup that halted legislative proceedings for a month, has allegedly been funding his campaigns with money from his state-funded non-profit, SoundView. He's also being investigated for living outside of his district.
There's Kirsten Gillibrand, stubborn beneficiary of a rigged Senatorial election, in which the Democratic party squashed her competition and put the kibosh on any threats of a healthy democratic primary.
There are those who, while inefficient at balancing the budget, have proven to be vocal and effective crusaders against civil-rights in New York state. Take Senator Ruben Diaz Sr., who rallied seven other Democratic Senators to break the back of gay-marriage legislation in NY, legislation which Paterson championed. Diaz and his colleagues have promised legal discrimination to a new generation of queer men and women.
Here in New York City, we've been graced with Councilwoman Maria Del Carmen Arroyo, a bronx rep who is being investigated for maneuvering slush funds into her pocket from the city council. A partner confessed to diverting 15,000 dollars of city money back into Arroyo's bank account.
Senator Carl Kruger's legislation has been suspiciously convenient to the public desires of his biggest donors, the gambling industry and unions. It wouldn't be so notable if he didn't chair the Senate Finance Committee.
You get the idea. The thrill of a stoning is short-lived, it can't last for much longer than the initial rush. When the fracas clears up, the dust settles into the newly formed gravel, we're still left with a state-legislature that appoints its own ethical overseers, that encourages embezzlement and the misdirection of state-funds.
We're left with a system that allows unlimited donations from corporations and lobbies.
Our problems are, of course, systemic: it doesn't matter what these individuals do to drive our state deeper into the red. What matters is that they're part of an bureaucracy that lacks the proper checks to keep them from doing it again.
That's why what's happening to David Paterson seems comical. While Malcolm Smith and Rep. Gregory Meeks are still eating steak dinners on money that was raised for the Rosedale Pee-Wee Jets, Paterson gets front page coverage for taking free Yankee Tickets, a rite likely practiced by every New York Governor since the Yankees were playing at the Polo Grounds.
The stoning of David Paterson furthers the myth that we can pinpoint the failures of our state on the misdeeds of its executive. It's a childish, short-sighted way to address injustice. It might be fun for our media and its consumers for now, but when the smoke clears, will we be any better off for it?
I doubt it.
Follow Will Schwartz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Williemitts
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The media has actually been late to the game.
It has been a known fact in Albany that David Paterson had managed to bungle every position he has been given. On top of this he has used every position given to him as a government employment agency for his friends and gal pals.
“The Democratic Conference: Organizational and Operational Structure Report” is an eyewitness account of Paterson’s dysfunctional governing nature.
http://www.politico.com/static/PPM110_demreportfinal.html
This report heavily criticized Paterson’s leadership as Senator Minority leader. His office was criticized for patronage, lack of leadership, indecisiveness and infighting, set against a backdrop of general chaos – in other words the office was a zoo. Those interviewed in the report indicated that its chief of staff Mr. Jones-Bey, had no management skills, would get drunk with staff, often coming in the office with a hangover, and should be fired.
Amazingly, for running such a dysfunctional chaotic office, Mr. Jones-Bey was hand picked by David Paterson to head the Division of Minority & Women Owned Business Development at Empire State Development Corporation.
Sorry, but you may be entitled to your own opinion , but you're not entitled to your own facts. Both Harold Ford and Carolyn Maloney staffed up and began to run for Gillibrand's seat despite being advised that Gillibrand had the full support of the party and the President. Maloney dropped out after a debacle over an inappropriate word choice, and Ford , well, Ford dropped out once it became clear that he was no longer politically viable anywere.
Gillibrand's twenty-point lead in the polls over Ford had expanded to thirty points. Ford may be blaming the hierarchy -- because blaming other is just what does -- but Schumer and Rahm didn't make his polls go down; Ford did that all by his own little self. Even Steve Israel is now denying that the White House forced him out of the race.
As for not having a "healthy primary," FYI there are still three people challenging Gillibrand as of now: Jonathan Tasini (labor activist), Scott Noren (dentist from Ithaca), Joseph Huff (accountant from Poughkeepsie). Just because YOU don't happen to be aware of these challenges doesn't mean they're not taking place.
Again, your "facts" with respect to Gillibrand are simply inaccurate.
I was referring to the Democratic party interfering in voter's choices, and forcing (actually threatening) challengers to back down to avoid giving voters an actual choice. They haven't hid their strategy with this.
I wrote a piece about it a few weeks ago.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-schwartz/a-letter-to-new-york-stat_b_437120.html
I happen to like Gillibrand's record. I just think that in such a heavily Democratic state, voters always deserve a primary choice. It's called Democracy.
I stopped voting for the NY Times long ago by refusing to purchase it. You can get Frank Rich and Paul Krugman on the web - very rarely is there another reason to buy the NY Times.
Perhaps if the Times had taken the position that private sexual conduct did not warrant front page exposes, we'd still have a very competent governor named Spitzer.