Posted by
Bill Crawford on Tuesday, October 19, 2010 10:13:25 AM
In their prototypical Empire State fashion, the powers that be agreed to and held a Gubernatorial candidate's debate yesterday.
Along with the two major parties, they obviously invited anybody who gathered write-in signatures from one or two dozen family members. Many States have had hookers run for high office- rarely do they get elevated to prime time status. So I guess they figured, if a seer of the oldest profession was seeking office in the second oldest, go for the gusto, right?
And so they did. Which probably explains why there was a former Black Panther in a Nehru jacket there, and the head of the The Rent Is Too Damned High Party. At least the Nehru jacket was black. More than one candidate (including Paladino) were dressed in their best pool table green sport coats.
If Andrew Cuomo was responsible for all this somehow, he needs to shovel it over big time for a Christmas bonus to his advance men. By remembering all his lines (obviously not a Tea Party requirement) and not looking like a village idiot, Andrew walked out of there with the election in hand. You know how it is- in the land of the blind, the one-eyed jack is King.
My caveat to Cuomo is: what you saw around you last night is not far from what Sheldon Silver and his ilk call normal government process in Albany. Your State is due to face default or bankruptcy next June, and the new Republican Congress is not going to be tossing any life preservers. If you do the right thing then, every union in the State will be hanging you in effigy. Why the hell would you want this job?
Heck, they're already selling Chris Christie pinadas across the Hudson. But at least he, if he gets anywhere with this at all, will move up in the Republican world as a hero. If you do the right thing, you will be a pariah in your Party.
Leave town now, Andrew. Go find a place to live where critical thinking is something besides a joke or a distant memory. Someplace where you can make some money and not have to fork over half of it to the public sector, like so much vigorish.
Get out while you can.