"People," Gail Collins asks in today's New York Times, "what is going on with governors in this country? Are we doomed to see them go bonkers one by one, state by state?"
As the President heads for Russia next week, he leaves behind troubled American statehouses, from Schwarzenegger's in California handing out IOUs like a busted riverboat gambler to those of Sanford and Palin, who resisted Washington's stimulus money and are now heading out of office, maundering about higher levels of arousal in Argentina and Alaska.
In New York, the legislature is being held hostage by Gov. David Paterson, who got the job after Eliot Spitzer resigned over professional stimulus, while former Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, awaiting federal trial for corruption, loses out to Palin for the Sitting Duck Award, granted annually to the most ridiculed newsmaker in the nation.
Affairs of the states have been roiled by collapsing economies and rising pressures on chief executives to manage their way through crises rather than primp for the TV cameras in search of higher office. For some, like Bobby Jindal after his disastrous rebuttal to Obama's address to Congress, that may be a blessing in thin disguise.
Meanwhile, the antics of Palin, Sanford et al are distracting millions of mourners who won't win the lottery for tickets to the Michael Jackson memorial next week. Compared to some governors, the Gloved One was a model of sanity and much more entertaining to boot.
Showing posts with label Gov. David Paterson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gov. David Paterson. Show all posts
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Hillibrand and Burris, Hillary and Obama
A year ago, Americans were excited by the breakthrough of electing a woman or an African-American for president. Now, after the euphoria of Obama's inauguration, we have the sad spectacle of selecting a woman and an African-American senator for all the wrong reasons.
Turning back the demographic clock, here is the peerless Rod Blagojevich in the media spotlight, after choosing Roland Burris for racial reasons alone, bragging that he had considered Oprah for the spot.
And here we have Kirsten Hillibrand, with all of two years in Washington, chosen by Governor David Paterson for being a woman and living in upstate New York, lunching at the Waldorf with Hillary Clinton and burbling, “It’s thrilling. You will see me everywhere in the state. You will see me wherever you want to see me.”
In November 2010, voters in Illinois and New York will pick the person to represent them in the US Senate (and govern their states as well). Until then, they will have to live with the choices of a future felon and an accidental chief executive who got his job because a predecessor failed to keep his fly zipped.
Is this a great country or what?
Turning back the demographic clock, here is the peerless Rod Blagojevich in the media spotlight, after choosing Roland Burris for racial reasons alone, bragging that he had considered Oprah for the spot.
And here we have Kirsten Hillibrand, with all of two years in Washington, chosen by Governor David Paterson for being a woman and living in upstate New York, lunching at the Waldorf with Hillary Clinton and burbling, “It’s thrilling. You will see me everywhere in the state. You will see me wherever you want to see me.”
In November 2010, voters in Illinois and New York will pick the person to represent them in the US Senate (and govern their states as well). Until then, they will have to live with the choices of a future felon and an accidental chief executive who got his job because a predecessor failed to keep his fly zipped.
Is this a great country or what?
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Carping About Caroline Kennedy
If she ever had doubts about getting into the rough-and-tumble of politics, the mean-spirited aftermath of JFK's daughter's withdrawal from seeking Hillary Clinton's Senate seat should reinforce her decision.
Governor David Paterson's aides are anonymously attacking Caroline Kennedy (“The fiasco of the last 24 hours reinforced why the governor never intended to choose her”) and contradicting themselves with assertions that "problems involving taxes and a household employee surfaced" during her vetting.
On the other side, Time reports that her uncle's "circle is furious that his brain cancer has been cited by some in her camp as the reason" for stepping back.
"It looks horrible," says a former aide to Ted Kennedy. "It makes him look like he is at death's door."
This kind of rear-covering is only a small sample of what Caroline Kennedy would have encountered if she had taken the job and had to campaign for reelection.
Only New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg was kind and gracious about her exit.
“I’ll probably give her a call today and say, my thoughts are with you,” he said. “I wish her all the best and I think she should continue to stay involved in public service. She’s a great New Yorker and her husband is a really nice guy that I like.”
Amen to that. The Obama Administration should ask her to serve as ambassador to Great Britain (as her grandfather did) or France or Ireland, where her intelligence and instincts, along with her Kennedy and Bouvier background, could be an important American asset.
Governor David Paterson's aides are anonymously attacking Caroline Kennedy (“The fiasco of the last 24 hours reinforced why the governor never intended to choose her”) and contradicting themselves with assertions that "problems involving taxes and a household employee surfaced" during her vetting.
On the other side, Time reports that her uncle's "circle is furious that his brain cancer has been cited by some in her camp as the reason" for stepping back.
"It looks horrible," says a former aide to Ted Kennedy. "It makes him look like he is at death's door."
This kind of rear-covering is only a small sample of what Caroline Kennedy would have encountered if she had taken the job and had to campaign for reelection.
Only New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg was kind and gracious about her exit.
“I’ll probably give her a call today and say, my thoughts are with you,” he said. “I wish her all the best and I think she should continue to stay involved in public service. She’s a great New Yorker and her husband is a really nice guy that I like.”
Amen to that. The Obama Administration should ask her to serve as ambassador to Great Britain (as her grandfather did) or France or Ireland, where her intelligence and instincts, along with her Kennedy and Bouvier background, could be an important American asset.
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