Is Governor Paterson on his way out?
As readers of this blog know, I'm sort of a guarded fan of Governor David Paterson.
He's one of the clumsiest career politicians I've ever observed, but his leadership through the fiscal crisis has struck me as honest and forthright.
In the opening days of his accidental governorship, he admitted to past marital infidelities and other indiscretions, in an effort to clear the post-Spitzerian air.
But for days now, a kind of deathwatch has been underway in Albany. According to rumor, wink and nudge, the New York Times is preparing some sort of expose.
It's sort of a funhouse mirror situation, stripped of all the fun.
Here's the Albany Times-Union quoting a Daily News blogger talking to the Huffington Post about a story she's never seen (and, of course, now I'm quoting the T-U...)
The chatter has created a surreal world at the Capitol where reporters are being quoted talking about an article that has been read by no one outside of the Times.
The Daily News' Liz Benjamin tells the Huffington Post it's "far worse than his acknowledged extramarital affair with a former state employee."
Surreal, indeed. While Albany burns, we appear to be perched on the precipice of more sexual and marital melodrama.
Unfortunately, neither the Governor nor the Times have stepped forward to debunk all of this, which lends the rumors some credibility.
If so, it's more than heartbreaking. It is frightening.
At best we will face another ten months under a governor so weakened that crucial decisions will be deferred.
At worst, a Paterson resignation would leave us governed by Lt. Governor Richard Ravitch.
Who the heck is he? We have no idea. (Full confession, I had to Google Ravitch to make sure I got his name right...)
If this goes down, our accidental governor will have been replaced by the anonymous governor.
Labels: election10
posted by Brian Mann @ 2/08/2010 11:40:00 AM
10 Comments
10 Comments:
The fact that the Albany bureau of the AP ran with this story about a rumor, without any confirmation or even the decency to print the rumor, based on a Page 6 New York Post item, says a lot about journalistic ethics these days.
If he's done something bad, it will come out, and we'll know about it. The AP used to wait until facts were in. Now I guess nobody does.
If you've seen the movie "Pulp Fiction," Dick Ravitch is the downstate equivalent of Harvey Keitel's "Wolf."
He's an incredibly smart guy who knows how to move bureaucracies when nobody else does, and he did this most famously by saving the New York subway and mass transit system from financial and physical collapse in the 1980s. His first step? Remove the graffiti. And keep it removed. He also fixed the finances. Before that he worked for LBJ and Huge Carey, where he made solvent the precursor to the Empire State Development Corp.
He had a less successful tenure with the MTA recently, when his plans to reduce another deficit failed.
Based on no knowledge save for his history with transit issues, I'm thinking he had something to do with the relative fast-tracking of the Crown Point bridge project.
Here's a clip: http://ourtownny.com/?p=2358
I'm so conservative I make Rush nervous, but- I respect Patterson. I think he's trying which is more than his predecessor did. I don;t agree with everything Patterson does or says, but the man is about as close to an honest politician as NY has seen in some time.
This is one of the most disgraceful things I've ever seen. I don't have much regard for Rick Lazio but I'll give him credit that he called on The Times to either print the article or debunk the rumors. Anon 12:22 is right: the AP should be ashamed of itself. Until there's a story, THERE'S NO STORY!
Yeah, I generally agree with the tone of these posts.
I'm ambivalent about having blogged on this subject at all.
Regardless of how this turns out, I'll take my lumps as one of the journalists who should have kept his mouth shut until some facts are on the table.
--Brian, NCPR
How far in the background is Cuomo on this little expose?
New York, NY - Rick Lazio sent a letter to New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller today regarding rumors surrounding Governor David Paterson. The contents of the letter are below:
Mr. Bill Keller
Executive Editor
New York Times
620 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10018
February 8, 2010
Dear Mr. Keller
Your paper has generated a media firestorm that is directly hurting the Governor of the State of New York, David Paterson. This is not because of a story you have published, but because of the hype surrounding an unconfirmed story that has grown larger than the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Your paper has a responsibility to report the truth, and the public expects nothing less. End the shroud of secrecy surrounding your potential story.
If the New York Times is working on or has a story, then you should confirm or print it. If you do not, then you have a moral obligation to stop the drama and the psychological warfare on Governor Paterson.
Unfortunately, these rumors about the Governor are a sad reflection of Albany politics. No public official deserves to be the subject of over a week of innuendo and nasty speculation. I hope you do the right thing, and do it soon.
Sincerely,
Rick Lazio
The less Paterson has to lose the greater his power. I respect him now that he's realized this.
Brian Mann -- You and NCPR have used Liz Benjamin as a source and expert, somebody whose opinion and insights you felt were needed to help inform the North Country on various NYS government issues. She links to your blog notes and you to her's. I think you need to do more here and call her out ala Doolittle. She appears to have acted recklessly. Her giddy statement (sourced how? 2 sources? from w/i the NYT? we'll probably never know) to the Huffington Post gave this story legs as both Benjamin and the Huffpo are deemed reliable sources. This opened the floodgates of stunningly lousy journalism. I know you're taking the NYT position of loftily reporting about the story of the nonsense and not the nonsense itself, but I think NCPR needs to do more here as one of your esteemed experts has lost her mind. She should have her journalism license revoked, if there were such a thing.
To answer the question on this thread, looks like "no."
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