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Hmmmm… Not Quite the Same Thing, Is It?

Channel 8’s got a new article up about a former aid to David Patterson getting a plum job working for State Senator John Sampson. This revelation comes as it is revealed that State Senator and turncoat Espada’s son was given a plum as well by the state Democrat’s central staff:

Another Controversial Hiring in Albany.

Well, what do you know? One loser in Albany gets called to the mat and then the accusations just keep on coming. Who could have ever predicted such a thing?

And oh-so loath as I am to compare the crimes of the Albany set, allow me to point out a few things which – on the face of it – don’t appear to achieve “scandal parity:”

  1. You can hire whatever idiot you like. Hiring is not the problem.
  2. In Espada, we have a clear narrative of nepotism and blackmail: dude abandons the Dems, then gets coaxed back, then his kid gets a job.
  3. Who did Sampson bribe? Not saying he didn’t, but where is the crime? We’re comparing nepotism to,.. what? a bad hiring choice.

So perhaps this case gets juicier. I won’t be holding my breath. Meanwhile, I’m sure there are others’ arms being twisted. Better stuff is on the way, no doubt.

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Booze Nooze You Can Yooze

OK, childish post title. So, sue me.

But in addition to the announcement of some weird beer happenings, there is also this: Lendevours reports today that the fight over grocery stores selling wine has spilled over into the wine festival circuit in New York. Meanwhile, Sarah and I shopped at the Penfield Weggies Sunday, and they had a guy soliciting petition signatures supporting the sale of wine in grocery stores. That’s right, a Wegmans guy.

Overall, I’d say I’m fairly agnostic on the whole affair. As a personal issue, buying wine at the grocery store along with all the other fixin’s for a good meal makes sense to me. At the same time, do you really want the sixteen year old who got drunk on Natural Ice last night to be your only reference when purchasing a bottle of French wine? I don’t think I’d be anywhere near as knowledgeable about wine – and I’m not that knowledgeable about wine – if it weren’t for the kind and patient folks at Schubert’s Wine on Park Avenue.

And while we’re discussing it, how does this fight relate to the recent tagging of Marketplace Liquor for selling wine gift bags? ((Can’t find a link right now, and don’t feel like looking deeper)) Back around Christmas time, Marketplace was fined for selling gift bags to throw wine bottles into, because they’re considered grocery items according to some arcane law or another. Sarah and I went there expecting to find martini rimming sugar a few days ago, but that’s a grocery item as well.

So, are these two events related? Was this some in-the-paint elbow throwing between the grocers and the liquor store owners? And if not, will the laws preventing liquor stores from selling grocery items be relaxed if the opposite is allowed?

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Paterson Making Calls?

Liutenent Governor Patterson on 13WHAM.comDown there at the bottom of a discussion of Patterson’s prospects of becoming governor, there is a fairly obvious hint that this is precisely what’s about to happen:

If Spitzer steps down, Paterson would move up – 13WHAM.com

Tuesday morning, Assemblyman Republican leader James Tedisco said he got a call from Paterson. Tedisco had been at odds with the Democratic Spitzer, but, Tedisco said Paterson asked if he would consider a fresh start.

It’s pretty obvious that Spitzer needs to step down, but to this moment, it has been less obvious that he would.  This phone call makes it seem like this may already be happening.  Indeed, speculation has been that Spitzer intended to use his stepping down as a part of a plea bargaining deal that would eliminate the need for him to be indicted.

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Client 9 from Outer Space: Morning Roundup

After all the craziness happened yesterday afternoon, it seems like a good idea to pull the pieces of the Spitzer Strumpet Scandal and add my own thoughts. Things moved fast through the blog community and elsewhere, and there’s a lot of ground to cover. I’m sure I’ll miss some stuff, so don’t be afraid to hit me with corrections in the comments. But be warned: this is a very long roundup!

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Spitzer Busted for Solicitation of Prostitution

H/t to TalkingPointsMemo.com, from whence I find the story.  Well, if we have any defense against the coming onslaught of Republican cries of foul play in the Governor’s Mansion, it may only be that we can hope these girls were at least of age and probably not found in public bathrooms.  The same cannot be said of all Republican scandals:

Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring – New York Times

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved. But a person with knowledge of the governor’s role said that the person believes the governor is one of the men identified as clients in court papers.

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New York Election Reform: Keeping the Conversation Going

I’ve recently been involved in a few lobbying efforts with Metro Justice for the Clean Money, Clean Elections campaign, and have gained some small amount of insight as to the state of affairs in Albany.  If you’re wondering why there’s been very little talk about public campaign financing on this site or others in New York, its because the conversation has run a bit dry in the absence of legislative movement, and legislative movement won’t happen until we turn over the state Senate.