Paterson Death Watch...

The problem with what David Paterson did, and the way he did it, was that he put everybody, including himself, into an impossible position. Everybody understands what happened. Paterson made multiple deals, and handled all of them very badly. It was clear that he’d given assurances to Kennedy, and requested that she not protect herself when the press came after her. She accepted the deal, sweetened the pot, and instead of reciprocating in kind, instead of acting like an adult, he made himself a cat’s paw for the Clintons.

His plan was obviously to appoint Kirsten Gillibrand. Hillary Clinton had taken some heat (much of it from me) for her habit of pulling the ladder up behind her. As Gillibrand had worked to get her elected in 2000, when HRC ran against professional tomato can Rick “look at my butt” Lazio, she was chosen to proclaim Clinton as her mentor. She might have said it in Chinese, or French…

Paterson opted to have the press bloody up Caroline Kennedy. It was deliberate, and it served to punish the Kennedys for backing the new president. (It’s Barrack Obama who’s given Hillary Clinton the security clearance she lacked as co-president of the United States.) Also to protect Gillibrand from media and its questions. It was also intended as appreciation towards the Clintons for getting Spitzer out of the way of Paterson’s ascension. It will also prove it be his ultimate undoing.

Even after he’d admitted that he’d hung her out to dry, Kennedy still acted like an adult and tried to do the right thing by the state, and withdraw her name from consideration. If he’d handled himself properly, it would have worked. Instead, he had snide rumors gratuitously circulated. Of course everybody knows that there is no such thing a personal situation that will keep any Kennedy from public service, but by minimizing the fall out, she, unlike the other players in this ugly game, wasn’t trying to fool anybody, she was trying to protect the people of the state. She and her family walked 26 blocks, on a NY winter’s evening, to have their dinner out, show face, and really put the public a little more at ease. That’s a gesture of a true, seasoned player.

Nobody wants to be seen as a pushover, it sets an impossible tone. It’s the same reason women can be unyielding about the beginning of a relationship. It’s not that she doesn’t want to see you, she doesn’t want to tell your children that the first real date she had with their father, involved liquor, a famous hotel, and not even a gaggle of girlfriends to feign the appearance of propriety.

If the Kennedys don’t end his career, they invite every hustler, grifter, scammer to target all of them, and all their foundations. The Special Olympics, The River Project, all the environmental stuff, the housing, the heating, everything. It will be as if someone has rung a bell… it’s nothing more, or less than the way the world works.

So with David Paterson’s career very much over, who benefits? Andrew Cuomo looks like he feels like he’s in the running, but I wonder if he’s thought it through. I think he knows that HRC is largely a figurehead, and as such he figures she won’t have enough influence to jeopardize her job. He’s probably been assured that Bill will behave, but what if the Clintons, who have repeatedly been stone cold busted telling untruths to the public, are lying also to him. Even in private. OMG! What if HRC is conspicuous when disagreeing with the president? Is it possible she’ll lose this plum assignment, and need a place to land. With Paterson out of the way, and the Kennedys and Cuomos fighting each other, she can reluctantly agree to be called.

HRC Hearing.

So Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearings began today. How nice. That woman uses the word smart as frequently as Ted Haggard uses the word fabulous. Honestly, is no one on this planet a grown up? The woman deliberately exploits her own daughter Chelsea as a human shield, and no one objects. What's up with that? By the by, wasn't it nice for John Kerry to offer Chelsea an internship? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more..., anyhooo... I was surprised to know that HRC was urged to reveal more of her husband's donors. Hadn't that already been done? That should have already been done. But of course Hillary Clinton should have also resigned her seat in the Senate.

What about this business that international abuse of women isn't culture, according to Hillary Clinton, it's a crime. Well, that's nice too. Am I the only one who remembers, it was the year 2000, the Puerto Rican Day Parade. It was NYC, and a bunch of damn fools got loaded, and proceeded to sexually assault numerous random women. Hillary Rodham Clinton was responsible for capitalizing on that event to call for the names of all victims of sexual assault to be published. She was a woman in her fifties then. I found that disturbing at the time, I find it even more deeply disturbing now.

If somebody is willing to do something once, and then repeats the thing, twice; what right do you have to put your money that they won't do it yet another time? This nation needs to use its head, to protect itself. To keep records, recordings, of the things that are actually happening. In order for this nation to have the freedoms in the future, that this nation, and its citizens have come to expect, this nation has to be self reliant. We have to look out for our own interests for the future, and not simply rely on those things we are owed. Just because Mrs. Peacock owes Colnel Mustard, is no reason to think she won't blab about him being in the library with the candlestick. True or not, he won't be in any position to call in the debt.

Lame Duck Senator

Isn't Hillary Clinton's refusal to step an extreme slap in the face of New York State? Seriously, she is a lame duck senator. She can't make any deals, because everybody knows that she's leaving, and won't be in a position to hold up her end. She's doing harm to the transition process. By not vacating the seat, she's keeping the hands of Gov Paterson tied behind his back, adding to whatever burdens come naturally to a governor of New York. On top of all that, she is ensuring her replacement will be more junior in the senate, than junior senator from Delaware, and maybe even Illinois.

Instead of aiding the transition process, untying the Governor’s hands, instead of preparing for her new job at state, how is she spending her time?

She’s bargaining with Bon Jovi to get her campaign debt paid down. She’s selling her email list to Bill’s charity. That she’s all about the Benjamins, there is little doubt. She’s holding on to the headlines, having her surrogates lavish public, although dubious, praise onto her, hoping to bury any reference to the tenth anniversary of her husband’s impeachment.

She should resign. She should spend this time boning up on world issues. Our position on Gaza, the riots in Greece, so many other things are going on. For the good of the world, for the good of the nation, for the good of New York, Hillary Clinton should resign.