On Long Island,
where I live, a major issue when Spitzer was governor was what was seen as his support
of a scheme to place in the Long Island Sound a floating facility the size of
an ocean liner holding up to eight-billion cubic feet of highly explosive liquefied
gas. The governor of Connecticut, other officials and people there--and people
and most officials on Long Island--strongly opposed this "Broadwater Energy"
project of Shell Oil and Trans Canada Pipelines.
Under the
federal regulatory process, the government of New York State, because the mammoth
gas barge would be closest to it, could veto the scheme. As the state's attorney
general, Spitzer might have insisted Wall Street play straight, but as governor
when it came to Broadwater he, according to my sources, was aggressively trying
to undermine the negative positions of state agencies and give the state's OK
to Broadwater. The scandal that forced him out of office deprived Spitzer of
that opportunity. His successor, David Paterson, who had been lieutenant
governor, as a first action announced the state's firm no to Broadwater, ending
the scheme.
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of
Citizens Campaign for the Environment, commented about this demonstrating that "a
unified public can take on big business and big money and win. It's
exhilarating to know that democracy is alive and well in America." If Spitzer had remained governor, the outcome
would have likely been different. click here
As for Weiner's
record in office, a spotlight in recent weeks has been on how in his 12 years
in the House of Representatives he got only one bill passed. click here
The Weiner and
Spitzer cases have somewhat combined, and Dr. Kenneth Sherrill, professor emeritus
of political science at Hunter College, states that "the two of them, in two
different races, may have the effect of pulling each other down" by giving
Republicans a chance to present Democrats as morally challenged. http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Kenneth-Sherrill/2272817
Weiner's
travails and the outspoken support for him by his wife, Huma Abedin, long a top
aide to Hillary Clinton, are also spilling over on Clinton running for
president in 2016.
Further, Weiner
in one campaign stop defended public officials doing sexting. It began with Peg
Brunda, amid a throng of reporters and with cameras rolling on Staten Island,
confronting Weiner and telling him that as a teacher and assistant principal in
the New York City school system for 30 years, "if I conducted myself in the
manner you conducted yours, my job would've been gone." Weiner responded: "In
the privacy of your home?" She replied: "In the privacy of my home." And she
declared: "I don't quite understand how you would feel you would have the moral
authority as the head administrator in the city to oversee employees when your
standard of conduct is so much lower than the standard of conduct that's
expected of me." Later, at a press conference, asked whether as mayor he would
hire a schools chancellor or a police commissioner with his sort of sexting
problem, Weiner said: "People have their personal lives. It is unconnected to
their professional duties, of course. I'm not going to judge someone's personal
life." http://www.boston.com/news/source/2013/07/retired_teacher_confronts_anthony_weiner.html
There has been a history in the United
States in recent years of scandal-scarred politicians being forgiven by the
voters. President Bill Clinton managed to survive his affair with White House
intern Monica Lewinsky, beat impeachment and has now become an elder statesman
of the Democratic Party. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford abruptly resigned
in 2009 after he disappeared for a week and it was disclosed that he was in
Argentina pursuing an affair with a woman there--but he was elected to a seat in
Congress earlier this year. In an
article last month on this, The New York
Times related that "all across the country" politicians "tainted by
scandal, some of them seemingly mudded beyond saving," have gone on to survive
politically. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/us/politics/politicians-are-slowed-by-scandal-but-many-still-win-the-race.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Still, can Weiner and Spitzer make it
when their behavior, perhaps forgivable to some, is so combined with a lack of
stability and an absence of sensibility--and crazy arrogance?
Amidst the Weiner mess, his campaign
manager resigned, and Andy Borowitz,
on The New Yorker website, followed
this with: "One day after his campaign manager quit, the
mayoral candidate Anthony D. Weiner named his penis to the post, telling
reporters, 'He was already making most of the major decisions, anyway.' In
announcing the new appointment, Mr. Weiner lavished praise upon his penis, calling
him 'a tough hombre' who 'cares about the struggles of ordinary, middle-class
New Yorkers.' After one reporter questioned the wisdom of naming his penis to
such an important role in the campaign, Mr. Weiner dismissed that concern,
saying, 'Look, he's gotten me this far.' While Mr. Weiner's decision to give
the top job to his controversial appendage raised eyebrows among political
observers, insiders said the move merely reflected his headline-grabbing
member's already prominent role in the campaign." http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport
***
Karl Grossman,
a native of New York City, is a professor of journalism at the State University
of New York/College at Old Westbury and a long-time investigative reporter.
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