One of the more hilarious arguments put forth by New York legislators during the Comptroller fight has been that by blowing off their deal with the governor, they were somehow standing up for the principle of separation of powers. For instance, here's Assemblyman Joe Lentol [1] of Brooklyn:
"I, too, stand for reform today," Assemblyman Joe Lentol, a Brooklyn Democrat, said during the comptroller vote. "The reform I'm talking about is not abdicating my responsibility as a member of the Legislature of the state of New York and ceding that authority to the executive.
Don't flatter yourself, Mr. Lentol.
There is no such thing as the New York legislature. There's a bunch of hands that dutifully go up at the beginning of each session, and then there's Shelly Silver and Joe Bruno. Ceding that authority to the executive? Mr. Lentol clearly has a rich sense of irony - or none at all. Don't talk about ceding power to the executive when you've ceded all your power to an executive named Shelly Silver. At least Spitzer has the virtue of having been elected by 69% of the voters of New York State, as opposed to a handful of folks on the lower east side and in the capitol building.
The arrogance of so many of New York's so-called legislators is matched only by their cluelessness. One of them called Spitzer "f--ing nuts." [2] Assembly Majority leader Canestrari said, “I don’t think tactics that impugn our integrity work.â€
You. Don't. Get. It.
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Mr. Canestrari, maybe you haven't noticed that every single newspaper has come out firmly in the governor's corner. Maybe you'll be surprised when the polls show the public solidly on Spitzer's side. And clearly you're happy enough for your "legislators" to remain insulated from the public's disgust behind a wall of incumbent-protection schemes. But here's a hint: you think the governor's crazy? You think he unfairly maligns you? Tell me, then, because nothing else has worked: You're clearly incapable of cleaning up your own mess. So just what the hell is Spitzer supposed to do to represent the will of the public and finally bring some reform, some democracy, to the pointless body laughably known as the "New York State Legislature"?
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