Voters sent incumbents a clear message

We all know that the political game sometimes appears as loaded as a pair of suspect dice. We think that the little people get the short end of the collective stick and the sure shots always win. But every now and then, we get a surprise. For example, the recent win by Mayor Mike Bloomberg in New York City by a scant margin, despite his having spent around a hundred million bucks, is proof that the voters can sometimes have minds of their own. This election served as a predictor that when trouble visits, no politician is safe. Incumbents were sent a message, “You said that we could depend on you, but you didn’t produce.”

Right now, if you were a bookie you would be quite sure that Andrew Cuomo will be our next governor; Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer will be re-elected to the United States Senate and there will be no surprises come Election Day. But a restless electorate has a lot of politicians sweating.

I had a conversation with Ed Cox, the new state Republican chair the other day. He is bright and single-minded, but he has been out of favor with his party big-shots like George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani. Cox believes that the Republicans are on the rise. He describes himself a fiscal conservative and believes that the people have had enough of tax and spend. He points to victories in several Democratic strongholds like Westchester, Dutchess, Ulster and Nassau counties. But when asked who he has on the Republican bench to take on the mighty Democrats, he has no names to offer other than Giuliani and Pataki. He says that Republican wins around the state will encourage Rudy to run for governor. He also says that a number of business types will find this a good time to get into electoral politics. That may be, but it does seem unlikely that a bunch of “who-he’s?” will prevail over the big names in the Democratic Party.  However, you never know. Andrew Cuomo’s father, Mario, lost to the then obscure George Pataki. Clearly, Pataki didn’t win more than Mario lost. “All mouth no go,” was the chant from the hustings.

Bloomberg almost lost to William Thompson, the New York City comptroller. His name is now being mentioned for a number of offices, including as a possible primary opponent for United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. We all know that the word has come down from the White House that no one should take on Gillibrand. A lot of people, like the popular Long Island Democratic Congressman Steve Israel or Manhattan Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney would have beaten Gillibrand, but Obama said nothing doing.  Tongues are wagging, suggesting that if Obama had seriously campaigned for Democrat Thompson against Bloomberg, Thompson would have won. As a man of color and competence, Thompson has a huge New York City base and would likely prevail against Gillibrand in a primary contest. Remember that Governor David Paterson has his own grudge match going with the White House, having been told to step aside. Despite his having appointed Gillibrand, he might find some way to help Thompson. If Caroline Kennedy, who helped secure the nomination for Obama only to be mishandled by Paterson, were to side with Thompson, there could be hell to pay for Gillibrand.

Will Thompson do it? Who knows? Probably not, but he could. If Obama sends down the word to get out, would he? Why should he? “Payback,” it is often said, “is a bitch.” The best revenge is success. Frankly, I don’t see how Thompson can lose in a primary where he is seen as someone who almost prevailed against overwhelming odds, a modern David to Bloomberg’s Goliath. Of course, it will take some guts. It will mean that all those members of Congress who backed Gillibrand (perhaps under duress) will have to re-evaluate their endorsements.

The Gillibrand-Schumer forces have got to be worried about this. Schumer can’t lose his race, but Gillibrand is the soft spot on the ticket. Perhaps the White House will announce a major job for Thompson. Perhaps Thompson, a successful city comptroller, will run in a primary for state comptroller, but in years like these, you just never know. Would you rather be a United States senator or a state comptroller? Fascinating.

Originally Published in the Legislative Gazette, 11/16/09

Too much foo-foo in Lenox

“So, Pops,” said Murray, the world’s cutest dog (who was taught to speak English and to read and write at the Literacy Network of South Berkshire), “how are you going to get into trouble this week?”

“Well, Murray,” I replied, “I believe I am going to get a whole lot of people in Lenox mad at me.”

“Wait, Pops! Lenox is Clarence Fanto’s hometown. He should write about Lenox, and you should write about Great Barrington. You don’t want Clarence mad at you, do you?”

“Murray, I love Clarence. He may be the best writer at The Eagle, but hey, if you’ve got something to say, you’ve just got to say it.”

“OK, OK, Pops. So what is it?”

“Well, Murray, your mother, the Lovely Roselle, grabbed me by the little hair I’ve got left and demanded that we eat at this place, Haven, in Lenox. I told her that I didn’t want to go out of the Southern Berkshires, but she insisted. And you know how your mother is: She always has to get her way. So I grudgingly said, ‘OK.”"

“How come I couldn’t go, Pops?” asked the little dog.

“Do you think this is France, Murray? You know that Americans don’t allow dogs into restaurants!”

“Well, Pops, it may be time for a little protest action. We have rights, too! But why are you going to get in trouble with the people in Lenox?”

“Don’t you see, Murray? This place, Haven, is just unbelievably good. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a good breakfast.”

“Pops,” said the little dog, “why in the world will people in Lenox get mad you for saying how good the restaurant is?”

“You don’t get it, Murray. Those people want the place all for themselves. They are going to be mad as hornets. As it is now, it can be tough to get a seat in the place. Once my column comes out, these ordinarily nice people are going to turn into vicious animals. They’ll start to get xenophobic. They’ll start to treat us as if we came from New Jersey or Long Island and you know how unfair that would be.”

“Don’t worry, Pops. Not that many people read your column, and most people who read it don’t always believe what you say anyway.”

“Murray, you hurt me to the quick. You hurt me as much as double-hernia surgery.”

“Well, Pops, I only do it to keep you balanced, which, you know, is not always that easy. So who runs Haven in Lenox?”

“A very nice woman named Shelly Williams. It’s also a bakery. Don’t tell anyone, or they’ll call me a hypocrite, but we had a wonderful pastry. To die for. And that’s not all, Murray. These people are so nice that they made an incredible meal for the volunteers at the last WAMC fund drive. I can’t believe how good it was.”

“Wait a second, Pops. I was there! Wasn’t that the ‘Thanksgiving Dinner,’ the one with turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce?”

“Yep, that’s the one.”

“Wow, all the volunteers gave me a little taste. It was great. So Pops, is there anything else you want to say about Lenox?”

“Well, yes, Murray, now that you ask. They’re doing all their streets over and putting brick sidewalks in some places and narrowing the streets.”

“Do you like it, Pops? Do you?”

“I have to confess that I am a bit worried. The place is becoming a little too ‘precious,’ maybe a little too foo-foo. I’ve always loved Lenox, but they may be crossing the line. And now I hear that Great Barrington is thinking of doing the same thing, complete with new lamp posts. Ugh. I sure hope that doesn’t happen.”

“Yep, Pops, you’re right. Those people in Lenox are going to hate you.”

Originally Published in the Berkshire Eagle, 11/14/2009

Not all NY Republicans are treated equally

Bernie Kerik took a plea deal which, for a long list of alleged crimes, seems like a sweetheart arrangement. Had he gone to trial on a host of corruption charges; he could have gotten over 60 years, but instead, he ended up with about 31 months in prison.

With time off for good behavior, the guy could do the time standing on his head. He did not have to plead guilty to the more serious corruption charges, including doing business with a mobbed-up firm. From what we know, the feds had the goods on Bernie and would not have had that tough a time putting the former commissioner of corrections in an institution like the ones he ran for a long time. Strange that he got off so lightly, don’t you think?

So, what up? Well, the man who rose from being Rudy Giuliani’s driver to New York City’s corrections commissioner to police commissioner and then to almost becoming the Homeland Security czar for the whole United States turns out to be a thug and a crook. Under then-Mayor Giuliani, he progressed through a series of jobs to become a valued associate of the former mayor in “Giuliani Associates,” where Rudy is said to have really soaked in the green. One can only wonder what Bernie the Thug’s duties were when he worked for Rudy. Well, keep on wondering because at a trial his responsibilities may have come out. This plea deal may just turn out to be a very good thing for Rudy, a man who still harbors pretensions of becoming president of the United States. Stranger things have happened. In the meantime, his name is on a lot of lips as a potential gubernatorial candidate in New York.

Contrast the case of Bernie the Thug to the one the feds are putting up against former New York state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno for “theft of honest services.” In the Kerik case, the feds have the goods on a guy who did specific dirty things and yet, they let him slide. In the Bruno case, we have a guy who clearly used his connections to enrich himself but who may not have crossed the line that we call the law. In the Kerik case, the guy gets the sweetheart deal of all time and in the Bruno case, the feds seem hell-bent to get Bruno on whatever they can.

Some say Bruno quit as the Senate majority leader in order to get the feds to lose interest in his case. Nothing doing. One caller to a recent public radio show asked whether it was telling that a Republican administration (George W’s) brought the case against Bruno. The caller’s point was that Bruno, himself a Republican, must have done something really bad, and the president was well known to have, let us say, close relations with his Justice Department.

But remember — there are Republicans and there are Republicans. There are subsets within the Republican Party. In New York state, a fierce fight eventually broke out between Bruno and the man who had put him in place, then-Governor Pataki. Those two really got into it. The White House kept making it clear that in that fight the governor was their man. In the great intramural Republican war, Bruno was the man out, and Pataki was the man in. Team Bruno could do no right while Team Pataki could do no wrong.

If you buy into that logic, you might just gain some insight into why Bruno’s head is now on the chopping block to the extent that it is while Kerik is merely getting a slap on the wrist compared to what he might have gotten. Also, remember that like Giuliani, Pataki is said to be considering yet another run for the White House.

You see, Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki are still viable political commodities. Depending on how the chips fall, either might be president. If Bernie Kerik were to have a big political trial there would be a lot of witnesses. Questions might have been asked about Kerik’s relationship to Giuliani and there might have been substantial mud tossed Rudy’s way. This way, Kerik takes the plea, goes to jail and shuts up. Maybe in the future Rudy will be able to help the guy out. Maybe.

Of course, Bernie still may be an issue in any future campaign, but Rudy will simply say, “That’s all behind us now.”

Originally Published in the Legislative Gazette, 11-10-09

Mayoral races worth a look

Barrett and Ruberto. Two mayors. Two races. Two different outcomes. Ruberto had a narrow win in a year when all political incumbents were at great risk.

Barrett went down after having held the position for 26 years, making him the longest-serving mayor in the commonwealth. He clearly loves his city but to his misfortune, he ran in a tough year. Things are going terribly wrong in this nation and in this state, and politicians are being held in distain. He says that “it was a great ride.” Class act.

Whether you like him or not, there’s no denying that “Big John” had a personality. Sometimes he liked to fight just a little too much and that very quality which served the city so well was in large part responsible for his defeat. When he took on the city’s powerful police union, he had his hands full but he did what he had to and he won. It’s that kind of passion that made him a good mayor.

Anytime you turned on the television, you saw slick, expensive Barrett ads.

You saw him with U.S. senators and governors. I never saw an ad for his opponent, Dick Alcombright. Unlike Barrett with his “put your dukes up” style, Alcombright comes off as a conciliator, a gentle man. A while back, after I wrote a complimentary piece about Barrett, I was surprised to receive a message from Alcombright. He was appreciative about the way I characterized the race.

That made me sit up and take notice so I asked my wife, Roselle, about him.

“I like him,” she said, having watched him from her perch at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She wasn’t alone — other people liked the guy, too. He spent an enormous amount of time going from house to house. He gave everyone a chance to come see him and talk to him and hear him. He met them at any opportunity, mostly in small groups, the way Americans have been doing it for years.

n New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent a hundred million dollars on his election. You couldn’t turn the TV on without seeing one of his ads. He rounded up most of the major political consultants and hired them all. The pollsters all gave him a double-digit lead and yet with only 51 percent of the vote, he almost lost the election.

His opponent figured out that he had opposed his predecessor, Rudy Giuliani, getting a third term when the people of the Big Apple had voted in a two-term limit.

Then he turned around and got the rules changed. The people didn’t like it and he came close to losing.

In Pittsfield, it was another story. Jimmy Ruberto got a real fight from Dan Bianchi. This was a bruising battle. There were big differences between the candidates. Ruberto showed himself to be a man of courage. He had been punched in the solar plexus when his beautiful and wonderful wife Ellen succumbed to cancer. Then, in the last days of the campaign, his mother went.

The Bianchi campaign played it tough. Bianchi seemed to have a vision of the old Pittsfield, the one that led to the mess that the city has been trying to dig itself out of. Let’s face it, folks, GE is not coming back.

For Ruberto, the restoration of downtown came first. “Build it and they will come,” seemed to be the spirit: witness the movie theater, the Barrington Stage, the elimination of that stupid roundabout in the middle of the city.

Was he always right? Probably not. I never thought his idea about building a new high school was sensible but I can say that he was a big enough man to give up the idea when he assessed the economic situation.

Bianchi’s talk about a recount reminds me of a situation I was once in. I passed a hitchhiker. I couldn’t decide whether or not to pick the guy up, but I quickly realized it was too dangerous and passed him by.

When I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw that the guy was lifting his finger in that international symbol we all recognize, I knew I had done the right thing. The way a man loses tells you a lot about him. And, that’s all I have to say about that. I am delighted that Ruberto pulled it off. He’s a wonderful man.

Originally Published in The Berkshire Eagle, 11/07/09,

Bruno trial shines light on all

Joe Bruno is on trial for his life.

It is a complicated case, and it must have the denizens of the Legislature very, very scared. It’s all about something called the federal “theft of honest services” statute. Put succinctly, the law stipulates that either you represent the interests of your constituents or you represent your own interests. It posits that the two are mutually exclusive.

The feds contend that Joe Bruno used his office as Senate majority leader to feather his own nest. They have used the full weight of the law to bring forth an impressive array of witnesses. If Bruno is convicted of this crime, they had better start building a separate prison exclusively for politicians.

My bet is that the feds will use the law to clean up the mess in Albany because the Legislature doesn’t seem capable of reforming itself. The problem for the feds is that the statute itself is under attack. U.S. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was convicted under it, only to have a federal judge reverse the conviction. Bruno’s lawyer was admonished by the judge in the case for calling the statute “squishy.”

If the near octogenarian Joe Bruno gets sent to the slammer, you can bet there will be a whole lot of people in line behind him. You’d have to live in Never Never Land not to understand just how endemic this is in the political process. It’s as American as apple pie. In fact, using one’s connections goes on throughout American life. Mothers, wives, fathers, sisters and brothers are historic beneficiaries. People want to do favors for politicians and in the back of their heads, trust me — they expect something in return. Broadly speaking, there is more self-help going on in the Legislature than in all of those books you see at the book store.

Joe Bruno has always known that if you serve your constituents well, you will be returned to office. I’ve often said that if Joe Bruno put one more thing in the city of Troy, the whole city would sink. A lot of people in Rensselaer County will swear eternal allegiance to Joe Bruno for all the bacon he has brought home. No matter that it wasn’t right for one senator to have more than the others because of his powerful position. Hey, if your roads and bridges are better kept than those in other districts, tough noogies. That’s the way it is.

But Bruno could have opened a butcher shop; that’s how much pork he brought home. One of his beneficiaries may well end up on a federal jury. As we have seen in the many trials of “Junior” Gotti, all it takes is one juror to say no. Of course, they have tried “Junior” several times and show no signs of letting up.

On the other hand, when the feds are after you, they have a lot to work with, including the full power of the United States government. They can offer immunity to the people who may have been trying to bribe you, to get them to testify against you. One lawyer once told me, “When the feds want you, they’ll get you for something.”

It is instructive that this case is brought by the federal government. Our state politics are too incestuous for one hand to bite the other. In a way, one could have seen this coming. The greedier the state Legislature has become, the more necessary it has become to find a creative solution. One assemblyman, Anthony Seminerio, has already been cooked because of his so-called “consulting company,” which might have been called the “Pay To Play Company.” Seminerio made the classic mistake of speaking into a wire.

When the feds, aided by the reporting of the Albany Times Union, turned up the heat, Bruno resigned his powerful position. There were reports that he offered to go quietly if the feds dropped the case. That clearly didn’t happen.

What Joe has going against him is the perception that greed and avarice are out of control in the politics of the Empire State. People are fed up and think that someone had better do something. The wagons will be circled.

Understanding what is at stake here, politicians will testify in favor of Bruno, although my bet is that some will be very recalcitrant lest the feds come knocking at their door, handcuffs clanging at their side. Make no mistake about it:  this trial is about a lot more than what one man may have done to feather his own nest. A lot of politicians must be sweating and thinking, “If they can do it to him, will I be next?”

Originally Published in The Legislative Gazette, 11/03/09

Finally going under the knife

When I went into the Albany Medical Center last week for my double inguinal hernia repair, I knew I had to do it. I have lived with my small left side hernia for quite some time. In fact, my bet is that I’ve had the thing for over 50 years.

Every once in a while it would start to hurt and I’d go to a doctor. I knew I should get it taken care of but I’ve always got a lot to do. Plus, I didn’t want to cut into the heavy exercise program on which I am psychologically dependent. I was recently convinced to bite the bullet and get the surgery, thanks to an argument advanced by a physician friend.

What if I was off on one of the Roselle-dictated international trips and a piece of my entrails migrated through that hole in the wall of my abdomen? If the wall closed on that migrating piece of gut, the blood supply could be stopped by the strangulation caused by that abdominal wall and I could be in very serious — maybe life-threatening — danger. So, having put it off all these years, I decided to go ahead and get it done.

My world revolves around WAMC’s fund drives. Every four months I give whatever I can to help WAMC survive. The problem is that the surgery was scheduled to take place shortly after Roselle and I returned from my niece’s wedding in the former Yugoslavia.

While I was there, however, I developed a disc problem and the operation had to be put off. After the highly successful fall fund drive ended I knew I had to face the music and I entered the hospital with great trepidation. Hernias are now often done as an outpatient procedure. You go in. You are given great attention by the nursing staff. After about an hour and a half of being prepped, you go into the operating room which you probably never even see because of the anesthesia you are getting. Before you go in, at least five or six people ask you why you are there. I can only suspect no one wants to make a mistake or give you the wrong operation. Everyone checks the chart and goes away.

Once it’s over, they wheel you to a recovery area. You hurt but you can’t be released until you can perform certain bodily functions. Then you can go home and that’s where the trouble can happen.

Anyone who has ever had an operation knows what I am talking about. It takes some time before certain acts of nature can occur. Moving around can be painful. You can be a real pain in the derriere to your family members who you begin to rely on in a way neither of you is used to. If you are concerned that the pain you are feeling is not normal, you reach out to your doctors or other health care professionals and no matter how much reassurance you get that everything will return to normal, you worry.

It doesn’t matter that you are given detailed instructions about what to expect. You still worry, probably because you are not used to doing nothing.

In my case, I watched countless Law and Order episodes which I had already seen, drank a lot of prune juice, started walking around the block, read and answered a lot of e-mail from commiserating friends and went, well, stir crazy.

Of course, you are told not to shower for a few days and that doesn’t help things either. Moving your body to put your clothes on can be a trial and in my case (running counter to what is supposed to happen) I put on a lot of weight in just a few days. Maybe it was all that prune juice.

Of course, lots of people go through hernia operations. They are almost mundane compared to what we will all probably face in our race through life.

But it does demonstrate that even the most benign of operations can cause a lot of distress, self pity, and unhappiness. One can only wonder what medical science is capable of in the coming decades that will change the pain that we experience now. On the other hand, back in the “good old days,” people died from ruptured appendixes on a regular basis. We have come a long way.

 

Originally Published in the Berkshire Eagle, 10/31/09

So who’s really informed?

One problem most of us face is that we are uninformed. Sometimes that is our fault. Other times, the insiders want to keep the outsiders out.

I wonder how many people have gone to a selectman’s meeting and stayed until the end. How about a school board meeting? Sometimes these events are not far removed from Dante’s Inferno. You could die from boredom. It is a sign of the times that most of these meetings are now easily accessible on public service TV channels. I am drawn like a moth to flame and as I watch, I ask myself several questions.

I would love to know why anyone would really do this stuff. I did it as a young man, in Alford, and at the end of my stint I knew I would never do it again. It is truly thankless. You sit there. Inevitably, there are audience members who are there simply for “blood sport.” Some of their characters demand confrontation and what better place for these unhappy folks to work out their issues than at a selectmen’s or city council meeting.

Some of them are quite angry and these gatherings provide a great opportunity for them to release their angst. Like Madam Defarge of A Tale of Two Cities, they appear to be knitting people’s names into sweaters, perhaps for political execution. But, of course, there are good citizens who may have some time to spare or who really just understand the basic principles of citizenship. It has been suggested that those who keep out of town or city politics really have no right to complain.

The corollary is, “We deserve what we get.” Unfortunately, that is not always true. We don’t deserve it, we just get it. I never knew that there would be new sidewalks of the Cadillac variety on Great Barrington’s hill. We needed them like a hole in the head and when we got them, the town fathers in their infinite wisdom put them in the places where people generally didn’t go. By the time people figured it out, it was too late. So even if I had been watching the selectmen on TV and even if I had been paying attention, I might have missed the details of the project.

Do you think that I have the right to complain about it after the fact? Well, this may be self-serving but I think I do. We elect people who say they can do the job. We figure that they are our surrogates in charge of creating good pubic policy.

Right now, the Town of Great Barrington is embarking on a project to repave the town’s main street and to take down the beautiful pear trees that have graced our town for so long. Like many others, I don’t want them to. The town bureaucrats and elected officials say we have to because the trees have bad root systems and will die sooner or later (like the rest of us will die sooner or later.) Like a child of 2, I yell to the wind “Don’t take down the pear trees!” But, the question remains: Do I know enough?

I was once at a carnival in Maryland, campaigning with my banjo for a Congressional candidate. I was distracted by a carnival guy running a game which was later declared to be corrupted. The guy was good and told me that I couldn’t lose. Just put a dollar down.

“You win” he yelled.

“Okay, give me my dollar.” “Not so fast. First you have to cover the dollar you put down and the dollar you won.” Well, you can guess what happened. I lost a lot of money.

So what does this have to do with anything? In order for the town to get grant money for the paving, we have to put money down. The implication is that it is a slam dunk. Put down the money, get more money. Maybe. But how do I know? They told me that we had to put a lot of money into our Mason Library. I held up my hand. I wrote in favor.

Nevertheless, the library still isn’t open when it should be open.

I’m a professor. I study this stuff. Even if I pay attention and even if the meetings are on TV and even if good people win their offices, how do I really know what’s happening? I end where I began. We are uninformed.

Originally Published in The Berkshire Eagle, 10-24-09

Ripped from the headlines

“Health Worker Flu Vaccine  Edict Rescinded”

Health Commissioner Richard Daines is a terrific doctor who believes in science. He ordered thousands of health care workers to be vaccinated against the H1N1 (swine flu). The theory is that workers who will be coming into contact with anyone having or likely to get the virus should be inoculated. That way, both the health care workers and their patients would be protected. It makes sense. I get a regular flu shot every year. I come into contact with thousands of people as a result of my jobs and I’m 68 years old. I have interviewed Dr. Daines on several occasions and I have great respect for the man. Trust me (or not) — this is a man whose decisions are ruled by science and not by emotions but he got into trouble for doing the right thing. That’s the thing about good doctors. They do what’s right until the available evidence changes and then they change.

Some of the health care workers took extreme umbrage at the commissioner’s edict, particularly the part about their getting fired if they didn’t take the vaccine. They hired the socially conscious champion of the underdog, Terence Kindlon, to argue their case in court, contending that the commissioner had no right to issue the vaccination order and that this order should have come from the Legislature.

Some of those objecting to mandatory vaccination said that we really didn’t know enough about the potential long term effects of the vaccine. Some suggested preliminary data demonstrated the most vulnerable were those who might not have been exposed to the swine flu in its previous outbreaks.

In other words, they didn’t need it. Some argued that it was just not right to insist on mandatory vaccinations and that it should be up to the individual to make that decision. Several health care workers called me, aghast at the idea of being forced to take the vaccine. To put it mildly, they were passionate about the subject.

Finally, as the case worked its way up the judicial chain, the Paterson administration bailed. When the word comes down from the “second floor” (the Governor’s office) to the Commissioners office, asking him to do something he doesn’t believe is good health policy, the Commissioner has two choices: quit or do what the Governor wants. And so, the Health Department took the bullet. Fighting for their political lives, the governor’s people must have said something like, “Who needs this? Make it go away.” There were plenty of good excuses for the Health Department. There wasn’t enough vaccine and it should go to those who were more vulnerable when it did get here. The Health Department said that patients in need were to be vaccinated before health care workers and yadda, yadda yadda.

I say Dr. Daines deserves our respect for doing what he saw as medically appropriate but I’m also a big fan of giving us a choice unless, as in the case of school vaccinations, that choice can lead to chaos. As for me, the moment I can, I’m getting the vaccine.

“Bernie Kerik’s Trial Put On Indefinite Hold”

Bernie, Bernie Bernie! What a bad boy you are. You are so dirty you leave a virtual slime trail everywhere you go. Not only that, you’ve left some of it on the man the Republicans are putting their money on in the gubernatorial election. After all, you worked for Rudy Giuliani at his the enigmatic consulting company. You were his choice as New York City’s Department of Correction commissioner and police commissioner and he almost (God forbid) got you the job as the Homeland Security Czar. My bet is that the Democrats are praying this trial drags on for at least a year.

On the other hand, there will be those who suspect that the criminal justice system is capable of protecting Rudy and his candidacy and putting things on hold until after the election which is more than a year away.

So as you sit in jail, Bernie, you’ve got to be thinking that you should do whatever you can to help Rudy. Above all, keep your trap shut. If and when he is governor, maybe he can pardon you. Could be, depending on how much you know and that could be a lot.

Originally Published in the Legislative Gazette, 10-26-09

To be or not to be?

Don’t get me wrong, but I love the whole idea behind Shakespeare & Company. The amazing Tina Packer has done a phenomenal job developing and actualizing the idea. Their educational program in the schools has been inspirational and the idea of creating for the Berkshires an even greater, upscale cultural center is brilliant.

So have you heard me? I have just said some very nice things about Shakespeare & Company. I don’t want to take any incoming over what comes next.

Let me now say what so many people are thinking. What is the deal? How does any organization get so deeply in debt that they put their entire operation in jeopardy? Why would you spend what you don’t have, knowing there’s no real chance of recouping the money? Would you do it in your family? I don’t think so.

Tina is officially, well, not really — she is semi-out of the picture. But the place is, to put it bluntly, a mess. If this had been a divorce, someone would surely put a notice in the legal section of the newspaper saying, “I am not responsible for the debts of my former spouse.” I think fondly of the wonderful Elayne Bernstein who put all that money up for a new theater. She isn’t alone. The management of Shakespeare has let a lot of people down.

I am reminded of former New York governor Eliot Spitzer. So many folks supported him with everything they had and felt betrayed when he fell from grace. Many people left their jobs and came to work for him.

They put everything on the line and were let down. I truly feel for all these good people. Every morning I examine the financials at WAMC. When things were not looking all that good a while back, I called the staff in and we made some very tough decisions. We put a hard freeze on salary increases and hiring. When the funding for a very popular program, “Word for the Wise” collapsed, we canceled a program that we dearly loved. We adopted the Nancy Reagan mantra, “Just say no.” Shakespeare has been losing money now for five consecutive years, way before the economy went south.

We now hear a back story in which some of the ingrates for whom state Rep. William”Smitty” Pignatelli did so much are now blaming him (instead of themselves) for not coming up with the millions of dollars from the commonwealth that Shakespeare needs. Can you believe that nonsense? Even after the Shakespeare people dissed him by asking state Rep. Dan Bosley (North Adams) from the far North to dig them out of the hole, Pignatelli still tried to help them.

That’s the kind of gentleman he is. But the commonwealth is dead broke — as broke as Shakespeare — and we are talking about a lot of money here. Maybe I’m counting wrong but I come up with more than $10 million dollars (a lot more). We are told there will be trouble making payroll and that the company has taken money from its successful capital campaign to pay for operating expenses. The situation is precarious. That’s something I always thought was a no-no. We are told that the company has begun to make the needed changes.

Anita Walker, who runs the state’s arts organization, has done the right thing here. In cooperation with Shakespeare, she pulled in the requisite bean counters who issued what could only be called a dismal and pessimistic report. The same group has delivered a similar coup de grace to other arts groups.

The final excuse is that the Shakespeare campus is cursed. The Bible Speaks and the ill-fated National Music Foundation once occupied the same campus.

All true if you believe in ghosts and curses. But, hey, when you take something big on, you had better go in with your eyes open.

The good news is that while Shakespeare is not everyone’s cup of tea, it is wildly popular with those who live for the Bard. Some of these people have got big money, trust me. In that regard, they’re like the opera folks.

Yet in the midst of all the troubles, we still hear that some of the dreamers at Shakespeare are thinking about building a recreation of the Rose Theater! You’ve got to be kidding. Pass the Kool-Aid. Oh, by the way, I hope Shakespeare & Company make it. The Berkshires would be a sadder place without them.

Originally published in the Berkshire Eagle, 10-19-09

State lawmakes need to learn the rules

In the old days, a virus swept the land. It lodged in the inner ear and from there went straight to the brain. Children and teenagers were particularly susceptible and then huge populations of college students contracted the disease. I refer, of course to the “Like Virus.” “And I’m, like, my boyfriend asked me to like go out with him this weekend.”

Now, a new virus is running rampant and has infected many of the older adults in this country, including me. It is more subtle and you have to listen for it carefully but it is so there. There! Did you hear it? It is the word “so.” Listen on radio interviews. Listen in doctors’ offices. It’s a tick. It gives the speaker an extra moment to think before they answer. Unfortunately, this writer has contracted the “So Virus.” Here then are some of my political insights about New York state. Look for the “so.”

So, did you hear that the Democratic leadership in the New York state Senate decided to take a trip to China? This in the midst of one of the worst fiscal crises ever, as the state faces a climbing and seemingly insurmountable deficit. They are using either their campaign money or money from the Asia American Business Center. True, it isn’t the public dole but it still smells lousy. The public doesn’t like it when others pick up the tab and they don’t like it when campaign money is used for things other than campaigns.

So, do you think that their constituents are buying for a single minute that this is the real thing? Unlike their more accomplished congressional brethren who actually do have international responsibilities, taxpayers think these people should be staying put, working on the fiscal crisis.

At a time when they are under an ethical dark cloud formation, when polls show them to be despised by the general public, they just can’t seem to get the idea through their thick skulls that they have to be better, not worse, than the people who are paying their salaries.

So, why aren’t they getting it? How hard can it be to figure out that members of a civil service union facing severe financial setbacks or parents of students in a state university system that is being cut like a piece of meat in a butcher shop — to the point that our children will really suffer in getting on with their life’s work — will get very, very angry.

So, how did we get here? How did it happen that a group of Democrats who fought like hell to get into the majority have risked everything by doing something so politically stupid? This short-term, silly greed might well see them sliced and diced in the coming reapportionment.

So, do you think it stops with a trip to China? How about the whole Legislature giving itself expense raises when they must cut state spending? Did they really think that the newspapers, who are on them like fleas on a dog, wouldn’t hear about it? Did they really think that someone in the legislative bowels wouldn’t pick up a phone and call their favorite reporter just for the fun of making them squirm?

So, the point is that these people, who are unused to being in charge, haven’t figured out the rules. There is a subtlety to gaming the system. You so have to pick your times and your places. When people think that “legislator” is too often a synonym for “slime,” it’s time to rebuild your reputation.

So, you would think that our leaders would know that they face potential wipe-out, a crisis of the first order, around election time, and that they would think before they did stupid, symbolic things. But no —despite the fact that they have soiled their nests, they persist. They give the newspapers fodder.

I get press release after press release every day telling me of the good these folks do yet they can’t seem to help themselves from doing things that are just so intuitively stupid, they defy the imagination. I’ll bet that their antics have even caught the attention of the White House which seems to be micro-managing the party so that they can keep the recent Democratic Congressional gains in New York.

Maybe it’s time for the president’s men to call in the Senate Democratic leadership. The whole thing is just so, so.

Originally Published in the Legislative Gazette, 10-13-09