He did it. He really did it.
Gov. Paterson pulled a Spitzer.
Like his disgraced patron, Paterson created a huge deficit of trust with the citizens of New York, then brazenly committed a firing offense.
Now the accidental Democratic governor must follow his predecessor out the door and into the Hall of Shame.
Thanks for nothing, gov. Goodbye and good riddance.
Paterson was on thin ice already, his stewardship suspiciously erratic even by Albany standards and his actions in the Aqueduct casino case provoking a criminal probe.
A sensible man would have tried to restore his reputation, especially because he aimed to win election in November. David Paterson, we can say with final certainty, is not a sensible man.
The outrageous intervention in a domestic-violence case by the governor and his State Police security detail proves he is unfit for the high office entrusted to him.
He knew the media was digging into the court case, which involved a close aide, and still his hand-picked team made a desperate bid to quash it.
That’s it, case closed, game over. The sooner Paterson hits the road, the better for New York.
The state faces an economic unraveling of historic proportions and New Yorkers deserve trustworthy leadership in this moment of peril.
They don’t deserve Paterson’s shady friends and his bellyaching about political enemies and the media.
He had his chance to govern and now should have the decency to step aside.
Richard Ravitch, his lieutenant governor, is more than capable of holding the fort until an elected governor takes office in January. Ravitch’s integrity and competence are unquestioned, which makes him a vast improvement over the last three years.
Paterson’s preposterous claims that he knew nothing about the brutal nature of the reported assault or that police officers who guard him were talking to the victim, both defy belief.
Let him tell his story under oath.
His admitted contact with the woman is alone cause for a criminal investigation. His assertion the woman called him is contradicted by her lawyer, who says the governor initiated the contact.
Whatever Paterson said to her, she skipped her next court appearance and the case was dropped — which was obviously the goal. We know this much thanks to dogged persistence by The New York Times, which has worked the story for months.
The governor’s false accusations that its reporters were on a “racialized” witch hunt are a further stain on him. He dealt the race card from the bottom of the deck.
Despite Paterson’s plea for time, there are signs he is getting ready to go. He might even have a political death wish.
His decision to ask Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate amounts to giving your enemy a knife, a rope and a gun.
Even more bizarre is that Paterson, except for the hookers, is repeating the pattern that brought Eliot Spitzer down.
No self-respecting novelist would dare concoct the similarities.
Spitzer also enlisted the State Police to play a political role, having it spy on a rival.
It was a dirty trick that ruined the careers of his crew when Cuomo, also asked by Spitzer to investigate, uncovered the plot.
Spitzer’s spiral ended only when he was identified as Client 9 in a prostitution scandal. It was almost two years ago when that story broke–also in the Times.
Spitzer handed the job to Paterson and, ominously, has been advising him. So here we are, again.
Yet to say Albany has merely come full circle does not do justice to the tumultuous state of affairs we face.
The Legislature has completely collapsed as a responsible branch of government. Its leaders have recklessly dodged the fiscal crisis.
A state senator guilty of domestic violence was booted by his colleagues, the first expulsion since the Civil War. Federal prosecutors busted several city and state lawmakers for official misconduct and are hunting for more.
Evidence suggests they have what the military calls a target-rich environment. In layman’s terms, the feds are shooting fish in a barrel.
Meanwhile, it is likely the Empire State will not make promised education aid payments in coming weeks. There is talk of delayed refunds to taxpayers and the MTA is handing out pink slips.
Now this.
Damn you, David Paterson.