New York's fate rests in the open palms of a guy who lives in Westchester but represents the Bronx and who works in a little shithole 130 miles up the Hudson from here. And the guy who slashed his girlfriend.
So Pedro Espada Jr, a State Senator from the Bronx, and Hiram Monseratte, the Queens Senator who is on trial for glassing his lady friend, organized a coup. Remember? They handed the State Senate back to the Republicans. And the Democrats sued. But a judge told them to just deal with it themselves without getting the courts involved. (He will still maybe take up the case on Monday, though!) And Espada has promised that there will be no resolving this thing over the weekend, at all. And then his "home" in Mamaroneck (because he does not actually live in his district) got "broken into," he claimed. He also said the Governor called him to congratulate him, which the Governor denied.
So here's where we are, today:
- Espada is trying to lure Democrats into his "coalition" by promising, now, to actually try to get bills progressives like to the floor, for a vote. Like the gay marriage, and rent control! And so Espada tried to drive a wedge between Tom Duane, who would like there to be a vote on the Gay Marriage, and Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, who, some claim, promised not to bring the Gay Marriage to a vote in exchange for the support of Ruben Diaz Sr., who, along with Monseratte, threatened to caucus with Republicans a couple months ago. This does not seem to be working.
- Meanwhile: the Democrats are most likely going to throw Smith under the bus and strip Smith of his leadership as part of their attempt to bribe Monseratte back into their caucus. What this would mean is a deadlocked, evenly divided Senate. And no Lt. Governor, because Paterson is not authorized to appoint one, and therefore no tie-breaking votes. Also: the scumbag asshole who slashed his girlfriend's face would be welcomed back to the party fold with open arms and money.
So basically we can have a Republican-led Senate partially led by a corrupt liar that would gerrymander redistricting next year but maybe actually vote for thing people would like voted on, or we can have a deadlocked Senate that includes the violent asshole as a prominent Democratic leader.
But at least we don't have California's state government! They're really screwed!
[Photo: AP]
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