With the state government imploding before our eyes, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg's appointment of a Charter revision commission designed to make him Mayor for Life. (ending term limits, getting rid of all elected citywide officials save himself, banning political parties and Boro Presidents), the State needs a revolution, badly.
Richard Ravitch, who is there illegally and thus can do what he damn well pleases should he become governor, can lead such a revolution. More below the fold.
The gridlock and chaos that is the government of the State of New York continues to worsen. It’s the weekend after all, and nothing is happening in public except op-ed pieces in the papers and talking heads discussing the situation, not knowing exactly what’s going on. A friend of mine declares that Obama’s people are behind this, but I doubt it. It’s Paterson’s fault. That’s not the question, the question is just how did we get here and what’s to be done about it.
The front-page story in the Sunday NY Post is about how Paterson got the nomination for Lieutenant Governor in the first place. They’re shocked, for some reason that he proposed himself for the job. Going back for the two hundred and thirty years since the British left, EVERY Lt. Governor has proposed him/herself for the job. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. What’s interesting here is the revelation that four old men from Harlem: former NY Secretary of State Basil Paterson; Rep. Charles Rangel; former Mayor David Dinkins; and former Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton. ORDERED then Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to endorse their candidate for the job. Leecia Eve.
Spitzer, of course told them to stick it up where the Sun doesn’t shine, but the old men still had clout, They contacted the people who fit the racial and gender qualifications, Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate Troy; former US Attorney Loretta Lynch; and Pamela Thomas-Graham, former CEO of CNBC, and told them to refuse Spitzer’s offer, which they did.
At a meeting of high level Democrats, Spitzer complained of the problems the old men had caused. Among those there, was the Senate Minority Leader, Basil Paterson’s son David. The younger Paterson suggested himself for the job, and Spitzer, knowing that this was a way to get back at the four old men with impunity. Could you imagine what would happen at the Paterson household on Thanksgiving had Basil continued to insist on Eve?
Eve, who had been officially running for Lieutenant Governor since the previous December withdrew, and the rest is history.
It used to be that there were almost always primaries for State offices. Hell, there were primaries for Lt. Governor. People RAN for the nomination. Primaries were fun, they were civil, and they familiarized everyone in the state with the candidates.
Today? For some reason the party mucky-mucks are scared shitless of these things. They just GAVE it to Spitzer and Paterson, and Andrew Coumo had a lock on it in ’02, but the old men mentioned above, plus the likes of Al Sharpton began saying that since his opponent for the nomination, Carl McCall, was Black, Coumo must be racist. This pressure was enormous and Coumo withdrew days before the primary. Later, George Pataki creamed McCall in the general.
The situation now is entirely different, The only announced candidate for governor is the madam who brought down Spitzer, the Republicans are thinking of naming a Democrat, Suffulk county exec Steve Levy, for the job, and apparently, nobody wants the second spot. But that’s before the revolution.
There has to be a revolution. There’s a better than even chance that there’s going to be an illegal, unelected governor by the end of the month, and since Richard Ravitch’s appointment by Royal fiat was deemed legal by 4-3 in the NY Court of Appeals, he could then appoint anyone he wants to the job, thereby making that person a possible front runner for the election in the fall, assuming there is one.
Having an illegal governor has its advantages. Since the guy wasn’t elected and isn’t going to be, Ravitch can pretty much do whatever he thinks is right without having to worry about popular opinion.
In 1996, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was fired by her handpicked president, Farooq Leghari, for being a corrupt and incompetent, wuss. Legari then appointed Malik Meraj Khalid “caretaker” prime minister and for the next few months, Khalid then cleaned up the government, something that none of the corrupt elected politicians couldn’t do, and then left.
Richard Ravitch could use Khalid as a role model. The Governor of New York has “royal” powers that most governors of other states do not. For example, he could fire elected mayors and country executives. The second thing he should do, after appointing a replacement for himself as Lieutenant, is to fire Mike Bloomberg.
The use of this power is an extremely rare event, something that hasn’t happened in New York City since Franklin D. Roosevelt contemplated that in the case of Mayor Jimmy Walker. But it’s still on the books. Bloomberg has just appointed a Charter revision commission, who’s members were appointed by him alone, with a mandate to potentially make him a dictatorial Mayor for Life, and while that’s received a goodly amount of opposition (good!), this, and the illegality of his third term, despite the craven approval of a lower court, is manifest, and this just adds to the outrage.
Then he could decapitate the executive branches of those counties and municipalities that need it (and most do), forcing special elections. Meanwhile Ed Koch and his friends will be recruiting primary challengers for every single Democrat in the Assembly and Senate.
You say this plan of mine is fucked up? You say it’s insane? Perhaps, but something insane needs to be done because what we’ve got now isn’t working. Revolutions are always chaotic and illegal. This is a chance to do it.