Filed under: News, Politics, Race and Civil Rights
On the surface, the transgression doesn't sound like much.
It's no big deal that New York Governor David Paterson asked for and got five free tickets to the 2009 World Series from the New York Yankees, is it?
Or that he lied when he said he was going to pay for them, according to his own staff, Yankee officials and other evidence in the case?
Yep, on the surface it may not sound like much but scratch just a layer down and the stink of one last disgraceful public episodes in the failed administration for New York's first black governor fills the room.
Clumsy, dishonest, ethically challenged are all terms that can be applied to Paterson's years in office. But remember, it seemed so hopeful at the start.
Paterson, son of longtime New York political power broker Basil Paterson, rode in on a white horse to rescue the governor's mansion that had been sullied by Elliot Spitzer and his sex scandal.
Having overcome blindness to become the second ranking Democrat in the state, Paterson entered office with the well wishes of most -- especially in New York's white liberal and minority communities.
But no sooner than he entered office did Paterson feel the need to announce that he had cheated on his wife and that she had cheated on him.
I don't remember anyone asking him about that. Maybe, he figured that in light of Spitzer's problems, it made sense to come clean about his sexual flaws.
Either way, it became the first very questionable move from Paterson. And it sure wasn't the last.
Far too infrequently, Paterson showed the stuff that got him to the governor's mansion.
To depressurize the controversy over the Ground Zero Mosque, Paterson offered a well-reasoned solution to give the mosque builders a substitute parcel of land in the city that would raise no objections from New Yorkers. Unfortunately, the mosque builders refused.
Paterson was also unfairly targeted by the city's tabloid newspapers which helped whip up public sentiment against him. Being lampooned on "Saturday Night Live" didn't help.
Far too often, however, Paterson found himself in situations like "Ticketgate" in which he will have to pay a $62,125 fine to the state ethics commission.
I mean, shouldn't the New York governor have a seat in a heated box with the team owners for the World Series? The fact that he had to ask for comp tickets like some average Joe shows he simply didn't get it.
Paterson's legal problems aren't over. The Albany County district attorney is deciding whether to charge him with perjury.
I say just let him go about his business and exit the public spotlight as quick as possible.
Paterson isn't the first politician to bitterly disappoint us. Sadly, he won't be the last.