Paterson Lied about Kennedy;
Don't Most Politicos Fib a Bit?
Does It Really Matter Anyway?
Is the Ruckus Anti-Gillibrand?
Every now and then we grab an issue by the tail and hold on until it is resolved.
For some of our readers that is TMI (internet language for 'too much information'). Others really enjoy becoming expert on a particular matter, and keeping up with it, sometimes after it has faded from Page One.
We have locked in on the selection of a successor to Senator Hillary Clinton. She served eight years, resigning to go to Washington in a most important position, although not the one she originally had in mind. Clinton was elected to the Senate in 2000, succeeding Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who served four six-year terms, after which he retired. When there is a mid-term vacancy, a Senate seat is filled by appointment of the governor until the next even-numbered year. Governor Paterson's choice, Kirsten Gillibrand (soft g), will serve through 2010, when an election will be held to fill the remaining two years of the term to which Senator Clinton was elected in 2006.
Until the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1912, United States senators were chosen by state legislatures. Under the Amendment, if a Senate vacancy occurs, the governor, if authorized by the state's legislature, can appoint a senator until after a special or regular election is held. Vacancies in the House of Representatives are filled only by public election. The states differ as to whether the governor can act.
We are still dealing with the fallout of the botched Senatorial appointment by Governor Paterson. The Post continues its assault with a Pinocchio cartoon showing the governor's nose continuing to lengthen. Today's installment, by state editor Fred Dicker, Dave Won't Look Into the Smearer, repeats Paterson's denial of leaking the negative material about Caroline Kennedy last Thursday, after she withdrew from consideration.
Dicker goes as far as a journalist will with the sentence:
"The Post reported yesterday that the source was so well known to Paterson that he spends about as much time with him in the daytime as he does with his wife at night." That comment places the onus on Bill Cunningham, secretary to the governor, who replaced Fr. Charles O'Byrne after his tax problems surfaced last fall.
The timeliest digger in Albany is Elizabeth Benjamin, who has already posted ten articles today on the Daily News website. On Monday, Ms. Benjamin fingered Judy Smith, a former Bush aide who does public relations for Paterson as an out-of-state contractor, for persuading the malleable governor to go public with the mud. That is not inconsistent with Cunningham being the actual leaker, acting with the consent of Paterson who was under the influence of Ms. Smith, who may have been the last person he talked to before deciding to spill. Paterson may well have been upset by Ms. Kennedy’s treatment of him the night before, when she failed to return his phone call for many hours.
A perceptive column by Bill Hammond appeared in yesterday's News. The title: Gov. Paterson's Trouble with the Truth; His Senate Seat Screwups Were Part of a Longstanding Pattern,
sums it up. Hammond, who covers Albany, was mildly sympathetic to the beleaguered governor His lede:
"Gov. Paterson doesn't set out to mislead and confuse.
"It's just that he has a bad habit of saying whatever he thinks the person in front of him wants to hear at that moment - even if that means completely contradicting what he said two minutes before. Before long, he has said so many things to so many people that he loses track of what the real truth is.
"It's a personality flaw that finally caught up with him in the Caroline Kennedy fiasco.
"His weakness for trying to please everyone worked to his advantage early in his career, when he was a Senate backbencher who rose to become Democratic minority leader. 'The only way he was able to keep in power is by telling each [senator], "I'm really with you,"’ a democratic insider said. ‘His training ground was a place where inconsistency had real functionality and merit.'"
We recommend that you read Hammond's column to get a full understanding of how pathology can be helpful before it turns harmful, and how one can escape blame for untruthfulness for some time before credibility implodes, often suddenly. Once lost, credibility is very difficult to regain, particularly if the lying is involuntary, or if the fabulist is unaware of what he is saying.
Michael Goodwin, who has criticized the governor, today wrote a balanced and informative column in the News that is worth your reading. Goodwin says that the wounded Paterson is still a better bet for the State of New York than those who oppose him, and would benefit from his political demise. Under the Headline, We Need Dave to Bounce Back, Goodwin begins:
"He's erratic and is getting a reputation for being loose with the truth. But here's the really bad news: Gov. Paterson remains our best hope for reform in Albany. Paterson's rocky performance, especially in the botched contest to replace Hillary Clinton, is fueling talk that he's toast.
"I hope he bounces back. New York needs him. Otherwise, the inmates, aka the Legislature, will have total control of the asylum."
Late in his column, Goodwin writes "there is no doubt [Paterson] showed courage in bucking the entitlement claim of the Kennedy gang and the wackadoo wing of his own party."
What fascinates us is that neither the Governor nor his allies have disputed the version of events laid out by fair-minded men like Goodwin and Hammond. Nor are the two contradicted by other writers. No one believes the obvious fictions that have been told, men denying responsibility for acts that everyone knew took place. This was not an inadvertent leak; someone called the newspapers to spread the story. And many of us who were critical of the Kennedy candidacy joined in denouncing the maligning of an American favorite, who never did any harm to any of the people who slandered her.
Hopefully, the Governor will hire staff who are wiser and stronger than those whose advice he does not heed, following the departure of the talented Charles O'Byrne. To be effective, the staff will have to be able to say 'No' to their boss. And the boss will have to choose people whose judgment he respects to help him to consider matters more seriously.
During the unlamented (so far) reign of King Eliot, the staff was sometimes blamed for his inappropriate words and deeds. The truth is that it was not their fault. They did their best to restrain him. It is much like H. R. Haldeman and President Nixon: the villain was the principal, not the amanuensis. During the reign of the last Czar of Russia, when pogroms occurred and millions of Jews fled to America, some Jews believed that the problems they faced were the result of the Czar's wicked ministers, and if only Czar Nicholas II himself knew what was happening, the pogroms would not be permitted. That is what the tormented Jews wished to believe, and some did, but most knew the score and got out if they could.
It is not necessary for everyone to tell the whole truth all the time. People in politics know that one appeals to different groups for different reasons on different occasions. Sometimes plans are under way which would be impolitic to disclose. Full disclosure is not always imperative, but it is generally desirable if possible.
We have a rule on the subject, 28-A: "Always tell the truth when you can."
Some politicians (and others) lie gratuitously, some gain pleasure from deceiving others, and some are so far gone they can no longer distinguish fiction from reality. One should not spread bad news for gratification. The Munchausen syndrome applies to imaginary illnesses. If such a disorder were to be diagnosed for politicians, imagine the competition as to its eponym.
The consequences of falsehood are described by Aesop in his fable, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."
That brief tale should be required reading for politicos, lobbyists and all those involved in the process of making our democracy work.
Integrity and truthfulness are important aspects of reputation. Even thieves are more highly regarded if they keep their word. We still refer to Abraham Lincoln as "Honest Abe.’ Can anyone suggest a New York incumbent who is particularly worthy of that accolade? Please let us know your nominees.
Henry J. Stern writes as StarQuest. Direct email to him at StarQuest@nycivic.org. Peruse Mr. Stern’s writing at New York Civic.
