A few impressions on the Attorney General's debate:
Jeanine Pirro has no answer on whether her discussions about bugging Albert showed the kind of judgment we want in an AG. She dodges.
Pirro also has no answer on Deskovic. Maybe I missed it, but I'm not sure she ever even said she was sorry about the 15 years he spent in jail. How about being a human, Jeanine?
Cuomo could take the classy approach like David Paterson, the Dems' lieutenant governor candidate, and say that Jeanine's marriage is a private matter and prosecutors should move on. He doesn't. Why would he? He's Andrew Cuomo, not Dave Paterson, and there's a political advantage to be exploited.
Cuomo seems to think this is a contest to see who can say "Eliot Spitzer" more times in a one hour period. If someone asked him where the restroom was, he'd begin by saying, "I will answer that question the same way Eliot Spitzer..." Do you think you can stand on your own two feet, Andrew, or will you go running over to the governor's office for advice every ten minutes if elected?
Isn't Eliot Spitzer the same guy who lied repeatedly to get elected in 1998, and totally dropped the ball on Medicaid fraud while he was busy on Wall Street? So why is he a role model for someone promising to restore ethics to Albany and crack down on Medicaid fraud?
Cuomo has no answer on the 203(k) fraud in NYC, and continues to grotesquesly distort his record on discrimination cases at HUD. He can incant 2000 as many times as he wants, but the fact remains that when you compare apples to apples he reduced the number of discrimination enforcement actions, and at least two reports have said so, and a lot of people working in the trenches felt he was more interested in press releases than enforcement.
Pirro had the best line: "Your running for AG would be like me running for Joe Torre's position because I played softball 21 years ago."
Cuomo and Pirro are two of the most notoriously ambitious press hounds in New York politics. Does this debate make anyone think that they're two of the best, most sober legal minds in the state of New York? Where have all the real lawyers gone?
Comments (7)
Riley you seem to be Spitzer Phobic.......Spitzer Spitzer Spitzer Spitzer..watch Riley run..now I feel better...........
"Cuomo seems to think this is a contest to see who can say "Eliot Spitzer" more times in a one hour period. If someone asked him where the restroom was, he'd begin by saying, "I will answer that question the same way Eliot Spitzer..." Do you think you can stand on your own two feet, Andrew, or will you go running over to the governor's office for advice every ten minutes if elected?"
Maybe Andrew is alot smarter than you think Riley....nobody would blame him for using Elliot as a Role Model for Attorney General..except you of course.....hey nothing wrong going to one of the most successful attorney general's in new york history for advice....
"Isn't Eliot Spitzer the same guy who lied repeatedly to get elected in 1998, and totally dropped the ball on Medicaid fraud while he was busy on Wall Street? So why is he a role model for someone promising to restore ethics to Albany and crack down on Medicaid fraud?"
It must be you don't read the newspapers much....stop relying on Faso literature for your research John......why would Elliot be a role model for attorney general??? you got to be kidding right...even Pirro emulates Elliot in her tv commercials...give me a freakin break here...........
and do you know how many times Faso used Hevesi's name in the gov's debate??? still waiting for your comments over Faso's Hevesi marathon......if someone asked John Faso during the debate which way was the men's room?? he would have answered...Elliot uses the same one Hevesi does.......... andy
Andy . . . Riley's got it right. Cuomo can't seem to stand on his own two feet yet. Maybe he will eventually, but he's given no one pause to believe that he can yet.
As for your comments about Hevesi, why shouldn't Faso bring him up? Spitzer, as AG, should be all over Hevesi. The fact that he's not shows that Spitzer is not independent and certainly not the "watch dog" he claims to be. Faso has to call him out on it. It's a legitimate campaign issue to use against Spitzer who sets himself up as "Mr. Clean." How's he going to clean up Albany if he can't even criticize Hevesi - who is running on the same team?
Tom, Riley never has it right when it comes to Spitzer...by state law..Elliot can't pursue Hevesi without it being brought to him by the ethics commission..which is now investigating the charges...there has never been any doubt about Elliot's integrity...he has earned his reputation the old fasionhed way..by hard work and diligence...as far as Cuomo is concerned..Pirro seems to have her own issues going on...why the double standard between pirro and hevesi??? Cuomo can and will stand on his own two feet...again..nothing wrong with using Elliot as a reference or mentor..most voters in this state feel that way.other than john riley...andy
Andy . . . I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree that 1) Spitzer has "earned" a reputation for integrity over the years, and 2) Spitzer, as a candidate for governor and the current AG, can't or shouldn't comment on Hevesi's behavior absent a report from the Ethics Commission. Tom
If you Cuomo apologists admit that the AG's office has no authority to go after public corruption on its own, without a referral, how does Cuomo have the gall to trash Pirro for writing a letter in 1999 that the AG has no authority to take public corruption cases away from DA's on its own, without a referral?
How long should it take to investigate and report out Hevesi's misconduct? The guy ADMITTED to it for god's sake! This smells like a bunch of guys on the Ethics Board trying to do a favor for the new governor Mr. Spitzer. Forget it guys. He's going to dump you too.
John: Thanks for continuing to hold the fire to Pirro's feet on the disgraceful way she handled (or didn't handle?) the Deskovic case! As a few people in Suffolk County know, I am a zealous advocate for the exoneration of Martin Tankleff, another egregious wrongful conviction that hasn't yet been fairly resolved. Hopefully, it will when Marty's case is heard by the State Appellate Court. Fact is, Jeanine Pirro brags about her love for the death penalty. I find it morally inconsistent and reprehensible that she favors state sanctioned homicide (the ultimate sanction) but will do little to nothing to ensure without a doubt that the executed are actually guilty. If the death penalty had been available when Marty was originally wrongfully convicted,HE WOULD BE DEAD BY NOW!!!!!!!! Despite overwhelming evidence of Marty's innocence, Marty was denied a retrial in a recent evidentiary hearing. Like Deskovic, Marty was also denied DNA testing by Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota which would have settled the matter once and for all whether Marty actually murdered his parents. I am informed by a prominent local defense attorney that the way you can tell if someone is wrongfully convicted is whether DNA testing is granted or not. If the prosecutor knows the convicted is really innocent, the testing will be denied with whatever lame excuse can be used. If the prosecution knows that the convicted is really guilty, they will allow it in a heartbeat to put the matter to rest!