Hayseeds No. 213

Flying Mr. Bruno?

It looks like the latest scandal to be blown out of proportion by the Times Union is the fact that Bruno has been using a state airplane to get around, and sometimes making stops at fundraisers to say hello to his supporters.

So what? Doesn't everybody do that. At any rate, the ethics people have found something to dig into Bruno, and the Times Union is doing their part to undermine the majority leader—and make everybody look bad in state government to boot.

This has prompted David Soares, high on his horse in co-horts with Andy Cuomo, to ask Governor Spitzer for records on Bruno's travel and of course for Joe Mondello, State Republican Party Chair to FOIL the Governor and State Police to find out if the Governor's been doing this too. It's a regular ol' FOIL party!

From the Horse's Mouth.

Or maybe actually from the Times Union blog, or the horse himself at Mountain View Farm in Brunswick:

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno put out a statement today announcing he’s cancelling his Times Union subscription.

Bruno accused the paper of a “partisan, political agenda,” and also claimed his office received a call today from an advertising salesman at the paper, quoting him as saying that buying ads in the paper “would be an effective way to let the public know about the good things the Senator is doing and to get across his side of the story.”

Bruno characterized the call as telling his staffer “that I would need to by ads in the paper if I wanted to get fair coverage.”

His office says the call came in this morning, and that the purported offer was declined.

Bruno’s announcement came after he sharply criticized the paper Monday, a day after the Times Union published an account of his use of state aircraft and State Police to get him to New York City on at least three occasions when he had political events. He denies the trips were exclusively political. Both Albany County District Attorney David Soares and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo are reviewing the matter.

Like other reporters, we’re awaiting a comment from the paper.

Good for him. The TU has never been particularly nice to ol' Bruno. And to boot, the story about the Times Union threatening him, probably has a fair bit of truth—I certainly wouldn't put it past some of people that work for the paper.

Also Spitzer has requested Bruno get a threat-analysis to find out if the threat to him is real:

The Spitzer administration also asked the state police for a formal assessment on threats against Bruno (R-Rensselaer) after discovering that one had never been done. Bruno aides said the senator needed to use state aircraft and be provided state police transportation while in Manhattan because he has received numerous death threats. They have not provided supporting documentation.

It should be interesting to see what sticks after this all shakes down. I suspect not much, but who knows. This could be bad for Bruno, which ultimately could lead to a special-election in his district. And who knows if the Republican Majority could keep it together if that were happen.

That said, Bruno isn't the only member of his caucus, although he's certainly the most villianized one. He also is one of the most conservative Republicans in his caucus, although Volker and few others from Upstate would probably challenge that notion. Back in 1994, when he was first elected, that certainly was the truth.

What Do You Do With a Sex Offender?

Sex offenders about as popular as solid waste landfills and pig farm CAFOs for neighbors, seem to have gotten the headlines today when (cough) Republican County legislator Christine Benedict (there is one or five of them), made big headlines in the today's paper.

Think about it. SEX OFFENDER LIVES NEAR CHILDREN! IT'S THE DEMOCRATS FAULT! as your headline to get people all aroused, and help ensure that your sagging big for re-election goes well. Maybe the Times Union is just trying to deflect the criticism that it's gone after Republicans too much lately.

At any rate, we have to be realistic here. Our county spends all kinds of money to help the homeless have a place besides being out on the streets. Most homeless people are down on their luck to say the least, sometimes due to a criminal record. Our county does a lot to try to help such people, and if homeless children don't like being in the same complex as sex offenders, then too bad.

We've made it awful difficult for sex offenders to live their lives. There is virtually no place where they can live, even if they have a job that gives them money. Almost every place in the city and suburbs is prohibited from having them, and more of them are coming out to the country. And we don't want them here either—fortunately there is only two sex offender in all of the hilltowns—John McIntyre of West Berne and Kevin Sarkey who lives on a farm outside of Renselearville.

Protecting our children needs to come back more to being a family responsibility. There will always be random kidnappers who steal small children and hurt them, but if parents are watching their kids it is much more unlikely. The vast majority of former sex offenders aren't into children, and they aren't going to violently hurt children. Moreover, most of the sex offenders knew their victims (and parents) when they had sex with them.

Remember, even sex offenders are people. They don't do nice things to children and other people, but they are still largely like you and I. They have rights and need a place to live. Many of them live largely normal lives, at least to the great extent that our prejudice allows them to do so.

After You Assembly Term Ends.

Frank Seddio is getting some new use out of his official NYS Assembly picture.

Good for him. Maybe he will make a buck or two now, more then he was making the Assembly or as a judge.

Go Slow for Peace?

From the activism box up top on Cowboy:

Obey the Law for Peace, a week-long peace protest from July 1st through July 6th. Participants are asked to drive at or below the posted speed limit (and yet above the minimum limit) to legally protest the Iraq war.

Interesting idea. Reducing your speed can do much to save fuel, particularly if you drive at 50 MPH rather then 60 MPH or faster. If people actually were serious about cutting our country's dependence on foreign oil, there would be a series discussion on whether or not we should reduce our 65 MPH road's speed limits down.

NYC To Regulate Pedicabs.

The city council after over-riding Brilliant Bloomberg's veto has decided to limit pedicabs to 350 city-wide, as they believe that these bicycle-powered cabs are causing traffic problems.

I certainly have my doubts about that, and I think there should be more clean ways to get around the city then there currently are. To close off a potentially lucrative way for immigrants, unable or unwilling to get drivers licenses to drive real cabs seems unfair, particularly in the light of the fact that pedicabs pose a far less of a risk then badly driven cabs.

In an era of global warming, we have to wonder about the wisdom of any law that limits the use of simple clean technology like pedicabs.