Evolution or Revolution

by: simonstl

Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 08:49:48 AM EDT

Last night, Putney Swope helped me see that I hold at least two conflicting opinions on the State Senate fiasco:

• On the one hand, I have hope that some reasonably sane group of Senators, though probably not the leadership, can come together around a solution that establishes a solid precedent for a Senate that functions roughly according to the principles they suggested in high school civics class.

• On the other hand, I'd like to see the whole structure come crashing down - the louder, the better. New Yorkers have been poorly served by their legislature and by their political parties for decades, and it's long past time for the whole rotted frame to collapse.

What triggered this realization that I'd been painting rosy possibilities while secretly wishing for Bastille Day? Swope's suggestion that having the Assembly and the Governor accept the "Padavan quorum" might move things forward. I think he meant it in the sense of getting on with business, but think of the possiblities:

1. Some part of the Senate passes bills in a session of dubious legality that's guaranteed to be mocked for decades to come if it doesn't sink beneath the waves immediately. (Mission accomplished!)

2. The Assembly, really trying to move New York forward, accepts the bill jackets for these votes, drinks of the poisoned chalice, and passes them to the Governor. (Not yet, not likely.)

3. Governor Paterson either signs those bills or lets them ripen into law by waiting ten days. (Unlikely to sign, currently dodging the 10-day question.)

Think about the possibilities! New York State can pay less attention to the Senate nonsense for a while, and all of the "Three Men in a Room" would be contaminated by a "coffee quorum" story that's pretty mockable:

A guy stumbles into a bar, looking for coffee. No, it was coke. No, V-8. Anyway, he turns to leave, but the bartender shouts out, "hey buddy! We got a quorum now!" and the patrons pass a hundred-something laws.

Maybe even that isn't enough to tear down what's left of a rotting legislature, but it's a good start. Wandering down that path might well get us an electorate angry enough to know that even their local legislator isn't quite working for them. And maybe, just maybe, the results of this coup will generate enough fury that a Constitutional Convention, in 2017 or sooner, sounds like a good idea.

(Yeah, I know - a Constutional Convention sounds peaceful and likely conservative when compared to the French Revolution. I clearly still have a few hopes for calm.)

Important constitutional reading

by: simonstl

Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 22:17:54 PM EDT

Well, important reading for insomniacs and people who'd like change, anyway. We have a messy and deeply overspecified (but still sometimes underspecified!) state constitution.

There's been talk once again about the need for New York to have a Constitutional Convention. I don't love Rudy Giuliani's proposals for term limits or supermajority votes on taxes, but otherwise he seems sort of mostly on target. Check it out - you might be pleasantly surprised. It's not just Rudy, though: Mario Cuomo supports it (in a gossip column?), it's turning up in blogs of frustrated voters, and there's been plenty of murmuring in editorials.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky's even put in a bill to put a convention on the ballot, "referred to government operations". He's also entered a bill for changing how delegates are selected.

So are folks here at TAP ready to run to be Constitutional Convention delegates, if such an election breaks out? I know there are challenges with gerrymandered Senate districts, entrenched party machines, and a lot more, but seriously - start thinking about running now. The next mandatory vote on having a convention is in 2017, which is a long ways away, but given current trends, it could well happen sooner.

Silver swag

by: simonstl

Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 17:38:47 PM EDT

When word gets out that you don't love the leader of the New York State delegation to the Democratic National Convention, strange things happen.  Like grocery bags, swag from the convention:

Reminder of our illustrious speaker.

I'm not quite sure what to do with it.  One suggestion was diaper bag, but it's kind of too nice and too large for that.  I think I may have to invest in some iron-on letters that spell out "REMOVE".

A Perfect Storm

by: RussElba

Mon Sep 01, 2008 at 18:11:25 PM EDT

     The primary election was draining by any measure.  The campaign season afterwards was more like a hangover than it was like gaining a second wind.  Luckily for everyone except the GOP, the Beijing Olympics took over the 24-hour news cycle for two weeks and gave the viewing public a break from politics just at the point at which the whole circus was becoming a numbing spectacle. Michael Phelps, the Redeem Team, and the controversies of the Games were riveting.   A refreshed electorate then turned its attention to the Democratic convention, their appetites whetted by the return of equally refreshed reporters, pundits and talking heads.  Four nights of perfectly choreographed momentum  culminating in a speech by Barack Obama that left even hardcore conservatives like Pat Buchanan gushing with praise.

    Then, the calendar took over.  For much of the country, school started.  Whether it was colleges and universities all over the country welcoming their student body or the start of high school in many states, voters' took their eyes off of politics to instead scan Kmart and Walmart circulars for dorm supplies and school clothes.  And with the start of school comes football.  When you realize that many WNYers like me will even sit and watch Delaware play Maryland, you can imagine the higher level of attention paid in the Southeast and Midwest, and anywhere there's even a mid-level local college football team.   This past Saturday, high school teams all over WNY were scrimmaging in preparation for the upcoming season.  In the South and parts of the Southwest, they were already playing regular season games.  Add to this all the other sports that even here in WNY  have already played regular season games.   Not only does the GOP have to try to match the high standard set by the Democratic convention, they have to do it while Americans have many, many claims on their short attention span and after a long, long....loooooong campaign season.

   And now, a hurricane?  A hurricane that is centered on the City of New Orleans, the festering reminder of the moment when the Bush Administration and the Republican dominated Congress began their  calamitous slide?  Even as I type this, CNN is reporting that levees in a Louisiana parish are in danger of collapsing, three years after the natural and governmental disaster that was Katrina.  If there's a silver lining in all of this for the GOP, it can't be bigger than a dime.  

   There was talk even within the Republican party that they faced the chance of historical defeat all along the ballot.  The convention was their opportunity to re-brand themselves in an attempt to separate from the handicap of eight years of the outgoing administration.  It appears that on top of the widely acknowledged success of the Democratic convention and the mis-scheduling their own convention,  the Republicans have to deal with both an American electorate pulled in many directions, and a re-visitation to one of their most damaging domestic failures of the last eight years.  If I didn't think it was so important that we change course now, I'd almost feel bad for them.

TAP snubbed?

by: simonstl

Wed May 21, 2008 at 14:15:39 PM EDT

Anyone know what this Democratic National Convention issue is about? From Kos:

There's no justification for snubbing the Albany Project, Blue Jersey, Cotton Mouth, Left in Alabama, and Michigan Liberal. That they continue pretending that there's no problem at hand, and that regular blogger credentials are the same as the State Blogger Corps credentials betrays a lack of respect for bloggers and a gross insult to our intelligence.

I haven't been following the convention/bloggers conversation that closely, but this made me wonder what's up.

(The update on "state party officials" also makes me wonder.)

Updates: There's more on the role of the state parties at Kos, and a piece from Gatemouth, one of the credentialed bloggers. Among other things, he points out that he's complained about the process too:

Frankly I'm baffled too.

Room 8 has been chosen as NY State's credentialed blog for the Democratic National Convention--the two-person delegation will be myself and Rock Hackshaw....

For a change, I sympathize with the "progressives". Room 8 is not in existence to do political work (although some of the bloggers here clearly do contracts for their friends or for hire) and is neither "an effective online organizing tool" nor "an agent of change". Our application wasn't even really a group submission--Gur coordinated very little, and Rock Hackshaw and I (apparently no one else was interested), each had to submit separate forms, and mine was a goof--I told them I was essential to accomplishing their goals because the netroots lefties were going to be represented in droves, and I was a rarity: a partisan Democratic blogger who could reach out to centrist voters, and was therefore exactly what they needed. With Rock handling base mobilization, together we were New York blogging's dream ticket, and just as compatible as Hillary and Barack (or, for that matter, Hillary and Bill).

I never in a million years expected to be selected. I guess it helps when your co-publisher writes an influential national political blog...

The DNC seems confused--they put out an APB asking for one kind of blogger, and, at least in NY and NJ, selected quite another, and, even by that criteria, Room 8 seems a strange choice.