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You are here: Home / Politics / What the Hell is Going on In NY?

What the Hell is Going on In NY?

by John Cole|  March 25, 200810:07 am| 39 Comments

This post is in: Politics, Democratic Stupidity

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Is it time to put the Delta Tau Chi symbols up on the NY Governor’s mansion:

New York’s new governor, who disclosed last week that he and his wife committed adultery several years ago, said Monday he used cocaine in his 20s and smoked marijuana when he was younger.

Gov. David Paterson says he told another interviewer about drug use before he was governor.

In reference to cocaine, Gov. David Paterson, 53, said in a television interview that he “tried it a couple of times” when he was “about 22 or 23.”

“And marijuana probably when I was about 20,” he said on the NY1 cable news station. “I don’t think I touched marijuana since the ’70s.”

“More Americans have tried a lot more during that period of time and gone on to lead responsible lives and hopefully have lived their lives to their fullest,” he said.

Affairs, blow, high-priced call girls. The only thing missing is a toga.

I am not judging, and I am not saying I disapprove, I just wish these guys would STFU about it and get back to governing. Or since it is New York, trying to govern.

And while we are at it, what the hell is the Mayor of Detroit thinking? Why the hell has he not stepped down? I have heard his prosecutor speak and hear interviews with reporters from the Detroit Free Press. This guy is guilty as sin.

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Reader Interactions

39Comments

  1. 1.

    TR

    March 25, 2008 at 10:11 am

    I just wish these guys would STFU about it and get back to governing.

    Sure, but it’s not like they’re the ones who keep bringing it up. Our sixth-grade media bears the blame.

  2. 2.

    Sasha

    March 25, 2008 at 10:13 am

    If you think about it, by airing out his dirty laundry all at once up front, it will theoretically allow him to govern better since no one will be able to hang a controversy on him later when he’s trying to get his job done.

  3. 3.

    Zifnab

    March 25, 2008 at 10:14 am

    I am not judging, and I am not saying I disapprove, I just wish these guys would STFU about it and get back to governing. Or since it is New York, trying to govern.

    Whatever. I seriously doubt Paterson would be going into full disclosure mode if reporters weren’t picking through his trash cans for thongs and dubies. Better to air all the dirty laundry in the first 100 days than to have “OMG! FOX NEWS SCANDAL SPECIAL HEADLINE REPORT GOVERNOR WEED 1976 WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN! WTF! BBQ!” every other week for the next four years.

    If Patterson does a respectable job as Governor and gets the public nod for a reelection in ’12, it’ll go a long way towards busting the nuts of the Limbaugh “Lock’m Up Forever” crowd. Obama’s done cocaine, Bush has done cocaine, Clinton smoked weed, David Vitter and Eliot Spitzer pay for sex, FDR was an alcoholic and Winston Churchill liked his opium. There. It’s all out in the open.

    Now, perhaps, we can start handling drugs like adults rather than like pants-wetting pre-pubescent teenagers.

  4. 4.

    Dreggas

    March 25, 2008 at 10:17 am

    TOGA! TOGA! TOGA!

  5. 5.

    John Cole

    March 25, 2008 at 10:20 am

    If you think about it, by airing out his dirty laundry all at once up front, it will theoretically allow him to govern better since no one will be able to hang a controversy on him later when he’s trying to get his job done.

    Y’all have not learned anything, as we are talking about Bruno and Roger Stone here. There doesn’t need to be anything there for them to create a controversy.

  6. 6.

    4tehlulz

    March 25, 2008 at 10:22 am

    Governor Rockso: I DO COCAINE!

  7. 7.

    Dulcie

    March 25, 2008 at 10:23 am

    I wonder if Instaputz will add Kwame Kilpatrick to his list?

  8. 8.

    myiq2xu

    March 25, 2008 at 10:25 am

    Affairs, blow, high-priced call girls. The only thing missing is a toga.

    I always figured that one of the best things about being a Democrat is that we’re allowed to have fun.

  9. 9.

    Zifnab

    March 25, 2008 at 10:26 am

    Y’all have not learned anything, as we are talking about Bruno and Roger Stone here. There doesn’t need to be anything there for them to create a controversy.

    All those Clinton scandals didn’t amount to much until they hit Monica-gate. And – as always – it wasn’t the “crime” that bothered people so much as the cover up.

    If Bruno and Stone want to throw a lot of nothing at the wall, they’ll eventually burn through what remains of their credibility. You can only cry wolf so many times.

  10. 10.

    Sam Hutcheson

    March 25, 2008 at 10:27 am

    You know, this coke thing is going to get more frequent, right? Boomers like Bill Clinton smoked pot in college. It’s sort of what boomers did. The next generation, who came of age in the late 70s and early 80s, did a LOT of blow. It’s not shocking. It’s not important. As far as I can tell, this, and a couple of DUI arrests makes him prime presidential material.

  11. 11.

    Tlaloc

    March 25, 2008 at 10:27 am

    Dude the Detroit Mayor is KWAME KILPATRICK.

    Best. Name. Ever. (at least in our boring ass “John Smith” country)

    KWAME KILPATRICK does not deign to notice your measley little indictment. KWAME KILPATRICK is a four dimensional manifestation of his own name- a name which was itself invented in the future by Professors of Asskickology, but they had to send the name back through time because it threatened to render their field obsolete with its perfection.

    KWAME KILPATRICK.

  12. 12.

    linda

    March 25, 2008 at 10:31 am

    he answered honestly the question put to him by the ny1 interviewer. frankly, the response has been an overwhelming ‘get the fuck over it and get on to the serious business’ by those paying attention. and it’s about damned time.

    it’s the tabloids and cable chatterbunnies propelling this story. because, of course, there are no young white girlies in distress to focus on… or other stories of significance…

    (fwiw, the nyt front-paged this online yesterday; today the story is relegated to a much smaller, inside the ‘region’ section of the print edition.)

  13. 13.

    Bill Arnold

    March 25, 2008 at 10:32 am

    Y’all have not learned anything, as we are talking about Bruno and Roger Stone here. There doesn’t need to be anything there for them to create a controversy.
    By all accounts, Bruno and Patterson get along quite well. Stone had a grudge against Spitzer; don’t know how he gets along with Patterson. The order of succession (which I don’t know) may play into this. If e.g. Bruno is next in line, moves against Patterson would smell like a coup to New Yorkers.

  14. 14.

    Dreggas

    March 25, 2008 at 10:34 am

    I don’t care who people were banging or what they were snorting or for that matter, what they were banging and who they were snorting. The way I see it we need more people like this in office and then maybe our stupid ass backward policies will start to change.

  15. 15.

    tim

    March 25, 2008 at 10:37 am

    I think his candor is a great thing.

    Only in America would 30-year old drug use even be mentioned in the news. Hell, I don’t care if he did weed last night if he kicks ass as governor.

    This country is so fucked.

  16. 16.

    Caidence (fmr. Chris)

    March 25, 2008 at 10:45 am

    I’m with sasha here. What are they going to do, fire him?

    I’m so happy with this Spitzer fuck up because now it means we get the qualified guy running the state. And one of his first acts is to say “hey guy, I’ve done blow and fucked people that weren’t my wife. Suck it up.”

    Awesome.

  17. 17.

    Caidence (fmr. Chris)

    March 25, 2008 at 10:49 am

    I always figured that one of the best things about being a Democrat is that we’re allowed to have fun.

    Depends on where you are. In some deeply red places, you’re not even allowed to be a Democrat. How’s that for fun?

    You move into town, you get a standard rifle and a trailer trash wife to shoot it at. Good times, good times.

  18. 18.

    Cain

    March 25, 2008 at 10:58 am

    welcome back dreggas.

    cain

  19. 19.

    Fwiffo

    March 25, 2008 at 11:06 am

    The Detroit situation has been brewing for so long. The fact that he somehow got reelected is probably the biggest unnoticed scandal of the 2006 cycle. Kwame Kilpatrick is one of the most corrupt politicians in the history of the universe. He makes Marion Barry look like a choir boy. He makes Tom Delay look like Mother Theresa. Seriously, the Prochancellor of Rigel 7 ain’t got nothing on this dude. The fact that it’s taken this long for somebody to actually try to prosecute the guy is an absolute miracle.

    The weirdest thing is how he remained a “rising star” outside of Michigan for so long. Even Republican types seemed to like him for his “pro-business” schemes. It’s like people outside of the state lived in some alternate reality where he wasn’t a complete tool. And this guy was a complete tool long before he was overtly corrupt.

  20. 20.

    Krista

    March 25, 2008 at 11:07 am

    More Americans have tried a lot more during that period of time and gone on to lead responsible lives and hopefully have lived their lives to their fullest,” he said.

    I am not judging, and I am not saying I disapprove, I just wish these guys would STFU about it and get back to governing. Or since it is New York, trying to govern.

    I’m with the others. Let’s stop with the Nancy Regan horseshit that drug use is an automatic sentence to an impoverished, fucked-up life. It’s no different than booze. Some people use it and it fucks up their life. Most people who use it are able to keep it under control and are very productive members of society. Maybe once people wake up to that fact, we’ll stop seeing casual weed smokers put in jail, and a ridiculous amount of money spent on the War on Drugs(tm).

  21. 21.

    Tim Fuller

    March 25, 2008 at 11:11 am

    Don’t know about the charges of Kwame being as corrupt as some make-believe sci-fi alien, but it would be nice if the charges you suggest are so pervasive that they actually catch these guys doing something illegal (as opposed to immoral). It is stretching credibility to keep falling back on the “he’s guilty of lying about his affairs so let’s charge him with perjury”. That’s tired and complete B.S.

    If he’s so freakin’ corrupt (as opposed to being so obviously freakin’ BLACK), then charge and convict him for some real stuff instead of some dribblin’ sex bullsquat.

    Enjoy.

  22. 22.

    John Cole

    March 25, 2008 at 11:18 am

    I am starting to think you all are right about Patterson. I guess my attitude was just shut up already. Maybe it is a little bit of innoculation.

    If he’s so freakin’ corrupt (as opposed to being so obviously freakin’ BLACK), then charge and convict him for some real stuff instead of some dribblin’ sex bullsquat.

    I believe one of the things he is charged with is a conspiracy to have police officers fired to cover up his relationship. The city had to pay 8 million to them in a settlement for wrongful dismissal. Yes, this started with sex, again, but it is clearly much more than just sex now.

  23. 23.

    Rex

    March 25, 2008 at 11:21 am

    An old acquaintance of mine who did time for coke distribution said that one of his deliveries used to be the Gov’s mansion in Albany for the daughter of a certain Governor whose brother may or may not be the current AG of NY.

    This is apocryphal but I had good reason to believe him.

  24. 24.

    The Moar You Know

    March 25, 2008 at 11:29 am

    And while we are at it, what the hell is the Mayor of Detroit thinking? Why the hell has he not stepped down? I have heard his prosecutor speak and hear interviews with reporters from the Detroit Free Press. This guy is guilty as sin.

    The court/jury is going to have to decide whether he is, in fact, “guilty as sin”. And nowadays, with our two-tiered justice system, if he’s got the cash he can buy his way out of this. I’ll bet he does.

    Resigning under his current conditions would be stupid.

    His constituents know what he is and obviously don’t have a problem with it. He might as well stay in place until the judge/jury hands down the verdict (guilty guys walk all the time if they get a good jury) or until (the safer course) he can plea it to a misdemeanor. Sucks for those of us who think “law and order” is an important concept, but I think he’s got an excellent chance of getting away with this, and obviously, so does he.

    It’s “Bitch Set Me Up, Part Two”, coming soon to a courtroom near you.

  25. 25.

    Nikki

    March 25, 2008 at 11:30 am

    I believe one of the things he is charged with is a conspiracy to have police officers fired to cover up his relationship. The city had to pay 8 million to them in a settlement for wrongful dismissal.

    Yup. He fired the officers to cover up the affair, and when they sued, he and his mistress lied on the witness stand. Then the city settled out of court with the officers, giving them even more money than they would’ve been awarded in an attempt to keep hidden the text messages proving the affair. Perjury seems to be the least of the charges Kwame should be facing.

  26. 26.

    TenguPhule

    March 25, 2008 at 11:43 am

    The Law is now only a word without any meaning.

    One for me, another for thee.

  27. 27.

    Jeff

    March 25, 2008 at 11:45 am

    Waitaminit! Someone currently in his 50s did coke and pot IN THE 70S?

    Why, that’s the most unheard-of thing I’ve ever heard of!

    I’d horsewhip him if I had a horse! (tnx Groucho)

    Come the fuck on…

  28. 28.

    bernarda

    March 25, 2008 at 11:45 am

    Sasha in number 2 is right on the money. Clear the air now, and wingnut insinuations won’t have any effect. They can’t drag out the issue by dripping “hints” over days or weeks or months.

    Most of the Rethuglicans from Bush on down have done a variety of illegal substances. BTW, why does no one mention Bush’s coke days?

  29. 29.

    Dayv

    March 25, 2008 at 11:48 am

    So all of these “I did drugs in college and I turned out fine” are going to start pardoning nonviolent drug offense convicts left and right now?

    It’s put up or shut up time, guys.

  30. 30.

    Dayv

    March 25, 2008 at 11:48 am

    I think I could have made that sentence parse a bit better.

  31. 31.

    LiberalTarian

    March 25, 2008 at 11:54 am

    I am not judging

    Not bloody likely. You blog, therefore you judge.

    Damnation and hellfire John–we all judge. At this point, we would be doing the lexicon a favor if that particular phrase was excised completely.

  32. 32.

    pharniel

    March 25, 2008 at 12:54 pm

    Tim Fuller Says:

    Don’t know about the charges of Kwame being as corrupt as some make-believe sci-fi alien, but it would be nice if the charges you suggest are so pervasive that they actually catch these guys doing something illegal (as opposed to immoral). It is stretching credibility to keep falling back on the “he’s guilty of lying about his affairs so let’s charge him with perjury”. That’s tired and complete B.S.

    If he’s so freakin’ corrupt (as opposed to being so obviously freakin’ BLACK), then charge and convict him for some real stuff instead of some dribblin’ sex bullsquat.

    Enjoy.

    Please. Kwami has been invovled in so many fucked up things that the purjery is a just a gateway to subpena stuff.

    The man has made coleman young look like the object model of propriety.

    i miss dennis archer so much with every day. and that’s saying something.

  33. 33.

    Jake

    March 25, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    The light, it burnzzz!!

    Let’s see. Coke-head denies being coke-head gets angry when coke-headery is mentioned. Becomes pResident.

    The rest is history.

    Mayor of America has cops escort then-mistress to shopping trips and walk her dog. Runs for pResident Gets angry when asked about said misuse of city resouces/abuse of marriage vows. If you don’t think we dodged a bullet when he dropped out of the race, wake the fuck up.

    Now we have a guy who actually admits that he wasn’t always an angel and after seven plus years of “When you ask questions the terrists win” it makes you uncomfortable. Understandable, but get over it.

  34. 34.

    Bill Arnold

    March 25, 2008 at 1:43 pm

    The order of succession (which I dont know) may play into this. If e.g. Bruno is next in line, moves against Patterson would smell like a coup to New Yorkers.
    The succession order in the NY State constitution would have Bruno as governor if Patterson resigned, with new Governor/Lt Governor elected at the next general election at least 3 months after both offices become vacant. I don’t know how clean Bruno is, but he’s been around long enough to have collected some ruinous dirt.
    My guess is that DPatterson is safe. Any NY State political gurus reading?

  35. 35.

    crack

    March 25, 2008 at 3:33 pm

    Trade you Kilpatrick for Rich Rodriguez’s 4 million buyout.

    No deal? Why not?

  36. 36.

    Sirkowski

    March 25, 2008 at 6:42 pm

    I never did cocaine. I’m feeling kinda lame now.

  37. 37.

    Once-ler

    March 25, 2008 at 8:01 pm

    The Detroit situation has been brewing for so long. The fact that he somehow got reelected is probably the biggest unnoticed scandal of the 2006 cycle.

    Yeah, that election was weird. Kilpatrick was headed for a loss. Behind in the polls, and out of money. Then, at the last minute, Jim Nicholson, a prominent fund-raiser for the Republican party raised nearly a million dollars for him. It got his ads back on the air in the days before the election.
    So why would Republicans care about re-electing Kwame Kilpatrick?

    (Putting on my tinfoil hat…)
    Maybe because there is a lot more to be gained by taking down a sitting Democratic Mayor than there is in taking down a one-term ex-Mayor. I seem to recall some rumors about shenanegins with the vote counting, too.

    I think he’s guilty, and he’s got to go, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of politics behind this. Kind of like Spitzer.

  38. 38.

    maxbaer (not the original)

    March 25, 2008 at 8:54 pm

    Wow, I did coke in the 70’s, too. I never realized that quaified me to be a governor. Fuckin’ awesome!

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