There are two bits of potentially positive news on the legislative front in my home state of New York, one pertaining to violence against abortion providers and one pertaining to same-sex marriage.
- NY State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt is introducing a bill that would mete out “harsher punishments for people who try to interfere with an abortion by committing acts of violence against doctors, clinical staff, volunteers, or patients. Such acts that result in physical injury would be elevated from misdemeanor crimes to felonies.” New York would be the first state to enact this if the bill is carried through. Standing with Hoyt when the bill was announced was Lynne Slepian, whose husband Dr. Barnett Slepian was shot to death eleven years ago by an anti-choicer.
- The accidental Governor, David Paterson, has been staggeringly ineffective in his fifteen months in office but has made a verbal commitment to marriage equality that he might now be pushing into action. Yesterday he flip-flopped, first saying that same-sex marriage would not be on the agenda of an upcoming emergency session of the legislature and then saying that it would be considered. Governor Paterson has a long record of supporting the LGBT community (he’s slated to be the grand marshal of the Gay Pride Parade in New York City next week), but it remains to be seen if there will be any legislation passed or if he’ll need to be far more vocal. The problem is that Paterson has practically zero clout, so his support might not influence the issue at all. Regardless, it’s time for my state to get on the ball and join Iowa and company in granting marriage equality.
1. I’m all for the maximum penalty for people who terrorize our health-care community. I hereby volunteer to beat anti-choice terrorists with a baseball-bat, Tony Soprano-style.
2. David Patterson is an assclown. I suspect at least part of his waffling on the same-sex marriage bill might have to do with the recent insanity in Albany. I think there’s some legit concern that with the GOP in a stronger position in the state senate the bill might be defeated, and it might be better to wait until next session and see if things are more favorable. I hate the idea of waiting, but I also would be really furious if the bill became a casualty of the bullshit in-fighting.
Paterson is indeed an assclown, and Albany is a fucking mess. I’m more frustrated because Paterson has been talking about marriage equality for a while and just when it might get off the ground, the legislature devolves into chaos.
I’m a casual Albany watcher. Can either of you educate me about why you think Paterson is such a failure? I can’t blame him for Albany’s troubles, and I can’t blame him for having 0 clout, or for making some hard fiscal choices when there’s just no money. I think an unelected governor is the perfect person to make really unpopular decisions. I see him taking a bullet for NY, but I notice him getting some general abuse.
As I said, I don’t follow politics closely so educate me harpies, what in particular about Paterson is getting on your nerves?
@rodriguez: He totally, publically, embarrassingly screwed up process of nominating HRC’s replacement. He screwed around and granstanded and played coy and in the end alienated and humiliated the woman he did try to back (Caroline Kennedy) and made the very competent woman he did nominate (Kirsten Gillibrand) look like she was a lousy second choice.
He’s also had major staff problems, including losing a top aide–Charles O’Byrne–to a political scandal and then rehiring him as an outside advisor (with my tax dollars, of course). He also lost his entire communications team, his security director and the outside consulting firm that usually handles the Governor’s political strategy. They all quit out of frustration with Patterson’s waffling and flip-flopping. Now the man has ZERO credibility with state lawmakers or with the national Democratic party, which hurts all of us–New Yorkers and Democrats alike.
Here the WSJ explains why his budget sucks:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123879912281488291.html
On the other hand, he was pretty funny in his appearance on the Colbert Report.
becky the WSJ article was very useful