Feeding at the trough in D.C. and Albany

Nice column by Salon's liberal puritan Glenn Greenwald, about former senator and Obama Cabinet nominee Tom Daschle and his lobbyist wife (one of her clients is Lockheed Martin, whose New York lobbyist is Douglas Rutnik, father of Kirsten Gillibrand). The Daschles have made many millions by peddling influence in Washington. Which brings us back to Albany, and the case of indicted former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. If Daschle isn't legally guilty of anything, then maybe Bruno isn't either. Everyone presumes that Bruno's defense will be, that's the way things are done in the corridors of power. But although it's bad manners to mention it, and the press almost never puts things in these terms, did anyone ever really think all those unions and businesses were seeking anything other than influence over public policy when they paid money to Bruno through his consulting firm? And when Ken Bruno, the senator's son, quit his job as Rensselaer County district attorney to become a lobbyist, and lined up clients including Magna Entertainment which was eyeing NYRA's horse racing franchise, did anyone ever think those clients were more interested in Ken's skill set than they were in influencing one of Albany's three men in a room? The questions answer themselves, yet so far the Bruno indictment has done nothing to change Albany's culture, where Malcolm Smith, the new Senate leader, is just as secretive about his private income and assets as was Bruno, and as the very lax rules in place permit him to be. And if Obama, despite all his idealistic rhetoric, can nominate people like Daschle, then Albany can respond to the Bruno indictment by continuing business as usual.