Here's a hilarious takedown by Wayne Barrett of The Village Voice regarding the New York Times endorsement of Sen. Eric Schneiderman for attorney general, all the more devastating because Barrett acknowledges he is an ideological ally of the candidate, who has real charm and political talent. Actually, the piece should be more embarrassing to the Times than to Schneiderman himself -- but I guess the paper, like most politicians, is beyond such petty concerns. Nor is Schneiderman's strategy of running to the left a dumb one in a Democratic primary. While it's his pandering to Al Sharpton that takes the lead in the Voice piece, my favorite unrelated bit comes much further in:
"Eric also, the Times tells us, stood up for a strong ethics bill this year, but his efforts were 'blocked by political leaders eager to protect the sleazy status quo.' The bill Schneiderman championed was so strong that the Times urged Paterson to veto it, which he did, leaving us with no ethics reform at all, but at least we got a lot of standing up. 'If reform dies now,' the Times wrote when Paterson heeded its will, 'all 212 legislators and the governor are to blame.' Oops. Maybe 211."
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