The Empire Page

It’s been like sharks  smelling blood in the water. The missteps of Governor Paterson and Congressman Rangel have led to a feeding frenzy on the part of the media that far exceeds whatever they have done. This has been most egregious in the case of the Governor. Even before the David Johnson affair erupted, the media went out of its way to cast the Governor in a negative light. He was made to seem constantly bumbling and making mistakes while none of highlights got coverage. He was constantly referred to as the “unelected” Governor as if that made him unqualified to govern. Never mind that he was elected Lieutenant Governor and like other LGs or VPs he succeeded a Chief Executive who was no longer able to serve per his constitutional responsibility. Never before in my lifetime has someone who has stepped into the role of leadership been treated so badly. Almost every headline was negative and his declining poll numbers inevitably followed. Ironic isn’t it that the same media is hollering for the unelected Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch to take over  and the Governor to step down. I do believe that Governor Paterson rightly decided not to run for re-election but now he deserves to fill out his term and not be forced from office, barring any revelations of criminal wrongdoing (Yankee tickets excluded).

There has also been a ganging up on Congressman Charlie Rangel. With no criminal charges brought against him and an ongoing investigation by the House the clamoring for his resignation has gotten louder. Never mind all the good he has done and all the good he can do New York as a Senior member of Congress whether it is the Right Wing hate groups or the blaring headlines he seems convicted already in the media, The leaders in his district see this and rallied to his defense at a recent breakfast in Harlem.

I ask myself why the vigor of these attacks on the Governor and the Congressman. To my eyes there is political, media, and business establishment that these two do not belong to. They do not inhabit the Wall Street Boardrooms or the Park Avenue Living Rooms and socialize with the same set of people. Paterson and Rangel represent an establishment centered on 125th Street not Wall Street. There is a circle of friends where Mike Bloomberg, Mort Zuckerman and Steve Rattner meet and while it may intersect with the 125th Street Circle at times, the two never completely intermingle. Having both Paterson and Rangel in positions of senior leadership threatens to move the balance of City power more to uptown from Park Avenue. So any chinks in the armor will be completely exploited to help shift the balance. Little wonder then that Eliot Spitzer, a creature of the Park Avenue establishment, is enjoying a renaissance and a career rehabilitation thanks to the media.  Little wonder that Mike Bloomberg’s missteps, such as his cronyism and hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on the CityTime contract, rarely get much coverage in the media. 

Both David Paterson and Charlie Rangel have made some mistakes that may in the end chase them from public office. However the media’s rush to push them out is far too hasty and may be a case of the Establishment Striking Back.