Scary NY Attorney-General Eliot Spitzer

In The Wall Street Journal of Thursday, 12/22/05 there is an editorial page article by John C. Whitehead, who had an article last April criticizing NY Attorney-General Spitzer's actions against insurer AIG and its then boss Maurice Greenberg.

Whitehead noted that everyone, including Hank Greenberg, is innocent until proven guilty. Spitzer phoned Whitehead in response.

According to Whitehead, Spitzer said "Mr. Whitehead, it's now a war between us and you've fired the first shot. I will be coming after you. You will pay the price. This is only the beginning and you will pay dearly for what you have done. You will wish you had never written that letter."

I have no way of knowing whether such a conversation took place. It will be Spitzer versus Whitehead.

If true, it is quite amazing and frightening. More frightening is the very strong possibility that Eliot Spitzer will be the governor of my beloved New York.

Where is the NY Civil Liberties Union? Where have they been with this prosecution by news release so reminiscent of Rudy Giuliani?

With such evident arrogance and disregard for civil liberties, I am suprised that President Bush didn't put him in the administration of injustice in Washington.

When New York's legislature unanimously passed a tepid reform of the eminent domain law that would require notification to property owners of the eminent domain proceedings against them, Governor George Pataki vetoed it. He did so on the advice of Attorney-General Spitzer. The specious grounds for a veto were that it would give property-owners a false sense of security and that it would cost too much.


What price constitutional freedom?

NYC TRANSIT STRIKE

Who was the genius that negotiated a contract that expires the cold week before Christmas?

I guess the same genius that negotiated a contract that covers both the subway and bus workers.

Privatize the subway and bus system. Abolish the restrictions hobbling commuter vans and so-called "gypsy" cabs.

The Bush Administration's Politically Correct Stance in Beijing

The Wall Street Journal of Dec. 7th reports "Untranslatable Word in U.S. Aide's Speech Leaves Beijing Baffled" on the strange impact of the word "stakeholder" used by Robert Zoellick, the US Trade Representative. Originally it was used to make claims on corporate governance by non-shareholders such as employees, the "community", consumer and environmental activists. How strange it is that the Bush Administration has been infected by this politically-corrected, left liberal and loaded expression.

Ideas can spread through a society like a virus with words as vectors.