All that's bipartisan about politics these days are the embarrassments. For further proof, see Wednesday's Metro section in the Times, which was dominated by stories about the New York State Senate expelling one of its members after he was convicted of abusing his girlfriend and the indictment of a New York city councilor for extortion, fraud and money laundering. Both politicians are Democrats. Among all the alleged misdeeds of that councilor, Larry Seabrook, he forged a receipt so he could be reimbursed $177 for the bagel and soda he had for lunch one day!
As noted before in these pages, politicians' hubris is phenomenal: The story almost always comes out, yet they forever push the rules, assuming they won't be caught. The unblemished pols always say their nefarious counterparts are the few rotten apples spoiling the orchard and the public only focuses on the exceptions, but the frequency with which exceptions happen makes me think there are plenty more out there waiting to be discovered that are the rule.
As bad as that is, the Queens state senator guilty of abuse, Hiram Monserrate, wasn't unanimously expelled because his Democratic colleagues were reluctant to narrow their 32-30 margin in the Senate. Fortunately, they did the right thing. Monserrate is now claiming he's the (racial) victim, suing the Senate to overturn its vote and planning to run in the special election called to fill his seat. And on it goes.
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