Ooh, Ooh, The Damage Done
That line from a Neil Young song, The Needle and the Damage Done, even though it is about a completely different subject, is strangely apt in this situation. The Washington Post's campaign blog, The Trail, notes that Eliot Spitzer finally dropped his Licenses for Lawbreakers® scheme, but to late. The damage, you see, has already been done.
After all the hoopla, N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer is dropping his plan to provide driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. But the damage to the Democratic presidential candidates - and, overwhelmingly, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton - is done.
Clinton waffled on the question of whether she supported the Spitzer proposal during an Oct. 30 debate that has haunted her in the weeks since. In her answer that night, Clinton both defended and objected to the idea of giving permits to undocumented residents.
And in an attempt to "clarify" her position the next day, Clinton sympathized with governors in Spitzer's position, and her advisers said it amounted to her backing his plan.
But now that Spitzer has abandoned his unpopular effort - one he said would bring illegal immigrants "out of the shadows" and help improve road safety - Clinton has a new, firm position: she is against driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.
"I support Governor Spitzer's decision today to withdraw his proposal. His difficult job is made that much harder by the failure of the Congress and the White House to pass comprehensive immigration reform," Clinton said in a statement.
"As President, I will not support drivers' licenses for undocumented people and will press for comprehensive immigration reform that deals with all of the issues around illegal immigration including border security and fixing our broken system."
Clinton's original statements had left her plenty of wiggle room. But her campaign officials had insisted - that day, anyway — that she supported Spitzer, however tepidly. Now it seems that was not really the case.
So she was against it before she was for it while still being against it in a positive sort of way. Or something. Meanwhile, Eliot Spitzer, in his drive to try to reach the center of the earth, has managed to top (bottom?) even today's tic tacs tax news! Yes, he is releasing an onslaught of extremely hard core criminals onto the streets of New York. My gosh, He's about to make Michael Dukakis look presidential!
New York parole officials are speeding up the release of hard-core criminals who spent decades behind bars - including violent murderers and cop killers.
Parole boards under Gov. Spitzer are springing jailbirds at a far higher rate than they did during Gov. George Pataki's administration, state Division of Parole figures show.
One of the lucky prisoners is convicted killer Maurice Murrell, 40, of Brooklyn.
Just two years ago, board commissioners rejected Murrell's bid, saying his criminal past shows a "propensity for extreme violence and a disrespect for human life."
But Thursday, after 23 years in prison, Murrell was released.
Another recently freed killer is Richard Winkler, who did a 26-year stretch for blowing away his father with a shotgun in North Tarrytown, Westchester County. He was released in September, and has been living quietly in Manhattan.
Gerald Balone was freed in August after serving 30-plus years for killing three people in Buffalo with a hammer and a handgun.
And Harry Morrison, who served 27 years for giving his ailing wife a drug overdose and smothering her with a pillow in upstate Broome County, was released in July.
Next up: Voting rights for parolees! They may be the only core constituency left to him!
Other Links to this Post
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Whichever Way The Wind Blows…… — Wednesday, 14 November , 2007 @ 10:12 pm
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Democrats have nobody to blame but themselves for the Spitzer mess | BitsBlog — Thursday, 15 November , 2007 @ 7:36 am
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Liberty Pundit — Thursday, 15 November , 2007 @ 8:26 am
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Spitzer Vows To Push Gay Marriage — Friday, 16 November , 2007 @ 6:22 pm
By Mwalimu Daudi, Wednesday, 14 November , 2007 @ 7:32 pm
Next up: Voting rights for parolees! They may be the only core constituency left to [Spitzer]!
Actually, I think that space aliens are voting’s final frontier. However, to the best of my knowledge the only extraterrestrial sighted so far has been Dennis Kucinich. This might not be enough to save Spitzer’s political bacon.
Unless there are millions of honest, law-abiding Vulcans cowering in the shadows doing the jobs Americans won’t do and just waiting for a kindly President to grant them amnesty.