DAVE AND THE SAVIOR

Barry and Dave

I suppose the easiest thing would be to just call everyone involved a racist and have done with it. Unfortunately, the two players in this interesting little saga are not only black, but painfully liberal – which automatically renders the “Clarence Thomas/Uncle Tom” angle unusable.

Still, the David Paterson-Barack Obama story keeps getting better all the time.

On one side is David Paterson, the beleaguered, do-nothing, impotent, in-over-his-head, stumbling, bumbling Governor of New York. He is the man whose approval rating is often confused for his shoe size. He is the man who has already blamed a racist press for his unpopularity, despite the fact that New York is among the bluest of the blue states.

On the other sides is Barack Obama. He is the Messiah.

The story almost writes itself.

Paterson says he is still running for Governor, period. Despite reports that he was asked to drop out for the good of the Democratic Party by Obama henchmen (after saying that American black leaders, including the President, are treated unfairly by the media), Paterson has refused to throw in the towel.

Whether or not President Obama personally agrees with Paterson’s perceptions of a racially biased media doesn’t matter, nor is it particularly relevant, because almost immediately after the Governor’s comments, the White House decided that Paterson was – pardon the expression – a “black eye” on the Party and needed to go away.

After all, with so much of the national dialogue consumed with matters of race in recent times, it just wouldn’t do to have the President associated with race-baiting twaddle such as Paterson’s – especially with health care yet to nationalize and so much government yet to grow.

Hence, the request from the White House for Paterson to bow out.

Paterson predictably took offense to the White House meddling in Empire State politics, brandishing an attitude that was something akin to, “Stay the hell out of New York!“

(If Paterson was white, Maureen Dowd would have undoubtedly heard the word “boy” at the end of that sentence).

And so we begin the latest chapter of this twisted tale.

As it stands now, the New York Governor is effectively blaming Prseident Obama’s ineffectiveness as Chief Exceutive for the friction that exists between the two of them – and ultimately for Paterson’s own deficiencies.

Azi Paybarah at PolitickerNY.com writes:

Paterson chalked up Obama’s intervention to Washington politics.

“I understand the president’s concern and I understand concern of staff members at the White House. If you look at it from their perspective, they haven’t exactly been able to govern in the first year of their administration in the way that other administrations have, where you would have, theoretically, a period in which the new administration is allowed to pass the needed pieces of legislation.”

But Paterson said Obama “was gracious to me. He asked me how I was feeling” and “he expressed a little chagrin about the process in this situation.”

Paterson also said it was untrue that he had been given a “direct message from a congressman” as had been reported in the New York Times, which named Representative Gregory Meeks as the messenger.

Bam and Company are not exactly thrilled about being tied to Paterson’s failures.

I guess Governor Dave shouldn’t expect any invites to supper at the White House any time in the forseeable future.
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