If that was enough for Hell's equivalent of Al Roker to issue a frost warning, an editorial in this morning's NY Times is enough to send Hades into the deep freeze. For the Gray Lady has . . . endorsed a Republican, Chris Callaghan, for the statewide office of New York Comptroller.
As we recently reported here, so avid is the Times for a Dem takeover that after years of endorsing liberal Republican congressman Chris Shays, it ditched him in favor of his Democrat opponent. The Times explicitly acknowledged that it was forsaking Shays because of the overrriding importance of a Dem majority.
Of course the situation is a bit different regarding the Comptroller's race. The election of Republican Chris Callaghan [pictured here] will do nothing to diminish the odds of a Pelosi speakership. So no doubt the Times felt freer to put principle over partisanship.
Even so, it took one of the more outrageous examples of Democrat corruption to move the Times into the (R) column. For those who haven't been paying particular attention to down-ballot races in New York, here's the scoop, as described by the Times itself:
"The State Ethics Commission accused Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi today of breaking the law by using state employees to chauffeur his wife for more than three and a half years, and referred his case to the State Legislature to decide if he should be removed from office.
"The ethics commission cast serious doubts on Mr. Hevesi’s claims that he needed a driver for his wife for security reasons, noting that there were no threats made against his wife, Carol, and that the state police determined there was a “low” risk. The driver assigned to Mrs. Hevesi had no law-enforcement experience, the commission said.
"Its 26-page report, coming just two weeks before the election, is a major blow to Mr. Hevesi, a Democrat who serves as the state’s chief fiscal watchdog. The report asks whether the nearly $83,000 that Mr. Hevesi reimbursed the state is enough to cover the costs of the drivers, and chided the comptroller’s office for its lax record keeping."
There's a delicous irony to all this. Hevesi's law-breaking came to light when a call was placed to his Comptroller's office Fraud Hotline by none other than . . . Chris Callaghan! The latest polls by the way show Callaghan coming from absolutely nowhere to be tied with Hevesi, with all the momentum on the Republican's side.
Even given the extraordinary circumstances that brought the concluding words of the Times editorial about, they can still be savored: "We support Christopher Callaghan for New York comptroller."
Catch you later. I'm strapping on the skates and heading for a quick spin down the frozen waterways of Hell.
Aside: I had the chance to interview Chris Callaghan at length on my rightANGLE TV show last night and found him very much on top of matters while flashing a mordant sense of humor.
