Brooding Over Bruno

Here and there we've read commentary today anguishing over how much of a loss Joe Bruno's departure from public life represents, and what a debt of thanks the citizens of New York owe him.  These comments are from usually Republican-oriented sources.   For that reason we're surprised.

Bruno is the incarnation of Jay Gallagher's celebrated dictum, "There's only one party in Albany:   the Party of Government."   He's a Republican only in the same sense that O.J.'s looking for the real killers.

Sychophant of the teachers union, opponent of a state constitutional convention in '97 (our only hope for salvation short of revolution), champion of the status quo in the toxic array of policies that has made the The Empire State into The Bankrupt State and The Exodus State, Bruno's last contribution to the public debate before announcing his retirement was to oppose Gov. Paterson's proposed cap on school taxes.   If you've read this, you know what we think of the proposed "tax cap."   Functionally useless, at least it's an acknowledgement of the need to shift policy in a certain direction.   But even that's too much for the errand-boy of the teacher's union.   At least Bruno went out in character.

Moreover, we can't think of a single Republican state senator who's any different.   That's why they're going to lose the State Senate in November.   It's because they deserve to.