On Feb. 27, 1933, somebody burned down the Reichstag building in Berlin ... with less than salubrious results.
The fire in the edifice where the German parliament met led to Adolf Hitler taking firm control of the country.
Arson is never a good idea, but New Yorkers could almost be forgiven if _ eyeing the Capitol building in Albany _ their thoughts momentarily drifted toward kerosine and matches.
Our state's Legislature has long been associated with the word "dysfunctional," but based on what has been going on lately in the Senate, the word should be printed on its business cards and stationery.
Called into special session by Gov. David Paterson, Senate Democrats passed several bills ... that the Democratic governor rightfully refused to sign.
The balance of power in the Senate is tied with 31 Democrats versus 30 Republicans and an aligned Democrat. While the two sides fight over control of the legislative body, the Democrats have been meeting on their own.
The trouble with that strategy is that it takes 32 senators to have a quorum, and the Republicans and the dissident Democrat have been boycotting the chamber.
This is how humiliatingly absurd and ridiculous things have become.
When Republican Frank Padavan of Queens briefly walked through the back of the chamber Tuesday to get a drink as the session was gaveled to order, the Democrats claimed they could count his presence toward a quorum.
This despite Padavan being gone long before the session began with the pledge of allegiance.
"It's a fraud," Padavan said.
He was referring to the Democrats' tawdry attempt at legislative legerdemain, but he could have been talking about the absurd way our state's government is being run.
Nothing is getting done, and while that might sound appealing given the Legislature's history, it is having a deleterious effect on some of our local residents and issues.
Being held up is the reauthorization of county sales taxes in Delaware and Schoharie counties, as well as a bill that would allow Oneonta Fire Chief Robert Barnes to consolidate his retirement pensions from the county and the city.
Statewide, Paterson said tax receipts may be down 35 percent from earlier projections, and we're looking at a $3 billion budget shortfall.
Meanwhile, the Senate remains paralyzed.
"They're still fiddling around while Albany burns," Blair Horner, of the New York Public Interest Research Group, told the New York Daily News.
Rome burned. So did the Reichstag. In Albany, there just seems to be a burning desire to put party politics above the legitimate needs of New York's citizens.
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