It’s funny what a crafty and flawlessly executed backroom maneuver will do to people. Take the Democrats in Albany: They’ve suddenly discovered morality.
The party’s public response to the Monday coup that saw Senators Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate defect to the G.O.P. and hand Republicans control of the chamber has been loaded with self-righteousness and moral indignation.
“A thief and a thug,” is how Austin Shafran, the spokesman for Malcolm Smith, the Senate majority until Monday afternoon’s proceedings, characterized the two turncoat Democrats.
He’s sort of right, of course. (Well, allegedly right.) Monserrate is facing a felony indictment for slashing his girlfriend’s face with broken glass last December, while Espada faces
