Justice for Some, Politics for All

You wonder if DA Joel Abelove understands the perception he's creating when he publicly declares his zeal for prosecuting people who unlawfully collect public benefits while turning a blind eye to the GOP Legislative Chair and supporter, Martin Reid? This story in the Times Union demonstrates the credibility gap in stunning detail.

The alleged perpetrator is a person of color who obviously lacks Martin Reids GOP credentials and connections. Mr. Abelove tells the Times Union in a statement his office will work with state agencies "... to hold those accountable who steal from honest taxpayers." Apparently this is not the case when a State Agency, the Labor Department, sends a criminal referral to his office on Mr. Reid for taking $15k in unemployment insurance benefits while collecting his $30k in salary from the county legislature.

It's one thing to turn your back on all such offenses so the policy on Reid appears uniform, but wrong.  It's quite another to prosecute others, minorities or otherwise for the same offense and brag about it while ignoring the Reid case.

Desso announces run for Supervisor

Tonight Lou Desso will likely give a speech at a local school's graduation.  He'll tell the assembly about his titles, Councilman, Deputy Supervisor, (unspoken but meaning he was appointed by the Supervisor) , and Deputy Commissioner of Mental Health.

What he wont say is how he got the $80,000 job and therefore why connections matter more than the hard work one does to get an education and college degree, if you're Lou Desso. He won't tell the assembly he got his friends in county government to change the job description so he didn't need a college degree or a masters degree to have this high paying  job title. The only he needed was friends in politics who had the power to change that job description for him.  Hopefully the children will not follow this example to a public paycheck but rather understand that a college degree does matter.  An education is a gift that no one can ever take from you. It will guide your reasoning process and open doors that can and will make a difference in your life.

There are other things that won't be mentioned and we'll leave you to search them out on this blog or your own sources. Suffice to say Lou Desso want's another title, that of Town Supervisor. It's a bigger paycheck and sounds better than Deputy Supervisor.  You can read his announcement here.  You can also read an example of his tenure as a Councilman here. The article details Desso's efforts to assassinate the character of the former town comptroller whom he had dismissed with his board majority.  As you read the insidious comments about the need for a "forensic audit" you should know that not only was it a cheap shot but that no such effort was ever undertaken by Desso or the Town Board. Finally you can read all about his getting himself appointed to a big paying county job here.