Emptying the 'Musings mailbag'
DAN MEYER Political Columnist
As we prepare to hopefully finally turn the page on Western New York's wintry weather season, I thought it would be fitting this week to share with you some of the "fan mail" I've received in recent weeks as I once again take some time to clear off my desk, empty out my notebook, clean out my e-mail inbox and respond to messages left on my voice mail.

The following are just a few of the messages I received either via e-mail or handwritten letter regarding items discussed in this space.

The recent resignation of Eliot Spitzer and the continued lack of leadership in our state capital are common themes. Enjoy:

• "Dan, I'm a big fan of your weekly column. As a state employee I just wanted to tell you when news of Spitzer's resignation became official we were notified today that, effective 1 o'clock on Monday, March 17, all letterhead, memos, Web sites, signage, and photographs had to be changed or altered to reflect the new governor.

"Needless to say, after that expensive process took place and we soon found out about our new governor's marital missteps and rumors of other skeletons in David Paterson's closet that our entire department was holding our breath and just waiting for another notification of a change in power.

"We've actually considered starting an office pool about the subject. Of course all bets, wagers and odds would be established and made during non-working hours. You know, just like the office college basketball pool."

• "The Spitzer resignation and the subsequent coverage were disgusting. What he chose to do was neither a tragedy nor a mistake. A mistake doesn't happen a reported eight or nine times. His arrogance finally caught up with him and now he's paying for it.

"Which brings me to another point. The worst part of all of this besides the actually immoral acts is that he probably doesn't feel he did anything wrong and I'm sure somehow he (is) saying behind closed doors that it was the state's Republican Party that "had it out for me.

"I seriously am embarrassed to say I live in New York State. I'm one of five children and all of my siblings have fled within the last five years. My brother moved to Virginia and is loving every minute of it. My older sister lives in New Hampshire while the two younger ones are both in Florida. I'm growing more envious of them with each passing day."

• "Mr. Meyer, I want to join the group of people who wants to scream loudly that we are officially sick and tired, and quite frankly, actually offended, by people who continue to label the Spitzer affair as a "tragedy."

"It is not a tragedy. Not even close. The 9-11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington were a tragedy. The Challenger space shuttle exploding was a tragedy. When my son was killed in a five-car pile-up in Syracuse the week after he turned 18, that was a tragedy.

"No one died. The final impact and actual consequences on Spitzer's family aren't tragic. What a horrible decision by the media to allow it to be classified as something it's not even remotely close to actually being. Shame on the newspapers, television stations, radio talk show hosts and online commentators for using that term to describe a selfish man's involvement with a prostitution ring."

• "Hey Dan, a whole lot of "walls" involved with this Spitzer fiasco. Consider this - his wife's name is Silda Wall. His hired hooker went to Wall High School. And of course, Eliot tried to clean up Wall Street."

• Count me among the business owners struggling to stay alive in New York State who is not impressed with David Paterson as our governor. From what I've read and heard, he has been totally unable to exert any influence over the state legislature. He's accepting the status quo philosophy of Albany and quietly allowing back-room deals to take place. He's been in office since March 17 and it's been nothing but one big disappointment. I was excited for about a week but now I've realized that nothing has really changed and I shouldn't expect it to change."

• "Spitzer was a hypocrite. Bruno is a bully. Silver is a pathological liar. Paterson is completely useless. There is no hope for the future of this state. Help!"

( Opinions expressed here are those of the author.)