Groping for Justice

As we have been pointing out, the Vito Lopez saga-replete with its lurid tales of sexual excess-is a juggernaut whose only likely outcome is the demise of the assemblyman. When the outraged politically correct chorus gets its voice, its power simply cannot be resisted-and, as Jimmy Durante once said: "Everyone wants to get into the act."

The latest is our good friend the attorney general of the State of New York-last seen giving the powerful folks at EDC, and their lackeys in Queens, a slight slap on the wrist for engaging in an illegal lobbying scheme to deprive Willets Point property owners of their Constitutional rights. With the sexual harassment scandal percolating the weak kneed Schneiderman is beginning to channel his inner John Wayne-as Capitol Tonight reports:

"In a sign that the latest scandal to tear through Albany is reaching a whole new level, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman this afternoon blasted the decision by the Democratic-led Assembly to approve a $103,000 payment to a woman who had accused Assemblyman Vito Lopez of sexual harassment."

In an expression of unintentional irony that perhaps only the folks at WPU could really appreciate, the AG weighed in on the scandal as follows: "In the statement, Schneiderman says the settlement “was wholly inappropriate and contrary to the public interest.” This is the same Deputy Barney Fife who couldn't find a single way to sanction EDC and Claire Shulman for an elaborate scheme to defraud the tax payers and Willets Point property owners-but when it comes to sexual harassment, Schneiderman is a real man.

Let us reiterate. Putting an unwanted hand up a woman's leg is reprehensible behavior-and possibly illegal as well. Grabbing 62 acres of property that doesn't belong to you and handing some of it over free of charge to a co-conspirator-and using an illegal scheme to do so-is a crime of a greatly higher magnitude. The fact that the media and the political class don't understand this is an indictment of their world view-and how far their ideology has drifted from the founding principles of our great democracy.