Eric Massa on Gov. Spitzer and other issues
Eric Massa, challenger to Rep. Randy Kuhl in NY-29, held a press conference this morning and began with the following statement:
I am not disappointed with Eliot Spitzer, really I’m disgusted. This is a personal and professional betrayal to myself and the people of New York. He should have already resigned. His crimes [have caused] incredible damage to the voters. My prayers are not with Eliot Spitzer, they are with his family and the people of New York state. I directed my staff to sever all ties with anything having to do with Eliot Spitzer.
I went outside yesterday with a tea kettle of hot water and scraped off my bumper sticker of Eliot Spitzer. I’m Italian in my heart and soul and when someone treats a member of my family this way, we walk away from them. And I have walked away from Eliot Spitzer. It is unforgivable what he has done to the state of New York.
On good news: the business of governing continues. I’d like to call attention to the ongoing budget discussions. At a time when the Iraq war is costing us $12 billion a month, that’s just not acceptable. We need a massive infrastructure rebuilding project [in New York]. The business of good government must continue. That is what I have dedicated my life to.
Bob Ricotta of The Leader had the first question: What do you know of David Patterson and can he clean up this mess?
This is a tremendous black eye for Democrats. No doubt about it. It’s bigger than that. Patterson’s challenge, should he become governor, is to rebuild confidence in New York. My prayers are with David, he’s a personal friend. He’s a man who listens, much like Lyndon Baines Johnson was able to get done what JFK couldn’t get done.
I asked Massa if he thinks Americans still hold politicians to a higher moral standard?
No. We are disgusted with politicians. Congress is full of men and women with histories similar to Mr. Spitzer. It’s gonna take one person at a time to change that. I think they have very low expectations and I don’t blame them. There’s no way to sugarcoat what Spitzer has done and I don’t blame them.
I also asked if the previous missteps of Troopergate and the driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants made this money-for-sex scandal that much more unacceptable, if this had happened in isolation would have it have been forgiven by the voters:
Troopergate is a grain of sand on the beach in comparison to this. There is no way to explain what I’m reading in the papers and on TV today.
Jill Terreri, D&C: Why were you compelled to donate the money he gave to you?
I want to sever all ties with Eliot Spitzer and myself. I am not going to return the money to him so he can continue using it for whatever purpose he is using his money. We donated the money to battered women in Steuben County to put it to some good use.
We’ve had two years of scandals from the Republican party, whether it’s Tom Delay or congressmen in Florida. It got to the point of heartache. Now this is just heartbreak.
This is worse than anything that I’ve seen ever in my life as far as public politics go. The scandals in the White House, just yesterday the president fired the commanding officer in Central Command. We’ve never had anyone fired like this before. It’s going unreported. That’s the real cost of this ridiculous behavior by Governor Spitzer.
I then asked Massa if he distinguishes the moral infractions from the illegal actions of Governor Spitzer.
No distinctions. [I feel] personally betrayed.
Then I asked Massa if he heard the news about Randy Kuhl being the only representative from New York in the Top 100 Washington, D.C. golfers:
I don’t golf. When I go to Washington, I will be spending my time working for constituents. If you have enough time to improve your golf game then there’s something wrong. I think it’s terribly inappropriate to be spending your time on a golf course with lobbyists when my neighbors can’t go to the doctor. When you spend 24 years in the Navy you don’t have time for golf.
Ricotta, The Leader: Admiral Fallon firing?
He was one year as a Combatant Commander. He was fired. When you leave after one year it’s because you were told to go. Period. This is something I know about. Admiral Fallon was fired.
Ricotta: Because?
The president’s plan for Iran. His standing up to the president is what got him fired. Two or three years from now we might actually hear the truth. This is a major political-military event. It has more far-reaching consequences. When you talk about Admiral Fallon, who, by the way…negotiated the return of the downed American airplane that the Chinese forced down on their territory—and that crew was held illegally and was interrogated illegally—that’s been largely forgotten. For him to be fired because he is supplying the honest military assessment required by his commission is absolutely unprecedented. We are in a critical time. This is what makes the whole Spitzer thing so horrible, because we have real crisises to deal with.
We had 8 American military personnel killed in combat this week, but instead we’re focusing on Eliot Spitzer. That’s the crime.
We did have some very good political news recently. You may have heard of Red To Blue. This morning I’m told and I’m very honored that the leadership has recognized our campaign as being in that red to blue designation as of this morning.
I asked Massa about Upstate finances in light of Spitzer’s predicament:
Patterson will honor and perhaps increase the financial developments in upstate New York.
Spoken to Patterson?
Not since this story broke, but I’ve had many talks in the past about upstate development. I hope today he is sworn in as our new governor.
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If what this Eric Massa writes is true and this is really the only thing I know about him because I am not following his race, I don’t like him. Sounds like a blow hard. And yes, scrapping off the bumper sticker sounds more like political cover. And yes being Italian also means you love the person, not what the person did.
I’m always kind of amused when someone attributes their personality characteristics or actions to their ethnic heritage. All groups seem to do this. My family will say that they don’t measure in cooking because they’re from a certain region and Italians will claim this as well.
Being Italian has nothing to do with loving the person anymore than being Polish or African means loving the person and not the actions.
Bigboy, you will have more opportunities to get more information about Massa here on RT when he has future press conferences. I think many politicians acted to immediately distance themselves from this scandal, some more vigorously than others.
To be honest Bigboy, that was pretty much my impression of him the first time he addressed a group of mine. But trust me, that impression quickly fades. Eric is a passionate speaker and I for one can’t wait to see that passion on the floor of the House on CSPAN. Given the opportunity, he will win you over.
I can understand the bumper sticker move. As someone who campaigned for Spitzer - going door to door to my neighbors, explaining why they should follow him on this journey and to ask for their support, as well as asking my friends and family to trust me when I told them that Eliot was the perfect man for the job, getting them to put up lawn signs, write checks, give him their votes. I can completely understand (and echo) Massa’s feelings of personal betrayal on this - and I don’t know Spitzer personally like Eric does. I’d have been right out there with him scraping the sticker off my Jeep - if I hadn’t traded it in last year.
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