A Stitch in Haste

Place this one in the "Politician as Selfless Public Servant" file:

Lame-duck Gov. Pataki's patronage machine shifted into high gear yesterday as the names of dozens more politically connected friends and associates -- including the wife of CNBC host Lawrence Kudlow -- were sent to the GOP-controlled Senate for appointment to high-level jobs and prestigious boards.
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Democrats pounced on the qualifications of Jennifer Arena, a longtime Pataki administration spokeswoman, for a two-year term — at $101,600 a year — on the state Board of Parole.
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Senate Minority Leader David Paterson (D-Manhattan) said Arena failed to meet the state law's requirement that board members have at least five years' experience in such fields as criminology, law, psychology and law enforcement.
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Pataki spokesman Michael Marr contended Arena's experiences as a spokeswoman were sufficient to meet the legal requirement.

Was this a stray case of impropriety?

The [New York] Post reported yesterday that Pataki had jammed nearly 150 political cronies, campaign contributors, longtime aides, and their relatives, into patronage jobs in a move designed to close off positions that would otherwise by filled by the state's new governor in January.

Look on the bright side, at least he's not selling pardons.

In any event, the best way to avoid the placement of cronies into government positions is to eliminate the government positions themselves. Go figure.