I'll bet that you have some idea.
ALBANY – A state senator, convicted of assaulting his girlfriend, was expelled from the State Senate, late Tuesday night.
The vote was 53 to 8, to kick out Sen. Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat.
Monserrate was convicted of misdemeanor assault, following a trial last fall. He had been accused of assaulting Karla Giraldo, then dragging her through the lobby of their apartment building, in December 2008.
The senate had the option of censure. A felony conviction would have meant mandatory expulsion.
In a statement, Monserrate claims the expulsion disenfranchises the voters who elected him.
“There is no question those of us fortunate enough to hold a position of public trust must be held to a higher standard befitting the privilege of representing the people of New York”, said Senate Majority Conference Leader John Sampson. “Today, the Senate acted to protect the best interests of the people we serve and preserve the dignity of our body.”
Marcia Pappas, President of NOW-NYS stated, "For over a year The National Organization for Women-New York State has repeatedly sent the message that anything less than expulsion was not acceptable. Any form of violence against women is not acceptable. We hope that this serves as a wakeup call to all law makers. Whether you are a candidate or a sitting elected official, if you are violent towards another person, you are not fit to hold office."
I want the thank the members of the Senate who finally did the right thing and removed this sub-human piece of garbage from his position of power.
His arrogance in continuing to maintain that he was performing the will of the people would have continued to delegitimize the Senate, had he been allowed to retain his seat. Let's examine his conduct:
The committee criticized Monserrate for refusing to cooperate with its investigation. Its report noted that he was convicted of dragging his girlfriend in a domestic incident and told a judge he took full responsibility for his actions. But in later media interviews, he didn't acknowledge that, the report said.
If you'll recall, Monserrate was reportedly "enraged" at finding a PBA card in the possession of his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo. He reportedly was "bringing her a glass of water" when the glass somehow came to cut her face. He then insisted on dragging her to the hospital, which was caught on surveillance video (courtesy of Huffington Post) - click link to go to page.
He absolutely lied in regards to his accountability in this incident, and refused to take any responsibility. Add to this the shenanigans that he and fellow senator Pedro Espada engaged in last year which brought the Senate to a halt for over a month, and I think you'll agree with me that Monserrate had to go.
See ya!
In other news...I am interested in knowing if the New York Post is engaging in a smear campaign to induce current New York Governor David Paterson not to seek a full, elected term of office. Considering former governor Eliot Spitzer's untimely fall from grace, and the hard decisions Paterson has been forced to enact, he deserves the chance to see if New Yorkers will allow him to run for a full term. I believe that challenger Andrew Cuomo has a great chance; he is working to curb the daily malfeasance that occurs behind the scenes daily in New York, and I think the last thing New York needs now is yet another financial Ponzi scheme on the order of the Madoff scandal. The New York Times has not yet put out their story, and they are playing the old "follow the leader" game, stating that they're only following the story as the Post has reported. The one thing that really hit hard was the quote used on the cover of the Post yesterday: "I did NOT have sex with that woman". Don't you all remember where and from whom you heard that quote previously? That's right - it was our former whoremaster president, William Jefferson Clinton. You've been placed in great company, Paterson.
Let's see...and, if there isn't any merit at all to this story, let's see how large the apology to Paterson will be.
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