PIRRO FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL?

UPDATE: Senator Bruno has endorsed Pirro for AG. We admit we were wrong about Bruno backing Donavan. We're still not convinced he doesn't have a hand in the Donavan camp, especially in light of Pirro's problems with the Conservative Party, but we'll concede the mistake.

Jeanine Pirro's hapless campaign pulled into Rensselaer County last week. Meanwhile, Senator Bruno is pushing Danny Donavan, the Richmond County District Attorney, for AG. Interesting, how far Ms. Pirro's star has fallen and how quickly.

We wonder if Ms. Pirro knows anything about the office of Attorney General. The Record quotes Ms. Pirro:

"The job of New York's attorney general is the job of the chief law enforcement officer in New York, and I have 30 years of law enforcement experience," she said.

That's great, Jeanine. It's completely wrong, but we like the enthusiasm. In fact, New York's Attorney General is not the chief law enforcement officer in the state. Unlike many other states, New York's Attorney General has very circumscribed criminal jurisdiction. True, the office has jurisdiction over some inter-county fraud crimes and it does have an anti-organized crime unit, but its chief role is not law enforcement. In fact, Ms. Pirro had greater jurisdiction over crimes in her former position as Westchester County DA than she'd have as Attorney General.

New York's Attorney Generals Office is the law department for the State of New York, not much different than a city's corporation counsels office. True, Spitzer has increased the office's profile, but ther AG is not a super DA. If Ms. Pirro needs more information, we refer her to the State Constitution.

It makes us wonder: how can she run for an office that she has grossly mischaracterized? Has she even read that part of the Executive Law that describes the powers of the office? That's not much to ask.


Keep smiling, Jeanine, your doing great!

UNION STREET BED & BREAKFAST

The official response to the Union Street Bed & Breakfast has been anything but flaccid. County health officials will be sending teams of inspectors in an effort to close down the establishment. It is expected that at least four teams of inspectors (each team consisting of one male and one female) will take part in the weekend inspections.

"It may take some time," said one of the inspectors. "We just might have to go back there a few times until we get what we need."

It's amazing how fast County government has responded to this situation. We wish they were that responsive with all matters.