This is not necessarily a good thing for progressives.

My colleague David Sirota has a new diary today about the topic that's on just about everyone's mind where I work in NYC: what's going to happen now that stalwart Republican Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno is on the way out?

If you want to catch the most up-to-date dirt on the shady FBI investigation subplot to Bruno's exit or the swirling gossip around his likely successor, be sure to check out the Albany Project, which, as always, are keeping it on lock when it comes to tracking even the smallest minutiae of New York State politics.

However, if, like Mr. Sirota, you agree that Bruno's exit is a major opportunity for progressives to make a national impact through state-level, then you'll want to do a little more than that.  

This is an ongoing series from the national tour for THE UPRISING. You can order The Uprising at Amazon.com or through your local independent bookstore.

CLEVELAND - I write tonight from Cleveland, Ohio, but the big news from the populist uprising is from Albany, New York, where Republican Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno tonight announced he is retiring. This opens up about as big an opportunity as there is for the progressive uprising to wield its power - arguably as big an opportunity as the presidential election.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, aka Boss Bruno, announced today that he is scurrying off the sinking ship of the last Republican power base in New York state, the slimly held (32-30) Senate.

Boss Bruno has held the Senate majority, barely, by clever redistricting, buying off a few DINOs, and channeling millions in pork to otherwise undistinguished Republican senators.

But, facing an FBI investigation into his corruption and the probability that the Republicans will lose several Senate seats this year, he's decided to retire.

The local alternative paper was prescient, in this Metroland story last Thursday.

Here's a taste:

For months, speculation about the senator’s future has made the rounds in the Capital Region’s political class. Many of these rumors have focused on stories of federal subpoenas and indictments tied to an FBI investigation into the embattled politician’s outside business deals. Other rumors weigh the senator’s options in the face of a historic loss by the Republican party of the Senate majority.

More below.

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Monday, June 23, 2008 -- 7:03 PM ET
-----

Joseph L. Bruno, N.Y. Senate Majority Leader, Won't Seek Re-Election

Joseph L. Bruno, New York's Senate Majority Leader, who has
been the state's top Republican since 2006, won't seek
re-election in the fall.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

New York's bottle bill turned 25 last year. Fred LeBrun has an interesting column in Wednesday's Albany Times Union regarding an enhanced bottle bill that has been kicking around the NY legislature for a number of years. It has passed the NY Assembly but has been stalled in the Senate.

His column follows on the heels of an article by TU Capitol Bureau reporter Irene Jay Liu about the irony of the bottling industry, the current recipient of unclaimed container deposits [estimated to be $100M-$190M per year], funneling hundreds of thousands of $$ of that money to lobby lawmakers to keep the bill, which would direct unclaimed container deposits to the state's environmental fund, from succeeding.

Follow after the fold for a few thoughts.

From the nanosecond after the New York Times posted its story about Governor Eliot Spitzer’s use of high-priced prostitutes (the story has been repeatedly updated, and, to be honest, only details one interaction, though the implication seems to be that Spitzer was a regular client), tongues were wagging, keyboards were clacking, and thumbs were making whatever noise they do while texting. Everybody had the same outraged, indignant question: What in god’s name was Spitzer thinking?

Well, almost everybody. Well, at least, kind of. . . I’ll explain below the fold.

Elliot Spitzer is clearly guilty of paying for sex, and of all manner of betrayals and hypocrisy in this matter.  It is the intent of this diary to begin to explore the possibility that the events leading to the investigation of Spitzer were not just some fortuitously wild coincidence.

The Feds would have us believe that they accidentally came across some suspicious records of unusual financial transactions that led them to initiate an investigation into a "prostitution ring".

And that may be true.

But what if it isn't?  

What if Spitzer was being illicitly electronically monitored for all manner of partisan reasons concerning his war with NY Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and the perpetrators happened to come upon the fact that Spitzer was frequenting prostitutes.

What if the investigation initiated last October was just a pretext upon which to nail Spitzer the next time he needed to scratch his itch?

What would it take for such a cynical hypothesis to be true?  

Here in New York, a major campaign theme of every upstate Republican candidate has, for decades, involved no small amount of dog-whistle racism.

"They" down there in New York City were, in thousands of ads and mailers over the years, derided as "those people" who were sucking down upstate taxpayers' dollars for their welfare, other social services, illegal drugs, etc.

The fact that state tax revenues from the five boroughs more than make up for state expenditures down there is conveniently ignored by the upstate dog-whistlers.

Who are the "they"? "They" are the "other" for white upstaters conditioned to hear the dog whistle -- black and brown (and sometimes Jewish) residents of New York City.

There was more of that today at a GOP McCain lovefest press conference, courtesy of a Boss Bruno (Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno) hack.

Details, below.

(Cross-Posted at Upstate Blue)

It looks like many suburban Albany-area legislative races are already starting to heat up for the 2008 cycle.

The Times-Union reported today that Saratoga County Supervisor Joanne Yepsen (D) may take on State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R), while former Saratoga Springs Mayor Valerie Keehn (D) may challenge Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R).

Also at The Albany Project

It took a while, but Democratic district attorney candidate Rich McNally was declared the unofficial winner today by the Rensselaer County Board of Elections.

McNally is ahead by a mere 227 votes out of about 37,000 cast, with all absentees counted; the remaining 282 disputed ballots are not expected to change that result.

There were the usual good and bad news in this year's results in the Capital District (Albany and environs), but this is one big win, in the home county of state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno who has ruthlessly used his power and patronage to control the county and its main city, Troy, for too long.

Details, below.  

My Dear Friends,

I am running for the office of Town Supervisor in the town of Stephentown, Rensselaer County, NY.

It's all Howard Dean's fault.

Here we are three and a half years later and we are preparing to turn control of ostensibly solid republican Stephentown over to Democrats. Good things start with just those first few steps.

We have a blog web site for the Stephentown Democratic Committee (contributions gratefully accepted).

And I've just created a candidate page over at DFA-Link.

So Democratic NY Gov. Elliot Spitzer and Republican NY Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno are in the midst of a vicious war. They Happened to run into each other at a memorial service for fallen firefighters.

Can you guess which one is the classy Republican?

(AP Photo)

I'm sure the firefighters appreciate the (literal) cold shoulder.

      Once again I'm going to pull together a bunch of recent news stories that have caught my eye, and this time trains are the focus. It may be merely my own opinion, but lately it seems to me that rail transport of all kinds is getting both more attention and more respect. And why not?

     Steel wheels running on steel rails are one of the most energy efficient modes of transport we have available today. As energy prices rise and oil supplies tighten, rail becomes even more competitive. Congestion on highways is getting worse, and we can't just keep building more roads, let alone maintain the ones we have adequately.

     Add to that global warming concerns. Not only can rail help cut CO2 emissions, it's easier to address CO2 loads from rail than it is across millions of cars and trucks. There's a much smaller fleet of locomotives to address, and in some areas electrified rail is an option which can draw on green power.

Two weeks ago I started something without even realizing it. I posted my second ever recommended diary on Daily Kos called "The Articles They Don't Want You to See." The success led me to even start it as a new blog, as well as a regular Daily Kos article.

The response was good enough that it is clear I should try and make this a weekly thing. The idea is to highlight articles/infromation/videos, new or old, that are important, under-reported and/or forgotten. And to provide YOU to post articles that YOU think need more attention. This week I will review last week's articles, YOUR suggestions from last week, and present a new set of articles that I think deserve more attention. And if you think I forgot anything, please post in the comments! New articles come first, last week's articles are at the end.

(Cross-Posted at Upstate Blue)

The Albany Project has just released the audio of Republican consultant Roger Stone threatening Governor Spitzer's 83 year old Father.

You may click here to listen.

Last week I started something without even realizing it. I posted my second ever recommended diary on Daily Kos called "The Articles They Don't Want You to See." The success led me to even start it as a new blog, as well as a regular Daily Kos article.

The response was good enough that it is clear I should try and make this a weekly thing. The idea is to highlight articles/infromation/videos, new or old, that are important, under-reported and/or forgotten. And to provide YOU to post articles that YOU think need more attention. Last week I focued on Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and John McCain as well as a Republican Congressman named Vito Fossella (also called Bagdhad Vito or Bush's Lap Dog) in NYC and his challenger, Steve Harrison. This week I will review last week's articles, YOUR suggestions from last week, and present a new set of articles that I think deserve more attention. And if you think I forgot anything, please post in the comments! New articles come first, last week's articles are at the end.

I know this isn't really a state politics site, but there are so many New Yorkers who post here, that I am curious to know everyone's take on the Eliot Spitzer situation.  Yes, my diary title is probably objectionable to some.  Bruno isn't exactly smelling like a rose either, and the whole thing stinks.  But what else do you call it when a governor who swept into office riding mainly on an image of ethical reform and "law and order" winds up embroiled in an embarrassing scandal that gets uglier by the hour?  (For those not up to date on what's going on, here's a link to today's developments.)