[Lancey Howard]

I like your analysis, but remember - - Hillary! and the Clinton mob are already in charge of the NYC machine. The real kingpin there is Harold Ickes, and he could probably deliver the whole state machine to the Clinton mob. What I wonder is why Schumer is being hung out to dry? He's as much a scumbag as any of them. Maybe he draws the line at murder or something.

[gridlock]

If you recall, Schumer largely owes his Senate seat to Hillary!'s intervention into his race against Alfonse D'Amato in 1998. If you recall, Alfonse had offended her highness by calling Bubba and his lovely bride crooks from the well of the Senate. Hillary! threw her invisible-to-me "Star Power" behind Schumer, and Alfonse was history.

The problem is that Schumer is not a Clintonista. Sure he's a liberal democrat. Sure, he owes Hillary! big-time. But he has ambitions of his own. His first loyalty will always be to Chuck Schumer. He wants to be a senior respected Senator, or maybe more, and he can't do that with Hillary! stealing all his face time. I mean, nobody gets between Chuckie and a TV camera without getting knocked down flat. Nobody except Hillary!, that is.

So Chuckie has to go, to be replaced with a Clintonista-to-be-named-later. Chuckie is just not reliable enough. And then there is this business about Hillary! being the Junior Senator from New York. That has got to wrankle. Senior Senator from New York just sounds so much better.