Harvard Law School

For all David Paterson's considerable charm and wit, his managerial style has been described by Democratic insiders as "jazz government." He is not into discipline. He's no good at firing people. His greatest political talent seems to be being in the right place at the right time.

But always walking one step behind Paterson now is his own éminence grise, Charles O'Byrne, an extremely intelligent, well-connected, tough and reclusive former Jesuit priest who as the governor's chief of staff will be one of the most powerful players in New York government. When the Spitzer governorship fell under the weight of the recent sensational sex scandal, Mr. O'Byrne became the gatekeeper of the new regime in Albany.  read more »

Laurence Tribe, the celebrated liberal Constitutional scholar, was looking at a black plastic &ldquo  read more »

Picture a character like Entourage’s Ari Gold or Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko.  read more »

If Spitzer and Weld are the main nominees for Governor, it’s easy to see some fascinating debates: Two smart, confident, Harvard Law grads, each sure he’s smarter than the other guy.

I asked Weld about this yesterday, and he suggested ground rules:

"The format is Lincoln-Douglas -- candidates addressing questions directly to each other. And I would say a good number would be six."

"If Attorney General Spitzer is game for anything like that scale of enterprise," he said. "Que la fete commence."

Which is French for "let’s get this party started."

He added that Spitzer shouldn’t have anything to fear.

"He should want to debate me. He was on Harvard Law Review, and I was not, and I almost made John Kerry the President of the United States by serving as his punching bag for eight televised debates."

Bradford Berenson doesn’t remember Harvard Law School as the most encouraging place for an amb  read more »

The crook didn't display a weapon at any point during the incident; when you're that well prepared,  read more »

Uneasily I write this column: In the fear-heavy shtetls , where superstition was as common as the co  read more »