While The Snakes Are Imbibing, NY Swears In Its Next Governor

Today is St. Patrick's Day and if you are anywhere in America (and especially the Northeast) you will see plenty of drinking going on today, not to mention the ridiculous amounts consumed over the weekend. While the intoxicated crowds swell, one crowd should be mostly sober up in Albany as they watch David Paterson being sworn in as our state's next chief executive.

From The NY Times:

As New York reeled from revelations that Gov. Eliot Spitzer was under federal investigation for his links to a prostitution ring, Mr. Paterson wanted his swearing-in ceremony to convey a sense of coming together.

So when he steps into the baroque chamber of the State Assembly here at 1 p.m. and is sworn in by the state’s chief judge, Judith S. Kaye, he will do so in the presence of members of both houses of the Legislature and the state’s highest-ranking elected officials — with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo expected to be among them.

To dispel any notion that the event has a celebratory tone, Mr. Paterson and his staff are carefully referring to it as a swearing-in, not an inauguration.

Semantics aside, this is still a big deal and Paterson is making sure everything goes well. He wants to start off on the right foot and in politics, first impressions are always important. Due to his disability, he has memorized his speech and is expected to create an air of harmony instead of the discord and harsh tones of the previous Administration.