New York’s Blamingest
When the Fire Department of New York decided that the New York Police Department’s claim as “New York’s Finest” was unfair, they called themselves “New York’s Bravest,” which produced a corresponding outcry from the cops, until everyone settled down and forgot they were fighting. Except when they arrived on the scene of some event calling for the presence of both, in which case the sniping and other childish behavior started right up again. Eventually the media got pretty tired of reporting this, and unless someone got hurt, they stopped, too. Of course, on September 11, 2001, the lack of coordinated communication cost lives on a much different scale, and the 9/11 Commission has highlighted this in its report, pointing fingers quite rightly also at the Giuliani administration for not addressing the problem. That was never going to happen, because Rudy got into office in the first place by playing with Police Union fire, but it’s pretty pathetic that Bloomberg has continued to allow this standoff to remain the status quo. The NY Times editorial today spares no feelings, even on up to Capitol Hill, where Congress and Tom Ridge just make things worse by doling out more money for emergency security aid to Wisconsin than to New York. (Which state was Dick Cheney supposed to be from? Oh, yeah.) If Mayor Mike can put in a total indoor smoking ban, he ought to be able to get the cops and firemen talking to one another properly. He won’t, but he should.