Corbin Catapulted From County Seat

Jacobs (Judy not Jay, no relation) Boots Corbin As Second In Command

Let no one say that payback isn't a bitch.

Yes sir. Call him ineffective, not a team player, a spoiler, or an obstructionist, and show him the door, but truth is, Nassau County Legislator Roger Corbin has been ousted (as in "don't let the door hit you on the way out") from his post as Deputy Majority Leader because, quite frankly, he just doesn't play well with others.

For those with relatively short memories, Corbin and his then-cohort, Legislator Lisanne Altmann, tried to upset the balance of power in Mineola in late 2005, early 2006, bucking the party leadership -- and bringing County Government to a complete standstill for a couple of months while everyone played games in court -- in what has to have been one of the most incompetently orchestrated attempted political coups in history.

Corbin and Altmann snubbed their own Democratic party (the party that had elected them), instead playing footsie -- and trying to make backroom deals -- with that wiley coyote himself, Minority Leader Peter Schmitt.

County government ground to a halt, as John Q. Public watched the circus from the peanut gallery. After the show, the taxpayers of Nassau County got hit for the hefty admission fee.

What a fiasco!

So, why seemingly forgive and forget at the time, only to strip Corbin of his power now -- just six months before the next election?

Exactly!

Lisanne Altman has already announced that she will not seek re-election. She'll go for that cushy, full-time job at LIPA (where former consumer/community advocates seem to go in the political afterlife).

One down.

As for Roger Corbin, who continues to act like that whiney, sniveling, spoiled child whose mother told him he couldn't have that lollipop before dinner, he's being set up for the kill.

Watch for him to be "primaried." Look for him to seek advice of counsel (Fred Brewington already has the retainer in hand, no doubt). And wait for the war of words to begin and the race card to surface.

"They want me out because I'm black," Corbin will protest, doing his darnedest to articulate a rationale in a light most favorable to himself.

No Roger. This isn't black or white. It never was.

This isn't even about being an independent voice on the Legislature, something that is ordinarily accepted (sporadically), and universally acclaimed (in public). This isn't about the color, or the thickness, of your skin.

This isn't even about your recent abstentions on votes that prevent the Legislature from doing the people's business. Well, maybe it is.

Your self-dealing -- something we've come to despise the Peter Schmitts of the world for -- cost the taxpayers of Nassau County plenty.

Your hobnobbing with the GOP -- more than a mere crossing of the aisle in the spirit of bi-partisanship -- warrants stripping you of the power, prestige, and money (an extra $23,000 per year) that comes with the privilege of being the Deputy Majority Leader. [Remember, Roger, that "majority," duly elected, is in favor of the Democrats.]

Our pockets, as taxpayers, are somewhat lighter, Roger -- and now, so are yours -- because you selfishly tried to tip the balance of power in the Nassau County Legislature in your favor, for your gain, without regard either for your colleagues or your constituents.

What goes around comes around.

For Roger Corbin, its coming around again!