Hack Job

Wayne Barrett, the Village Voice reporter and columnist died on Thursday at age 71. The Times obituary sent me to my bookshelf for Barrett and Jack Newfield's City for Sale, the seminal and completely engrossing story of New York City politics and corruption in the 70s and 80s. To my horror, it wasn't there! Must have loaned to it to somebody... (Watch your back.)

Would have been a great way to spend Inauguration Day, reading about Ed Koch, Donald Manes, Meade Esposito, Mario Biaggi, Bess Myserson, the whole gang...  A world of back-room deals, conspiracy, OTBs, Ford LTDs, botched suicides, parking ticket scams...

In his review in The Nation, James Ledbetter quotes Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Meade Esposito: "Today's reformer is tomorrow's hack." Trump Bonus: We don't have to wait to find out.