We've all had our problems, so cheers to the governor for being upfront an honest about them. It sounds like he wants to move on and do his job well. Revolutionary!

#3

But but but...! Put yourself in the shoes of the average moron!

A politician that's actually honest!!?? Holy m*f*kin* Jesus H Christ on a popsicle stick! Incredible.
And as if half of the

#3- classic drug user denial. Of course you don't care that he's never done drugs cuase you've done them yourself and want to feel good about yourself. I've never done a single drug willingly in my entire life even though my roommate was a pot dealer and I've had access to freebies. Sure, I wanted to use drugs but I've always stopped myself cause I know I have an addictive personality. It's called willpower. I hate all these people who have such a lax attitude towards drugs. People don't have to be perfect but people who lead need to be held to a higher standard or else what the fuck is the point of them holding higher office? There needs to be criteria met. I never heard paterson saying this stuff to get elected but now that he's won by default he has to air it out lest people dredge it out. I'll judge him in the first year of his governorship but his entrance leads a lot to be desired.

I don't understand this "holier than thou" attitude some people have when it comes to drugs.

Get over yourself.

Hitler was a vegetarian and a nonsmoker who promoted nonsmoking campaigns back when it was still socially acceptable.

Churchill said something about an uptight politician that reads approximately:

"he has all the virtues I despise, and none of the vices I adore."

If you've never done drugs, good for you. As a person who has emptied a whiskey bottle more times than one probably should, I'll pass judgement on the man, not the substance use.

#11 - nope, not a single prescription drug nor alchohol. Although I'm proud of myself for not doing drugs I'm never holier than thou with my friends who abuse them like mad. I'm just pissed off at people who think using drugs isn't a big deal because they do it themselves and try to camouflage that fact by projecting that drugs are okay when other people do them.

Doctor Memory,

Step 2: Put your junk in that box.

babyhitler,

"#3- classic drug user denial. Of course you don't care that he's never done drugs cuase you've done them yourself and want to feel good about yourself."

Wow. We really do look at the world completely differently. Just to put things in perspective for you, I'd feel fine about myself if no one in the world had ever done drugs and I had (and, yes, I have done drugs). I don't look to others people to justify my own decisions. Perhaps you're projecting, babyhitler.

See, what Paterson is doing is easing us into the big stuff. 6 months down the road and the above interview is going to sound like this:

Carter: Incest?
Paterson: Yes.
Carter: Pedophilia?
Paterson: Yes.
Carter: You have had sex with children Governor?
Paterson...

And you see where this is going.

Hitler by the way was addicted to Benzedrine
an amphetamine.

But, but...I thought drugs were bad. Well, if the governor did it, I guess it's okay.

so much for the nerd stereotype.
this is like Raj from what's happening doing blow.

Is Patterson indemnifying himself by characterizing himself as shady in advance?

Of course you don't care that he's never done drugs cuase you've done them yourself and want to feel good about yourself. --babyhitler comment

How much attention will we pay to the utter minutia of politicians lives? How much of this media supplied fodder will we eat until we are finally led to the slaughter of complete polarization and blackout of intelligent news coverage. Can we afford, as it happened today, to spend such a fantastic amount of time spinning Obama's words,

he point I was making was not that Grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person, who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, you know, there's a reaction that's been bred in our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way, and that's just the nature of race in our society.

rather than focusing on the real issues that the nation faces.

In any case, Paterson did what he did. He's going to sleep better at night because he doesn't have to lie. We, as individuals, will either approve or disapprove. Let's leave it there. Let's fix something.

I'm not making any comment on drug use one way or the other, but I do think the full disclosure is a good thing. By talking about it himself, he's ensuring that the tabloids won't be able to have fun with this and disrupt his administration two years down the road.

Matty,

"I'm a little concerned that politicians now have to confess to the public about all of the miuntiae of their personal lives before going into office. That sounds not only invasive, it seems darn right puritanical."

I agree with you. But since the media is so blood thirsty for this stuff, getting the information out there in the early stages and all at once seems to be a politician's only defense.

I know plenty about Patterson, but I don't know anything about his political policies, other than that he is a democrat. Can anyone say what he stands for, which bills he sponsors, his voting record?

I couldn't, so I've Googled it. Here's some info, for anyone who cares more about his politics and less about who he has slept with and which drugs he did when he was 23:

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/13/7673/

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/state/ny-stpate135611715mar13,0,4292084.story

mmmm that picture has got me fiending. i don't usually like to start up this early. thanks a lot gothamist.

nope, I don't drink coffee or tea. the only time I had to use drugs was when I had my eyes lasered and they gave me half a tab of valium. If you count caffeine as a drug then you have serious problems. I don't judge my friends who use drugs cause they don't run for governor okay?

Wow, BH just fyi, caffeine is DEFINITELY a drug, and so is alcohol. How does the fact that Mr. Paterson used drugs over 20 years ago have anything to do with anything?It really doesn't. Besides, my whole thing is that people who drink alcohol can get shitfaced legally, but I can't smoke pot and just like relax with my friends? Now I'm not saying that all drugs should be legal mind you, maybe if there were no drugs in existence then no one would debate whether or not they do this or that to people. But the fact is that drugs do exist and alcohol is definitely worse than pot, yet pot is illegal, which makes no sense. I'm so happy Paterson came out and said it so nonchalantly because its the people in public office who need to be more realistic about how the people feel about these issues and not walk around trying to pretend that they(Spitzer) and everyone else(BabyHitler) are a fucking saint when we're not and im sure you're not either babyhitler so stop acting like you're above people because you supposedly have some willpower or something. Have you ever considered the fact that people CHOOSE to use drugs?

FOR SHAME!!! :O

What do people who've never done drugs and people who don't own a television have in common? (Answer: They love to tell everyone about it.) I think BH should start doing drugs right away, just like the actual Hitler did.

But really, did the NY1 people stop questioning Paterson after just that? I would have asked him about LSD, Vicodin, Oxycontin, PCP, Special K, ecstasy...whatever. Or at least a blanket question like, "Any other drugs?"

"example for inner city children of what they could achieve, he is now someone that kids can use to justify their own illegal drug use."

Suburban white people, of all income brackets, use drugs too. Often, much more than the "inner city children".

Bottom line is that here is a politician that was honest about something that he had done. No, it is not a big issue. If we are to believe his statements then he did this years ago, probably before he even decided to get into politics.

Drugs are not the evil things that we have all been led to believe. Sure there are people with addictive personalities, but their lives have the possibility of being unmanageble due to that alone.

I've been smokin' pot almost every day of my adult life (except for my time in the military) and I have a beautiful wife and child, a great job and a wonderful home. Yeah, drugs are bad...

zodak,

in response to your response to my comment...

"'(I'm actually more suspicious of people who haven't dabbled in drugs.)'

is just so offensive & ignorant that i have to point it out. it's really a way for people to justify their own drug abuse by making it seem as though drug abuse is normal. it may be widespread but it isn't normal. you people may be functioning recreational drug users but it would be dishonest to pretend that drugs don't have a negative effect on our economy & society in general."

Just for the record, I'm a pretty lame homebody. I'm married, stay home most nights and haven't done drugs in years (not since college). I drink a glass or two of wine a couple of times a month and I have coffee in the morning. I wouldn't call that a "functioning recreational drug user". When I did try drugs, it turned out that I didn't like them that much anyway. I was the clean dork amongst my friends and I was just fine with that.

When I say that I am suspicious of those who haven't tried drugs, what I mean is that I am suspicious of people who aren't curious. Since babyhitler is the one person on here saying that he has never done drugs and never wants to.... well... suspicion confirmed.

Moreover, Patterson did drugs 20 years ago!

Yo! I don't watch television either. You know how much better that makes me than all of you? hahaa! LOl. No, I don't use drugs or watch Tv. But I don't brag about that to my friends. People choose to use drugs but people also choose not to do drugs and it's much harder not to choose to drugs in social situations. Peer pressure is a bitch. I've been offered so many drugs and alchohol in my life but instead of saying NO! and give a moral lecture I always say lie and say I'm on some allergy medication or something that would badly interact with said drug or alchohol and I'd take a raincheck. For some reason if you say you don't use drugs or alchohol at a party you are a social pariah but if you say you are allergic it's all good.

The only reason he was candid was becasuse everyone in Albany was already talking about it!

He had no choice, you fools.

But now he's not so candid about his trips to Ohio and South Carolina with his $150,000 per year Lila Kirton, whom he claimed he stopped screwing 10 years ago. Using your taxpayer dollars.
At least Spitzer used his own money.
This slimeball uses our money to get high paying jobs for his whores.

Looks like he screwed at least 12 women in the last 12 months, but he's not so candid with his wife or the public about that.

Now he says, ohhh did I steal tax payer dollars for those expensive hotel rooms in Albany last year, the same nights Lila Kirton was in the hotel? Did I do that? Well let me take my wallet out, and I'll pay you taxpayers back right now. Okay, now let's move forward.

Why can't common burglars do that? Geez, is this your jewelry. How did that get in my car?
Officer, let me return that right now, and let bygones be bygones.

No, that only works for candid governors.

Dump this slime ball, and let's get someone of any political stripes who has a shred of integrity.