Fight the power!

Tomorrow night, the New York Library Association will induct the very first honorees into the New York State Annual Writers Hall of Fame. Among those honored will be Robert Caro, who wrote a book that changed the way I looked at power and caused me to always question those in charge. The book was "The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York". It was published in 1975, won the Pulitzer for biography and is....are you ready....1,344 pages long.

Robert Moses was a fascinating man determined to make an impact on New York, especially the city. He did so through the terms of many governors and New York city mayors...spending $27 billion dollars in public money without once ever having been elected by any of the people whose money he so freely spent. For years, almost every park, expressway, parkway, bridge, tunnel and overpass in the New York metropolitan area was built under his control. His power seemed to multiply exponentially as he took on more projects. He became unstoppable.

One of Caro's points that has always stayed with me was Moses' absolute denial of access to the beautiful beaches on Long Island to public transportation. He insisted on building parkways, with overpasses too short to accommodate public buses. In this way, Moses, and Moses alone, kept those New Yorkers who did not have the means to purchase cars from the natural beauty that was right in their own back yards.

I have also always remembered Caro's brilliant discussion of Moses' insistence on building the Cross-Bronx Expressway. That ugly highway cut into and through the heart of the once bustling borough, dividing it essentially in two. Although almost no disruption to the lives of those in the South Bronx would have occurred had Moses agreed to alter his plan by a matter of a couple of blocks, he refused, and so homes, neighborhoods, businesses, and lives were forever changed.

Robert Moses' projects were completed decades ago. In the forties and fifties, when Moses was making crucial decisions about New York, the public didn't expect to know everything about the politicians they elected and people, like Moses, who were responsible for making decisions.

After Watergate, things changed. Reporters began to look at every aspect of the lives of public figures. People who might have had a chance at being president, like Gary Hart, found themselves having to give up their dreams due to private mistakes. Power became more difficult to get, and to keep. The public began to believe that those who sought power should be thoroughly screened by an invasive press. After Watergate, because we relied on the press to vet our politicians, we perhaps began to feel complacent about those who sought power.

Yet, some modern power brokers have eluded, at least for a time, even the persistent press, tabloids, 24-hour cable news, and the Internet.

A few years ago, I introduced then attorney general Eliot Spitzer at a dinner. I wanted to do a good job, so I called everyone I knew who worked at the AG's office and asked them to give me some insight into the kind of man Spitzer was. I heard nothing but praise - from those of his own political party and others. Soon after that dinner, New Yorkers, known as cynical and shrewd, overwhelmingly voted to make Eliot Spitzer governor. Spitzer had it all....brains, money, a beautiful and brilliant wife, and healthy children. But it wasn't enough. He wanted more power.

In the last two presidential races, John Edwards considered himself a very serious contender for the Democratic nomination, despite having only won one election - to a single term in the U.S. Senate. After all, John Kerry even chose Edwards as his running mate in 2004. Edwards' desire for power is detailed in the tell-all book by his former aide, Andrew Young. The book is "The Politician". Young portrays John Edwards as a man obsessed with becoming the most powerful man in the world. Edwards lied to everyone; his wife, his children, his supporters, his family, and his friends in his quest for the presidency. He even denied his own child.

Robert Moses was, and Eliot Spitzer and John Edwards are, all brilliant men. All three were blessed with great intelligence and the ability to get people to follow them in their pursuit of power. Say any of their names today and watch the reaction you get.