We're Turning Again (An Update from the State of Surreal)

If you switch sides once, you're a turncoat. What if you do it again? An Xtreme Turncoat (sponsored by Mountain Dew)? I don't know, but somebody in Hiram Monserrate's office might want to find out. Monserrate is one of the two Democratic senators in New York who switched sides last week to give control of that body to the GOP. Now he's switching back, but that only complicates matters:

A week after Republicans wrested power of the State Senate away from Democrats, their thin majority collapsed on Monday, leaving the chamber in a tie for the first time in state history.

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But it was unclear whether an accord between the two sides could be reached, or even who was currently in charge of the chamber. The leader of the Senate Republicans said he would not join a power-sharing arrangement. It also remained unclear whether much progress could be made on a number of legislative issues that remained unresolved in the waning days of the legislative session, from mayoral control of New York City’s school to same-sex marriage.

The lieutenant governor traditionally breaks ties in the Senate, but the office was left vacant when David A. Paterson ascended to the governorship last year amid Eliot Spitzer’s prostitution scandal.

The only person who seems content with the whole situation is Pedro Espada, Jr., the other Democratic defector, who is now president of the Senate. It might be a hollow reign, however, without any way to tip the scales that are so evenly balanced. But they came up with something last week, so who knows?