Curt Smith argues that Sen. Alesi more than deserves all the ridicule and rebuke he has received from his constituents, and explains how the Senator's betrayal on marriage has sealed his fate:

"... In 2010, [Sen. Alesi] was reelected vowing to support traditional marriage. In spring 2011, neither apologizing nor explaining, Alesi helped the Republican-controlled Senate make New York only the sixth state to let gay and lesbian couples wed, changing the historical definition of marriage between one men and one woman.

A 2009 photo shows him, head in hands, voting against same-sex wedlock, saying “I live in a political world. It’s not about courage.” Deeming his district increasingly liberal, Alesi changed his vote — cravenly, not courageously. The National Organization for Marriage scored his “tearing up the … contract with voters who trusted” him. In response, Alesi mocked old friends, saying “I have new friends now.” Incredibly, he never considered that the old friends might laugh last.

Besieged, Alesi now blames “a small handful of people who are vengeful (against gay marriage) and just have hatred in their hearts.” Such rhetoric shows delusion in his mind. In fact, the “handful” are his constituents: less “vengeful” than kinder, gentler: hating not Alesi but how, in their view, he lied.

Alesi’s “old friends” were the laborer, school teacher, and retiree in Gates, Greece, and Henrietta: so superior to the “new.” His current pals are socialites, gaudy fund raisers, double latte snobs, and religion-bashers from Manhattan to San Francisco. Why would Alesi even want them, let alone trade old friends for new?

In 1974, succeeding Richard Nixon as President, Gerald Ford said, “Ours is a nation of laws, not men. Here the people rule.” Too bad Jim Alesi didn’t listen. It might have spared him the political suicide ahead. -- The Messenger Post