Mama, don't let our Vermont politicians grow up to be this conniving:

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer reprimanded a couple of aides and acknowledged his administration had “grossly mishandled” a situation in which aides sought to damage his political rival, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, by planting a negative news story about Bruno.

I couldn't help but think this was a little like our Douglas-Shumlin relationship on steroids.

Spitzer's aides planted a story that Bruno had used a state helicopter for personal travel. The Attorney's General's Office concluded that the use was proper. It also concluded, according to the New York Times, that Spitzer's staff improperly used the state police to gather information about Bruno's use of state aircraft, concocting false reasons for needing the information.

Somehow, Spitzer's staff members were not fired for this, but merely suspended or transferred.

Thank goodness our politicians don't wing around in helicopters, on state business or otherwise. But the underlying disdain the two "leaders" have for each other is a hyper-version of the sort of counter-productive disdain Gov. Jim Douglas and Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin have for each other.

Let New York be a lesson to them. Don't grow up to be this juvenile.

- Terri Hallenbeck