Gotham

Bloomberg, Holding Nose, Opened Wallet

Here, I suppose Mr. Bloomberg talks from empirical observation in his 12 years in office. In that time, few have done more to feed slop to the worst actors in this system than our mogul mayor. In 2009, when he decided that his professed love of term limits was silliness and that he would like the Republican Party nomination, he spread cash the way a farmer spreads manure in spring.

In all, he and his operatives handed out more than $800,000 to various Republican organizations. Afterward, the mayor toured the city’s various Republican committees, like a don making postprandial rounds. As The New York Observer described one such visit, he took a kiss on both cheeks, offered a smile here or there, listened to a few money-besotted giggles, and then slipped back into his black S.U.V.