(Sorry for the headline. Couldn’t resist)

Ok, let’s break this down. There’s some amazingly stupid shit happening up in Albany. This shit smells remarkably similar to the shit dished by George Bush when asked why the hell he thought Mike Brown was qualified to run FEMA.

As we all know, there is an opening for Chairman of the MTA. The way this works is that the Governor nominates a replacement. Then there’s a confirmation process, yadda yadda. Well, as you can imagine, there’s potential for some cronyism because you have to be nominated for the job.

Enter Spitzer’s nominee, H. Dale Hemmerdinger.

Hemmerdinger freely admits that he knows very little, if anything, about transportation policy. In a nutshell, he knows when he presses the gas, his car goes forward. That is the extent of his transportation knowledge.

Before the State Transportation Board, he was peppered with questions.

Asked what the state would do to handle more riders if New York City imposed congestion pricing, Mr. Hemmerdinger replied: “I only know what I read in the papers at this point.”

On his familiarity with the authority’s proposals for a fare increase: “I’ve looked at it as I’ve read it in the paper.” [NY TIMES]

Yes, he used the “read it in the paper” response at least a dozen more times, according to the New York Times.

Maybe someone without any transportation experience whatsoever is exactly what the MTA needs. A fresh perspective perhaps?