Imagine you're Sheldon Silver--

a fat-cat trial lawyer and head of the State Senate-- and a man who gets away with anything. Would you talk this way to The New York Times?:

Mr. Silver said he would not be pressured into action. He bristled at industry suggestions that he was not moving to change the law because he himself is a trial lawyer. "I have never made a nickel on any case" involving unlimited vicarious liability, he said. He said his experience as a lawyer helped him understand the issue. "We are a citizen Legislature," he said. "One of the things we are supposed to bring to the Legislature is our personal expertise."

Far from being a sign of dysfunction, Albany's singular refusal to change the law is a badge of honor, Mr. Silver said, adding: "There is a little more integrity in the Legislature in New York. The big automobile manufacturers can't buy their way here."

Would it be illegal for me to smack him around, just once or twice? Please? Mr. Silver needs to know that anybody who lies this well ought to be in the national legislature.