The Integrity-less State of New York (MORE, CLICK HERE)

A recent New York Post Editorial:

COMMISSION FOR SALE

January 2, 2008 -- Forget integrity - do Gov. Spitzer and his supposedly "independent" Public Integrity Commission have any shame?

As The Post's Fredric U. Dicker reported Monday, Commission Executive Director Herbert Teitelbaum recently accepted a $15,000 pay hike - and promptly scurried off to a 21/2-week vacation in South America.

Teitelbaum's near-11 percent raise comes only months after his appointment to the panel - and right in the middle of his commission's unprecedented investigation into the governor's role in his office's Dirty Tricks Scandal.

That's a problem.

Let's be clear: Teitelbaum's commission is currently engaged in an investigation that could have dramatic consequences for Spitzer and his entire administration.

If, after months of denial but little forthrightness, the governor is found to have had any foreknowledge of his aides' plot to use the State Police to dig up dirt on a political rival, he stands to lose a lot more than just the public trust. (Which has long since vanished, anyway.)

The commission, to put it mildly, must not only be above reproach, it must appear to be above reproach.

Under the circumstances, a 15-cent raise would be inappropriate, let alone $15,000.

The commission, to be sure, makes much of its "independence" from the executive chamber; it was Commission Chairman John Feerick, not Spitzer himself, who technically approved the raise.

But that independence is looking more and more like a sad charade. Seven of the 13 commissioners are Spitzer appointees, and Teitelbaum himself has close ties to the Spitzer administration.

Which, needless to say, makes it all the more incumbent upon Feerick, Teitelbaum and - ultimately - Spitzer himself to prove that nobody at the commission is pulling any punches in this investigation.

An extra 15-grand from the Spitzer-administered state treasury sure doesn't help.

This is not to accuse the gov of attempting to buy off his investigators - as New Yorkers have already seen, Spitzer has a range of other weapons at his disposal when it comes to stonewalling probes.

But that neither Spitzer, Feerick nor Teitelbaum see any problem with such a raise speaks volumes to the seriousness (or lack thereof) with which they take the commission's probe.

Or are they really that morally obtuse?

Could it be that they just don't care?

Either way, it's a pretty good indication that the entire investigation was never meant to be more than a farce, to begin with.

And that makes Teitelbaum's entire $155,000 salary little more than a giant waste of taxpayer money.

Not to mention, grounds for a much longer vacation.