'They All Hate Each Other'

Looks like there's a civil war in New York Democrat circles. So much for Hopenchange. Sometimes you just have to hope there are no winners.

The public budget battle between Gov. Paterson and the Legislature's Democratic leaders tells only half the story: They're fighting like cats and dogs in private as well.

Sources in Paterson's office and at the Legislature told The Post of a rising animosity and even hatred between the governor and several of the leaders, as well as bitter divisions among legislative leaders themselves, as they all struggle with a projected $3 billion state budget gap.

"They all hate each other," was how one senior Democratic official, who has frequent contacts with all the parties, put it.

If only the public would start hating these people a bit more we might eventually see a functioning government.