Photo of the Day: Clueless Paterson Now Doing Restaurant Openings

It appears the accidental governor's people are deliberately making an idiot out of him now. This one is Biden-esque when it comes to being gaffe-tastic.

A scandal-scorched Gov. Paterson dove back into state business Friday - by ceremonially opening a chain restaurant. At JFK. During rush hour.

For an already under siege Paterson, the planned photo op couldn't have gone worse: He stood beneath a mural depicting a belching dog at the event at the Palm Bar and Grille.

The agita-inducing gaffe came as the embattled guv brushed aside the scandals swirling around him to defiantly insist he wouldn't resign and had "no plans but to finish out my term as governor."

And touting the Palm was important, too.

"I am very honored to be asked to be part of this great opening, the third Palm that has opened on my watch," he said.

More than 30 journalists jammed into the restaurant to chronicle the strange spectacle of an under-siege governor taking time to tout a new eatery, even as his administration was imploding.

"I'm so happy that you've joined me to see how hard I work," he quipped to the throng of reporters as his poll numbers collapsed and the good-government group Common Cause called for his ouster.