There's probably a good reason why the Sun has decided to shill for the Carl McCall primary campaign, but Smarternysun can't figure it out. Every week there's a new anti-Cuomo attack dog unleashed on the paper's front page; today it's "McCall Challenges Cuomo Over Legal Work." Last week Cuomo, a New York lawyer and former Clinton cabinet member, disclosed his tax returns, making public his $400,000 salary from the firm of Fried Frank. Apparently, this isn't enough for McCall, or the Sun; they want to know why Cuomo got the money - his client list, his billable hours, everything. The only possible controversy that could come of Cuomo's client list is if one of them had a connection to the state, something Cuomo's campaign denies and which neither his opponent nor its media auxiliary challenge. So, that's that, right? Wrong. The McCall campaign and the Sun seem to think that simply making money while running for governor is an offense, and most of the article casts limp aspersions on Cuomo's high salary. There are a few comments from Fried, Frank and the Cuomo campaign, but reporter R.H. Sager lets McCall get away with murder with comments like "clearly he's not performing any work," from McCall campaign manager Allan Cappelli. Someone probably forgot to tell Lipsky - he's a "newspaperman," remember? - that big-name lawyers make that sort of money for playing golf with the other partners once a week, or that Cuomo is fully within his right to refuse naming his clients. Of course, someone also forgot to tell the McCall that leaking anti-Cuomo jabs through the Sun is probably not the most effective way to get ahead in the campaign.

---

Today's lead photo is a "Welcome to Manhattan" sign with Guiliani listed as mayor; apparently city workers overlooked the sign, located near the Holland Tunnel and one of 25 throughout the city, while changing them over after he left office. The photo is a funny way to start the day, if only a joke lite, but the Sun decided to run a multipage report on the gaffe, even going so far as to assert that "the street sign is enough to give people a sense of a time warp or - for those not keen on city politics - reinforce the impression that Mr. Giuliani is still running the show." Cruel, mocking words could be dished out over that one, but Smarternysun will pull its punch. After all, the city probably deserves a little joshing - it's not like Bloomberg has anything like a budget crisis or a disaster-riven financial district to deal with. Go Sun!