It was easy to predict that if Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver survived a three-way Democratic primary this month, there'd be no hope for our dysfunctional state government.

Silver did prevail - despite the opposition of the editorial boards of New York City's big dailies - and he's really standing tall now.

Liz Benjamin (daughter of Gerry Benjamin, SUNY New Paltz dean and former Ulster County legislator) had it this way in her Daily News column:

"'Shelly is emboldened,' one Democratic lawmaker said. 'Any time you challenge the king and the king wins, he comes out stronger.'"