New Jersey's corruption an epic problem for Democrats

(AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

Last Thursday, the FBI nabbed 44 people in a massive corruption-money laundering-organ trafficking scandal. Yes, you heard that right.

And when I went to William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, they told me about the concept of “good ole’ boys” as if I was going to be surprised by it.   I had no reason to suspect otherwise; In My Cousin Vinny, Billy Gambini reminds us of “Old South” values:  “We think they're trying to set us up as patsies, Ma. You know how corrupt it is down here. They all know each other.”

But as if by providence, my return to New Jersey could not have come at a better time to remind me that southern state public officials could learn a thing or two about being corrupt from our state leaders.

The numbers are staggering, and the stories are classic, even before last week’s bizarre tale was covered the world over.  There’s the Wyckoff schools business administrator who set up dummy landscaping corporations to pay himself nearly $2 million over several years.  Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg attempting to scalp Bruce Springsteen tickets for campaign contributions is a joke you could not make up.  At every level, people in authority are getting in on the fun: a PTA president in Lodi was accused last year of pilfering $9,000 from the middle school socials fund.

Even so, this past week has topped them all. It really is beyond words to explain how any operation could lead to the indictments of three mayors, a handful of municipal council members and state assemblymen, and a half a dozens rabbis (sounds like the beginning of a joke).  And the shamelessness remains on full display: both the Hoboken and Ridgefield mayors have refused to resign. Undoubtedly, New Jersey has taken the crown in the corruption category above all others.

That has spelled trouble for Democrat Governor Jon Corzine,who is hoping to be re-elected in November. One of his top deputies, Joe Doria, resigned as the FBI raided his office in the early morning hours while others were arrested. A source tells me that Doria's name is all over the evidence cited in other indictments, but there is apparently not enough to personally indict him. The obvious comparison will be to put Christie's undefeated corruption-busting prosecutor record up against Corzine's sketchy connections.

Several commentators have pinned this on the Democratic Party directly.  There is no denying that the party in power is more likely to perpetrate these crimes, and in New Jersey, Democrats have dominated for a long time.

All the while, the citizens of New Jersey keep ignoring this problem.  Maybe it is because we all enjoy a free pass here and there and cannot find a way to be critical of officials who take similar “liberties.”  Yet there is a big difference between using a Police Benevolence Association card to get out of a speeding ticket and dropping $58,000 on the city credit card as former Newark Mayor Sharpe James did.

Rather than be glad that former U.S. Attorney and now-candidate for governor Christopher Christie took down corrupt officials, some revel in making Christie the target.  Academics have decried his “political profiling” in the cases he has prosecuted, as most officials have been Democrats.  Never mind the emerging pattern that states controlled by Democrats, such as southern states of years past, when their reputations were made,  Christie is labeled the enemy.  The federal judge in the James property-flipping case chided Christie for requesting a 20 year sentence for the former mayor, contending that his crimes, compared to other corruption cases, weren’t all that bad.

So still it continues and may never end. I doubt that any character in My Cousin Vinny would have been caught taking a bribe on video and deny it.  Rest assured, that was a level that was not too low for former Passaic Mayor Sammy Rivera, who can be seen on YouTube (at 0:40), taking $5,000 in cash.  As per usual, it seems almost too outrageous to be true.

In that regard, it is not surprising that the situation has gotten as bad as it has, since voters have resigned themselves to the idea that politicians will not act in anyone’s interest but their own.

Are New Jerseyans so politically impotent that they dare not vote against the machine? Perhaps November will tell. In the meantime, local and national conservatives alike should be jumping all over this story and pinning it on everyone with a "D" next to their name just like Rahm Emmanuel taught us to do. It will be a sorely missed opportunity if this story just becomes "That's Dirty Jerz for ya!" instead of a rebuke for Democrats who continue to support Corzine and his lieutenants, from the lowliest councilman to Barack Obama, who came to New Jersey only a few weeks ago in support of Corzine's re-election.

Because this IS a New Jersey problem-- but for now, at least, it is a problem for the Left, and that is the way the story ought to be reported.