Opinion> Mona Charen> Good Old Fashioned Graft

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Good Old-Fashioned Graft?

The response of Kathryn Jean Lopez (National Review Online) to the arrest of Rod Blagojevich was priceless. "Finally, a political scandal you can talk to your children about. No room at the Mayflower. No myspace page. No Gay-American announcement. Just good and evil and money and power corrupting."

Rod Blagojevich is part of a storied American tradition. By selling government posts, shaking down businesses that had dealings with the state, and maneuvering to get lucrative jobs for his wife and himself, Blagojevich was practicing "honest graft."

The distinction between "honest graft" and "dishonest graft" was elucidated by a turn of the century politico named George Washington Plunkitt, a Tammany Hall man. Tammany was the political machine that ran New York, which was then a lot like Illinois is today. "Everybody is talkin' these days about Tammany men growin' rich on graft, but nobody thinks of drawin' the distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft … Yes, many of our men have grown rich in politics … I've made a big fortune out of the game … but I've not gone in for dishonest graft — blackmailin' gamblers, saloon-keepers, disorderly people, etc."

No, he explained, here's how "honest graft" works: "Well, I'm tipped off, say, that they're going to lay out a new park at a certain place. I see my opportunity and I take it. I go to that place and I buy up all the land I can in the neighborhood. Then the board of this or that makes its plan public, and there is a rush to get my land, which nobody cared particular for before. Ain't it perfectly honest to charge a good price and make a profit on my investment and foresight? … Well, that's honest graft."

That was how things were managed in the early 1900s. How is it done today? Gov. Blagojevich, who had authority to appoint a successor to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama, instructs his aide that "The trick is … how do you conduct indirectly … a negotiation?" Actually, on the evidence of these secretly taped conversations, Blagojevich was anything but indirect.

"We were approached 'pay to play,'" he told an aide on Dec. 4, "That, you know, he'd raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million if I made (Candidate 5) a senator."

Seeing himself in possession of a valuable commodity, Blagojevich wasn't about to give it away for mere gratitude. "It's not coming for free. … I've got this thing and it's (expletive) golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I'm not gonna do it." Then, demonstrating a fine appreciation for his legal authority, he added, "I can always use it. I can parachute me there." At another point, he was subtlety itself: "I want to make money."

No doubt he was inspired by the example of his wife, who is heard demanding in the background of one call regarding the Chicago Cubs, that her husband should "hold up that (expletive) Cubs (expletive) … (expletive) them." He liked her advice well enough to ask the aide what he thought of it. Not a shock from a guy who could demand a $50,000 campaign contribution from the director of a children's hospital before releasing $8 million in state funds for the kids.

Plunkitt had some other reflections on public service. He noted that "What tells in holdin' your grip on your district is to go right down among the poor families and help them in the different ways they need help … If there's a fire in Ninth, Tenth, or Eleventh Avenue, for example, any hour of the day or night, I'm usually there with some of my election district captains as soon as the fire engines. If a family is burned out I don't ask whether they are Republicans or Democrats, and I don't refer them to the Charity Organization Society … I just get quarters for them, buy clothes for them … and fix them up till they get things runnin' again. It's philanthropy, but it's politics, too … Who can tell how many votes one of these fires bring me? The poor are the most grateful people in the world, and, let me tell you, they have more friends in their neighborhoods than the rich have in theirs."

On second thought, Blagojevich wouldn't be fit to shine Plunkitt's shoes.

To find out more about Mona Charen and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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Illinois Gov. Blagojevich, being a Democrat, thinks like the rest of the politicians, and CEOS, only his pockets are deeper and he 'WANTS IT ALL!' Millions of Taxpayer dollars have been sent to Illinois, year after year, and as always, money seems to disappear? 'FAIR TAX - TO INCLUDE PROPERTY TAXES' has to be top priority! This should be the first law that Obama puts on books. It's past time to clean houses in all forms of government!

As for the politicians dwelling on 'bailouts and handouts', with no concern for sending American Jobs to foreign countries and borrowing trillions without asking Taxpayers, you can 'stop the acts!' Taxpayers no longer can afford you, the BIG 3 autos, and the CEOS! What happened to the brains in deciding 'auto making had to be cut back to justify job losses?' Common sense would have worked had folks in the auto industry, instead of trying to 'dress to impress', been planning for the future jobs, instead of flying around the country! It's obvious you were not taking care of business! No 'car czar' is needed, this is just another government stalling so more money, can disappear! IT'S TIME TO FILE BANKRUPTCY, REORGANIZE AND SHOW TAXPAYERS YOU ARE SINCERE ABOUT THE 'HEARTBEAT OF AMERICA!' "I HATE THE WORD BANKRUPTCY", as I know"why" it has to be done! It was done to me so the sorry slobs could steal money and not have to pay me back what they'd taken! I wouldn't file, and it took me over 20 years to pay the banks back, Guess what I had to do without for 20+ years? A nice home, cars, vacations, and a few other things I can never replace! I had to work 24/7 just to survive! NO ONE BAILED ME OUT, BOUGHT ME A HOME OR CAR, A DINNER OR EVEN A DR. PEPPER! NOW YOU KNOW WHY I'M SPEAKING ABOUT THIS, I KNOW PEOPLE LIKE YOU, FIRST HAND! BELIEVE ME, I DON'T LIKE WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO AMERICA NOR OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS!

TAXPAYERS SAY 'NO' to 'bailouts or handouts'! The BIG 3, UAW, Freddie, Fannie, AIG, Citi, or anyone else requesting Taxpayers money should be asked to 'pay the Taxpayers back for their bad decisions!' Everyone has to make changes in their lifestyles, starting with government, luxury autos, airplanes, and cut all salaries to $12,000.00 year on local, state, and federal levels, with no freebies attached. This is more than most are worth for the amount of time they 'assist' in making bad laws that's bankrupted America!
POLITICIANS AND CEOS NEED TO BE GIVEN ONE (1) OPTION!" SELL EVERYTHING YOU OWN, ALLOW TAXPAYERS TO OBTAIN THE RIGHTS TO ALL YOUR WORLDWIDE BANK ACCOUNTS, PUT MONEY IN TRUST FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE, OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, AND WE'LL GIVE YOU A 'ONE-WAY TICKET' TO THE FOREIGN COUNTRIES YOU SOLD AMERICA TO!
WAKE UP, AMERICA!

Comment: #1
Posted by: Shirley deLong
Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:04 AM