The incomparable Philadelphia Public Record had an intriguing take on the light 55-month sentence former State Sen. Vince Fumo received last week. The surprisingly short prison term was, according to the Record, a big win for South Philadelphia bookies, who were taking 6-5 odds on the sentence.
"The bookies are indebted to Vince," the paper claimed.
Published and edited by former City Councilman Jim Tayoun - who himself served time on corruption and tax-evasion charges - the Public Record purports to wield influence and power "with an impact not felt from any other publication since Tom Paine's 'Common Sense.' " Reading the Record's observations on Fumo's post-prison future, it is hard not to wonder whether, perhaps, Tayoun's own experiences influenced the paper's opinion.
"Though Fumo will spend a total of 55 months in prison, there is no doubt he will return to Philadelphia a folk hero, much like some of the other political leaders in the past who served their time but came back with their constituencies relatively well intact," the Record wrote.
"In fact, if it were not for a Pennsylvania law prohibiting felons from holding office, many of them would have easily been reelected to the offices they have held.
Click here for Philly.com's politics page.
That's because there is not a natural voting process going on but a machine. People who get public housing know they have to work the polls. They even will run as judges of elections for not only the Dems, but for the opposite party, as was the case in my neighborhood. So who knows kind of shenanigans are going on when someone essentially getting benefits from the same agency from the party in power is supposed to be representing the opposite party? I'll tell you what happens. You get skew in the outcome. You get vote tampering. You get violence and intimidation at the polls. You have a machine in Philly that "delivers" a product, not a vote from a free election.— CleanupPhilly- Obama has no interest in supporting this machine either, because he knows he only came to power in Chicago because of ethics and campaign finance reform that changed the Chicago machine. That's why Obama didn't pay Brady WAM. He didn't have to do that in other places, so why pay to play here? The Big O doesn't go for that nonsense. Obama proved you can only win a serious election as a Dem by being good, and yes, as Biden said, "clean." When Rip Van Philly Democrats finally wake up, they'll start getting somewhere. When the Eric Holder orders Fumo to be resentenced for the same reason O didn't pay WAM, we'll have the message that political Philly so clearly needs as the Tayouns show. The feds don't need anymore proof than this political newspaper to show that a real sentence is a must for Fumo to make a dent in the culture of corruption.— CleanupPhilly
- its worth reminding folks that Fumo beat Tayoun's son for election five years ago...— rabbit23
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