And then there were Eleven

Arrest or indictment aren't necessarily indicative of guilt, but it sure doesn't look good. From the evidence that has been presented to the public at this point, to the historical factors, to a general sense of criminal conduct in and around the political scene, I'd say this bunch is pretty much "toast".

I was talking about this with my wife earlier tonight and she said something I thought hit the nail on the head. (I always check with her to see how the general public feels about something, because I think she is representative). She said, "this doesn't surprise me, isn't this what politics really is anyway?" I found myself trying to defend politicians, then stopping midstream and pretty much agreeing. At least in Memphis and Shelby County, this appears to be the way it is. I've been railing about the culture of corruption here for the past year or so and when I first started talking about it, I got a wake-up call. When I mentioned that so-and-so had taken money from a convicted felon, almost every politician I spoke with said, "well, I took money from him too, but I didn't know." I don't recall ANY of them giving the money back, except my friend Terry Roland. Terry got a check in the mail from one of the more notorious ex felons and he promptly put it in a return envelope with a note thanking him for offering to help.

I'd say this would be a great opportunity for these "elected officials" to go through their books and return any money they took from the underworld, wouldn't you? Do you agree that a sheriff shouldn't take money from a convicted drug dealer? Do you agree that a DA shouldn't take contributions from a convicted felon, and that a mayor, clerk, commissioner, councilperson, or even a school board member should also adhere to the same policy? I've been trying to get the CA to dig into these politicians financial disclosures and connect the dots so the citizens can see what I already know to be true. So far they have yet to undertake the project. However, hope springs eternal, and they may now take a look. I'm told, they are nosing around a little more these days. . . .

OK, Here's the Plan

Joe (Backroom) Republican is talking with his cronies . . .

First we float an idea of building a 200 million dollar jail (which if built would cost 300 million). When people are shocked by that, we bring back the privatization issue. We can sell it by telling people it will be much better and we can actually make money, which can be used to retire the debt(I know we aren't going to retire the 2 billion dollar debt with 10 million, but work with me). Of course, we keep Aramark/Servicemaster in the loop on food purchases, but we also bring CCA into the picture. You know several of the local guys have lots of stock in them.

(Fellow crook, er crony)
Well, how do we pull this off? There are more democrats on the county commission than republicans and they have been against privatization. Maybe if we get a republican commissioner to offer them something, like say a Juvenile court judgeship, they will work a trade-off?

Hmmm, sounds like gravy to me. . . .