Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Political Mayhem Thursday: Corruption in Dallas
Earlier this week, federal prosecutors won several convictions in a major Dallas public corruption case (details here).
It seems that this was a straight-up bribery scandal. Former Dallas council member Don Hill and some of his cronies took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from contractors doing work in the city.
[My favorite part of the story was this: "Car dealer and amateur home builder Rickey Robertson was acquitted in this scheme." How can you be an "amateur home builder?" Do you build houses and give them away? I've been thinking about that for a while now.]
Just an observation here: For whatever reason, it seems like Democrats more often get tied up in scandals involving money, while Republicans are more prone to sex scandals. This isn't a uniform rule, of course (ie, Bill Clinton is one prominent exception), but why might this be?
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My rule is that Democrat sex scandals tend to involve the orientation the members profess to be (e.g., Bill, Barney) whereas for Republicans it's the sexual orientation(s) they profess to hate (Craig). There are notable exceptions, such as David Vitter, who is pro-hooker but anti-condom (this is probably stupid on his part).
Republicans get into money scandals too; they just tend to be better at it.
It's tempting to blame akrasia for all of it, or some supernatural force of evil, but I tend to think that most people just assume rules don't apply to them. As long as politicians self-select, we're bound to get antisocial, narcissistic, avaricious bastards who want to run for public office. Many of them will already have money or come from lives of privilege, and consequently, they are unfamiliar with the idea of consequences.
Republicans get into money scandals too; they just tend to be better at it.
It's tempting to blame akrasia for all of it, or some supernatural force of evil, but I tend to think that most people just assume rules don't apply to them. As long as politicians self-select, we're bound to get antisocial, narcissistic, avaricious bastards who want to run for public office. Many of them will already have money or come from lives of privilege, and consequently, they are unfamiliar with the idea of consequences.
Republicans hate sex, ergo they get tied up in sex scandals.
Democrats hate capitalism, ergo they get tied up money scandals.
Democrats hate capitalism, ergo they get tied up money scandals.
Clinton actually isn't the only exception for Democrats on the sex scandal issue. Gary Hart, Barney Frank (involved with a male prostitute), Gerry Studds (sex with underage male page), Mel Reynolds (convicted of sexual assault).
And Republicans aren't immune from money scandals. The whole Abramoff thing comes to mind.
Why are Republican sex scandals bigger deals, because it is a better story when you have the person doing the activity on tape from six months eariler talking about family values. News media loves hypocrisy.
Same with Democrats. You get some Democrat on TV talking about "Big Oil" or "Wall Street Fat Cats" or some such nonsense, and then they get caught taking bribes and embezzling money. It just makes the story more interesting.
Hypocrisy is the tribute virtue pays to vice.
And Republicans aren't immune from money scandals. The whole Abramoff thing comes to mind.
Why are Republican sex scandals bigger deals, because it is a better story when you have the person doing the activity on tape from six months eariler talking about family values. News media loves hypocrisy.
Same with Democrats. You get some Democrat on TV talking about "Big Oil" or "Wall Street Fat Cats" or some such nonsense, and then they get caught taking bribes and embezzling money. It just makes the story more interesting.
Hypocrisy is the tribute virtue pays to vice.
# posted by 
: 10:09 AM
: 10:09 AM
Let us not forget Randy 'Duke' Cunningham and his money scandals in San Diego.
There are just too many sex scandals to list; you forgot John Edwards and Gov. Mark Sanford.
Perhaps the sex scandals just follow the money. Need we forget that JFK supposedly had mistresses and brother Teddy was quite a playboy in his 'single' days. The thing they have in common is cash and power.
What about the women - how come they aren't getting into trouble?
Oh and Kwayme Kilpatrick is apparently working in Texas, maybe he has been giving the Dallas City Council tips.
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There are just too many sex scandals to list; you forgot John Edwards and Gov. Mark Sanford.
Perhaps the sex scandals just follow the money. Need we forget that JFK supposedly had mistresses and brother Teddy was quite a playboy in his 'single' days. The thing they have in common is cash and power.
What about the women - how come they aren't getting into trouble?
Oh and Kwayme Kilpatrick is apparently working in Texas, maybe he has been giving the Dallas City Council tips.
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