| According to testimony, Javier Inclan - town council member and treasurer of the Guttenberg Democratic Party - basically functioned as the bag man. Inclan is the one to which crooked Code Enforcement official Yogi Rogers handed envelopes stuffed full of cash. Inclan is a vital link in showing how the money got into della Donna's hands. Presumably, he has traded his testimony (which is forthcoming) for immunity.
This is the same Javier Inclan that was only recently named as deputy chief-of-staff for Gov. Jon Corzine. For those who have never watched The West Wing, the chief-of-staff is the one who decides who gets to see the Governor. The CoS makes things happen without having to burden the Governor with the details of routine matters. What the CoS is to the Governor, the deputy CoS is to the CoS.
So this is a pretty high level appointment. In a state where the only statewide elected offices are the US Senate and Governor, it puts the person holding it in a position to be a power player behind the scenes - where it counts. Inclan is in a position to make legislators and county party chairs indebted to him. You want to get your town a few bucks? Talk to Inclan. You want to save a program from the ax? Talk to Inclan. If you can't get by him, you're dead. If he takes up your case and works it, you may be sitting on the business side of the Governor's desk.
Now I have a problem. The Governor's deputy Chief of Staff was apparently more than knee-deep in a corruption ring that allowed underaged women to be held against their will, forced to become whores, then undergo at least one "abortion by being kicked down the stairs". I'm not saying Inclan knew that was what Madrano was doing, but he had to damn sure know that receiving big envelopes of cash from a Code Enforcement guy wasn't copacetic. If he's in position to testify against della Donna; then he's been walking around for years knowing that Guttenberg's government was being twisted into a self-enrichment program for the della Donna family.
I'm a Democrat, and I make no bones about it. But I'm not blind enough in my partisanship to say that being a faithful bag man is a qualification for holding one of the highest ranking positions in the executive branch. I guess I'm just weird or something. When I cast my vote for Jon Corzine, I thought all his talk about reform and ethics included his own cabinet and appointees. I didn't know he had his fingers crossed or maybe he was thinking about those other guys' ethical problems.
This is just unacceptable. If, as I suspect, Inclan has traded testimony for non-prosecution, then he has all the reward a crooked politician has any right to hope for. It is an insult to the people of New Jersey and to any common measure of decency to allow him to serve in that position when he has the stench of corruption up to his neck.
Again, I'm not saying Inclan knew that the payoffs were over international human trafficking and sex slavery. I'm saying that he didn't care. He knew that taking this big stack of money over here and letting it disappear over there would keep his bread buttered and that was the only God-damned thing he cared about.
Governor Corzine. If you are any kind of man at all, Javier Inclan will be sent packing before the end of the day. It's time you stood up and made your actions heard above the fray. It's time you grew a pair and made a real difference.
Or it's time to start thinking about what other job you'd like to have come next November. |
