| ..... but certainly better late than never.
Yes, Christie clearly deserves some faint praise here; but the timing of these seemingly solid and air tight indictments raises questions.
The corruption is systemic and has been going on forever. These kinds of sweetheart deals are "normal" in Bergen County and throughout the state.
What makes this case fairly easy to make is that Ferierro was arrogant and stupid enough to actually have his own name on the ownership papers of the business raking in the cash.
These kinds of influence peddling and kickback schemes go on all the time.....but to bust the systemic corruption would require the use of real investigations, RICO powers and even (heaven forbid!) investigations!
Christie's office has been alerted to various types of irregularities by all manner of whistle blowers and concerned citizens over the years.....yet now, eight weeks before an election, in Christie's final months in power and just before he gets involved running for governor...now, he finally decides to bust Ferierro and a crony.
When corruption, whether it's corporate, governmental or your run of the mill mafia/drug lord types, is systemic; the RICO statutes must be utilized.
It will likely be up to Mr Christie's successor to get convictions in these cases; I hope Christie hasn't left any escape hatches for the perps to squeeze through after November 09 has passed.
Even if Ferierro is eventually convicted, this would be like Capone being busted for tax evasion....the real/deeper network is all still there and that is what must be attacked.
So, let us not get carried away and fall in to the trap of thinking that this one "bust" somehow redeems Christie for all his many sins.
Christie remains a self serving partisan hack who is finally doing a bit of good work because it burnishes his image in time for a run for governor.
Now, if Christie manages to move guys like Coniglio, Ferierro and Oury to spill their guts and he uses his RICO powers and we see raids on hundreds of newly indicted NJ pols (and their corporate owners) sometime in December; we'll then I'll be pleased to eat my hat! |
