OPINION: If you’re not part of the problem……
The recent wave of indictments of elected officials seems to encompass everybody. Democrats and Republicans (although not the Brooklyn Republicans, at least so far), members of all ethnic groups have been named indicted or are the subjects of investigation.
Vito Lopez, who recently said he would resign from his seat in the state Assembly and who by all accounts acted like a “Little Caesar” in his district, is only the most extreme example. More typical is the low-key politician who takes bribes in exchange for pushing a new housing development or other “perk.”
Of course, this is nothing new. For many decades, Tammany Hall ruled in Manhattan and many other parts of the city. Like the old mob, Tammany’s way of operating was “I do you a favor, you do me a favor.” There’s nothing wrong with this per se, unless that “favor” happens to be illegal.
In fact, one 19th century state legislator, George Washington Plunkitt, drew a line between “dishonest graft,” or graft that lines the pockets of one person exclusively for his own personal gain; and “honest graft,” in which the spoils to into the coffers of the party, campaign workers and others who are on the ballot for the same party.