What Politicians Want, Politicians Get

Baltimore (and the state), a city with no professional hockey or basketball team, is planning on building a brand-new, 18,500 seat arena with a tax-payer subsidised price tag of about 300 million. Mind you, this comes at a time when MD Gov Martin O'Malley has raised just about every tax he could because of the 'tough budget concerns' the state faces. But apparently building a 300+million arena with no commitment as to a tenant is a necessity. The Baltimore Sun:

State and city leaders unveiled plans yesterday to tear down the aging 1st Mariner Arena and replace it with a new venue big enough to attract a professional basketball or hockey team to Baltimore - an idea that drew a skeptical response from the sports world.

Calling the 46-year-old 1st Mariner Arena "functionally obsolete," officials said a new 18,500-seat facility would draw the biggest concerts and acts to Baltimore and could play host to major events such as the NCAA basketball tournament. A new arena would probably cost $300million or more, paid for largely with public money, and could open as soon as 2012.[...]

We need a state-of-the-art arena because whether we have a major-league team in Baltimore playing basketball or shooting hockey pucks, this is a major-league city and it deserves a major-league arena," said M.J. "Jay" Brodie, president of the Baltimore Development Corp. and head of a panel formed to evaluate arena options. The panel issued its recommendations yesterday with the support of the mayor and the governor.

That's right, Baltimore is a "major-leagues city" that deserves a major-league arena. It doesn't matter if it needs one - (and really, does a city ever need a tax-payer funded arena? No, probably not, but it certainly doesn't need one when it doesn't have a team to fill it. Getting one extra Hannah Montana concert doesn't equal a NBA team) - some d-bags in City Hall and Annapolis just think the city deserves one. That and they all want some really sweet contracts to dish out to relatives and friends for the construction of this monstrosity. Excellent.

Full stroy here.

This Bud's For Demagogery

The feds are taking a hard look into the finances of that dangerous buffoon Al Sharpton. The New York Post reports that the investigation stepped up when IRS sent subpoenas to ... Anheuser-Busch? Yes, the beer company:

Anheuser-Busch, the brewer of Budweiser and Michelob, confirmed yesterday that it received a federal subpoena in connection to its charitable giving to Sharpton's National Action Network.

"We have received a subpoena and are cooperating with the IRS," the company said in a statement.

Sharpton blasted the subpoena as a "fishing expedition" and said his donors are proud of their financial support. The St. Louis-based corporation donated between $100,000 and $499,000 to NAN in 2007 alone, according to its Web site, but declined further comment about its relationship with Sharpton. A knowledgeable source said several other corporate donors received or would soon receive subpoenas.
Sharpton himself, his business entities and his nonprofit civil-advocacy group owe millions in back taxes, documents show.

The IRS and the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn have an ongoing probe into Sharpton's finances going back to his 2004 run for president and stewardship of NAN.

It seems that the reverend is quite the shakedown artist:

Almost 50 companies - including PepsiCo, General Motors, Wal-Mart, FedEx, Continental Airlines, Johnson & Johnson and Chase - and some labor unions sponsored Sharpton's National Action Network annual conference in April.

Terrified of negative publicity, fearful of a consumer boycott or eager to make nice with the civil-rights activist, CEOs write checks, critics say, to NAN and Sharpton - who brandishes the buying power of African-American consumers. In some cases, they hire him as a consultant.
***
In May 2004, Chrysler began supporting NAN's conferences, which include panels on corporate responsibility and civil rights and a black-tie awards dinner to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Last year, Sharpton gave Chrysler an award for corporate excellence.

In 2003, Sharpton targeted American Honda for not hiring enough African-Americans in management.

"We support those that support us," wrote Sharpton and the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, president of NAN's Michigan chapter, in a letter to American Honda. "We cannot be silent while African-Americans spend hard-earned dollars with a company that does not hire, promote or do business with us in a statistically significant manner."

Two months after American Honda execs met with Sharpton, the carmaker began to sponsor NAN's events - and continues to pay "a modest amount" each year, a spokesman said.

Disgusting.

Nothing To See Here; Move Along People

I dunno but if I were representing a fairly prominent politico whose home had just been raided by state investigators, I think I'd try to proclaim my client's innocence of any wrong-doing instead issuing of a weaselly evasion -- if I could. But hey, that's just me. What do I know?

State prosecutors searched Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's house for several hours in the morning, apparently continuing a two-year probe of her financial dealings as City Council president.

The investigators removed documents from Mrs. Dixon's Southwest Baltimore home, but would not confirm the focus of the investigation.
***
"The public should be aware of the State Prosecutor's reports for the last couple of years, which disclose that the State Prosecutor has spent hundreds of thousands on investigations which went nowhere," said Dale P. Kelberman, a white-collar criminal defense attorney representing Mrs. Dixon.

Read the whole thing here.

N-Word Rises From Its Grave, Seeks Revenge Against Mayor Kilpatrick

Remember when America's favorite scandal-ridden mayor; who along with the NAACP buried the N-word in the summer of '07, complete with a funeral and eulogies? I sure do. At the time I thought burying a word was quite possibly the stupidest idea ever, especially when young black males are actually being buried at a rate 4-5x higher than their white peers. That small fact might point to real issues that directly affect the black community and need to be addressed, instead of symbolically burying a word for the mere purpose of grabbing a few headlines.

Well, it would seem Mayor Kilpatrick didn't bury the word soon enough. According to sordid text messages between Detroit's Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his mistress, (aka Chief of Staff) back in 2002-2003 Kilpatrick used the word nigger in -- what I'm sure he would call -- an affectionate manner in reference to his mistress Christine Beatty. From CBS News, discussing the recent release of damaging text messages that are at the heart of multiple scandals that have plagued the mayor, and now led to his indictment on a whole list of offenses including perjury.

The sometimes graphic excerpts include the frequent use of the N-word, or derivatives of it, as a term of endearment.

On Sept. 15, 2002, Beatty described a sex act she wanted to perform on the mayor but said she didn't know how to ask him to let her do it. He replied: "Next time, just tell me to sit down, shut up and do your thing!"

Later that month, the pair appeared to arrange a sexual encounter in Beatty's office. On Sept. 19, 2002, Beatty wrote to Kilpatrick: "I have wanted to hold you so badly all day, but I was trying to stay focused on work. So, I promise, not to keep you longer than 15 minutes."

Kilpatrick replied: "Don't promise (N-word.)"

Beatty said: "I'm in my office. Do you want me to come to yours or you coming to mine?"

Kilpatrick said: "I'm coming down there ... LOL ditto. Freaky Chris!"

I see your LOL Mayor, and raise you a LMAO...

Kilpatrick allegedly has lied under oath, illegally fired police officers as part of the cover-up, and misused city dollars. So there are a lot of more important matters at stake here than just the simple hypocrisy over the use of nigger, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't pay any attention to yet one more example of what seems to be part of a every politician's oath: Do as I say, not as I do.

Full story here. Comprehensive archive of the Mayor's scandal here.

Sen. Ted Stevens and his BFF

It is hard to tell what is more annoying about this AP story: the facts it reports or the irritating isn't-bipartisanship-wonderful attitude it presents them in.

Here's the story. Senator Daniel Inouye, 83, of Hawaii hosted a fundraiser Wednesday for the reelection bid of Senator Ted Stevens, 84, of Alaska. That's unusual because Inouye is a Democrat and Stevens is a Republican. The AP says:

It's fair to say Inouye would like his Democratic Party to control the Senate by a greater margin. But not at the expense of Stevens, his friend and ally in the increasingly rough-and-tumble Senate.

So Inouye held a fundraising lunch for his friend on Wednesday to help Stevens with what promises to be his most difficult campaign in almost four decades.
***
Stevens' campaign hoped the noontime lunch just a block from the Capitol would net $50,000 or so from the anticipated 60-70 guests, said campaign treasurer Tim McKeever in Alaska.

Anchorage Democratic Mayor Mark Begich is running to defeat Stevens, and the hard-fought race is essential to Democrats' goal of padding the chamber with enough Democrats to roll over GOP delaying tactics.

So why did Inouye do it? Was it just because he and Stevens are long-time buds? That's what the AP story suggests:

But to Senate old-timers like Inouye, 83, and Stevens, 84 — each of whom has served in the chamber since the 1960s — friendship comes before party. In the increasingly bitter world of Washington, the friendship of Inouye and Stevens stands out. They call each other "brother." Both served with honor in World War II.

Heartwarming, isn't it? But there is another reason Inouye hosted the fundraiser, a little fact mentioned towards the end of the story:

The two have traveled the world together are the top two senators on the panel controlling the Pentagon budget. For years, they've used the post to deliver federal money to their states. They are also the chairman and top Republican on the powerful Commerce Committee.

Well isn't that special? These two old farts bonded over years and years of traveling the world on the taxpayers' dime and shoveling yet more of those taxpayer dollars into their home states. Good times, good times.

Oh, and by the way, Stevens is the focus of a federal corruption probe. That's why his re-election bid will be so "difficult." There is a good chance the guy will go to federal prison soon.

Still, doesn't it just make you feel great to know that these senators look out for each other, regardless of party?

Are All DC Workers Corrupt? It is Certainly Looking Like That

The Georgetown DMV is the latest District government agency to be found to be completely corrupt:

Law enforcement officers raided the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles branch in Georgetown on Wednesday, arresting one city employee and four other suspects on charges they set up a scheme to sell fake District driver’s licenses.

My assistant recently had a very hard time trying to renew my legitimate registration at that office. It entailed lots of phone calls, faxes and about three hours to get it done. I guess I should have just paid them off. In fact, the woman accused by the FBI was the woman who was my obstacle.

Mayor Adrian Fenty showed up for a news briefing at the scene. He deflected questions about whether the arrests were a further indication of widespread corruption among city employees. Instead, he said they were a sign that security safeguards were working.

DC employees are getting carted off in handcuffs in droves, stealing tax money and even funds dedicated to disabled children.

The DC city workforce might just be the most corrupt group of employees in a Western country.

Extra! Extra! Propaganda!

One thing that all of us will miss with the disappearance of so many autocracies is the state run press. No worries, their are still a few out there. In Angola, Africa’s second largest producer of oil, President Dos Santos maintains his grip on power. It is very amusing to look an ANGOP once in awhile, the state owned press which builds up this man’s personality cult.

While the translation from Portuguese to English is a bit spotty at points you get the basic idea. Distract the populous that the profit from their countries immense resources is being stolen by a corrupt few. Well at least they have table tennis tournaments to celebrate national heroes.

A Series of Bars

That's what I hope to see in front of Ted Stevens. Soon.

FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents searched the Alaska home of longtime Sen. Ted Stevens on Monday amid a corruption probe that already has snared two oil-company executives and a state lobbyist.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, had his home searched by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service on Monday.

Dave Heller, an FBI spokesman in Anchorage, Alaska, confirmed that agents entered Stevens' home Monday afternoon, but he referred further comment to the Justice Department.

Neither the senator nor any family members were home at the time, Heller said.

Ouch, Ted. Suddenly it's really sucking to be you. More here.