When talking about corruption by public officials, rabidista partisans like to be able to point out that a person accused is of the opposite political party.  The rabidistas of both major national political parties gleefully try to persuade others that specific political party affiliation is a de facto indicator of and precursor to corruption.

As radio character Fibber McGee’s wife Molly used to say to him, “Tain’t so, McGee.”

Corrupt public officials use political party affiliation as a tool to achieve corrupt results.  They will be whatever they need to be to achieve their desired results.  They are political chameleons.  That is being illustrated in a corruption scandal unfolding in the New York City mayoral race.

Read on. 

Today’s Wall Street Journal is running an article headlined New York State Senator, Councilman Arrested in FBI Probe.  The WSJ reports that New York State Senator Malcolm Smith (a Democrat) and New York City Councilman Dan Halloran (a Republican) have been arrested by the FBI.  It alleges that Smith and a couple of his cronies tried to pay off some of New York City’s Republican party bosses to get himself on the New York City mayoral ballot as a Republican candidate.

Here is the now unsealed criminal complaint filed in the federal District Court.  In addition to Smith and Halloran, the complaint also charges  Bronx County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Savino; Queens County Republican Party Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone; Spring Valley Democrat Mayor Noramie Jasmin; and Spring Valley Democrat Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret.

According to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara:

Today’s charges demonstrate, once again, that a show-me-the-money culture seems to pervade every level of New York government. The complaint describes an unappetizing smorgasbord of graft and greed involving six officials who together built a corridor of corruption stretching from Queens and the Bronx to Rockland County and all the way up to Albany itself. As alleged, Senator Malcolm Smith tried to bribe his way to a shot at Gracie Mansion – Smith drew up the game plan and Councilman Halloran essentially quarterbacked that drive by finding party chairmen who were wide open to receiving bribes. After the string of public corruption scandals that we have brought to light, many may rightly resign themselves to the sad truth that perhaps the most powerful special interest in politics is self-interest. We will continue pursuing and punishing every corrupt official we find, but the public corruption crisis in New York is more than a prosecutor’s problem.

It would be my wish that the US Attorney for the District of Idaho would pay particular attention to Mr. Bharara’s comment, “…that perhaps the most powerful special interest in politics is self-interest.”  The problem of public corruption among state officials is a nationwide problem not limited to New York.  Political party affiliation is too often an instrument of expedience rather than a statement of belief.

ADDENDUM:  04-02-2013 at 2:12 p.m.:  Here’s a bit more complete reporting from the Associated Press.