this entry is about politics, but not the boring kind.

[terabient]

the first story i heard driving home today was this:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2009/07/hometown_corruption.html

the summary: 40+ public officials in New Jersey - including mayors, state assembly men AND 5 rabbis - were arrested on money laundering/bribery charges today. aside from the sheer number of people involved, the case also sports the following absurdities:

-There were so many arrests the police needed two buses to transport everyone to the FBI office.
-It took over an hour for the prosecutor to list all of the charges brought against every individual.
-One of the mayors took office less than a month ago - in an election so close it was decided by 161 votes.

seriously: holy fucking shit.

i mention this only because about halfway through the NPR broadcast - when they started talking about busloads of arrested officials - i had to pull over because i lost it and started laughing hysterically. i shouldn't, of course, but this went from 'tragic failure of US government system' to 'high comedy' really fast.

then again i don't live in New Jersey, so it doesn't really affect me. one of my college roommates *does*, but i also hated her, so i guess this is a win-win for me?



...i am a horrible person. :)

Comments

[hamimifk.livejournal.com]

XD I was watching this unfold on tv earlier. My mom was totally floored by it, mostly because of all the rabbis arrested (we're not Jewish, but my mom grew up in a Jewish neighborhood - pretty odd actually XD). On the news they said it was 15 rabbis and 29 politicians. And it's true - the more they spoke, the funnier it became. I don't know why, maybe because it's politicians finally got caught up being up to no good. Poetic justice, perhaps?

^.^; You're not horrible. My mom's bf was almost rolling on the floor with laughter when he heard the news.

[terabient]

15! 15!!! oh god that's even more amazing. XD

i was reading some comments people left on the article - someone said this story reads like one of those 'three people walk into a bar...' jokes, which is pretty accurate i think!

apparently there are also connections to a human organ trading ring of some sort. when i heard that i did some real-life ROFL'ing too.

i hope more surreal revelations are forthcoming! truly this is better than anything airing on TV currently. XD

[hamimifk.livejournal.com]

XD Yeah, it's amazing. Who knew rabbis could be so bad?

Lmao! Oh, I love that! 'Three people walk into a bar - a rabbi, a mayor, and an organ trafficker.' XDD I think the punchline would involve who's the bigger crook.

Kidneys! The WHOLE investigation began 10 years ago when the feds got wind of someone trafficking human kidneys! It pretty much snowballed from there getting worst and worst.

Hehe, like the mayors secretly being cross-dressers? Yeah, I hope so too. :D Absolutely!

[bri-ecrit.livejournal.com]

As a lifelong resident of New Jersey, I did not even blink twice. Our corruption scandals are the stuff of legend.

(Then again, my South-Jersey-bred self also takes this as an opportunity to dismiss those crazy North Jerseyans. We Sojo natives just have to worry about cow tipping and biker gangs.)

[terabient]

ahah, well...it's good you're able to take this in stride, at least!

my experience with NJ is relegated to the occasional rest stop when driving somewhere else. that, and a truly insufferable roommate i had during my last semester of college, but that probably isn't New Jersey's fault.