It’s the day after the FBI’s early morning raids at the residence of Trenton Mayor Tony F. Mack, his brother and a contributor/confidant. The Feds have been pretty tight-lipped about the status of any investigations (apart from stressing that the operative word is investigations, in the plural, according to WPVI reporter Nora Muchanic), so for now we have no choice but to just keep on keeping on with daily life.
In the immediate aftermath, Mr. Mack himself has fallen back on his usual Alfred E. Neuman “What, Me Worry?” defense mechanism. “I have not violated my duties or the public trust and have no further comment on this matter,” was all he said in a prepared statement issued on City letterhead yesterday. He would have been better off simply denying any illegalities. He lost the public’s trust almost as soon as he took office, two long years ago. As I discussed yesterday, it would be unfortunate to dwell too long on any matters of potential criminal charges. Those will be quote long in coming, and quote long to resolve.
One only needs to read this helpful timeline of the Mayor’s term in office as compiled by Meir Rinde of The Times to be reminded of how often and how egegiously Tony F. Mack does in fact violate his duties and the public trust.
He doesn’t have to be proven to have broken a law to be shown to be a horrible mayor. He’s already done that many times over, and continues to demonstrate that on a daily basis.
I will finish by just remarking on what I feel is the most succinct, and yet the saddest comment on the events of the last day. In today’s editorial, the Times talks about the Raids in the context of the two eventful years of the Mack era, and provides as good a summary for where we are now as we are likely to read.
There also has been no indication that Mack, personally or politically, is the target of any probe.
The shame is that there are so many situations — involving Mack’s family, associates, political pull – that could be under investigation.
“So many situations… that could be under investigation.”
How sad. How true.
We all know that Tony Mack is worse than Mao, Stalin and Hitler put together, but aren’t middle-of-the-night raids on the homes of people who haven’t been charged with any crime the sort of thing that Mao, Stalin and Hitler did?
Oh come on, Sam! “Mao, Stalin and Hitler,” really? I don’t think anyone here has said that. Certainly not me; the last time this came up, I called foul on it: http://www.kevin-moriarty.com/?p=1249
But, since you raised the comparison. I don’t think Mao, Stalin and Hitler sought any search warrants before their midnight raids. I don’t think they allowed press coverage. And most of the time, those guys usually took people with them when they left, never to be seen again. And personal property was probably left untouched and unmolested. A few small differences in style, then.
That being said, was the timing of yesterday’s raids a little over dramatic and intimidating? Perhaps; that’s what the FBI does. Today’s daytime raid at City Hall probably avoided scaring any small kids, probably.
Are the events of the last few days big news? Absolutely. But going from Zero to Hitler in nothing flat is just a wee bit hyperbolic, don’t you think, Sam?