As a native of the Garden State, I can tell you that New Jersey is a cesspool of political corruption that is outpaced in only a few states, like Louisiana. If a politician has fought his or herself to the top of the food chain in either party (but especially the Democratic Party), they have by definition compromised themselves many times over. HBO’s The Sopranos depicted the mob’s relationship with the state Senate fairly accurately. That was north Jersey and the ports. Then there is south Jersey and Atlantic City. One reason a lot of progressives welcomed Goldman Sachs CEO Jon Corzine as governor and senator was because we knew he didn’t have to commit any felonies (in any official capacity, anyway) to get the nominations. New Jersey politics is that bad.
If Louisiana could shrug off David Vitter’s diaper-wearing visits to prostitutes, Bob Menendez probably has little to worry about, even if the worst allegations are true. The problem is that the only clean politicians the Democrats have created in New Jersey in my lifetime have entered politics at the highest levels rather than working their way up. Frank Lautenberg used his private fortune to win a U.S. Senate seat in 1982. Bill Bradley used his fame to do the same in 1978. They were (and are) politicians that we can be proud of who didn’t shame New Jersey. But they are about the only ones. Even Corzine, who followed that model, turned out to be a scoundrel.
As for Sen. Menendez, he’s always been suspect to me. I know what it takes to get where he is, and it ain’t pretty.
You call him a “scoundrel”. I think that this is over the top.
Corzine was a pretty decent senator. When he went back to Wall Street, bad things happened. Why is that? I think because he went back to a high level, and the street had changed considerably. In particular, the ability to make huge risky bets has increased 100x over when he was on the street. Things that used to be inappropriate and a little risky became incredibly dangerous. In particular, what he appeared to have done is pull client funds out and use them in undisclosed and risky ways.
I don’t give him a pass. However, I think that he did nothing worse than hundreds or thousands of others. I think that it’s a problem of the street and the regulatory environment. I fault him less. NOTE: I AM NOT GIVING HIM A PASS.
Sigh.
This former chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs was just an innocent rube whose company didn’t realize that it’s not okay to use your customer’s money to cover bets and then to lose their money.
Please.
I stated carefully that I was not absolving him.
However, the culture of the street had gone way different from when he was in. He came in, and immediately had to prove that he was the biggest swinging dick on the floor. He got in over his head, and this is partly due to the Peter Principle – he was put in a position in which he did not understand at a core level the risk consequences. He is culpable, no question. But it’s partly due to the lack of regulation.
Note: I am not absolving him. I think he got dropped into a position in which 15 year old risk understanding was not up to date.
As I understand it, the change in Wall St was why he originally left. Didn’t stick with his principles when he went back I guess.
What are your thoughts in this regard re: Cory Booker?
I, for one, love that guy.
I like that he has never served in the state legislature. His predecessor in office went to jail, which is about the least surprising thing in the world for a Mayor of Newark. But Booker has always been all about a new politics. For North Jersey, he appears squeaky clean, although predictably beholden to Wall Street.
Booker is another tool of Wall Street and a corporatist, which isn’t surprising given that it’s NJ. I don’t like him. Unfortunately we aren’t going to get any sort of real populist/economically progressive Democrats out of any area that’s associated with finance, high tech, insurance, or medical. Which sucks, because it’s states beholden to those interests (NY, NJ, CN, CA, IL) that Democrats do very well in.
Say it ain’t so. What about Bob “Torch” Torricelli? Cleans as a whistle, that one.
Oh, yeah. He was a real reformer.
Apologies, o/t, so what’s up with Agonist? I know Steve resigned as Editor, but this is strange.
Boo:
Suprised you didn’t mention the corrupt South Jersey machine. Which is lead by faux-Democrat George Norcross and that sellout Sweeney.
Norcross is Christie’s biggest ally. I think if Barbara Buono is going to have any shot at all she needs to emphasize how corrupt and in bed the two of them are…
been shrugging my shoulders at the entire story.
Add Illinois.