I am thinking positive thoughts about Maryland’s two Senators. Not only do they do an excellent job representing everyone in Maryland, but they do not take bribes. To compliment legislators for honesty might seem strange, but the recent charges brought against Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), remind us how easy it is for politicians to succumb to the temptations of power. Menendez is accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, and a luxury car in exchange for using his influence in Washington to aid individuals and the government of Egypt.
The 39-page indictment includes photographs of the fruits of Menendez’s alleged corruption. The pictures are nauseating. Menendez, until last week, was the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In that post, he was privy to sensitive government information and had the power to block the sale of military arms to foreign governments. He also was well known within the State Department and other government agencies.
While legislators cannot order federal agencies to take or withhold actions benefiting an individual or foreign government, any communication from them bears weight. Most legislators understand this and, as a policy, tell any constituent asking for help that “crosses the line” that such intervention is beyond their authority. But nobody polices the communications of senators and representatives. Unless someone blows the whistle, improper actions might not be caught.
Senator Menendez counted on not getting caught. That is curious because less than a year before engaging in the alleged corruption detailed in the indictment, he dodged conviction on another bribery charge after the jury was deadlocked. One would have thought that experience would have taught Menendez that “you can’t get away with it.” Apparently, Menendez did not see his actions, and the size of the bribes he allegedly accepted, as sufficiently blatant to attract attention.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and many others have called on Menendez to resign. The Senator denies the charges and says he is not going anywhere. Even more disturbing is his statement made after calls for his resignation: “It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat. I am not going anywhere.”
Assuming the facts alleged in the indictment are accurate, Menendez will be leaving the Senate and going to jail. Assuming he is guilty, that will be justice, but that is not the end of the story. More important than holding a legislator accountable for corruption is the damage it does to the public’s confidence in democracy and our representative form of government.
The news of Menendez’s indictment comes as the “real story” in Washington is how a small group of reckless, radical right-wing Republicans have hijacked the weak-in-the-spine Speaker of the House of Representatives in an attempt to shut down the federal government. The unspoken truth in Washington is that the House of Representatives is broken, perhaps permanently. Opinion writers are telling us, “Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is running the House of representatives.” If you don’t know who Gaetz is, take something for your stomach and Google him.
We are also watching another U.S. Senator blocking confirmations of top military appointments in an effort to fight the military’s abortion policies. That Senator is ex-football coach Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). He is undermining the constitutional responsibility of the Senate to confirm appointments and risking the national security of the United States.
The actions of the radical right in the House of Representatives and Tuberville in the Senate coupled with the disgusting corruption allegations involving Menendez, his wife, and several others, paint a sordid picture.
I wonder how much more dysfunction Congress can stand before the public concludes it is time to throw the towel in on the Constitution. That is why the Menendez allegation is so worrying. In Congress these days, there are good people and bad people, but unfortunately the number of bad people is growing.
Maryland has had its share of corrupt politicians and right-wing ideologues. Remember Spiro Agnew, the only vice president to resign from office? And, unfortunately, I worry that the Eastern Shore’s own Andy Harris will be among those Republicans who will do nothing to stop the shutdown of the U.S. government.
Washington needs a good scrubbing. Until that happens, be worried, but also do something about it. Demand honesty and integrity from elected officials. And demand that they do their jobs and not play games that jeopardize national security or domestic tranquility.
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, and other subjects.
Bill Anderson says
Mr. Dean says, “Apparently, Menendez did not see his actions, and the size of the bribes he allegedly accepted, as sufficiently blatant to attract attention.” He interestingly fails to bother mentioning our Democratic U. S. President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. as one of the same ilk who apparently holds beliefs that it is appropriate for elected office holders to operate a criminal enterprisee (Biden, Inc.) to sell influence to America’s adversaries and launder the resulting revenue through numerous shell companies to enrich the family. I sincerely hope that Mr. Biden and number one son, R. Hunter Biden both find themselves receiving lengthy prison sentences for their mis-deeds.
Deirdre LaMotte says
I know it’s hard for MAGAs to face their fuhrer having 91 criminal indictments, ouch! The so-called impeachment inquiry is being run by a mob boss and is nothing more than another tax payer provided content production for the right wing media. This is the exact same strategy the mob boss tried in coercing Zelensky into a sham investigation on Biden. He also bullied the DOJ into investigating baseless rumors of election irregularities.
Just wait for the inquiries
to start daily in the House as criminal trials begins in WDC, Georgia and Florida. This is nothing but a media stunt and
the fascist party of America has time to investigate baseless claims but it doesn’t have the time or interest
in governing.
Obviously facts do not matter for an obtuse segment of this country.
Bill Barron says
It troubles me that Mr. Dean equates the actions of Sen. Menendez, a crook, with those of Republican legislators whose open and legitimate activism in the budgeting process, wise or not, conflicts with his own views. I’m weary of the recurring budget impasse too. But how else can these budget hawks express themselves? Perhaps the process itself should be amended.
James Nick says
A long and wandering missive from Mr Dean, I must say. There’s sort of a connecting through-line about Menendez’s corruption that Mr Dean seems to somehow connect to the right-wing temper tantrum du juor over the budget and military promotions. The comments thus far seem to zero-in on President Biden’s mythical corruption and the budget process.
On President Biden’s mythical corruption:
The impeachment of President Biden was cued up by the Republicans long before Biden even took office. It is as hilarious as it was predictable. The only way the Rs can combat the 2x impeachment of Hair Fuhrer is to cheapen the whole process altogether. It is just more kabuki theatrics a la Benghazi and email servers. It’s solely intended to assuage their base. And judging by the responses here, it seems to be working for them.
On budget matters and the most recent demonstration of right-wing obstructive defiant disorder:
TRIGGER WARNING – FACTS AHEAD
From [1], the U.S. budget deficit exploded in fiscal year 2009, ultimately reaching $1.4 trillion under President George W. Bush. The incoming Obama administration struggled to contain the economic fallout from the financial crisis. Most of that deficit was created under Bush’s watch, but Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress added hundreds of billions of dollars to it in early 2009. The deficit would remain above $1 trillion throughout the 2012 fiscal year.
In July, 2011, Mitch McConnell said “After years of discussions and months of negotiations, I have little question that as long as [Obama] is in the Oval Office, a real [deficit-reduction] solution is unattainable”[2]
But guess what? The deficit was slashed to as low as $440 billion in the later years of Obama’s presidency.
Trump reversed that trend and pushed the deficit higher as he sought massive tax cuts and increased defense spending. His first budget for the 2018 fiscal year recorded a deficit of $779 billion. The deficit reached $984 billion in 2019 under Trump and it hit more than $1 trillion in 2020 before Congress passed a $2 trillion stimulus package to fight the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The bottom line: The cumulative national debt on Jan. 19, 2017, the day before Donald Trump was inaugurated president, was $19,944,429,217,107. On Jan. 19, 2021, the day before Joe Biden was inaugurated, the debt was: $27,752,835,868,445 — about $7.8 trillion higher.
So where were the hypocritical right-wing pearl-clutchers from 2017 to 2021? Give me a break! We’ve seen this movie before, many, many times, everytime there is a transition from Democratic control to Republican control of congress.
The Republicans are masters at manufacturing and manipulating fear and rage. They are able to turn it on and off like a spigot whenever it suits them because their base lives in a world where facts are Kryptonite and historical amnesia is the coin of the realm.
[1] https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/030515/which-united-states-presidents-have-run-largest-budget-deficits.asp
[2] https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/96124-mcconnell-obama-cant-deliver-major-deficit-reduction-deal/