Fuck you Shelly!

[fred41]

Now I hope you do some decent jail time. Dean Skelos is next.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/nyregion/sheldon-silver-guilty-corruption-trial.html?_r=0

[broncofan]

I am not up on New York politics but I remember you mentioning Shelly. It appears they had him dead to rights on several scams, but being in his 70s I think people are less likely to plead guilty and accept a certain jail term.

If I'm not mistaken Dean Skelos was selling his influence to enrich his son. Another one who should probably try to make a deal if there's a deal to be made. From what I read it was pretty brazen, on both the part of the son and the father. Corruption in politics is infuriating because there are enough decent people to fill these jobs and not sell their influence.

[fred41]

Sheldon Silver didn't plead guilty because cases like that are incredibly hard to prove. You need a jury that actually listens and is willing to go through all the evidence step by step. It goes without saying that you also need an excellent prosecution team.
...and, I think, you probably need a little luck.
You had to prove that what he did, even if you believed it left a stink on everything, had to be a crime and not just merely unethical. You had to prove that 'specific favors' were granted for 'specific illegal gains'.Not easy to do -
Silver was always careful...he never said much directly and there was never an easy to follow trail, but I think he got a little more careless as time went on...perhaps due to greed, and certainly arrogance.

The Skelos case, from what I read, is far simpler. They have him dead to rights. He, and especially his moron son, said some incredibly stupid things on a wire tap.
But Skelos never was, or will be, the big fish that Silver is.

but I still won't feel comfortable until the appeals process is over.

There will always be some form of influence peddling in politics...some people argue that there has to be...but this long term, intrenched type of corruption makes people cynically believe that it's okay. How often do we see folks vote for politicians who have practically been proven to be criminals...and not even care?
How many of us often do the same...and then self rationalize it?

[flabbybody]

I lived in Shelly's district for 25 years and most of us heard stories of shady dealings , but he got shit done so no one complained. He was the freak'n Assembly speaker. Even mayors had to kiss his ring.
When downtown condos were getting hosed on property taxes, Shelly fixed it. When the banks stopped writing mortgages after 9/11, Shelly fixed it. He saved Battery Park City property owners when it looked like we'd never recover.
But this Skelos guy and his worthless cockcucker son are just common thieves dressed in suits. God bless Preet...one tough mofo. With a staff of young lawyers who take no prisoners

[fred41]

God bless Preet...one tough mofo. With a staff of young lawyers who take no prisoners
You just know he's eventually going to run for something...
when he's done with all this, I wish he would clean up the NYS court system...unfortunately that's going to take ethical reform, something that may never, ever happen..