If I was corrupt;
If I was a congressman who would eventually be found guilty of tax evasion, conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud;
If I was an influential port commissioner who would eventually be found guilty of felony conflict of interest charge;
If I was a former congressman turned mayor that would someday be accused of sexual harassment and one day plead guilty to false imprisonment and battery;
If I was a mayor and owned dozens of rental properties, some described as rat infested;
If I was a councilman that racked up building code violations but never received a fine while my neighbors and constituents did;
If I was a congressman who spent campaign donations on video games and private schooling for my kids, as well as vacations and romantic dinners;
If I was a school superintendent or board member currying favor with contractors by accepting gifts in exchange for generous district taxpayer funded deals;
If I was an off-duty cop who smacked around a teenager in public;
Or if I was an off-duty cop busted for cheating at a nearby casino—and for DUI on a separate occasion;
If I was a member of a water board and censured by my peers and colleagues for making public comments disparaging people based on their religious beliefs and lifestyles;
If I was an elected official putting the desires of my biggest campaign donors over the needs of the public, or a developer changing the terms of an agreement when no one is looking so that profits are maximized, or a con artist scamming retirees out of their life savings, or a public agency failing the needs of the homeless but insisting that everything is OK;
If I were causing more harm than good to the public:
I would celebrate the state of news media today. Newsrooms are being decimated, newspapers are disappearing and the people paid to keep an eye out for the bad players among us, are becoming fewer.
If I thrived because the people around me were uninformed and bamboozled suckers, I’d say these are the best days to pull one over on people. And as long as newsrooms keep shuttering, it will only get better.
