That's Blagojevich, right? He was just utterly open about wanting to get something in exchange for Obama's Senate seat. He simply wasn't capable of being sly or cagey about it.
No, don't give in to that lazy cynicism. The vast majority of politicians at least began with noble ambitions, just as people in any job aim to do something worthwhile with their lives. Yes, politicians have to compromise a lot. And, no, they are not all as smart as we would like them to be. 1/
But they try. And an even larger proportion of civil servants—the ones who don't have to face the cynical, lazy press every day—maintain their ideals to help people.
It is easy to grow cynical. MAGA wants you to be cynical. Don't. Give politicians hope, empower them to be who they want to be.
While I agree we can’t give into cynicism which leads to apathy, we also have to face reality. No matter what their intentions, to make it in such a corrupt system you have to sell out. The game is rigged and the Dems are complicit in where we are now.
Not that that is how it has to be, that is the current reality. But I also believe a better world is possible. But we have to let go of the idea that it’s only a few bad apples or one side is bad, other side has good intentions but are just out maneuvered.
There's a great Studs Terkel quote, "Chicago is not the most corrupt American city, it's the most theatrically corrupt."
I'm sure there are other politicians as corrupt as him, but nobody does it LIKE him. I bet when he meets strangers, he says "Hello, I'm Eric Adams. I would like a bribe please."
Just like most billionaires are like Elon Musk but they're just better getting away with being a billionaire. Something I remember from the FBI page that was taken down recently is their estimate that over half of unpunished crime is White collar
White Collar is one of the best tv series I've ever watched.
The stock market is full of white collar crime. They make billions of dollars and get fined for breaking the law. The problem is the fines are barely a fraction of what they make in a day so they continue doing it and paying fines.
Everyone is entitled to their ‘feelings’ but if what you are feeling were reality, we would all be living more like the average Russian, and there wouldn’t be more guns than people, and we wouldn’t be having this interaction.
If you are worried about corruption, become a civil servant and find out.
If you haven't, I highly recommend @ifbookspod.bsky.social and all of their episodes about him. Hilarious and well researched, they go through everything about that guy. There's also a couple of RFK episodes, but those are hilarious, well researched, and, now, terrifying.
Comments
He wanted an ambassadorship & $300K/year. 🙄
It is easy to grow cynical. MAGA wants you to be cynical. Don't. Give politicians hope, empower them to be who they want to be.
I'm sure there are other politicians as corrupt as him, but nobody does it LIKE him. I bet when he meets strangers, he says "Hello, I'm Eric Adams. I would like a bribe please."
The stock market is full of white collar crime. They make billions of dollars and get fined for breaking the law. The problem is the fines are barely a fraction of what they make in a day so they continue doing it and paying fines.
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
It's important to do so for safety of all, especially Trans, Queer, Disabled, POC etc. People that must be protected.
If you are worried about corruption, become a civil servant and find out.
Eric Adams is a disgrace.
(*The Trump era is what will finally make it true but historically public corruption in America was a lot more rare than you think)