I grew up in Chicagoland in the 60s. Corruption was expected. The relationship between the syndicate and the government like family. I would have never thought until recently that Oregon is just as corrupt.
Odd about the cozy relationship between LaMota and the State of Oregon.... One thing I noticed (and so did Elise Haas of KATU on 7/14/23) is that although it has been reported they owe 1.6 million in taxes to Oregon, they are not listed on the delinquent taxpayer website. I checked company name and owner name. I wonder why. Did they pay it before the website release date?
I used to routinely say “yes” when a grocery store clerk asked me at the checkout if I wanted to donate to the Oregon Food Bank. Recently I was at a Fred Meyer, and when the clerk asked me if I wanted to round up my tally and give to the Food Bank, I declined. I told her I didn’t wish to donate to the Democratic Party of Oregon.
Looking on the lighter side, the name "Pappy Van Winkle" is so daffy that it might just as well be a product of Florida satryist Carl Hiassen's imagination.
When I was in the U.S. Attorney’s Office here (1987-2015), FBI agents told me that their Headquarters was dismayed when local agents reported no corruption cases out of Oregon. It’s true there were few classic quid quo pro corruption cases involving the exchange of money for favors in those days, unlike other states. But there was a more insidious corruption, based on one-party governance and
...and an incestuous relationship that permitted implicit exchanges of favors. Now, however, the corruption is much more overt, the result of decades of tolerance for looking the other way and total lack of accountability.
Stephen Peifer (longtime federal prosecutor) is dead on here.
For decades Oregon claimed (and I believed) that we had none of the traditional "wrap a Benjamin around a drivers license" corruption of Louisiana or Illinois. That was partly true, but in the last decade it has become much more insidious. Now it's full volume, with brown paper bags of cash delivered to most of the current leadership containing cash from LA MOTA. We have no way of actually knowing if it was "just" $10,000 or five times that...
Aug 1, 2023·edited Aug 3, 2023Liked by Pamela Fitzsimmons
It is a national phenomena. I was raised by a single mother (b. 1935) who encountered every sort of caltrop, hiccup, and obstacle men could put in her way. She triumphed and then died very young.
These women, these modern elected women from here to Boston (Wu, Warren, and the whole November 22 ticket) are certainly beyond Mom's ken (Wu's despair - "I'm getting used to dealing with problems that are expensive, disruptive and white.").
Imperial rather than strong, they are the stunted re-enctment of Oedipus as he upends all to relieve Thebes of a plague of his own making. Hand these girls a mirror.
Jul 31, 2023·edited Aug 11, 2023Liked by Pamela Fitzsimmons
This was very good. I'd never before seen Oregonians as trailer-park cousins of the Delaware dynasty.
That was simple and clear and powerful reportage. I was going to claim that the older print journalism would have done what you have done. Then, I recalled that they sat on the governor raping the babysitter story for a quarter century plus.
I grew up in Chicagoland in the 60s. Corruption was expected. The relationship between the syndicate and the government like family. I would have never thought until recently that Oregon is just as corrupt.
Odd about the cozy relationship between LaMota and the State of Oregon.... One thing I noticed (and so did Elise Haas of KATU on 7/14/23) is that although it has been reported they owe 1.6 million in taxes to Oregon, they are not listed on the delinquent taxpayer website. I checked company name and owner name. I wonder why. Did they pay it before the website release date?
I used to routinely say “yes” when a grocery store clerk asked me at the checkout if I wanted to donate to the Oregon Food Bank. Recently I was at a Fred Meyer, and when the clerk asked me if I wanted to round up my tally and give to the Food Bank, I declined. I told her I didn’t wish to donate to the Democratic Party of Oregon.
Exactly that.
Looking on the lighter side, the name "Pappy Van Winkle" is so daffy that it might just as well be a product of Florida satryist Carl Hiassen's imagination.
Thanks for the mention, Richard. I assume I fit into the "Pirate" rather than the "Mainstream" media category?
Jeff
When I was in the U.S. Attorney’s Office here (1987-2015), FBI agents told me that their Headquarters was dismayed when local agents reported no corruption cases out of Oregon. It’s true there were few classic quid quo pro corruption cases involving the exchange of money for favors in those days, unlike other states. But there was a more insidious corruption, based on one-party governance and
...and an incestuous relationship that permitted implicit exchanges of favors. Now, however, the corruption is much more overt, the result of decades of tolerance for looking the other way and total lack of accountability.
Stephen Peifer (longtime federal prosecutor) is dead on here.
For decades Oregon claimed (and I believed) that we had none of the traditional "wrap a Benjamin around a drivers license" corruption of Louisiana or Illinois. That was partly true, but in the last decade it has become much more insidious. Now it's full volume, with brown paper bags of cash delivered to most of the current leadership containing cash from LA MOTA. We have no way of actually knowing if it was "just" $10,000 or five times that...
It’s painful to admit, but corruption in Oregon is increasingly female and wears a smile. Give women political power, and they are no better than men.
It is a national phenomena. I was raised by a single mother (b. 1935) who encountered every sort of caltrop, hiccup, and obstacle men could put in her way. She triumphed and then died very young.
These women, these modern elected women from here to Boston (Wu, Warren, and the whole November 22 ticket) are certainly beyond Mom's ken (Wu's despair - "I'm getting used to dealing with problems that are expensive, disruptive and white.").
Imperial rather than strong, they are the stunted re-enctment of Oedipus as he upends all to relieve Thebes of a plague of his own making. Hand these girls a mirror.
I don't know about that. I am guessing Tina goes home with her pickle balls still in her shorts.
This was very good. I'd never before seen Oregonians as trailer-park cousins of the Delaware dynasty.
That was simple and clear and powerful reportage. I was going to claim that the older print journalism would have done what you have done. Then, I recalled that they sat on the governor raping the babysitter story for a quarter century plus.
"Ready for the revolution? (The true-believers who started this nonsense managed to starve 3.9 million Ukrainians.)" Ouch. Touché.