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Feb

7

Wecht So Far…

February 7, 2008 |

[Update 2-10-2008: Looks like we got picked up by the Post Gazette on this one!]

I’ve been following the case so far, and as best I can tell — Wecht appears pretty damned guilty of what he’s accused.

The defense appears to have the following as its rebuttal:

  1. So he bilked a few grand here and there? What’s the big deal?
  2. Isn’t all this a bit petty for the big guys at the Feds to be chasing?
  3. This is local jurisdiction stuff, not Federal — it must be political!
  4. His clients don’t seem to care they got bills padded with more than the actual costs, why should the Feds?
  5. Why don’t you all just shut up and be grateful that Dr. Wecht graced your silly County with his presence?

What amazes me is how many locals are coming to this guy’s defense in letters to the editor and so forth. It goes to show how politics have worked in Allegheny’s one-party system for the last 70 years.

You see, in politics, to the victors go the spoils. Dr. Wecht is a winner of the correct party, and therefore we turn a blind eye at all his petty crime. The same way we turned a blind eye to the petty crime in the County Sheriff’s Department. The same way we accept, for sake of our Union Brotherhood, that government workers deserve to fleece the taxpayers no matter how bad the fleecing is — who cares if some sleep on the job, or goof off, or if a contracter pads the bills. We tolerate it because we know our brother, uncle or father got his job or contract through a family member or friend who was, perhaps, a ward chairman. So we like that patronage– knowing the right political crony can help get it done.

That’s just they way things work, Right? Wecht is just like all of us, Right? We’d do it too, if we could!

Folks, that’s slouching towards Kleptocracy. That’s how it’s done in the Third World, and why the Third World is perpetually stuck as the Third World. That’s exactly why the Feds are the only ones who can clean up local corruption and petty crime: Because the local system is too corrupted to fix it itself.

This local citizen does not mind Federal resources being used this way. Admittedly, I’ve been a big fan of Wecht over the years, and this is a real bummer. His challenging of the local authorities and BS has been a great asset to the region.

But that does not justify crimes. Too bad his office culture slouched to be no better than petty criminal, and for that he should pay.

As should the entire region for having such low expectations of it government authorities.


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