The head of third rate museum in a second rate town (with first rate murder rate) steals a couple of million dollars and nobody really seems at all shocked.
The Independence Seaport Museum accused its former president yesterday of defrauding it of $2.4 million to pay for a “lavish lifestyle” that included trips to France and New Zealand and freewheeling spending on paintings, high-end furniture and expensive boats.
Hi, welcome to Philadelphia, I’m sure we’ll have no problems regulating the slots parlors and hooker dens casinos that are being planned.
Again, as a Canadian friend once said: “Philadelphia is wasted on the Philadelphians.”
Update: Hah! No sooner do I finish this post then I click over to Attytood to see “The shame of 2003 won’t die” At least I’m not the only one generally embarrassed for the city.
Here at the newsroom of the Daily News (which some critics would hold up as a bastion of liberalism, or conspiracy theorists, or both) there was a little doubt from Day One that the probe was what it was: An aggressive look at types of corruption in Philadelphia’s City Hall that many of us had long not only suspected but written about (if not loudly and often enough).
Of course, everyone “knew” at the time that the FBI wasn’t bugging the mayor at the behest of the evil Republicans and that corruption was seriously plaguing City Hall. It would have been nice if the Daily News actually said much about it.
I know it is unheard of for a Republican to be mayor in Philly, but the Democratic machine is broken here — or should be. We could have done worse than Sam Katz…oh wait, we did. Twice.
Wait a second, whattya mean we? I’m a suburbanite, so I don’t count. The fact that I pay wage taxes here (without representation!) is irrelevant.
Why do I get to say something about Philadelphia? Because I have a vested interest in its success. Because this could be a great town…too great for the people who currently run it.