Posted: Monday, 05 October 2009 11:21AM
Lies Make Life Worse
Steve Corbett Reporting
Monday, October 05, 2009
The letter arrived Friday at my Scranton home.
Postmarked in Wilkes-Barre, the anonymous letter accused yet another high profile public official of having visited the “condo of corruption” in Florida that is owned by the wives of the two former Luzerne County judges now charged in a massive racketeering and kick-back scheme.
Federal prosecutors accuse Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella of controlling the condominium and using the property to hide money from the government.
Other high-profile public servants have admitted to having stayed there as guests of Conahan and Ciavarella. The guest list includes two Luzerne County judges – Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. and Michael Toole.
Convicted cocaine trafficker and federal ex-convict Ronald Belletiere also stayed at the condo and was photographed partying with Olszewski, Forty Fort attorney John Kennedy and Conahan.
Now an anonymous letter writer claims that yet another well-known elected official spent time at the condo.
I called the official first thing this morning.
The official called back.
“Absolutely not,” the official said.
No condo visits, no rides on the private jet plane that ferried vacationers back and forth and no rides on the yacht owned by admitted gangster lawyer Robert Powell, the official said.
No social relationship with Conahan, either, according to the official.
So, as I’ve said so many times in the past, in the absence of evidence to the contrary I’ll give the official the benefit of the doubt.
Last week, Luzerne County judicial candidate Tina Polachek Gartley stepped forward to deny that she had even visited the condo of corruption. No jet or yacht for her, either, she said.
All the judicial candidates in Luzerne County vying for two seats in the Nov. 3 election have denied the accusations as well.
Olszewski, who is up for retention, is trying desperately to downplay his condo vacation and justify his lack of wisdom that caused him to pose in a photograph with Belletiere and Conahan at the condo.
Luzerne County Judge Thomas Burke, also up for retention, long ago denied any social ties to gangster judges Conahan and Ciavarella.
Somebody mailed the condo photo to me and several other members of the press. The photo, about which rumors circulated for many months, proved to be a dead-on accurate portrayal of Olzewski’s lack of awareness, a trait that’s required of all judges.
Gartley came forward in response to a request from the Luzerne County Republican Party that all three candidates answer questions about the condo, the plane and the yacht. Gartley had been plagued by rumors about an alleged condo visit since the day after the primary.
The malicious rumor was clearly directed at Gartley and meant to smear her otherwise stellar campaign. Gartley said she was ready, willing and able to face her accusers. But those accusers never showed up.
Just like the anonymous letter writer who sent the latest accusation in an anonymous letter to my house, they lack the moral wherewithal to come forward with evidence. And they do a stunning disservice to themselves if they believe the rumor they’re spreading to be true with no corroborative evidence to back it up.
Of course, rumors can be true. I heard the rumor about Olszewski posing with the cocaine trafficker for many months. I received emails about it. I talked with people about it. Then I received my own copy, suitable for framing.
But rumors can be false.
Mean-spirited allegations without proof are meant to hurt people. Vicious rumors are meant to destroy credibility, reputation, and defame character. Laws exist to prevent people from spreading those kinds of rumors. And those laws should be enforced whenever the liars are found.
Truth is in demand. Falsehoods only make the bad times worse. Truth sets us free.
Lies imprison the crucial search for the honesty upon which we all depend to strengthen our community, our government and ourselves.
So keep those cards and letter coming.
Just make sure you know what you’re talking about.
Help make life better, not worse.
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Corbett
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