First, there was Velvet Elvis.
Now, there’s velvet guilt.
It’s never felt so good to admit you’ve been bad. It’s like slipping into a bubble bath or putting on some silky PJs. Greed used to be good. Now, guilt is good. It has that new car smell. Go ahead, breathe it in.
For some of us, the mere thought of doing things that are unethical, immoral or embarrassing usually leads to some deep thinking. If we compromise our principles, what will it mean to us or to those around us?
For some of the players in the Luzerne County corruption scandal, they’re a little bit guilty, which reminds me of being a little bit pregnant. One of our callers defines it as “guilt with a wink.”
In fact, it’s not even necessary these days to totally fess up when one is making an appearance to plead guilty or accept one’s punishment for having offended.
Exhibit A: Former Pittston Area School Board member Joseph Oliveri appears in federal court for sentencing. He’s charged with accepting a $1,500 bribe from a contractor in return for some work in the district. While pleading guilty, Oliveri is insistent with the judge that, at the time, he didn’t know he was up to no good.
Federal prosecutors insist he received a bag of money in the parking lot of a Burger King.
Most of us are lucky to receive what we ordered. Am I right? A bag of money is really having it your way.
That being said, does it seem unusual that a man who helped decide where millions would be directed as part of his duties as a school board director wouldn’t know that you get a chicken sandwich at the BK, not a bag of Benjamins?
The judge was not sympathetic. One year and one day will give this former public servant a chance to reflect on the policy of honesty.
P.S. Mr. Oliveri was formerly employed as a deputy sheriff. So much for law and order.
Exhibit B: After saying he would fight the allegations against him, Wilkes-Barre School Board President Frank Pizzella says he doesn’t feel like battling any more and agrees to plead guilty to passing $5000 in cash to a Wilkes-Barre Area school board member from a relative of a teaching candidate in the district. Pizzella was not on the board at the time and the receiver of the bribe, Brian Dunn, is also in trouble with the feds.
To hear Pizzella tell it, he didn’t do anything wrong, either. "I probably made a stupid mistake and did something, at the time it didn't even come into my mind because it was a contribution and when it's cash, it's not your responsibility to report it," Pizzella told WBRE-TV.
Picture this: A man who was arrested by the feds and still managed to get elected as president of the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board in December. Gosh, that guy really knows how to caucus.
Now, Pizzella finds himself the ex-prez of the school board and a candidate for the cell block. Oh, how the winds of change shift.
Exhibit C: FormerLuzerneCounty Commissioner recently pleaded guilty to accepting money from a developer in exchange for inclusion in a tax advantage program. When quizzed by Mike Rubikam of the Associated Press as to the whys and hows, the former commish had this to say: "Things have been like this for so long that I don't think many people see a lot of wrong in what they've done. I believe any elected official of the last five years is at risk" of prosecution, he added. "I don't think many of them truly know what they can and cannot do."
That’s some good D from the former football star, isn’t it? Although he’s a college educated student athlete who traveled the nation playing professional football and may understand Xs and Os, his knack for picking up on the difference between right and wrong is sorely missing. What he seems to be insinuating is that it’s accepted practice to hook a brother up and bend the rules when it’s appropriate, wink wink. This type of defense is not expected to fly in federal court.
What I miss most is the honesty here. Hopefully, the sentencing judge will not miss this detail at sentencing time.
Corbett
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