Too Big For His Britches

When I was a kid our older relatives used to have a saying for when someone got too full of themselves, or got too arrogant, or when someone was constantly pushing the limits too far. They would say that this person was 'too big for his britches', an analogy relating to someone who got so big they were about to burst out of their pants.

This would often be followed by an admonition that the person was going to 'get what they had coming to them' one of these days when the 'chickens come home to roost'.

Well, the far-too-big-for-his-britches Vince Fumo finally welcomed home the chickens yesterday. After decades of shady backroom politics, the former State Senator and political giant was found guilty yesterday on 137 counts including fraud, obstruction of justice, tax offenses, and conspiracy.

When the time comes for sentencing, prosecutors will be seeking to send the now 65-year old Fumo away to prison for more than a decade, meaning that the once mighty kingpin could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Just a day earlier, with the jury holding its deliberations, his typically slimy but skilled defense lawyers attempted one final bit of legal tap-dancing in an effort to free their client.

They tried to have a juror thrown off the case and possibly a mistrial declared that would at least temporarily free their client. The reasoning? One of the jurors potentially posted on Facebook that there would be a "big announcement on Monday" in regards to the case.

Oh no, the entirety of a lengthy criminal court case with numerous witnesses and mountains of evidence tossed out because one juror made an innocuous comment on a social networking website! The horror of this violation of prudential conduct!

Corruptadelphia

In the ongoing probe into corruption in Philadelphia government, a number of individuals working in the administration of current Mayor John Street have been snared in the web, with some prison terms already begun.

Bugs were found in the Mayor's office, the investigation was revealed, and now the details play out in public. Developments keep coming, layers keep getting peeled back, and more and more names come to the surface.

With the imminent indictment of Philadelphia City Councilman Rick Mariano, the investigation takes another step up. Mariano created some "high drama", pardon the pun, when he climbed to the top of the City Hall tower last week in what was reported as a distressed state of anguish after his attorney resigned.

The incident saw scores of police and fire units respond, and resulted in Mariano's being talked down by Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson.

How high will it climb, and who ultimately may be caught in the web of deceit and corruption in the governing of the City of Brotherly Love? Mayor John Street himself? Perhaps even powerful local party bosses like State Senator Vince Fumo, or Congressman Bob Brady?

Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure. It is long past time for a change from Dem control of Philly without any real challenge. Stay tuned at this item for further updates as they occur, and feel free to add your own items and commentary.