RedMaryland Radio: The Commentary

As promised, the Commentary I opened today's RedMaryland radio broadcast with:

The Democrats here in the state of Maryland have been waxing poetic for several days now about the case of Sheila Dixon, particularly the involvement of the State Prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh. Democrats, since as the Democratic Party's official propaganda windbag David Paulson, decry the involvement of the Ehrlich-appointee in involving Mayor Dixon, the noted upright citizen that she is.

Paulson said "Rohrbaugh has sent some very disturbing signals in recent weeks," complaining that developer Ed St. John was punished for his illegal contributions to Democrats but not those he made to Ehrlich, notwithstanding the fact that St. John was never accused of making such illegal contributions. Paulson said Democrats are watching the state prosecutor for signs that he is "stepping out of bounds" and that they are "concerned" with Rohrbaugh's work.

All of this is very convenient for Paulson and the Democrats to do, but in order to believe that the Democratic Party in the State of Maryland was free and clear of any hint of corruption one would have to have just stepped off a spaceship from the Crab Nebula. Just take a look at the last four decades of politics in Maryland. The political graveyard is littered with Democratic scandal. Dale Anderson. Marvin Mandel. Jerome Connell. Larry Young. Clarence Mitchell IV. Corruption in the anti-crime unit overseen by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. Parris Glendening, putting his girlfriend on the state payroll. These are just a small number of the Democratic scandals from Maryland's past who have brought harm and disrepute to the state and to Maryland's Democratic Party.

Modern day Democrats are no better. Nathaniel Exum involved in a scheme to keep his employer's car inspection business open. Ulysses Currie's nondisclosure of his employment with Shopper's Food Warehouse. The two-year Sheila Dixon investigation, which has already yielded shady contracts, nepotism, and now personal relationships and receiving furs from contractors, during her time as City Council President. State Senator Thomas Bromwell went to jail. And Governor O'Malley was implicated in shady land deals with Eastern Shore property owned by a supporter and member of his transition team.

Democratic complaints about investigations launched by the independent state prosecutor are as misguided as it would have been for Bonapartists to complain about Napoleon's exile. The complaints only arose because of their own ineptitude in the first place. Maryland Democrats need to worry less about what the independent prosecutor does, and more about themselves. If Democrats want to avoid investigations for once they'll need to do the right thing, and not the easy thing. But all Marylanders need to do something in order to end this vicious cycle that continues to breed the culture of corruption.