George X. Schwartz

[CHIOSSO]

George X. Schwartz, 95, Phila. councilman
By George Anastasia

Inquirer Staff Writer

George X. Schwartz, 95, former president of City Council whose political career ended in an Abscam extortion and conspiracy conviction in 1980, died yesterday.
Mr. Schwartz was one of the dominant players in city politics for more than 20 years, wielding tremendous power and influence as both a private attorney and city councilman and ward leader.

But he was one of more than a half-dozen local officials caught in the FBI Abscam sting, one of the more controversial political corruption investigations in the nation's history.

George X. Schwartz, 95, Phila. councilman | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/27/2010

Many of you did not live in Philly when this went down, Abscam was Philadelphia's. last good shot at good government.

[33rdwardgop.com]

Yes i remember that well. Things have not changed a lot from then they just hide it better or have better fall guys to do the time for them.

[Oladybug]

Check out this article.

'Silver Fox' dies; led Council in '70s | Philadelphia Daily News | 03/27/2010

Here are my two favorite Bob Brady quotes from the above:

"He was the smartest politician I know."

"He taught me one thing and that was all he ever taught me: Keep your word, keep your integrity, no matter what," Brady said.

[Seanibus]

Check out this article.

'Silver Fox' dies; led Council in '70s | Philadelphia Daily News | 03/27/2010

Here are my two favorite Bob Brady quotes from the above:

"He was the smartest politician I know."

"He taught me one thing and that was all he ever taught me: Keep your word, keep your integrity, no matter what," Brady said.

This is why Vince Fumo's passing will be greeted with a great wailing and gnashing of teeth - because this city seems unable to face the the fact that people who seem like nice guys and yet who commit crimes are, in fact, criminals. They may be nice criminals, but they are criminals. Philadelphia isn't unique in fetishizing charismatic bad guys, but it does seem to do so with a peculiar intensity that keeps it, collectively as a city, from embracing people who want to do good and rejecting people who want to stick their hands in the pockets of the masses. I don't care how much a man may come to politics to do good; if he is on the take, he is a criminal who deserves disgrace and jail time.

[Four Provinces]

This is why Vince Fumo's passing will be greeted with a great wailing and gnashing of teeth - because this city seems unable to face the the fact that people who seem like nice guys and yet who commit crimes are, in fact, criminals. They may be nice criminals, but they are criminals. Philadelphia isn't unique in fetishizing charismatic bad guys, but it does seem to do so with a peculiar intensity that keeps it, collectively as a city, from embracing people who want to do good and rejecting people who want to stick their hands in the pockets of the masses. I don't care how much a man may come to politics to do good; if he is on the take, he is a criminal who deserves disgrace and jail time.

You could have a point, but I'll never know cause I was so damn distracted by the use of the term "fetishizing"

What the hell is fetishizing?

[Seanibus]

You could have a point, but I'll never know cause I was so damn distracted by the use of the term "fetishizing"

What the hell is fetishizing?

It means, literally, to turn something into an object of worship - You know those little carved statues you see of animals or of women with exaggerated curves? Those are known as "fetishes" and they were little devotional objects or good luck charms and the like. You could also describe a rabbit's foot or saintly relics or supposed shards of the True Cross, which were so popular in the Middle Ages, as fetishes as well.

The more modern sense of fetish, as in an unusual sexual obsession, is related (in psychology, "fetishizing" means to develop an irrational devotion to something or someone), but I mean in more of the sense of "mythologizing," so when I say "fetishizing charismatic bad guys" I mean turning them into heroes in the popular imagination despite their crimes or obvious character defects.

[CHIOSSO]

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search

old news story about abscam

fbi report abscam

http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/abscam.htm

[CHIOSSO]

Abscam's Toll
Monday, Aug. 24, 1981
TIME MAGAZENE
Six pols are prison bound

A defense lawyer decried the "mass condemnation proceedings," but New York Federal District Court Judge George Pratt was unmoved. Pratt ordered jail terms for six former elected officials convicted of bribery and conspiracy, the first sentences handed down in the Justice Department's Abscam operation.

Four are former U.S. Representatives. Frank Thompson, 63, of New Jersey, might avoid jail because of a heart condition; final sentencing will await medical test results. The three other ex-Congressmen were each given $20,000 fines, and multiple prison terms to be served concurrently. New York's John Murphy, 55, received a three-year and two two-year terms. Michael Myers, 38, was given three three-year terms, and fellow Philadelphian Raymond Lederer, 43, racked up three terms of three years and another of two years.

Two officials who shared in the spoils were also punished. Philadelphia City Councilman Louis Johanson, 52, received the same sentence as Myers. Because of his extensive involvement, New Jersey State Senator Angelo Errichetti received the harshest sentence: one six-year term, two five-year terms and $40,000 in fines. Under parole guidelines, each of the six must serve at least 14 months. All plan to appeal.



Read more: Abscam's Toll - TIME

Camden, N.J. Mayor Angelo Errichetti, driven from office because of an Abscam conviction, was a staunch supporter of the development of nuclear power as a means to attract new industry to the city's port, which he sought to modernize. Federal funding fell through, and Errichetti turned to the FBI's phony Arab sheikh for money to build the city.

Philadelphia City Councilmen George Schwartz and Harry P. Jannotti, driven from office by an Abscam prosecution. Federal Judge John P. Fullam overturned their convictions, finding that they had been the victims of a government scheme ``designed not to expose municipal corruption, but merely to ascertain whether, given enough inducement, city officials could be corrupted.'' Later, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals overruled Judge Fullam, reinstating the convictions, but not without objection from Judge Ruggiero Aldisert, who was also a sitting member of the Third Circuit court. Aldisert's dissent was an impassioned plea for the country to reject Abscam for the police-state methods it employed.

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Let us not forget John Murtha

The American Spectator : Murtha and the FBI: The Director's Cut