No, this is not Thanksgiving, this speaks about the feasting on prison corruption that is occurring within the California State Government, a feast from which the politicians, both elected and appointed, will walk away full and fat while the taxpayer's wallet will be just that much lighter. For these politicians, life couldn't be better.
Historically, over the decades, the corruption in California's State Prisons has provided the elected politicians with a soap box and podium from which to extol their own specious virtues and unfulfilled remedies, constantly keeping their name in the public eye.
For the appointed, bureaucratic politicians who have learned the mantra of "Prison Reform", higher payrolls through promotion are guaranteed as the upper echelons of the State organization expand, exponentially, to accommodate the apparition of reforming California's Prisons and the additional staff that is required to do so.
Then, last but certainly not to be least, there is the press. As sales soar from the insatiable appetite of a readership, eager to learn the dirt of the public soap opera, the tabloid market can be readily tapped by media organizations that, at one time, were considered "mainstream", but have recently found themselves in competition for the tabloid dollar. It is no longer a rare occurrence to see a soccer mom, waiting in a supermarket check out line, carrying a copy of the National Enquirer or Weekly World News and the Los Angeles Times under the same arm.
In an earlier era, William Randolph Hearst would have embraced the spirit of the tabloid publications. Now, in the finest tradition of "Yellow Journalism" we have the mainstream media basking in his glory. While it is poor journalistic practice to have the messenger become the story, it is now commonplace as the careers of reporters are also enhanced as they suckle at the corruption trough.
However, with all of this crusading and feasting, a culprit must be identified and pursued to prevent the appearance of the government/press axis of being asleep at the switch for so many years. Towards this end, in walks the ultimate patsy.
Over the decades, the government/press axis has had a "love-hate" relationship with labor unions, the Teamsters being only one example. When they do well for their membership, achieving favorable pay, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment, labor unions become society's darlings for giving the working man a break. However, when corruption is discovered within their ranks, the press seizes upon the feeding frenzy to expose it.
The government/press axis has, without evidence, attempted to correlate the activities of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association with those of other labor unions, through innuendo, intimation and unsubstantiated allegations of "undue influence over public officials". The government/press axis has decided that the California Correctional Peace Officers Association is the perfect sacrificial lamb upon which to heap the sins of the government and they have decided to utilize character assassination to achieve this goal. It is fascinating that, all at once, they have spoken with one voice. It makes one wonder if this is incidental or by design?
With so much money at stake fighting this corruption, and while the spigot of public money is fully opened for this purpose, is prison reform truly the goal or is the pursuit of this reform the most likely scenario.
Pursuit of prison reform = SPIGOT ON
Prison reform = SPIGOT OFF
You decide.
Lorraine Bradley, Author
State Secrets, The Website.
State Secrets, The Book.
lbradley282@msn.com
http://prisoncorruption.blogspot.com
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