Moore: Only Voters Can Stifle RI Corruption
Monday, August 01, 2016
The conclusion of the criminal investigation portion of the 38 studios illustrates that the only true protection against corruption is an alert, interested and involved general public.
Of course it’s frustrating that the result of the criminal investigation by the Rhode Island State Police and Attorney General Peter Kilmartin’s office didn’t uncover enough evidence to convince a grand jury to charge anyone with a crime in conjunction with the harebrained investment scheme that cost Rhode Islanders tens of millions.
I’d venture to say that nobody is more frustrated than me that no charges resulted from the criminal investigation. Like any other Rhode Islander, I wanted to see someone like Michael Corso, Gordon Fox’s former right hand man, pay engineering this ill-fated deal. But if there’s not enough evidence to convince a grand jury to indict anyone connected to the deal, than there’s really nothing more that can be done on the criminal front. To quote the classic movie Cool Hand Luke, “I don’t like it any more than you.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTLack of Evidence
“…at the end of the day, the bottom line is there is not enough evidence to bring charges against anyone. Bad politics, bad public policy, bad business decisions do not always rise to the level of criminal conduct,” Kilmartin said Friday.
We don’t have to like it, and I certainly don’t, but at the end of the day, Kilmartin is correct. Who amongst us would want to see an American citizen charged with a crime when the evidence and laws didn’t support an indictment? That wouldn’t be justice.
At the end of the day, the people of Rhode Island should blame themselves for the lack of ethics in Rhode Island’s government. In democracies, the government is a reflection of the people. If the government officials are corrupt, it’s because most of us are.
A Reflection
In the same respect, part of the problem with voters is we tend to be preoccupied with other things, or just too downright lazy to pay attention to public policy, and to get involved in a way that makes things better. If Rhode Islanders are truly frustrated or outraged by the 38 Studios debacle, they should be getting involved. That means getting educated and paying attention to the issues.
It means watching how their particular representatives and state senators vote in the state legislature. It also means doing the hard work of either running, or finding someone to run for office that will advocate for the public’s interest instead of their personal interest.
Unfortunately, human nature is frustrating. Corruption, instead of galvanizing the masses, tends to have the opposite impact.
Corruption’s Impact
Stephen D. Morris and Joseph L. Klesner, two political science professors, in their 2010 study “Corruption and Trust: Theoretical Considerations and Evidence from Mexico”, theorized as much based on what they found. Even when folks elected pro-reform politicians, they didn’t expect much to change.
Further, and this is the case more than I’d like to believe, people also have a tendency to take on a “if ya can’t bet em, join em,” attitude and seek to “get in the (corruption) game” themselves. They run for office not to fix problems and do good, but to instead become a part and parcel to the problem. It’s the old “I gotta get mine”, mentality. In Rhode Island, that attitude seems to run rampant.
Democracy is a term that sure sounds good. Who wouldn’t want a government based on self-determination? But with that power that our elections grant us comes responsibility. And with responsibility comes work.
Get Involved!
It’s very easy to sit inside a your living room, a coffee shop, or pick up a phone and call talk radio and vent your anger. It’s much harder to go door to door with flyers supporting your preferred political candidate. It’s much harder to run for office.
In sum, getting involved is hard.
But if you’re not paying attention and doing the hard work, than you really don’t have the right to complain. If we’re truly frustrated by corruption and want to do good, we need to work harder to make a better Rhode Island government. And no, it won’t come easy.
Russell J. Moore has worked on both sides of the desk in Rhode Island media, both on political campaigns and for newspapers. Send him email at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @russmoore713.
Related Slideshow: Rhode Island’s History of Political Corruption
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