A long and very American journey for Joe Bruno just hit another milestone — perhaps the darkest day in his career.<\/p>\n
Born poor in Glens Falls, Bruno rose to the height of New York’s political power structure, controlling the state Senate from 1994 until 2007.<\/p>\n
In January of this year, he was indicted on Federal corruption charges. This from the Albany Times-Union:<\/p>\n
The 80-year-old Republican from Brunswick sat quietly as the jury of seven women and five men rendered its verdict about 4:15 p.m.: Guilty on two counts of mail and wire fraud. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the final charge and it will be up to prosecutors to decide whether to retry that offense.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I met Bruno only a half dozen times or so over the last decade. <\/p>\n
He was a larger-than-life political figure, who looked as comfortable on the back of a thoroughbred (he liked to ride in parades) as behind a desk.<\/p>\n
All that is over now, barring a successful appeal. According to the New York Times, Bruno faces up to 20 years behind bars.<\/p>\n
The larger story here is that Bruno’s criminality was — and is — the norm in Albany’s state Senate, where lawmakers mingle personal and private business to a stunning degree with only limited disclosure.<\/p>\n
When will politicians learn that ethics laws serve to protect them (by sparing them temptation and a crooked environment) almost as much as the public?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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