"Political Shenanigans": New Jersey is a Caricature of Itself

"Massive N.J. Corruption Sting Targets Mayors, Legislators, Rabbis." So reads the headline from New Jersey's Star Ledger.

It's the biggest news that isn't. Really, I am surprised that "Corruption in N.J." isn't a tag on Fark Florida gets one, why not the Garden State? I'll admit, I meant that as a joke until I read the story on NJ.com, the Star Ledger's Web site. At the bottom of the story was a a Corruption in NJ tag. Let me repeat that. NJ.com has a state-corruption section on its site. Seriously.

Wall Street Journal writers Amir Efrati, Suzanne Sataline and Dionne Searcey latched onto Jersey stereotypes for the Journal's front-page coverage, which was somewhat deserved (this being corruption in New Jersey) and sometimes not.

Examples of taking the Jersey stereotype too far include the two references to "The Sopranos" in the first five paragraphs and these gems:

Court documents read like a pulp crime novel. At one point, Mr. Dwek (described as a "cooperating witness" in criminal complaints) is quoted saying to an alleged money-launderer: "I have at least $100,000 a month coming from money I 'schnookied' from banks for bad loans."
Another time, Mr. Dwek gave one of the alleged co-conspirators a box of Apple Jacks cereal stuffed with $97,000 cash, the documents say.

-and-

"Business is very good. Prada, Gucci, boom, boom, boom," Mr. Dwek boasted at one point, according to court papers.

Then there is the use of dialect in a sidebar that you only got reading the print version. Next to a picture of Acting U.S. Attorney General Ralph J. Marra Jr. doing his best at mobster-style hand motioning is the following:

Solomon Dwek: 'I wanna do, eh, I need a zone change, I need something, I wanna make sure that I, you know, you, you're my man.'

Peter Cammarano: 'I promise you...you're gonna be, you're gonna be treated like a friend.'

All of a sudden I want some pizza. Or maybe some diner grub.

However, I did enjoy the reference to kidney trafficking as being "a lucrative, illegal industry and not one that's typically showcased alongside political shenanigans."

I don't know. Though by definition shenanigans could mean any surreptitious or mischievous behavior, I generally put it more on par with making out in the backseat of a car or lighting fireworks in a parking lot, not money laundering and cash bribes. However, when you're giving someone $97,000 in a cereal box, the whole thing might actually qualify as shenanigans.

I like that word so much I might re-name this blog.

The kicker quote just about summed it all up for me:

Some residents there said they weren't so surprised. "It happens everywhere in New Jersey," said James Goggin, a Hoboken resident. "I'll tell you one thing -- it never gets boring here. But sometimes I wish it would."

But then how could anyone possibly make this story interesting without relying on stereotypes?