Corruption

Former colleagues of once-powerful state Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell said they are saddened that he plans to plead guilty today to taking bribes while in office - and somewhat concerned that his behavior will tarnish the public perception of the General Assembly. Lawmakers say the Democratic senator's fall is painful to watch. His family is well-known in the General Assembly - his son, Eric, is in his second term in the House of Delegates - and many of his colleagues admired him as a man who rose from blue-collar roots to become a skilled politician.

THE FRAMERS of the Constitution considered the impeachment mechanism so crucial that it emerged from the very beginning of the Constitutional Convention. Edmund Randolph included it in his Virginia Plan, which provided the basis for the initial debates at the convention.The Framers wanted an executive who could be held accountable for wrongful conduct, but they did not want to create a new monarchy in the executive office. Elbridge Gerry expressed the sentiment of the founding generation when he stated, "The maxim would never be adopted here that the chief Magistrate could do [no]

THE DEATHS of five U.S. service personnel in the July 23 crash of a de Haviland RC7 spy plane sent an alarm about U.S. aid to Colombia, now some $289 million a year.The plane was supposedly seeking cocaine operations. It may really have been hunting leftist insurrectionists, whom Colombia's army finds to be the greater enemy. The leftists and narco-terrorists do have mutual interests.A second alarm was the Aug. 5 arraignment in Brooklyn, N.Y., of Laurie Anne Hiett for allegedly mailing nearly 16 pounds of cocaine through the Army Post Office in the U.S. Embassy in Bogota to New York.

QIJIANG, China -- It was a little before 7 o'clock on a chilly Monday evening in January, and people were heading home from work on the Rainbow Bridge. As a group of soldiers marched across, the 460-foot span of concrete and steel suddenly gave way and crashed into the Qi River.At least 40 people plunged to their deaths, drowning in the cold water or crushed beneath huge steel supports. People here in southwest China explained the catastrophe with a single word: corruption.An initial investigation pointed to shoddy workmanship on the 3-year-old bridge and the use of inferior materials, such as steel supports one-third smaller than required.

Taxpayers' dollars for Bosnia were not lost or stolenOn Aug. 17, The Sun carried a report from the New York Times indicating that up to $1 billion in local money and international aid had been stolen or lost in Bosnia ("Bosnian corruption cost as much as $1 billion"). Some news organizations even reported that all $1 billion allegedly lost or stolen was international aid -- some of it from U.S. taxpayers.These reports are false and, if left unchallenged, could have a pernicious effect on American foreign policy.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Even with the sculpted footbridges and soaring glass towers, the polished turrets and old-world canals cut into the heart of downtown, the rebirth of Providence was never just about a face-lift.It was about a soul-lift.Underlying the cosmetics of this city's $2 billion, go-for-broke push toward urban revival, there has always been a deeper yearning to shake the reputation long stamped on this New England pocket -- for mob hits, back-room deals, and rampant corruption from the governor on down.

ALMOST no one in or out of Malaysia believes that former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was justly convicted of corruption.Most doubt he will serve the six-year prison term followed by four years of ineligibility for public office. Many have faith he will succeed the 73-year-old, ailing, autocratic and eccentric prime minister of the past 18 years, Mahathir Mohamad, who fixed the trial.The charges were sexual depravity and "corruption," or obstruction of justice in fighting the charges.

WASHINGTON -- On the eve of this week's Senate debate on the regulation of political speech, also known as campaign finance reform, consider recent remarks by an ardent reformer, Sen. John McCain. His main aim is to outlaw "soft money" contributions -- money used for purposes other than advocating the election or defeat of particular candidates -- to political parties.The Supreme Court says that because political money is essential to political communication, regulation of such money can only be justified by the compelling need to prevent corruption or the appearance thereof.

IF YOUR political foe has dangerous views and more dangerous popularity, get him for sexual deviancy. It's been done.Mahathir Mohamad, 73, has for 18 years been prime minister and boss of Malaysia, which is a federal parliamentary democracy with an autocratic atmosphere. Anwar Ibrahim, 51, was his protege, finance minister, deputy prime minister and heir apparent.In the economic meltdown of 1997 and '98, based on reckless bank loans to a commercial real estate bubble that Mr. Mahathir created, the prime minister took strong action.

Baltimore County has abandoned its 20-year-old open meetings law in favor of a state version of the regulations that some observers say allows more business to be conducted in secrecy.By a unanimous vote last night with no debate, the Baltimore County Council agreed to switch to the state law, already used by 21 of Maryland's 23 counties.The county version had a unique feature -- any meeting between the county executive and at least one top staffer was supposed to be advertised.Under the state law, such meetings are exempted from scrutiny.

LUANDA, Angola - -Hillary Clinton made the first visit to Angola by a U.S. secretary of state in seven years, trying Sunday to strengthen relations with a growing oil producer that is being aggressively courted by China. Clinton sought to emphasize the positive in her two-day visit, praising Angola's efforts to rebuild after a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. But during a meeting in Parliament, opposition politicians urged her to press for more democratic behavior from President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power for three decades.

Do you think State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh has built a strong corruption case against Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon? Yes 64% No 23% Not sure 13% (1,765 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : Should the federal government authorize more funding for the Cash for Clunkers program, which gives incentives for people to trade old cars for new ones that get higher gas mileage? Vote at baltimoresun.com/vote

State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh suffered a setback Thursday when a judge threw out perjury charges against Mayor Sheila Dixon and tossed the bribery case against City Councilwoman Helen L. Holton. It was a high-profile loss for an office saddled with a reputation for rarely tackling big cases or landing noteworthy convictions, despite recent successes. Prominent Baltimore defense attorney David B. Irwin said some may look at the dismissals and conclude, "Oh, the state prosecutor's office lost another one."

Holiday with kids is never too long We have truly reached a new low in our society when a two-week holiday vacation from school is seen as a source of parental stress rather than joy and happiness ("Too-long-holiday blues," Jan. 3). But, first, let's get the whole 14 days off thing straight. Eight of the days were holidays or weekend days. That leaves six "extra" days that the parents had to spend with their children. As a parent of three school-age boys, I found many things to do over this wonderful break.

A brief article Friday about a corruption case failed to note that the University of Maryland, Baltimore County alerted the attorney general's office after finding discrepancies in construction projects and cooperated in the resulting investigation.

To move forward, often we must revisit the past. The Republican Party was first organized to fight the expansion of slavery and to preserve and promote "republican" values, namely opposition to aristocracy and corruption. In addition, the infant party advocated a progressive vision of modernizing the United States, focusing on education, banking, cities and railroads. In many respects, the party has become the party for the aristocracy, a tool for corruption, and anti-freedom. Indeed, modern Republican economic policy has, in part, resulted in the largest income divide between rich and poor since Herbert Hoover and the largest government interference in business since the Great Society.

PAUL J. CURRAN, 75 New York lawyer fought corruption Paul J. Curran, a New York trial lawyer who pursued mobsters, corrupt public officials, crooked businessmen and other malefactors as the state investigation commissioner and as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan in the 1960s and '70s, died Thursday night in Manhattan. Mr. Curran, who lived in Manhattan and Spring Lake, N.J., died of complications from cancer, said his son Thomas Curran of Bronxville, N.Y. Mr. Curran served several years in the state Assembly early in his career and sought the Republican nomination for governor in the fall of 1982, when Mario Cuomo, a Democrat, won the first of his three terms.

JERUSALEM - The political noose around Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, tightened a notch yesterday when the defense minister called on him to remove himself from his post pending the outcome of a high-profile corruption investigation in which Olmert is embroiled. But Olmert seemed determined to stay put. "The prime minister is convinced that as this investigation continues it will become absolutely clear he did nothing wrong," said an official close to Olmert. "He doesn't want to see the political process trump the legal one," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to discuss the matter in public.

SAN DIEGO - The smuggler in the public service announcement sat handcuffed in prison garb, full of bravado and shrugging off the danger of bringing illegal immigrants across the border. "Sometimes they die in the desert, or the cars crash, or they drown," he said. "But it's not my fault." The smuggler in the commercial, produced by the Mexican government several years ago, was played by an American named Raul Villarreal, who at the time was a U.S. Border Patrol agent and a spokesman for the agency here.

Twenty-one prison guards at the Maryland House of Correction were implicated in contraband smuggling and other corrupt activities in state police reports given to defense lawyers for two inmates accused of killing a corrections officer at the now-closed facility. The allegations of widespread corruption at the House of Correction were made yesterday at a court hearing in Annapolis as defense lawyers argued that the state should be forced to provide them with personnel and disciplinary records of the corrections officers.