Political Corruption, 'And The Band Played On'

Corruption, corruption, it starts not at the bottom but the top,
That’s why when it is revealed there are many who will drop,
You would think far away from favor into the pit of disgrace,
After you’ve taken millions a retirement pension to save face?

Elected officials thru sexual relations, granting jobs in return,
Girls on their knees & bending over is how some were earned,
While the guys gained positions by filtering thousands in cash,
How else can 10 hours get paid get for 40 & employment lasts?

Jimmy, Frank not really surprised and the honey’s who are hot,
However, two lawyers now judges thrown into the melting pot?
So, no justice in the justice system, well, they did not get away,
Then how come after pleading guilty Ohio is still going to pay?

Big market cities live in corruption like New York City & Chicago,
However, the best location in the nation that of Cleveland, Ohio?
Yeah, there is favor and its flavor packaged with sweet-tutee fruity,
Wiretaps, hidden cameras & microphones play, “shake your booty.”

Now the booty, finally it has been kicked in Ohio’s Cuyahoga County,
Corruption was running rampant in area politics & steadily mounting,
Bribes, plea bargains, jail terms, can you smell a rat or is it just me?
Judges, attorneys, sex, bribes & lies, Frank Russo & PO1, Jimmy D.

There is also a big problem with county and city residents being robbed,
Without passing a civil service exam many are simply being given jobs,
Two retired auditors were rehired now they’re getting two full paychecks,
Several hundred thousand residents yet only two qualify what the heck?

BTW, while you’re at it investigate what’s going on at Cleveland City Hall,
As qualified police, fire, EMS are being laid off, of all the unmitigated gall,
Classic examples of many instances where favoritism continues to show,
Where jobs are usually being given not by what but by whom you know.

And if you think this is the only crooked thing going on, hehe, sorry it is not,
There’s also an Ohio Department Of Transportation corruption case, ODOT,
Kratochvi’s, father & son as both are accused of bribery schemes & the like,
Many more prominent names are involved, time for these guys to take a hike.

09/16,3 guys involved in ODOT 1-4 as Frank gets 20 years in a Federal Pen,
Very few years for small potatoes while Russo won’t be seen until 2031 again,
Hey what about the families, close friends, the embarrassment and the blame?
If you are or even thinking about this path question is it really worth the shame?

Oh my, actually and sadly it’s a family affair all over once again,
Russo’s son pleads guilty he will do 18 months in a federal pen,
California, a city manager & others in the small community of Bell,
Salary over $800,000 a year, indicted, now more carted off to jail.

There Is yet another California, 'safe haven' that comes to mind,
The once lovely, quiet, formerly peaceful unassuming city of Irvine,
Formerly? Uh yeah! Because they are about to approve this park,
Underground is so contaminated, residents will glow in the dark.

Why even have elections, let’s just start a monarchy with a King,
Then he’ll hire all of his relatives along with cronies of the Queen,
Nepotism, favor, no exams, qualified simmer on the back burner,
10? No, over 100 are given jobs by Clerk of Courts’ Earle Turner.

Hired 127 without a civil service test & worked less than 84 days,
Our officials are not being held accountable it’s, “come what may,”
This guy shuns parking records because he rode his bike to work,
Oh yeah, Chubby? After you stopped at McDonald’s & KFC first.

10/03/10, I open the Cleveland Plain Dealer & what do I see?
Another yes another hint of corruption in Cuyahoga County,
The disease of backdoor politics has spread but that’s not all,
An article on the Prosecutor’s office the legal arm of the law.

Why was there ever a need for a separation of Church and State?
A Pope hiding a sex scandal a President covering up Watergate,
Doom and destruction in the places we are supposed to feel safe,
Sanctuaries of love and protection is a mirror of jealousy and hate.

Cleveland Plain Dealer,10/10/10. County corruption again is such & such,
A couple few hundred that’s not bad but isn’t $500,000.00 a little too much,
At least 11 members of tax revision boards have gotten their own bills cut,
They’re the same elected, appointed officials who say criminals are corrupt.

Okay but these criminals don’t change or even enforce laws on the books,
When failing to pay your property taxes they’re not labeling you as crooks,
Employees on the supposed side of Law & Order are purposely telling lies,
Patrick Carney, $6,500 less yearly than a neighbor’s place, the same size.

This board member received reductions on his Seven Hills Home two times,
Thousands saved since 2002, I mean stolen was mucho denary, wow 79.9,
Over twenty-two thousand appeals filed for lower taxes and all were denied,
So these leaders are in office to fight for criminal injustice but on which side?

10/12/10, “Political advertising campaigns stretching truth, fact to extremes,”
Headlines from the Cleveland Plain Dealer & articles from many magazines,
Maybe Congress should pass an ethics bill of some sorts oh I don’t see why,
Because many of them holding office now were elected by deception & lies.

Photo of Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr.,10/12/10 Associated Press,
As this House Republican from Norwalk is giving his colleagues his very best,
Barbara Lambert, D-Milford & Jack F. Hennessy, D-Bridgeport, play solitaire,
So does that mean those who are not crooked politicians simply do not care?

Hold on, are you sitting down or relaxed drinking decaf because there is more,
Representative in front has Facebook, the guy behind checks baseball scores,
Salary just under 180k w/full benes on computers purchased by our tax dollars,
Is it any wonder why American Citizens just want to jump-up, scream & holler?

October 17, 2010, 65 degrees, no rain forecast, cloud free sunny day,
Opening the Cleveland Plain Dealer, oh my, what does it have to say?
Bill Mason’s buddies had 1.6 million in title business thrown their way,
Is he the county prosecutor who’s supposed to keep criminals at bay?

Sure is, but as bad as that sounds compared to this revelation it’s small,
Investigators have concluded over 500k was funneled to Gerald McFaul,
X-Cuyahoga County Sheriff received cash from workers but he’s retired,
Yes he cut a deal to keep his mega-bucks benefits so as not to be fired.

Read every media outlet, hometown newspaper, radio, television, internet,
Where good guys play just like the bad guys, I’m going to get all I can get,
But what I can’t take well isn’t that what lovers, family and friends are for?
You know, sometimes it seems like lawless get less and lawful gets more.

You can cast your vote, put a stop to this crap, the public votes to choose,
May you have a right to complain whomever the candidate, win or loose?
I cut the grass and guess what? Next week again I have to mow the lawn,
Here’s a phrase that’s perfect for this situation, “And The Band Played On.”

by Luke Easter w/Dee Cheeks