While Infinonymous
operated on autopilot (without radio contact) for a few weeks, most locals adhered to standard courses:
● The boy mayor
lied about the
influence of a Republican political operator/creamskimm
er within his administration (despite clear signals
his opponents possessed documentary evidence that would demonstrate that influence), got caught, and edged simultaneously closer to political impenetrability and eventual indictment. The Propositions Board lines on indictment remain unchanged; they already reflected the Verbanac/Grattan/Zappala angles (far right column).
● Dan Onora
to
demonstrated that nothing (short of Judge Wettick's posting of armed assessors in county offices) will deter him from attempting to perpetuate immoral
property tax windfalls for the rich at the
expense of less-affluent communities and
poor taxpayers.
● Mary Beth Buchanan (whose continued presence at the Federal Courthouse remains the best thing Luke Ravenstahl has going fo
r him, because nothing protects a compromised public official better than another compromised public official), whose office apparently
failed to mention that it had received recordings of privileged communications between incarcerated defendants and lawyers, assured us that her office did nothing wrong, and
asked everyone to take her word for it. Meanwhile, she managed to find a moment (amid a hectic schedule of
convicting waterpipe-selling comedians and failing to convict ostensibly felonious faxers) to finally
charge the central figure in what she called the largest fraud in the history of the region -- several years after the fraud was publicly rev
ealed -- then promptly
watched the suspect walk on a modest (by the standards of a case in which more than $100 million is still missing) and unsecured bond. If anyone deserves an unsecured bond, it's a guy whose office contained a secret room that contained safes said to contain wads of foreign currency, gemstones worth $20 million, watches worth $1 million and a sack of unregistered handguns -- and, perhaps more pertinent so long as Buchanan remains United States Attorney, was a
major holy-roller, a
big-time Republican donor, and a
member of the 2003 Republican Chairman's Honor Roll.
● Clownish court candidate Michele Zappala Peck burnished her credentials f
or local political ascendancy by
being revealed as a down-low mouthpiece (not even a legal mouthpiece, just a mouthpiece) at the low-down intersection of politics and the gambling industry.
● The Post-Gazette news columns advanced the public interest by
revealing 
the newest Zappala-casino connections (and associated recordkeeping and disclosure issues), overshadowing the P-G's
failure to
connect the
dots concerning Verbanac and the mayor's office years earlier.
● The Post-Gazette editorial page crapped its pants by
arguing that Joan Orie Melvin's appointment as a magistrate in her fifth year of lawyering was an accompli
shment and mark of quality (rather than the sure sign of political hackery) in a state Supreme Court endorsement that ignored the paramount issue of redistricting, then crapped the entire fourth floor's pants by
issuing a fawning pass to Ravenstahl on the still-unraveling Verbanac revelations. (Hint to P-G: More revelations are on the way, so someone could save the newspaper further embarrassment by telling the editorial page writers to take a couple of months off.)
● The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police (led by Chief Nathan Harper, right) has appare
ntly decided to address documented police mistreatment of a Pittsburgh resident on a Pittsburgh street by
letting the Chicago Police Department's Internal Affairs Division handle it (much as Pittsburgh's professional journalists appear to be leaving G-20 aftermath coverage to collegiate reporters).
● Pitt C
hancellor Mark Nordenberg continued to refrain from uttering a syllable in defense of Pitt students abused during the police-state seige of Oakland. Perhaps Pitt students could satisfy their
arrest-related community service requirements by conducting a comprehensive search for Nordenberg's manhood and conscience?
● UPMC demonstrated
a search would be pointless with respect to any shred of a conscience (which, we now learn, is not a requirement for nonprofit or charity status). At UPMC, the profit-bone is connected to the influence-bone, the influence-bone is connected to the nontaxpaying-bone, the nontaxpaying-bone is connected to the profit-bone . . . and that's the entire anatomy.
● Jeff Reed was arrested again but his 'next Steeler arrested' tickets lost (see Propositions Board, far right column) because Matt Spaeth beat him to the handcuffs by a minute or two, generating an upset victory for holders of 'field' tickets.
