272. WILLIAM
MARCY TWEED
I always figured that if you
fed people enough blubber
about Freedom and choice
and voting and all that, but
yet skillfully befouled the
waters and steered them
into the decisions you
wished them to make
anyway, while making
it look as if it was their
sacred 'choice' underway,
you could get away
with murder and no
one would be the wiser
for it; least of all the
idiotic 'voter.' I still
feel the same way. To
them it was nothing
more than watching
monolithic TV anyway.
Their minds never
moved past choices
of soaps and cereals.
They were tranced
and zombie-like. I
know for a fact that
at the lower levels
of graft and corruption
- oops, I mean
'municipal government,'
it was omni-present,
Woodbridge, where I
live, is a filthy, corrupt
cesspool of sell-out,
deals, and theft.
Metuchen, where I
lived prior to Woodbridge,
same thing. The sitting
Mayor back there, in
the late 1990's and so,
was a chubby creep named
O'Brien, who also just
happened to be the school
principal here, in Avenel,
of the local elementary
school, #5. Ain't that a
kicker - this guy was
so cloying and obseqious,
he could peel the paint
off walls with stupid
false bluster; as if
everyone was a 2nd
grader under his command
and beneath his contempt.
I think he later drowned
in shit, or at least that's
what I heard. Now he's
forgotten. In Avenel, by
contrast there's a
Tweedledum barfly
in charge who just
appoints the nearest
idiot he can find into
whatever position
he needs filled to
continue his massage.
That's politics today.
It's probably better
just not to talk about
this. The thing is, all
around the world, the
faithless American
myth has already been
well promulgated.
-
There's a place down in
lower Manhattan, just
above City Hall, called
the ' Municipal Plaza' or
something. It's just another
of those civic messes wherein
the Government (read as
Rulers') have simply stepped
in, taken over the once-worst
plots of land, wiped everything
out, and built their own
clerk-palaces and drawing-
rooms. Every town has one.
The bigger the town the
bigger the one. I was just
recently in Harrisburg, PA,
and there, right in the center
of things, is the rise and
the bluff whereon they
too have done their
damage - a huge,
stately, stone palace.
You see, what
government likes
to do is usurp, take
over the undesirable
parts of things, erase
any places of magic
or intrigue, and cover
over any portions of
the past which may
still have drawing
power or strength
of force. That's why
so many of these
'municipal' buildings,
schools, or police
stations.etc., are on
once-heroic or
sacrosanct land.
They have to stifle
all that, shut down
that energy, and get
people away from
all that. Drone them
to death with data -
dog licenses, permits,
fines, tickets, fees,
all that sort of thing.
It's much safer. New
York City did the same
thing, more than once,
over all those years
of its municipal
construction. The
execution grounds,
the jails, the common
mob areas, the slums,
they were all taken
over and erased as all
the official buildings
replaced them. Whoosh!
Just like that, problems and
problems peoples, gone.
-
There was a time when I
was completely taken with
the historic feature of the
Tweed Ring, and Tammany
Hall. William Marcy Tweed
was a NYC Management guy,
in the late 1800's, about, and
he churned through piles
of contracted and NYC
money. Contracts were
awarded, and he'd manage
them - a two million dollar
clearance or construction
job, by the time he was
done, would be nine million.
And still not done. Ha head
inflated and false contracts
everywhere, and was more
crooked than a pretzel.
Every contract in the city for
a while had his hands all over
it. Absolutely crazy and
inflated prices for goods
not even always received.
Three million dollar wallpaper
contracts, for walls that
were painted. His most
famous blunder was the
Tweed Courthouse, directly
behind City Hall. Absolutely
astronomical cost factors in
a building deserving of nothing.
He did get caught, eventually,
and went to prison, and died.
Tammany Hall lived on after
him. Dispensing his largesse
as if he was still present. I used
to love that stuff, and back in
my days there it was all dark
and grimy too. Barren late
night streets with some danger
at every passage. Poorly lit
and dimly regarded public
spaces. He had patronage
deals everywhere; he'd
help immigrants with
passage and housing
and assistance, in
return for their
multi-voting presence
and loyalty. He'd use
their names, have them
vote numerous times,
and remain in the
clear. Always the vote
and the candidates
he wanted. Those in
on the deal; those
necessary for continued
cover. He'd get people
housing, jobs, the
needed connections
to get around and up
in the city pecking
orders. Many people
therefore owed him
both thanks, and
probably paybacks
too. Tweed grew
fat and robust, while
his minions cheered
and continued their
loyalty and dedication
to him. Buildings
went up, everywhere.
The 'Tweed Ring'
laundered money,
dispensed paybacks,
changed zoning,
and 'sweethearted'
contracts too. The
funny thing about all
that - it was corrupt
and nasty, cheesy and
dirty, lots of lost money
and crappy dealings,
and probably gave
municipal contracting
a bad name too. And
I've seen it defended
and made positive
because of this: At
the same time as Tweed
and all his fancy-boy
cronies were stealing
millions form the public
trough in an unending
series of filthy deals
and broken contracts,
over-budget and
inflated grossly,
the Tweed Ring and
Tammany also became
the first-resource of
help and support for
any of the thousands
of Irish and other
immigrants then
flooding the city.
The Tweed people
would scap them
off right at the wharves,
disembarking, offering
them assistance, money,
temporary lodgings,
job connections and
even immediate hire,
for skills, etc., all
at the at-no-cost use
of their 'vote' as
new citizens. The
Tweed Ring and
the Tammany people
would do the rest :
sign here, you vote
this way, when and
how we tell you. It
all worked as a lavish
and a dependable
welfare-system.
New-comers thronged.
The Tweed crown had
all the ultra-cheap
laborers it needed,
and it had the
accumulated names
and wishes of hordes
with which to influence
votes and resultant
elections. New York
City, in its best growth
years, was a teeming
cauldron of
influence-peddling,
bought-votes,
power politics and
graft and corruption
too. Fascinating stuff!
At once, and always,
I was just getting started.
Two more notes: If
you look at City Hall,
the front and the two
sides are beautiful,
ornate and stone edifices.
At its back, the entire rear
wall is but crummy, old
brownstone, with no
facing. That's because
NO ONE ever figured
the city would grow up
past the rear of City Hall
- at that time a quite
northerly terminus of
the city. Now it's
considered way-downtown,
and that bare wall is still
there. AND, just behind
it, the Tweed Courthouse,
which had sat decrepit
and rotting away all
through the 1960-70-80
era, is now all fancified
itself, and used (at public
expense) as the NYC
Headquarters for the
Board of Education,
Randi Weingarten and
all those leftist-collectivist
mass-state-education
fanatics and teacher-union
types. Weird stuff indeed.
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