Boodling, Bigotry, and Cosmopolitanism

Like the mountains that labored and brought forth a mouse, the ongoing eruptions of charges against New York City officials for bribery, extortion, and racketeering over the past two years have brought forth two quips.

The first belongs to Murray Kempton, long-suffering watchman of the city’s civic virtue. Remarking the frequency with which Mayor Ed Koch stood before the City Hall press corps last year saying, “I am shocked” by some revelation of corruption, Kempton d...