Rick Mariano (D) out on a ledge at City Hall
In his best Budd Dwyer impersonation, Philadelphia City Councilman Rick Mariano (D) — the local posterboy of corrupt politics — stood on a ledge at City Hall on Friday while the cameras rolled.
“With threats of a federal indictment looming over his head, Philadelphia City Councilman Rick Mariano perched on the observation deck near the top of City Hall [about 500 feet up] late this afternoon…”
In a very unfortunate and ill-phrased (or perhaps hopeful?) headline, the Philly Daily News ran this headline:
COUNCILMAN SHOULD STEP DOWN - FOR HIS SAKE AND THE CITY’S
Umm…he tried, to. But Mayor Street, Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, and others were able to talk him down.
Mayor Street had this to say about the attempted suicide:
“I think the whole thing, unfortunately, has been blown out of proportion,” said Street, who was the first to speak with Mariano up on the deck.
Blown out of proportion? Are you kidding me? I don’t think this has gotten enough attention. Your corrupt city councilman is suspected of trading poltical favors for money to pay off his credit-card bills. Before climbing out on the ledge he held a press conference where he called President Bush an “idiot” and he told a reporter that he wished a bus would run over him:
“Sometimes, I hope one of these buses hits me,” he said. “But I’d never do that.”
Then he told a reporter: “Do me a favor. If you see a bus coming, throw me in front of it - so that way it’s not me doing it.”
He rummaged through his pockets for a paper bearing the passage Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death,” the passage reads, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The selected Bible quote is telling—the guy knew he was guilty. And he thought the only way out was death. Unfortunately for him now, he’ll have to face the Grand Jury and answer for his crimes.
In the understatement of the year, Mariano had this to say about himself: “I know I’m not the most stellar Council person to ever come into this chamber.”
You think?
h/t to Blonde Sagacity
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UPDATE: Philly residents aren’t too happy with Mariano, either:
What angers me even further is a statement made by Mariano regarding his federal indictment. When asked about whether or not he did something wrong, Mariano said, “I can’t answer. I’m not intelligent enough to know. I can’t answer that. If I were to tell you something wrong, it would be used against me.†He’s not intelligent enough to figure out right from wrong? Our CITY COUNCILMAN, whom is in charge of OUR CITY, is outwardly admitting that he isn’t intelligent?
I never heard about this story. I would let that dumbass jump. Obviousely, he feels that the only way out is to die.. well instead of paying taxpayer money to keep his ass in jail, let that dumbass kill himself.
Left by chris on December 20th, 2005 at 3:33 pm