The senator told Brian Taffe of Channel 9 repeatedly that he knew the difference between right and wrong, and that he had done nothing wrong legally, morally or ethically. Then, in a broken narrative with Brian, he emphasized how if he had abandoned the world of public service earlier, he easily could have made as much as he is accused of taking in inappropriate consulting fees. Also, he said that the opinions and views of someone in his position had real value. These were not exactly self-incriminating statements, but that he voiced them at all left me wondering if his idea of right and wrong is out there somewhere.
Now that's an argument that will keep Jesuits up late. But right from wrong is not the issue for Joe Bruno. It is legal vs. illegal. And he made reference to how easy it is, through a zealous prosecutor, to get a grand jury to indict even a ham sandwich. Well, if truth be told, for political corruption charges such as those he faces, it's not all that much harder to put that ham sandwich behind bars. Bruno doesn't sound like he understands the gravity of where he's at.
When he compared himself to Mother Teresa, that's when I realized there is a side of the senator we have rarely seen before: self-delusional. That is one bizarre comparison. The context was that he felt the standards used by the feds to indict him were such a stretch that they could have indicted her just as easily. On what charge he didn't say. I think he was just reaching for something absurd. Unfortunately, he found it.
He also seems to think the public will widely rally behind him because of his 32 years of public service and the many good works he directed toward this region. Dream on, Joe. Those were public dollars you were distributing, not your own, and you are about to learn how quickly people forget, and would rather believe the worst of you.
