by Gene Messick

December 11, 2008 at 14:51:24

Frequent arrest of Senators and Congressmen, and now arrest of the Illinois Governor, forces a question that has been far too long ignored: How do we
deal with sociopaths in our government?

Most Americans have a mistaken belief that sociopaths in America are a rare breed, that they are wild eyed, murderous lunatics who are regularly
recognized, put away or executed. Most unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.

What’s a sociopath? Why do we not recognize them for what they are? How do we protect ourselves from them?

– Read more at OpEdNews.com

‘He failed the test of character,’ Illinois state senator says

By CHRISTOPHER WILLS, Associated Press Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Gov. Rod Blagojevich was bounced from office Thursday without a single lawmaker rising in his defense, ending a nearly two-month crisis that erupted with his arrest on charges he tried to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat.

Blagojevich becomes the first U.S. governor in more than 20 years to be removed by impeachment.

After a four-day trial, the Illinois Senate voted 59-0 to convict him of abuse of power, automatically ousting the second-term Democrat. In a second, identical vote, lawmakers further barred Blagojevich from ever holding public office in the state again.

– Read more at U.S. News and World Reports

By Bruce E. Levine

Excerpt:

At this point, the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is basically a public
menace.

Eli Lilly & Company’s rap sheet as a public menace is so long that for Lilly
watchers to overcome the “banality-of- Lilly-sleaziness ” phenomenon, the drug
company must break some type of record measuring egregiousness. Lilly
obliged earlier this year, receiving the largest criminal fine ever imposed
on a corporation.

– Read more at AlterNet

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writers

Excerpt:

Saying he was “deeply sorry and ashamed,” Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty Thursday to pulling off perhaps the biggest swindle in Wall Street history and was immediately led off to jail in handcuffs to the applause of his seething victims in the courtroom.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin denied bail for Madoff, 70, and ordered him to jail, noting that he had the means to flee and an incentive to do so because of his age.

Madoff earlier spoke softly but firmly to the judge as he pleaded guilty to 11 charges in his first public comments about his crimes since the scandal broke in early December.

“I am actually grateful for this opportunity to publicly comment about my crimes, for which I am deeply sorry and ashamed,” he said.

– Read more at Daily Markets

But Enough About You …What is narcissistic personality disorder,
and why does everyone seem to have it?

By Emily Yoffe Posted Wednesday, March 18, 2009, at 7:05 AM ET

Excerpt:

The narcissists did it. Some commentators are fingering them as the culprits of the financial meltdown. A Bloomberg columnist blamed the conceited for our financial troubles in a piece titled “Harvard Narcissists With MBAs Killed Wall Street.” A Wall Street Journal op-ed on California’s economy suggested that Gov. Schwarzenegger’s desire for voter’s love (“It’s classic narcissism”) helped cause the state’s budget debacle. A forthcoming book, The Narcissism Epidemic, says we went on a national binge of I-deserve-it consumption that’s now resulting in our economic purging.

– Read more at Slate

July 24, 6:10 PM

Excerpt:

Remember Tony Alamo? He’s the founder of Arkansas’ Alamo Christian Ministries and, if you read his tracts, a persecuted Christ-like figure who has been victimized by everyone from Ronald Reagan and the federal government to the Pope. Today he’s been convicted in a Texarkana courtroom of 10 counts of sex abuse against girls as young as 9. The victims, who currently range in age from 17 to 33, testified that Alamo “married” them in private ceremonies while they were still minors and transported them across state lines for sexual gratification. He could receive a sentence of up to 175 years in prison as well as a $250,000 fine for each count.

– Read more at examiner.com

by Moe, 5:40 PM on Fri Jun 27 2008

Excerpt:

Oh god, here goes. You know how we sort of stopped wanting to hear about Paul Janka when he officially became an accused sex assailant (or actually, come to think of it, when he assaulted me a few months before that?) Well, over the course of a day Dimitri the creep behind a couple fake-seemingly funny voicemails revealed himself to be Dimitri the douchebag with disciples, who revealed himself to be Dmitri a.k.a. James Sears. And yeah, if all the “there’s nothing wrong with me” talk on his voicemail wasn’t a red enough flag for you, maybe the 1986 concern of the military psychiatrist who evaluated him during his enlistment in the Canadian Army that there was “something seriously wrong” with him is? But don’t take it from those shrinks; his psychiatric evaluation when he went to med school states that he got drunk and high on call, made “numerous random and obsessive telephone calls” to women during which he would (only sometimes) jerk off, and was generally immature and narcissistic — but not enough to deny him a medical license.

Maybe they didn’t know about the mace, stun gun and EMPTY HAND GRENADE CANISTERS cops reported finding in his room after he tried to enter a female officer’s dorm? Anyway, he failed to “grow up” much, spending his residency masturbating six or seven times a day at work and garnering complaints from female patients, one of whom finally pressed sexual assault charges, to which he pled guilty and got out of practicing medicine. So he could work as a “medical investigator” offering a second opinion on… SEXUAL HARRASSMENT SUITS.

– Read more at Jezebel.com

Excerpt:
“A Ukrainian businessman charged with more than 40 counts of racketeering, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and other economic crimes carried out in dozens of countries around the world is the newest addition to our Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Semion Mogilevich is wanted for his alleged participation in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud investors in the stock of YBM Magnex International, a company he controlled—which had its world headquarters just outside Philadelphia—that was supposed to manufacture magnets but instead bilked investors out of $150 million.” –

Read more on the FBI website

Excerpt:

EDITOR’S NOTE: Rarely do readers get the real story on cops and courts. When the public focuses on corruption in the so-called justice system, virtually all the weight falls on the cops. The lawyers and judges are much more adept at evading justice. Author and former NYPD Detective Bob Leuci knows the score. He lived it. Leuci will be appearing in Connecticut Jan. 15, 2010 as part of the CT Young Writers Triple Knockout event at the Hartford Club. Following are some video excerpts of Prince of the City and links to Leuci books and details about the upcoming event.

– Read more on the Cool Justice Blog

Excerpt:

by Holbrook Mohr, Associated Press Writer Holbrook Mohr, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jan 4, 9:18 pm ET

JACKSON, Miss. – Bobby DeLaughter, a former Mississippi prosecutor and judge whose legal conquests became the subject of books and a movie, reported to federal prison Monday for lying to the FBI in a judicial bribery investigation.

– Read more on the Yahoo News website

Excerpt:

A former attorney to President George W. Bush was arrested Wednesday at his Connecticut home and accused of trying to kill his wife, according to the New Canaan Police Department.

– Read more at the CNN Political Ticker

Excerpt:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — An attorney who worked in both Bush administrations was charged Thursday with trying to kill his wife by beating her with a flashlight and choking her two days after she delivered divorce papers.

– Read more at the Huffington Post

Excerpt:

Is your boss manipulative? Intimidating? Totally lacking in remorse? Yet superficially charming? Then you could be working with a workplace psychopath. The latest figures suggest one in ten managers are psychopaths, and this week Catalyst goes deep inside their minds – what makes them tick, how do you spot them; and how do you avoid being crushed by them. We’ll also run a handy test – tune in to find out if your boss is an office psychopath.

– Read more at Catalyst

Excerpt:

Is your boss manipulative? Intimidating? Totally lacking in remorse? Yet superficially charming? Then you could be working with a workplace psychopath. The latest figures suggest one in ten managers are psychopaths, and this week Catalyst goes deep inside their minds – what makes them tick, how do you spot them; and how do you avoid being crushed by them. We’ll also run a handy test – tune in to find out if your boss is an office psychopath.

– Read more at SOTT.net

Excerpt:

They were a “Ken and Barbie” couple—seemingly perfect to friends and family. When Barbra met her future husband, Michael Mastromarino, she says she fell deeply in love with him and thought of him as her soul mate. “It was almost like a dream,” she says. “He was just this perfect guy.”

– Read more on the Oprah.com