Money buys power, and lots of money buys lots of power. But money isn’t the only route to power. So is ambition, greased along by street smarts and a code of ethics that would make P.T. Barnum look like a saint.
Baseball arrogance is going to be in the news for a while. Barry Bonds’ trial on charges that he lied to a grand jury will be coming up in March.
And Roger Clemens may not be far behind. His body language in denial under media questioning when his name turned up on a list of users was painful to watch.
Both players seemed to be counting on a free ride by idolatrous fans who would supersede the law. Instead, they ended up by turning what would have been a baseball slap on the wrist into a felony.
Similar examples in a variety of settings abound. One classic has just played out in an Orange County courtroom where former Sheriff Mike Carona was found guilty of tampering with a witness.
Although he was acquitted on a handful of other charges by what several jurors said afterward were technicalities, he was exposed in ugly testimony as operating by his own set of rules so flagrantly that he clearly saw himself as above the law.
So did his sidekick, Donald Haidl, whose recorded conversations with Carona made up most of the prosecution’s case.
With this kind of parenting, it is hardly surprising that Haidl’s son and two of his high school pals filmed their rape of an unconscious girl and felt secure enough to circulate the film as entertainment for their friends.
When one of them went to the police, young Haidl and his compatriots were arrested. Bailed out to await trial they should have stayed squeaky clean, but Haidl’s arrogance took him back to his old behavior patterns and helped land him in prison.
