A federal grand jury indicted former Virgina Gov. Bob McDonnell–AND his wife Maureen–for corruption. Here’s the deal: you know how you can’t send your kids’ algebra teacher on an all-inclusive Caribbean cruise in exchange for an A? Even if it fits into your budget, and Teach could use some sun? No matter how badly you want an A for your precious, the cruise won’t fly. Because even if you’re a knucklehead and propose it, the teacher will say “no.” Because a gift-for-grade scenario is unethical. That’s why, if the charges are true, the algebra teacher is smarter and a far better citizen that Bob McDonnell, even if she’s less tan. The one-term governor with the presidential hair allegedly didn’t know to say no–in fact the grand jury came up with 14 counts against the couple for taking illegal gifts while in office.
It’s not just gifts, you say? Wait, Jonnie R. Williams Sr., CEO of a dietary supplements company, gave the Governor loans, too? (“I deeply regret accepting legal gifts and loans from Mr. Williams, all of which have been repaid with interest, and I have apologized for my poor judgment for which I take full responsibility.”) Williams gave McDonnell’s daughter stuff too–among other trinkets the family apparently received Louis Vuitton shoes, a purse, a raincoat and a wallet. Louis Vuitton is the most counterfeited brand in the world–maybe they were just fakes. But the $100,000 in flights on Williams’s private jet seem to be real–there are very few reports of fake air travel on the market. The algebra teacher will say no to that, too. You can’t lend her money, you can’t send her to the islands, you can’t fly her around the state, and you can’t buy an A. The Governor, however, might be for sale.
—Dana Liebelson and Tim Murphy break it down like champs at Mother Jones
