The LA Weekly has a long and fascinating article about a major drug case, its ultimate disposition, and hints of the implications for understanding just who is running Los Angeles politics and law enforcement. It involves a case brought by the Minneapolis cops against a drug dealer from LA with a lot a connections, via his father. The dealer was convicted, and then pardoned by President Clinton in last mintue pardongate festival of forgiveness.

The Minneapolis cops and judiciary are aghast at what they perceive as the utter feckless corruption in Los Angeles. My home town remains one of the cleanest big cities in the country, when it comes to outright corruption. Meanwhile, some of the people in Los Angeles connected with the pardon are, shall we say, well—positioned.

Interestingly enough, the Los Angeles Times was on the story, and then suddenly lost interest in publishing any more. The LA Weekly is to be commended for the invetsigative journalism they produced. But it is intriguing that they waited until the new Los Angeles mayor was elected before they published it. His name does indeed appear among the dramatis personae of the affair.

Read it and draw your own conclusions about who is really pulling the strings in our seond biggest metropolis.

Thomas Lifson   5 28 05