Buy "The Soprano State"

"The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption" is well worth reading. Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure expose the politicians and players who have brought the Garden State to its current condition. My copy arrived from Amazon late last week and I zipped through it. There are lots of familiar names mentioned, including our former governor.

I had saved the 47-page indictment of David D'Amiano out of curiosity on what would become of some of the officials mentioned in it. One, referred to as "Former Senator," has since gone to jail. Click here to read it and you will see that "State Official 1" was indeed mentioned 83 times, as Ingle said in his book.

It's a bit of a delicate situation to have the former governor as our neighbor. On the one hand, we want to be welcoming. On the other hand, we see the headlines. Little did I know when I saw him in a church procession Sunday morning that I would see yet another sensational headline online later that night.

In contrast to Mother Carolyn, who radiates good will towards all, reporters tend to be cynical about human nature. It's no wonder, seeing what Ingle and McClure have uncovered in their work. New Jersey is absolutely pullulating with scandal and reform is long overdue. As you will see in "The Soprano State," schemers have made fools of the decent citizens. When will honesty get to be the norm and not the exception?

--Bernice Paglia