Defending the Right to Party in Atlantic City
Its easy to poke fun at estranged Atlantic City Mayor Bob Levy. Under investigation for lying about his military service, the mayor called in sick and hasnt [been seen or heard from since]. Maybe hes in the hospital, maybe hes in the Pine Barrens with Paully Walnuts, nobody knows for sure.
The mayors absence and questionable resume really shouldnt be that much of a concern to a city that makes its living off fleecing old people out of their pensions. I had a croupier at Caesars try to convince me that a horn-high-yo was a good bet on the craps table when every statistical computation proves that it is not. Excuse me if I find it hard to get riled up when the towns mayor lied about being a Green Beret. He was in Nam, he could have died, isnt that enough?
Sure, it looks bad when the mayor doesnt show up for work. It looks bad when any employee doesnt show up for work. But the flat truth, however, is that most of us work for organizations that can fully function with or without our participation for extended periods of time. Domenic Cappella who is filling in while the mayor is changing his latitude put it succinctly when he said, Police are still working, fire is still working, trash is still being collected. What more do you need AC, an emergency prostitute evacuation plan?
Atlantic City has become, `Do what you want, when you want, said a truck driver with a stick up his butt.
Actually thats Vegas. The minute AC becomes do what you want, when you want is the minute I stop flying 2500 miles to middle of the desert to get busted by Mulan and her blackjack dealers of death. If an extended holiday for the Mayor makes AC a little more free wheeling, without an appreciable dip in the already questionable police service, Im all for it. Bob Levy, you are a genius, wherever you are.
Photo courtesy of [iirraa on Flickr]