How Bad Was It? As they say, never ever get too close to law making or sausage making proximity really can display how things really work. So It has been confirmed for outsiders of the law making process that the NSW Parliament tends to operate in extremely incestuous ways in its the corridors of power. Power everywhere be it under communism or capitalism seems to generate networks of intrigue and influence. If unczeched it is able to do business on the basis of special deals and special favours for special mates ICAC's colourful cast of characters ~ Postscript : Eddie Obeid lorded it over the Labor party for decades. Despite the smoke signals apparent for years, no one did anything about removing his influence from the party until his dishonesty and greed were exposed by the ICAC. Quite the opposite, they used his influence for their own ends Rise and Fall of the Godfather ~ Exclusive Linton Besser with Kate McClymont ~ Obeid was building a stable of young politicians who owed their careers to him A colourful figure, during the Carr years Mr Secord would tour the press gallery distributing releases and "drops" from a conveyance that became known as the "trolley of truth" Massive task ahead sorting out tainted Obeid assets ~ To wander the streets of Matrite is to witness the way Mr Obeid rules his home away from home -nMicrocosm, how a large world/society can be illustrated in the form of a small world (as opposed to a macrocosm) Matrite Microcosm ~ As always Google is peppered with links on this topic on some bloggers question whether the orchid is rotten not just the apples- when there are this many bad apples, one does start to wonder at the quality of the tree Google
As both Lord Acton and Elias Canetti have taught us, power has a way of transforming those who wield it. Even today, Obeid was in vintage form, truculently unloading on Labor colleagues. “I am a very respected person by all those that dealt with me,” he intoned. He will fight to the end.
Obeid does not appear ashamed of his actions. He doesn't even think he's done anything wrong. Perhaps in his own mind, he hasn't. In the Machiavellian world of Labor factional politics, the only values that matter are power, loyalty and mutual reward. We'll have to wait for a lengthy series of court cases to find out whether Obeid has broken any laws. But as far as the rules of the modern Labor Party are concerned, he played fair and true:
Media Dragon was at the edge of the corruption forest