Friday, 13 January 2012

Just Desserts

It is not rare that one man can have great power in our world. This has been a truth since the dawn of civilization. And with great power, comes even greater corruption.

In a surprising twist, yesterday the man with power fell.

Manuel "Matty" Moroun the owner of the Ambassador Bridge, connecting the United States (in Detroit) and Canada (in Windsor) held a virtual monopoly on the border. He could charge tolls, make a mint in his duty free store, and gas pumps. He gets government handouts that he uses to fund these projects.

But, when the government gave him those handouts, there was an arrangement. He was to connect the bridge to the highways, so the truck would get off of Detroit's streets. Instead, where the ramp was that was to connect the bridge to the highways, was ....

Gas Pumps and  a Duty Free store. Yep, Matty Moroun did not fufill his end of the bargain, betting that once he had the store and pumps built, he could throw around a bit of money and make all the commotion go away.

It didn't. Things escallated, and now Matty Moroun sits in Wayne County Jail. The same cell that housed former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He sits there for Contempt of Court. For repetedly failing to meet deadlines in completing the project he said he would.

I don't feel bad for him one bit. He is 84 years old? So what. A criminal is a criminal. He had plenty of time to complete the task he was given. He didn't do it because he thought he wouldn't need to. He figured he could buy his way out of trouble.

Enjoy your cell Matty Moroun. You deserve it.

No comments:

Post a Comment