In Lansing it's peanuts. Business as usual.
In the real world it reeks -- of arrogance, contempt for constituents and the process, you name it.
In March, just when it looked as though Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox was going to be called on to conduct a criminal investigation of Meijer, Inc.'s assault on Acme Township government, Cox accepted $2,500 from Meijer's political action committee.
Earlier this month, on the same day Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land fined Meijer $190,000 for its actions in Acme, Cox said Land's agreement barred him from conducting a criminal probe and dropped the whole thing.
Cox wouldn't talk to the Record-Eagle about the campaign donation -- or the decision to not seek criminal charges -- but a spokesman said it was "outrageous" to infer that a $2,500 contribution would influence a decision to prosecute. That amount, said spokesman Rusty Hills, was "inconsequential." How insulting to think a mere $2,500 could influence the state's top law enforcement officer. Those Meijer people are mighty dumb, eh?
The wider context, of course, is that this was just another donation in a long, long list of donations from Meijer to state politicians, including Cox; not unlike paying the rent. Maybe not next month, but pretty soon, Cox will very likely get another Meijer donation, with the expectation that another one will come after that.
Meijer has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to a host of politicians over the years. Cox has collected about $5 million in political contributions in his time. No wonder $2,500 seemed so "inconsequential."
What is most telling is that even in the midst of the Acme probe Meijer didn't hesitate to open its checkbook and Cox didn't hesitate to take the company's money. He could have been days away from conducting a criminal probe of the check writers, but cash is cash.
Ethics, apparently, are for losers. These folks certainly aren't burdened.
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