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Joker’s Wild
Every now and again I get asked why – WHY?! – I still write about former MD Governor Bobby Leroy Ehrlich. How bitter am I, the follow-up question inevitably comes, that I must keep pounding on him?
Well, the answer’s simple: Bobby makes it way too easy to write about him. Hell, at times he makes it almost mandatory. As for me being bitter – not bitter in the least (though most of my friends think I should be). What I am, however, is entertained, mortified, and occasionally disbelieving that Bobby has metamorphosed from being a blazing star into a Grade A Goofball at the speed of sound.
As are most politicians, Ehrlich is a gambler – both literally and figuratively. I recall when he’d take his Vegas trips and ask if anyone in the office wanted him to gamble for them. If so, you’d give him 10 or 20 bucks, and he’d take it and gamble it. (For the record, as a gambler myself, I never did that. I preferr to roll the dice myself, thank you!)
The problem is that, just as Bobby’s political career crashed and burned, it appears as if his ability to see what is and isn’t a good bet has likewise found its way into the commode.
I say this because, according to the Washington Post, Mr. Ehrlich had gambled over $100,000 on the innocence of Paul Schurick. And lost. Badly.
Mr. Schurick, a registered Democrat and Ehrlich’s 2010 Campaign Manager, was – unsurprisingly to me, anyway – convicted last December on four counts which blew up out of a racist Election Night RoboCall designed to trick black voters into not voting. Of course, Mr. Ehrlich claims he knew nothing about the call.
So, how did Bobby Ehrlich gamble $100,000 on this loser? By using his campaign account to pay for Mr. Schurick’s legal defense, that’s how.
According to The Washington Post: “Ehrlich reported two payments totaling $75,000 to the Law Offices of A. Dwight Pettit in July and November. Pettit, Schurick’s lead defense lawyer at trial, confirmed Monday that the payments were for his representation of Schurick.
Prior to that, in July, the month after Schurick was indicted, two payments totaling $25,578 were made to the law firm of DLA Piper.”
$105,578 is one Helluva losing bet. Joker’s wild, indeed!
(Paul Schurick modeling the new inmate uniforms – which he may be regularly sporting come February 16th…)
Now, let me state here that Bobby Ehrlich’s done nothing illegal by directing his campaign to gamble that $100,000 on Schurick being found not guilty. The laws regulating what a one-time candidate may or may not do with leftover campaign funds are lax as Hell. If Mr. Ehrlich wants to use his campaign account as something of a legal slush fund, so be it. It’s his call.
Still, by betting that money on the defense of a man who was so obviously guilty – and I don’t even like the law – Bobby Ehrlich took a sucker’s bet. Why am I not surprised? And with Schurick’s sentencing coming on February 16th, I have to wonder whether Bobby’s wondering whether he can somehow make it double or nothing?
This begs the asking of what I believe to be a question of some import: If you gave money to try to elect Ehrlich as Governor, how do you feel about this? How do you feel, now knowing that rather than help pay for yard signs and TV spots, you’ve helped pay for the defense of a convicted criminal?
Because, likely against your best wishes and certainly not what you thought would be done with that $25 or $50 or $100 you sent in to Ehrlich for Governor, that’s exactly what you did. Shame on Bobby Ehrlich for putting you in that position.
As for Mr. Ehrlich, well, he’ll keep coming up with things for me and others to occasionally opine over. Apparently, he simply can’t help himself. That Joker’s Wild, alright.
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