Annette John-Hall: Helping others, then themselves

We know the economy is in the tank. But lately it seems morality is, too.

A-Rod juices. Phelps smokes. Madoff's wearing an ankle bracelet. Burris, well, stay tuned. And nobody apologizes until caught.

Here in Pennsylvania, a pair of Luzerne County judges stand accused of sentencing children to juvenile facilities for money.

Aren't judges the ones expected to give each defendant a fair and impartial trial?

It's behavior like theirs that causes us to keep one eyebrow cocked over the true intentions of our public servants.

Which brings us to Vince Fumo and Wayne Bryant.

You knew we'd have to go there, didn't you?

Fumo and Bryant. Both former state senators - one from South Philadelphia, the other from South Jersey. Both immensely powerful, and popular for the money they were able to steer into their districts.

And both deep in federal corruption charges.

Fumo is accused of using Senate employees and cash from the charity he founded for personal and political gain.

He's soon to find out if he will end up like Bryant, who was found guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced this month on 12 counts of bribery and pension fraud, including "working" a no-show job at Camden County medical school in exchange for directing millions of dollars there. Why waste being chairman of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee?

During his trial, Fumo had no trouble reconciling his unlawful practice of making his employees use state facilities for his campaign.

"It's also a violation of state law to spit on the sidewalk, but I don't know that it's enforced."

It's the spit-spit, wink-wink defense. He's a member of Mensa, you know.

So just how do elected officials go from doing good deeds for others to doing good deeds for themselves - with our money?

You know, one for you, a million for me.

No one can dispute that both Bryant and Fumo have been very good to their constituents.

Bryant, who represented 19 towns in Camden County, helped push through $175 million for depressed Camden.

His family name is all over the buildings in his hometown of Lawnside, including the Wayne R. Bryant Recreation Center, which is slated for a multimillion-dollar expansion, thanks to the ex-senator.

So getting an answer to the greed question wasn't easy.

"He has done a lot for the seniors," says Richard Wise, 77, who along with his wife, Esther, 76, helps serve lunch for older people at the recreation center. "He was instrumental in getting a nutritional program here."

Folks in South Philly say the same good things about Fumo, who brought in about $8 billion over the last 20 years as ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"He did a great job for the community," said Abe Mandel, who owns A Man's Image, a clothing store on Passyunk Avenue, down a ways from Fumo's closed district office. "He helped my son out once, and I sent his office a big basket of flowers and candy."

Mandel was one of the few businesspeople willing to talk on the record about Fumo.

Residents in Lawnside were reluctant to bad-mouth their money-grubbing Santa on the record. In South Philly, folks were downright scared, fearful of the power and connections Fumo still wields.

"It's not that I think he'll come after me," said one store owner. "He'll just make it so nobody will shop here."

But Bob Lewis, 62, a retired corrections officer, had no problem speaking his mind.

"I think Fumo's a crook," the Roxborough resident said. "I'm surprised the feds took it this far. I hope they hold him accountable. I hope he goes to jail."

Truth is, unlike Lewis, most of us pretend to take a righteous stand against corruption, but we're not always willing to truly set the bar high for our politicians.

Especially if we've been riding the gravy train with them.