It’s Not What It Is, It’s What It Looks Like
There’s a story about a guy who works on a sheep ranch. That day his wife tells him they have a dinner party to attend that evening, but he has to work later than usual, so he takes his suit with him. After spending the day working, the man gathers the sheep in the barn. He then takes off his clothes to jump in the shower and change. While he’s in mid-change, the farmer walks in and sees him naked in a barn full of sheep. You can imagine the image.
I bring this up in light of the FBI raid of the downtown offices of local businessman Tim Durham. Durham, who is known for what we call in the old neighborhood, “a big pimpin’ lifestyle” is being questioned by authorities regarding the sale of investment certificates.
What makes this broader story is that Durham has given money to Democrats and Republicans and is good friends with Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi. (In the interest full disclosure, Brizzi and I are good friends as well). So now the political brouhaha can begin, Democrats can call for Republicans to give back any money they may have received and the GOP can spend time crafting a response.
At the end of the day, unless someone goes to jail, the political fallout will be minimum. I say that because most regular people couldn’t tell Tim Durham from Bull Durham. However if Durham ends up on tape somewhere doing the perp walk things change, because although elected officials or candidates had nothing to do with his business dealings, it won’t matter what it is, just what it looks like.
