You often hear it said that James “Whitey” Bulger corrupted
the criminal justice system in Boston.
I say that the criminal justice system in Boston was already
corrupt. Bulger plugged into this corrupt system and played it for all it was
worth.
Bulger’s career as a gangster was as violent and
reprehensible as we are likely to ever see. But he didn’t do it alone. And I’m
not referring only to his underworld associates. I’m referring to his enablers.
And when I say enablers, I don’t just mean a few agents in the FBI’s Boston
office.
There is much about the Whitey Bulger story that the U.S.
Justice Dept. would rather you didn’t focus on and don’t know. I have tried to
unearth some of it in the latest installment of THE BULGER CHRONICLES, a series
of articles I am doing for Newsweek/Daily Beast. This latest article is about
the world that created Bulger, those who sustained his career and gave him his
power.
You may remember the great crime novel by George V. Higgins
called The Friends of Eddie Coyle, also
made into an excellent movie with Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle. The book and
movie details a criminal underworld in which everyone is in on it, the
criminals, the cops, the feds. In an effort to manipulate a particular criminal
situation to their advantage, all of these players nearly take down each other
– and inadvertently take themselves down.
This is not likely to happen with the Bulger fiasco. Oh yes,
Bulger will be made to pay. No matter what happens at his trial (if there is a
trial), he is likely to die in jail. But other than former FBI agent John
Connolly (quoted exclusively in the Newsweek article), no one within the system
has been held accountable.
Should you care?
Please click on the link below, read the article, and decide
for yourself….
-- T.J. English
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