Ricky Five Angels
Earlier we referenced the famous Senate hearings scene from Godfather Part II, where Michael Corleone. We’ll try not to reference this scene too much on this site because, well, frankly it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.
Nevertheless, it’s a classic. You’ll remember that Michael Corelone was just about to be indicted for perjury (see GOP aide Scooter Libby for more on this subject. Better yet, see him in 5 to 10 years) when the government’s star witness, Frankie Pentangeli (a.k.a. “Frankie Five Angels”) has a change of heart:
QUESTADT: Mr. PENTANGELI you are contradicting a sworn statement that you previously made to me and signed. I ask you again sir — you are now under oath — were you at any time a member of a crime organization — headed by MICHAEL Corleone.
PENTANGELI: I don’t know nothin’ about that.. Oh — I was in the Olive Oil business with his father but that was a long time ago that’s all.
CHAIRMAN: We have a sworn affidavit — we have it — your sworn affidavit that you murdered on the orders of MICHAEL Corleone. Do you deny that confession, and do you realize what will happen as a result of your denial.
PENTANGELI: Look the FBI guys promised me a deal. So I made up a lot of stuff about MICHAEL Corleone ’cause that’s what they wanted — but it was all lies — uh — everything. And I kept saying — MICHAEL Corleone did this and MICHAEL Corleone did that — .uh — so I said yea sure, why not.
So what does this scene remind us of? That’s right, Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santoroum (R)! This week Santorum pulled a “Five Angels” and flatly denied any existence of the notorious K Street Project:
“The K Street project is purely to make sure we have qualified applicants for positions that are in town. From my perspective, it’s a good government thing.”
– Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), quoted by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 15, 2005.
“Well, I don’t know what you mean by Senate liaison to the, quote, ‘K Street Project.’ I’m not aware of any Senate liaison job that I do for the K Street Project.”
– Santorum, quoted by Talking Points Memo, at a press conference earlier today.
Santorum continued, “Grover who? Jack Abbrawhat? Look, some lobbyists told me they’d help me get re-elected if I got some cronies jobs in lobbying firms.”
You see, Ricky’s running for re-election this year. And the man is a whole-hog part of the GOP-lobbying-industrial complex. And he knows that Pennsylvania’s swing-state-minded voters are running out of patience for this ugly system of kickbacks and payoffs that passes for American politics these days. So he’s pulling a Pentangeli and conveniently “forgetting” what all he had to do with these thugs. But you can’t put lipstick on a pig, Senator. That is, unless you want to, you know, do a little bit of this.
Was it “all lies,” Ricky Five Angels? Pennsylvania voters want to know.