Rob Bartlett's blues comedy bit about Buddy Cianci on "Imus in the Morning," MSNBC-TV, May 10, 2002 скачать в хорошем качестве

Rob Bartlett's blues comedy bit about Buddy Cianci on "Imus in the Morning," MSNBC-TV, May 10, 2002

In May, 2002, longtime Providence, Rhode Island Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci was on trial on federal corruption charges when Don Imus took his popular radio/TV program to the ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel, where he riffed with the celebrated mayor. But first, Imus's gifted sidekick, Rob Bartlett, performed hilariously about the culture of corruption in Little Rhody! For the record, Buddy Cianci was convicted a month later under a federal RICO statute of essentially running Providence City Hall as a criminal enterprise. The jury concluded he orchestrated the time-tested political game of "pay to play." Buddy (no last name needed in RI) served nearly five years in federal prison before returning to his role as a popular talk radio host. He ran for mayor one last time in 2014, but by then the voters had had enough of his wily ways. For the first time ever, going back all the way to 1974, he lost an election for mayor of Providence after having won six such elections, several after having already been convicted of felony assault for beating up his estranged wife's lover in 1983. That conviction in state court forced him out of office for five years, but through a plea deal he managed to avoid prison time. On January 28, 2016, just more than a year after losing his last run for mayor, Buddy died after battling cancer. "Well, we way up here in Providence Little Rhody to see a dear old friend Who in trouble but protests his innocence Say he ain’t guilty of whatever the prosecution may contend And so the mayor, he just laughed At the 25 counts of graft Of which the man has been accused And it may be sycophancy But despite the evidence preponderancy Just a victim of cirumstancy Just little innocent Vincent Cianci I ain’t no fuddy duddy I just got a case of my good ol’ buddy Buddy’s blues It’s just wrongful persecution By these political ethics nuts who did complain About some suspicious contributions Made to his Honor’s fine, upstanding re-election campaign But there just ain’t nothing worse Than Mayor Cianci’s spokeperson Making you an offer you can’t refuse The truth is suffering from distortion Been blown way out of proportion Cuz this isn’t no extortion We just call it, funding re-apportion So don’t believe the scuttlebutt This is a case that’s open and shut And I ain’t just kissin’ butt It’s a disgrace Got me a case of my buddy Buddy’s blues Those involved in the investigation Called Operation Plunder Dome Better drop these accusations Or end up in a funeral home So what he skimmed a coupla dollars Well hell Buddy is the boss But them red spots on his collar Well that ain’t no tomato sauce He may be a wheeler-dealer But he won’t do the time Cuz he didn’t do the crime And for all you low-life squealers Won’t give you two cents for anybody that done dropped a dime Cuz these charges of racketeering May soon be disappearing Like someone on a sleep-with-the-fishes cruise Cuz the bribe solicitation Is just a hurtful allegation That has absolutely no foundation It won’t bear substantiation And my only recommendation Is beware of retaliation Cuz the mayor’s reciprocation Could result in your cardiopulmonary rescuscitation So go tell everybody That things sho could get bloody This boy’s just a wee bit nutty So don’t mess with my buddy Buddy Unless you wanna wear a pair of cement shoes" -- Robert Bartlett, May 10, 2002