27 September—Bill Safire died 15 years ago today. He’d have appreciated the last sentence of Rocco Pugliese’s letter in yesterday’s Republican-American: “May Nov. 5 cleanse America of Donald Trump.” In fact, Bill Safire could have written it.

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After what’s claimed to have been an intensive federal investigation, Rotten Apple Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted in a 57-page presentment of a grand jury empanelled by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York on five federal charges involving bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals. The charges date back to 2014, when Adams was Brooklyn Borough President.

Of course, Adams insists the charges are “entirely false” and that he’ll “fight these injustices with every ounce of [his] strength and spirit.” And, for all we know, Hizzoner may be right. And innocent. Of those charges, anyway. Do you trust the FBI?

Of course, too, all of Hizzoner’s political pals have joined forces. Not to defend him, mind you, but to coerce Adams into resigning before New York Governor Kathy Hochul fires him—if she listens to them. (The Rotten Apple charter provides for that.) All the embattled mayor’s fair-weather friends insist that Adams is innocent until actually proven guilty. Or until he confesses. Yet they want him out right now based on mere allegations. What do they say about friends like that?

Certainly that’s how politicians operate. Remember how U.S. Senator Al Franken resigned his seat under duress in January 2018 after a few women accused him of groping or forcibly kissing them? Even though he maintained the allegations were untrue. As they were later proved to be. And as many of his colleagues (who invariably called themselves his friends) later regretted having pretty well forced him to resign.

But it’s not just self-serving politicians who rush to judgement like that and don’t hesitate to sacrifice their colleagues and supposed friends (who would probably do the same, mind you) for even the merest tincture of alleged impropriety or even deviation from a perceived norm.

Sadly, that’s what American society has descended to . . .