Barry Rascovar: ‘They’ are out to get ‘us’

Greedy utility companies are at fault for a near doubling of electricity rates, not our excessive use of air conditioners, lights and electronic devices.

And it’s racism and partisan politics that lie behind probes by federal and state prosecutors into the activities of state Sen. Ulysses Currie and Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon.

‘‘They” are out to get ‘‘us.”

We’re never to blame; someone else is the culprit. We’re the victims of manipulative bad guys. When things go wrong, it’s not our fault.

Take the ongoing state probe of Baltimore’s mayor. The inquiry is in its second year. Two individuals have pleaded guilty to tax charges and are cooperating with authorities. We know Dixon, when City Council president, voted on contracts benefiting her sister’s employer and that Dixon’s campaign manager received $500,000 for computer work from the City Council without a contract.

Now, State Prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh, appointed by Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich, is presenting evidence to a grand jury. The FBI has searched Dixon’s house. Staffers have been questioned. Gifts from a developer to Dixon — including fur coats — are being examined, as well as trips the two took together.

All this, we are told by Dixon defenders, is the result of a Republican witch hunt and racism toward Baltimore’s first black female mayor. Senate Majority Leader Nathaniel McFadden called it harassment. Searching the mayor’s house was ‘‘disrespectful,” he said. If Dixon were white, McFadden claimed there would not be an investigation.

Currie defenders make similar charges. The Republican U.S. attorney, Rod Rosenstein, is purposely targeting a Democratic black senator, raiding his house and carting evidence out of his Annapolis office. The prosecutor wouldn’t be doing this if Currie were a white Republican.

All this assumes the two government investigators are bigoted political pawns more interested in partisan persecutions than impartial prosecutions. ‘‘They” are out to get ‘‘us.”

Of course, if you are a prosecutor pursuing allegations of government corruption in Baltimore city and Prince George’s County, you have no choice but to investigate Democrats. Every elected official there is a Democrat. There hasn’t been a Republican elected to a local office in decades.

Nor is there an iota of proof that Rohrbaugh or Rosenstein is racially motivated.

It’s an ugly charge, a remnant of a time when blacks were victimized by official government actions. That’s no longer likely to occur in majority-black Baltimore or majority-black Prince George’s since blacks hold most of the elective offices.

Have defenders of Currie and Dixon considered the possibility that something illegal may have gone on that warrants — at a minimum — an investigation? Now is not the time for Democratic Party mouthpieces to shout about political victimization: ‘‘The Republicans are doing this to us.”

Nor is it appropriate for black officials to assert, without evidence, that these inquiries amount to racist persecutions.

Some Baltimore politicians have come up with a novel twist in their defense of the mayor. Rohrbaugh’s inquiry is interfering with Dixon’s promising plans to improve city life. We need to ignore her possible missteps years ago as City Council president and move forward.

In other words, potential wrongdoing counts only if it involves a current event. And to investigate the mayor when good things finally are starting to happen in Baltimore just isn’t right.

Justice be damned if we are uncomfortable with either the timing or the officials being targeted.

The truth is that Rohrbaugh and Rosenstein are experienced prosecutors who are dedicated lawyers. They have no political ambitions. They were trained by some of the best career criminal lawyers in government. They seem more intent on following an investigative trail — no matter where it leads — than kowtowing to the partisan demands of others.

That’s dangerous for elected officials with something to hide. Former State Sen. Tommy Bromwell can attest to this fact. So can dozens of other Maryland officials who have done jail time over the years as a result of dogged, nonpartisan, color-blind prosecutors.

Yet almost routinely, those targeted claim they are the victims. The Republican Nixon administration was out to get Democrat Marvin Mandel. The white establishment was out to get former state senators Clarence and Michael Mitchell. No one, it appears, wants to take personal responsibility for their actions.

‘‘They” did it to ‘‘us.”

Let’s give state and federal prosecutors the benefit of the doubt. Theirs is a tough, unpopular task. Both Currie and Dixon are well-liked, successful political figures with many powerful allies.

Yet we should not forget why these investigative offices exist — to watch over government activities and to ferret out potential abuses.

Indeed, defenders of Currie and Dixon who complain about the two probes ought to consider the options: If designated prosecutors are not allowed to look into possible illegalities by public officials, who will?

Barry Rascovar is a State House columnist and a communications consultant in the Baltimore area. He can be reached at brascovar@ hotmail.com.