Is there anything left in this country that has not been deeply tainted by corruption?
By now you have probably heard that dozens of people have been arrested for participating in a multi-million dollar college admissions scam. Enormous amounts of money were paid out in order to ensure that children from very wealthy families were able to get into top schools such as Yale University, Stanford University, the University of Texas and the University of Southern California. And as The Economic Collapse blog’s Michael Snyder writes, we should certainly be disgusted by these revelations, but we shouldn’t be surprised. Such corruption happens every single day on every single level of society in America. At this point our nation is so far gone that it is shocking when you run into someone that actually still has some integrity.
The “mastermind” behind this college admissions scam was a con man named William Rick Singer. He had been successfully getting the kids of wealthy people into top colleges for years using “side doors”, and he probably thought that he would never get caught.
But he did.
There were four basic methods that Singer used to get children from wealthy families into elite schools. The first two methods involved bribes…
Bribing college entrance exam administrators to allow a third party to facilitate cheating on college entrance exams, in some cases by posing as actual students,’ is the first.
Bribing university athletic coaches and administrators to designate applicants as purported athletic recruits – regardless of their athletic abilities, and in some cases, even though they did not play the sport,’ is the second.
Because many of these kids didn’t even play the sports they were being “recruited” for, in some cases Photoshop was used to paste their faces on to the bodies of real athletes…
In order to get non-athletic kids admitted to college as athletes, Singer often had to create fake profiles for them. Sometimes this involved fabricating resumes that listed them having played on elite club teams, but to finish the illusion Singer and his team would also use Photoshop to combine photos of the kids with actual athletes in the sport.
A number of college coaches became exceedingly wealthy from taking bribes to “recruit” kids that would never play once they got to school, but now a lot of those same coaches are probably going to prison.
The third and fourth methods that Singer used involved more direct forms of cheating…
‘Having a third party take classes in place of the actual students, with the understanding that the grades earned in those classes would be submitted as part of the students’ application,’ is the third.
The fourth was ‘submitting falsified applications for admission to universities … that, among other things, included the fraudulently obtained exam scores and class grades, and often listed fake awards and athletic activities.’
Of course the main thing that the media is focusing on is the fact that some celebrities are among those being charged in this case, and that includes Lori Loughlin from “Full House”…
It was important to “Full House” star Lori Loughlin that her kids have “the college experience” that she missed out on, she said back in 2016.
Loughlin, along with “Desperate Housewives” actress Felicity Huffman, is among those charged in a scheme in which parents allegedly bribed college coaches and insiders at testing centers to help get their children into some of the most elite schools in the country, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Despite how cynical I have become lately, I never would have guessed that Lori Loughlin was capable of such corruption.
After all, she seems like such a nice lady on television.
But apparently she was extremely determined to make sure that her daughters had “the college experience”, and so Loughlin and her husband shelled out half a million dollars in bribes…
Loughlin and Giannulli ‘agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team – despite the fact that they did not participate in crew – thereby facilitating their admission to USC,’ according to the documents.
As bad as this scandal is, can we really say that it is much worse than what is going on around the rest of the country every single day?
Of course not.
We are a very sick nation, and we are getting sicker by the day.
William Rick Singer had a good con going, and he should have stopped while he was ahead…
William “Rick” Singer said he had the inside scoop on getting into college, and anyone could get in on it with his book, “Getting In: Gaining Admission To Your College of Choice.”
“This book is full of secrets,” he said in Chapter 1 before dispensing advice on personal branding, test-taking and college essays.
But Singer had even bigger secrets, and those would cost up to $1.2 million.
But like most con men, Singer just had to keep pushing the envelope, and in the end it is going to cost him everything.
The ironic thing is that our colleges and universities are pulling an even bigger con. They have convinced all of us that a college education is the key to a bright future, but meanwhile the quality of the “education” that they are providing has deteriorated dramatically. I spent eight years in school getting three degrees, and so I know what I am talking about. For much more on all this, please see my recent article entitled “50 Actual College Course Titles That Prove That America’s Universities Are Training Our College Students To Be Socialists”.
I know that it is not fashionable to talk about “morality” and “values” these days, but the truth is that history has shown us that any nation that is deeply corrupt is not likely to survive for very long.
Our founders understood this, and former president John Adams once stated that our Constitution “was made only for a moral and religious people”…
Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
Today, we are neither moral or religious.
What we are is deeply corrupt, and America will not survive if we keep going down this path.
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From the looks of the few names that have been posted on the net their work as entertainers lacked as well. It is always easier to either cheat or snivel your way past the goal line and this is in keeping the current social dogma prevalent in the media, the entertainment industry and the education industry…….
Additionally in the government arena using the diversity dodge is the same thing. Hire a social or political candidate and then you might have to hire a contractor to do his, hers, or its work…..
Glad I got my sheep skins 40 years ago……
Hogg. David Hogg was accepted into Harvard. Chicanery is written all over that acceptance.
My grandfather’s favorite phrase (I remember this from the 60’s): “It’s all a racket.”
That pretty much sums up all facets of our society. I would say this is the tip of the iceberg. It’s interesting they call the students “children”. They’re at least 18, they are adults. They were fully aware of this scam. I’d like all the names published.
Yes. The ‘Universities’ refuse to communicate w/ or give information to the Parents about their ‘chill’on. Come on, sauce-for-goose-is-sauce-for-the-gander.
Notice the goal was “the college experience” not to actually learn anything useful that the child could then use to make a living on later…..why because these elite kids will never need to make a living. They ill trade on their paternity and celebrity one step removed and of course their trust funds!
These idiot “stars” and other prominent people say that this is all about “the college experience”. Listen, I know through my practice, many of these types, and I can tell you from first hand knowledge – this has NOTHING to do with the kids experience, and EVERYTHING to do with the prestige of bragging to their asshole friends at their cocktail parties how their little darling is better than the other Brent’s and Penelope’s because their offspring got in to Harvard or Yale, or Princeton or insert ivy league college here…..or how they measure up because like Madison or Clint, their offspring will be spending their days walking the elite campus as well.
Most of these people could not care less if their kids even WANT to go to college. All they care about is that their little trophy looks good to the other narcissist nitwits they mingle with.
A lot of them don’t even know much about their own offspring, and usually the nanny or housekeeper knows more about them. This is like everything else in these shells of human beings life – just another object, like the Tiffany ring, or the Mercedes in the driveway that they can use to make them feel superior to the guy next door, down the street, or at the office.
Unfortunately, most of the kids were raised like this, so they in turn will probably become just as narcissistic and shallow in later life. Just like the cycle of poverty or violence in poorer circles, the same cycle of narcissism and shallow stupidity tends to be generational with these people.
One other thing to note is that these are the mid to lower level elite. The REAL elites, like the Bushes, Rockefeller’s etc. basically “old money” have been doing this for years. They buy a building, fund a medical center etc. This is just about those in the lower echelons “new money” trying to get in on the action, and the real elites don’t like them horning in on their action. So, voila, a “scandal” ensues and the FBI goes after them. I call bullshit. The big money is just weeding out the smaller competition, and like so many other things today, using the government as their handmaidens. Do you think that this would be a scandal had it been a Vanderbilt buying a new law library and then just a coincidence that their offspring was accepted? Yea, thought so.
So these kids got into colleges that they otherwise could not, without “assistance”. What do you think affirmative action is? Same thing, different method. One method . . . money, another method . . .skin color.
A measure of the depth of corruption? This writer has no understanding of corruption or its depth.
This is America, man. You got to get it before someone else does and if you can’t compete then you’re worthless POS , because muh capitalism .
“The 2008 financial crisis sparked an incipient revolution. Previously, Americans dissatisfied with their Progressive rulers had imagined that voting for Republicans might counter them. But then, as three-fourths of Americans opposed bailing out big banks with nearly a trillion dollars, the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates joined; most Republican legislators joined all Democrats; The Wall Street Journal joined The New York Times, and National Review joined The Nation; in telling Americans that doing this was essential, and that their disapproval counted for nothing. And then, just as high-handedly, all these bipartisan rulers dropped that bailout scheme, and adopted another—just as unaccountably. They showed “government by the people, for the people” to be a fable.
This forced the recognition that there exists a remarkably uniform, bipartisan, Progressive ruling class; that it includes, most of the bureaucracies of federal and state governments, the judiciary, the educational establishment, the media, as well as major corporate officials; that it had separated itself socially, morally, and politically from the rest of society, whose commanding heights it monopolized; above all that it has contempt for the rest of America, and that ordinary Americans have no means of persuading this class of anything, because they don’t count.”
https://americanmind.org/essays/our-revolutions-logic/
Bush On Low Income Loans To Encourage Buying Homes
Do not hire anyone from an elite school without massive vetting.
The NY Post has listed all the names and quite a few pictures. At this point is seems the perps are all White people …. a disgrace to our race.
Why no kneegrows? Oh, yeah …. they get in when they type in “niggah” on the application.
Why no Asians? Oh yeah …. they actually ARE smart.
William Rick Singer
Stuck – you should see what the Asians do in Asia (India, China, etc.) to get into college. They make these bunch of cheaters look like amateurs. They bring cheating to a whole new level. Seriously.
It is just that the US competition is so weak, they do not have to cheat to get into US colleges.
Well no shit money and privilege and bribery in America!! Who’d a thunk it. The deep state is throwing a few third stringers under the bus to cover their asses. It’s not fair but lifes not fair.
It may not be fair, but it is delightful from afar.
I am SHOCKED … that anyone is shocked by this “revelation”. From an extremely early age I have understood that this is the way of things. I understood it like I knew the sun would rise in the East every morning. And I’m WHITE!
What I DON’T understand is who is behind this upending of the social order and what is the motivation?
When you enter the Emerald City, it pays to look behind the curtain.
Irish,
” From an extremely early age I have understood that this is the way of things”.
Way last century I grew up in a mid-western state where every student who graduated from an accredited state high school was guaranteed admission to any of the state colleges and universities. The hitch: you had to earn your right to remain enrolled by, among other things, keeping your grades up.
Some students proved they were a mis-match and promptly flunked out after the first semester.
Yes, that was then and this is now. Back then a college degree required more than just “participating” and often signified that the holder of that degree had some potential.
After what I experienced with “higher education” for my own kids a generation later I quickly developed doubts about the whole scheme/scam. I feel for parents today who are faced with how to guide their college age kids to make a good choice while not bankrupting family finances and values.
Aren’t you curious about the reason for the front page promotion of this story? It isn’t really much of a story at all, this has been going on for a very long time, the only new development is that there are actual businesses that arrange these deals. In the past it was always a checkbook in the admissions office, bing, bang, boom.
So again, why this, why now?
Maybe because it has become so prevalent that they are taking away too many spots from “more deserving” blacks and moosimfuks.
To show more evil “white privilege”. But then affirmative action good “black privilege” is A-OK.
This.
This, and the fact that the bribery and corruption was non-institutional. Meaning, that as long as the bribery went to the school, no problem. When little guys take a piece of their action (e.g., coaches) then and only then do the Feds get involved.
Not to worry. It ( America: Land of Lucifer ) will fall into the pit of hell sooner than we all think. At age 58 I think it will happen in my lifetime. Cheers .
It takes the focus away from the crimes of the political class and bankers; and scratches at the surface of ills rampant in the untrammeled workings of the economic market.”
Why isn’t the FBI prosecuting all of the college entrance boards for their systematic ethnic discrimination against whites and asians, in favor of their fellow Jews, in violation of the Civil Rights Act?
http://www.unz.com/runz/the-myth-of-american-meritocracy/
Many thanks for the link; it is very informative and thought provoking.
Flawed people governing flawed people = circular logic. What do you expect? A logical loophole? Well, while everyone enjoys their delusions of checks and balances, I’ll be working very hard on perfecting my nature.
This country has always been corrupt, and perhaps even more so in the past. The only difference I see is the most successful at corruption really don’t care if its out in the open anymore. In fact, I think they rather enjoy rubbing their success in your face. They own too much for you or anyone to challenge them. And besides, what makes you think you are any better than them? Me thinks everyone is just jealous.
Who here thinks any of these people are of great importance? All I see are tater tots being prepared for the fryer-small potatoes. Just enough food to satisfy your hunger for revenge (i.e. Justice).
“If you want to be like the folks on the hill, first you must learn how to smile as you kill. “- a famous dead person once said.
How many no-talent rich kids got in and graduated with a degree in something not too demanding ? Bet many then went on to something like law where the undergrad degree doesn’t matter.
Big $$ bribes to get into law and grad schools too ? Top 3 most expensive : Columbia, Cornell, NYU.
Bet a quarter of the Congress comes from those .. Bet Mr. Singer had many congressional customers.
The burning question remains…for what purpose did this all come to light at this moment? Same with the Boeing Super 8 motel thingy. As long as we’re listening to what the MSM is discussing, we’re all dupes.
Well, this was interesting . . . .
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/drops-israeli-occupied-designation-golan-heights-190314064314828.html
Background:
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Cheney-Linked-Company-to-Drill-in-Occupied-Golan-Heights.html
https://www.worldoil.com/news/2017/1/11/genie-energy-launches-drilling-services-company-in-israel
https://www.profitconfidential.com/stock/genie-energy-stock-golan-heights-oil-discovery-could-shake-middle-east-politics/
http://www.renegadetribune.com/syria-ready-for-war-to-regain-oil-rich-golan-heights/
The Strategic Advisory Board of Genie Oil and Gas:
Michael Steinhardt (SAB Chairman)
Richard (Dick) Cheney
Mary Landrieu
Rupert Murdoch
Bill Richardson
Jacob Rothschild, OM, GBE
Dr. Lawrence Summers
R. James Woolsey
The time is rapidly approaching when parents and their children will realize that post secondary education is largely a racket, a fraud that will not help them but will certainly hurt them. MANY Generation Z kids tell me that college is a poor investment. Once this notion becomes predominant, then you will see the colleges fold. Once enough people decide that Federal Government Guaranteed Student Loans are a fraud, then it will come to an end. It will be so lovely to watch it unfold, and one day we’ll be back to where we were many decades ago. We will see student enrollment drop to about 10% of what it is now.