“Big money, big money” is the popular rallying cry by contestants on the TV program “Wheel of Fortune.” We’re big fans of the letter-turning show, too.
But it’s no match for the big money flying around the Washington area these days.
First, there was the $100,000 check that Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson allegedly had his wife, Leslie, flush down the commode as FBI agents were knocking at the door.
But we really were mesmerized -- is that the right word? -- by FBI reports that Leslie Johnson had stuck $79,600 in her bra in an attempt to conceal the money. Apart from the physical effort to do that, wouldn’t someone expect to be searched if arrested?
As of this writing, there’s no description of the cash involved. In one of the best little stories about the corruption allegations, Washington Post reporter Martin Weil wrote that if it were $100 bills, a stack of 796 of them would be about 6 inches long and about 3 1/4 inches thick.
Weil went no further in describing the situation, and neither will we. But the tawdry episode -- if true -- reminds us of the old tune “We’re in the Money” from the 1933 movie “Gold Diggers.” Some of the lyrics: “We're in the money. Come on, my honey. Let's lend it, spend it, send it rolling along!”
Nowhere in there is there anything about stashing cash in your underwear.
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• Costly mistake.
The other big money news comes from the Washington Redskins. On Monday, hours before the highly anticipated Redskins-Eagles game, the team let it be known that quarterback Donovan McNabb was being signed to a five-year, $78 million deal.
We guess that’ll get his confidence up. Now, we don’t cover sports teams much, but we have to believe that the contract would have been less than $78 million -- and maybe not for as long -- if the team hadn’t humiliated McNabb two weeks ago.
That’s when head coach Mike Shanahan benched McNabb for the final two minutes of the game in which the Redskins lost to the Detroit Lions.
People who do make it their business to cover sports say there may be even more sweeteners embedded in the contract. It’s all an effort to nail down McNabb, pay him back and quiet the controversy that’s threatening the comity of the team.
• More money. More money.
And speaking of the Redskins, Ward 2 D.C. Council member Jack Evans is still interested in having the team move back into the city from its woeful location in Prince George’s County. (Woeful because it’s hard to get there and back, and because few people, if any, actually like the stadium that was thrown up there.)
Evans, appearing on WAMU 88.5 FM last week, said he continues to explore how Redskins owner Dan Snyder could cut short his long-term contract in Maryland and return to the city. Of course, Snyder would have to foot the $2 billion stadium-construction cost.
But he’d have an idyllic spot on the old RFK Memorial Stadium site. And we might get Snyder's corporate headquarters, too. City officials would likely require that it be moved in from Virginia as part of any deal.
The public debate over what the city may or may not do may well be fierce. But many fans know that if it’s done right, all those difficult trips to FedEx Field would be just a bad memory.
• Transition clock ticking.
Mayor-elect Vincent Gray pretty much knew after the Sept. 14 Democratic primary that he would be the city’s next mayor.
That was nine weeks ago. Gray’s transition team -- formally announced only two weeks ago -- is still pulling itself together. And there is low-level grumbling that Gray needs to start announcing appointments for his government, or at least give a few positive signals to various department heads that he intends to keep them on after his Jan. 2 inauguration.
Some business and community leaders say Gray could start by announcing that Police Chief Cathy Lanier will be staying. Sure, it would irritate the Fraternal Order of Police, the political arm of which endorsed Gray. The order has battled Chief Lanier, but for the most part she enjoys immense popularity across the city’s racial and geographic divides.
Some supporters of Lanier’s say she’s starting to casually look around in case Gray doesn’t reappoint her. The clock is ticking. The holidays are coming. People are making contingency plans. Jan. 2 will be here before we know it. As one fan of the mayor-elect said, it’s time to saddle up.
