STILL AROUND
Joe Kennedy
Representative William Jefferson (D-LA) is still serving in the United States House of Representatives. When he showed up for the beginning of the session in 2006, he received a standing ovation from his fellow Democrats. Why? Because he's being persecuted by the vast right wing conspiracy, yet beat them to win reelection. For his troubles, he was first to be returned to his seat on the House Ways and Means committee (which handles the finances of the country) but when the pressure of the evil Republicans got too much she gave him a seat in the Homeland Security committee instead.
Why is the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy© being so cruel to this black man? Is it racism? Is it a hatred of Louisiana and in particular New Orleans which President Bush allowed to die without lifting a finger?* Well maybe it has something to do with finding $90,000 in cash from a 100 grand bribe in his freezer at home.
The men who gave him the bribe pled guilty of bribing a public official and found guilty. His older sister, 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson was found guilty of multiple counts of bribe. His daughter former state Rep. Jalila Jefferson-Bullock, steered millions of dollars over the course of a decade or so to three charities associated with the family, including four cars allegedly intended for charity. His son Mose diverted over five million dollars of state funds to renovate their own properties. They took state money for their charity, Care Unlimited, and used it for themselves.
Why is the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy© being so cruel to this black man? Is it racism? Is it a hatred of Louisiana and in particular New Orleans which President Bush allowed to die without lifting a finger?* Well maybe it has something to do with finding $90,000 in cash from a 100 grand bribe in his freezer at home.
The men who gave him the bribe pled guilty of bribing a public official and found guilty. His older sister, 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson was found guilty of multiple counts of bribe. His daughter former state Rep. Jalila Jefferson-Bullock, steered millions of dollars over the course of a decade or so to three charities associated with the family, including four cars allegedly intended for charity. His son Mose diverted over five million dollars of state funds to renovate their own properties. They took state money for their charity, Care Unlimited, and used it for themselves.
Maybe that has something to do with why Representative William Jefferson was voted out of the Congressional Black Caucus by fellow members and is under indictment by the FBI. Yet he still is working as a representative of the state of Louisiana. Apparently, being a criminal does not particularly matter to the Democratic Party leadership, nor does it disqualify someone from serving in congress, as long as you're a Democrat. Taking bribes? Well we'll move you to this other committee.
Like Mayor Kwame in Detroit, who still holds his position despite incredibly dire criminal charges, they won't step down, and the leadership and fellow members of congress won't pressure them to. The media covered House Speaker Tom Delay's (R-TX) accusations and criminal investigations nonstop, and although he's not yet been found guilty or even tried for anything, he stepped down from his position and did not seek reelection. Apparently the GOP is doing this all wrong: he should have just stayed in power and blamed other people for his plight.
This kind of arrogance, corruption, and contempt for the law was why the voters of America flung the Democratic Party out of office in 1994. Will it happen again? It took an awful long time for the voters to finally get sick of it and take action. So far House Speaker Pelosi's (D-CA) "most ethical congress ever" has surpassed the GOP corruption over twelve years and they've not even finished their first session. Yet if the press doesn't bother paying it much heed, will it matter? Voters got disgusted with the GOP congress largely because the legacy media spent a year and a half on wall-to-wall coverage of allegations and accusations against Republican candidates. Things Democrats had done before and were still doing were covered with great detail by the media when Republicans were involved. Have sex with underage house pages? Get reelected if you're a Democrat. Send an 18 year old page a naughty e-mail as a Republican? Get a rope.
At some point the news always leaks out, particularly in the internet age. The media doesn't have the lock on the news they once did, which explains why they're much more reluctant to cover things that hurt their guys in power these days than they have been in the past. In 1994, you knew that Democratic congressmen were exempting themselves from laws they passed, "borrowing" money from the House Post Office they had no intention of and often never repaid, that House Speaker Rostenkowski (D-IL) was a crook who eventually was convicted of laundering money and spent 18 months in prison (but was pardoned by President Clinton as he left office). The corruption was well known at the time because the media was covering it, sensing a story and disliking politicians.
Times have changed. Now they are willing to give Democrats a pass and treat corrupt or unethical Republicans like they ought to be. See, that's the problem the right has with the media: not that they mistreat the GOP, give them hell. It's that they treat the Democratic Party with kid gloves.
*President Bush oversaw the largest and most costly emergency response in US history, arriving as swiftly and effectively as every other disaster in recent memory.
Like Mayor Kwame in Detroit, who still holds his position despite incredibly dire criminal charges, they won't step down, and the leadership and fellow members of congress won't pressure them to. The media covered House Speaker Tom Delay's (R-TX) accusations and criminal investigations nonstop, and although he's not yet been found guilty or even tried for anything, he stepped down from his position and did not seek reelection. Apparently the GOP is doing this all wrong: he should have just stayed in power and blamed other people for his plight.
This kind of arrogance, corruption, and contempt for the law was why the voters of America flung the Democratic Party out of office in 1994. Will it happen again? It took an awful long time for the voters to finally get sick of it and take action. So far House Speaker Pelosi's (D-CA) "most ethical congress ever" has surpassed the GOP corruption over twelve years and they've not even finished their first session. Yet if the press doesn't bother paying it much heed, will it matter? Voters got disgusted with the GOP congress largely because the legacy media spent a year and a half on wall-to-wall coverage of allegations and accusations against Republican candidates. Things Democrats had done before and were still doing were covered with great detail by the media when Republicans were involved. Have sex with underage house pages? Get reelected if you're a Democrat. Send an 18 year old page a naughty e-mail as a Republican? Get a rope.
At some point the news always leaks out, particularly in the internet age. The media doesn't have the lock on the news they once did, which explains why they're much more reluctant to cover things that hurt their guys in power these days than they have been in the past. In 1994, you knew that Democratic congressmen were exempting themselves from laws they passed, "borrowing" money from the House Post Office they had no intention of and often never repaid, that House Speaker Rostenkowski (D-IL) was a crook who eventually was convicted of laundering money and spent 18 months in prison (but was pardoned by President Clinton as he left office). The corruption was well known at the time because the media was covering it, sensing a story and disliking politicians.
Times have changed. Now they are willing to give Democrats a pass and treat corrupt or unethical Republicans like they ought to be. See, that's the problem the right has with the media: not that they mistreat the GOP, give them hell. It's that they treat the Democratic Party with kid gloves.
*President Bush oversaw the largest and most costly emergency response in US history, arriving as swiftly and effectively as every other disaster in recent memory.
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Corruption, US Congress, William Jefferson
posted by Christopher Taylor at 8:48 AM
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