It hasn’t been good day for the Democrats. First the people of New Orleans inexplicably re-elected William ‘Freezer Cash’ Jefferson. Then we find out that Rahm Emanuel knew Mark Foley was a pervert and not only did nothing about it but lied about what he knew. This does nothing good for the Democrats’ anti-corruption image.
I believe the House should refuse to seat William Jefferson. They should also refuse to seat Vern Buchanan (FL-13).
Pinochet died.
I hope he rots in hell.
Pinochet expired on the day Rumsfeld gave his farewell speech in Iraq. Broken heart, ya think?
Maybe they ought to refuse to seat Rahm Emmanuel as well.
THAT would be nice…
AG
Come on Arthur!
That would only hamstring the democrats when it’s their time to shine! There time to lead!
MMMMmmmm!!!!
That would be nice, too.
AG
With old Rahm leading the way, it’ll be all roses!
Until there’s an indictment I think refusing to seat Jefferson would just ignite a lot of unnecessary racial conflict. What we “all know” is not sufficient grounds. If/when there’s an indictment the House (if I understand this correctly) can kick him out on that basis.
The vote may be inexplicable, but the lack of an indictment is even moreso.
Whether or not he is seated is a legal question. How the leadership handles his committee assigments is a policy question. He should have no committee leadership responsibility of any kind.
you’re so right. He has not been charged by the FBI. And it just maybe he can account for that cash…while it may appear strange in some circles the freezer is the preferred place to stack bills.
What, nobody here never heard of “cold, hard cash”?
Maybe they should seat Jan Schneider.
She was beaten in the primary by Kathy Harris’s banker pal. Ms. Jennings switched to democratic four years ago and tried to run on a ridiculous platform of “anybody but Katherine.” I don’t know how she won the primary this year, I left town.
Jan worked very hard for this job, but was handicapped by a friendship with Hillary. In Sarasota, money doesn’t talk, it swears.
Rahm is the answer to nothing, he’s a manipulative dishonest power hungry smug little shit (but i can hear the Kossack chorus ‘but he’s OUR little shit’).
He is more politician than Democrat, this has been apparent since Day 1 (except to the Blogosphere Boyz). Of course that means he’ll go far in this fucked up arena, we reward this kind of behavior nowadays.
as yet. People are presumed innocent, or should be, until proven guilty. I know it looks bad, but in truth, a lot of blacks don’t trust banks. (Or some older folks either (my hubby had stashed several thousand in greenbacks and boy was I grateful he let me know where he hid them the day before he died cause I never would have looked there period!)
The bright side of Rahm being exposed… That just exposes another money party elite for their behavioural defeciencies, and marks another stark difference between them and the people party kindof candidates.
Ya think?
Rahm does not have the best interests of the American people at heart. He is a DINO if there ever was one.
I confess that I am shocked, simply shocked, that a representative of the win-at-all-costs corporate whore DLC wing of the Democratic Party like Rahm Emmanuel would turn a blind eye to corruption for political convenience!
That’s the tough thing about the pragmatism vs. principles conundrum. You can balance them some of the time, but when the going gets tough, you have to choose which one to jettison first. I guess I know which one got jettisoned in this case, though when it comes to the political streetwalkers of the DLC, you can usually make an educated guess before the test results come in.
Do not blame the people of New Orleans only; there were also voters in Jefferson Parish. For a more informed viewpoint of the local dynamics predicating this race, I recommend you visit local Louisiana blogs. Here are three:
Bayou St. John David
World Class New Orleans
Ashley Morris
Karen Carter had just as many ethical and political problems as Jefferson. And to be quite honest, she ran a terrible campaign against an entrenched incumbent. I know the blogosphere is out of touch with Louisiana politics, but blaming New Orleanians for not voting in a runoff when they have more pressing concerns is simply unfair. Besides, when and if Jefferson is indicted, we will have the chance to support a real candidate in the open primary. As long as Jefferson is indicted before 2008, we should have the chance for an open primary with hopefully two strong reform outsider Democrats in the runoff. But we will have to prepare early if such a scenario would arise.