Redskins Diehard Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Another corrupt politician... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502752.html Around Washington, Rep. William J. Jefferson nurtured a reputation as a serious, even wonkish, lawmaker, a grade-school dropouts' son who graduated from Harvard Law School and was elected Louisiana's first black congressman since Reconstruction. Then came the allegations last August that Jefferson had orchestrated a corruption scheme. Federal investigators are targeting the Democratic congressman, 58, for allegedly demanding cash and other favors for himself and relatives, in exchange for using his congressional clout to arrange African business deals. A former aide recently pleaded guilty to bribing Jefferson and is cooperating with authorities, and sources familiar with the case say a plea agreement with the lawmaker is being explored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiebear Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Get them... Get them all.. There should be 10 Ethics committees so they can load balance all the corruption up there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Oh Louisiana... it never really changes down there, does it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskins Diehard Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 Yeah, I wonder what this guy did to help his constituents during the hurricane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Yeah, I wonder what this guy did to help his constituents during the hurricane? Well, to be honest, that is not a legislative thing. The executive branch handles disaster stuff, be it the President, the Governor of Louisiana or the Mayor of New Orleans. No soldiers or state troopers answer directly to a US Rep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskins Diehard Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 Well, to be honest, that is not a legislative thing. The executive branch handles disaster stuff, be it the President, the Governor of Louisiana or the Mayor of New Orleans. No soldiers or state troopers answer directly to a US Rep. So then, this Representative has no responsibility in times like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 So then, this Representative has no responsibility in times like this? He has plenty of responsibility afterwards, in writing new laws and stuff. During the hurricane and flooding crisis itself, nope, he is not in charge of anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskins Diehard Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 He has plenty of responsibility afterwards, in writing new laws and stuff. During the hurricane and flooding crisis itself, nope, he is not in charge of anything. Your point is well taken. However, I think a lack of authority and a lack of responsibilty is two different things. I guess from my perspective, if something like this went down in my town I would expect my representatives on the state level to get state help, and my representatives on the federal level to get federal help. And they better be doing everything in their power to do that. Perhaps this guy did it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskin Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 He's the same mo-fo that had the national guard drive him into the city to his house... .so he could remove what was described as a small freezer like box full of papers and loot. Then... the truck got stuck... and they had to call in another National Guard truck to pull the first out. It's alleged that the box was full of cash from African business men who brided him for telecom deals. :doh: He's a ****roach and a crook.... who should be tried and punished to the highest extent the law will allow. No deals, no light sentence because he's a politician, he should get just what the great unwashed would get in these circumstances. What he'll get? As soon as he finds and dusts off the race card.... a big bag of nothing. A slap on the hand and the media spotlight to climb on his soap box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Your point is well taken. However, I think a lack of authority and a lack of responsibilty is two different things. I guess from my perspective, if something like this went down in my town I would expect my representatives on the state level to get state help, and my representatives on the federal level to get federal help. And they better be doing everything in their power to do that.Perhaps this guy did it Yep. Democrats have responsibility, but no authority. Republicans . . . ----- Sorry, I had to. One of my favorite scenes from Starship Troopers is when the star is receiving his moral education, and the instructor is pointing out that responsibility always equals authority, as a law of nature. (His point was that the reason the Great Democracies failed was because the voter had ultimate authority, but refused to take responsibility.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskins Diehard Posted February 18, 2006 Author Share Posted February 18, 2006 Yep. Democrats have responsibility, but no authority. Republicans . . . ----- Sorry, I had to. One of my favorite scenes from Starship Troopers is when the star is receiving his moral education, and the instructor is pointing out that responsibility always equals authority, as a law of nature. (His point was that the reason the Great Democracies failed was because the voter had ultimate authority, but refused to take responsibility.) Your point is correct on the federal level only. The Democrats had plenty of both on the state and local. Of course, none of that is really related to the fact that this guy was crooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 He's the same mo-fo that had the national guard drive him into the city to his house... .so he could remove what was described as a small freezer like box full of papers and loot. Then... the truck got stuck... and they had to call in another National Guard truck to pull the first out. It's alleged that the box was full of cash from African business men who brided him for telecom deals. :doh: He's a ****roach and a crook.... who should be tried and punished to the highest extent the law will allow. No deals, no light sentence because he's a politician, he should get just what the great unwashed would get in these circumstances. What he'll get? As soon as he finds and dusts off the race card.... a big bag of nothing. A slap on the hand and the media spotlight to climb on his soap box. If everything you say is true, I agree. Nothing I hate more then a crooked politician, hell we had our fair share up here with Finneran, but we FINALLY got him ousted. Abuse of power is so freakin unAmerican it makes me sick to my stomach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 He's the same mo-fo that had the national guard drive him into the city to his house... .so he could remove what was described as a small freezer like box full of papers and loot. Then... the truck got stuck... and they had to call in another National Guard truck to pull the first out. It's alleged that the box was full of cash from African business men who brided him for telecom deals. :doh: Um, I haven't seen any statement by anyone who saw the box opened. So I suspect it would be more accurate to say "what was described by people with no firsthand knowledge as a small " and "It's alleged by people with no firsthand knowledge that the box was full . . " Now, as the event was described, the Congressman had the NG truck drive him to his house (which had been searched by the FBI a few weeks earlier), he went inside alone, removed a box, and when they found the truck was stuck, they called a hellicopter for the Congressman, who refused to get on the chopper for half an hour (arguing about taking the box with him? I never saw anybody acuse him of that.). To me, that's enough to convict the guy of heing an a-hole. But was the box full of South African loot? Or his wife's jewelry, his flood insurance, and the receipts for his appliances and the big screen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.