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December 10, 2006

Laying Blame

A lot of people want to push the blame for our problems in Iraq off on the Iraqi people. One wonders if those same people are equally eager to blame the American people for our political problems, particularly after New Orleans voters returned William 'Who Needs Banks When You've Got Room in the Freezer?' Jefferson to office yesterday?

That sends a pretty clear message to the average Congressman, doesn't it? Steal all you want, we'll vote for you anyhow. Granted, Randy Cunningham is in jail and several investigations, including one into Jefferson, continue, but politicians hear the voice of the voters loud and clear, and they will note with glee what the voters of New Orleans have said: the FBI may throw you in jail, but voters don't care about corruption otherwise. They may say that they do, but the evidence points rather starkly in the other direction.

This election will have repercussions far beyond returning a probably-corrupt pol to Washington. Speaker Pelosi's plans for making Congress more ethical may as well be circular-filed now, because she's not going to get much support for them now. And who can blame the Congress for not wanting to restrain themselves voluntarily when there's no evidence the voters will do it if they don't? Congress may still pass a pro forma ethics bill, but this guarantees there will be no teeth in it.

And when people complain, why won't Congress do anything about corruption, I do hope the media reminds them of the wages of corruption as demonstrated by William Jefferson.

Update: David Weigel offers an interesting take on why Jefferson won at Hit & Run.


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Posted at December 10, 2006 06:56 AM

Andrew Olmsted

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Comments

"That sends a pretty clear message to the average Congressman, doesn't it? Steal all you want, we'll vote for you anyhow."

Maybe. But it's hardly as if this is a new "message" from Louisana, after all, is it? The state where Edwin Edwards won re-election under the slogan Vote For The Crook: It's Important, and that just following, again, the eternal tradition of Louisiana politicians since long before Huey Long.

Not that I'm making any excuses for Jefferson, or with other than that he'd been tossed on his ear; I'm just saying what I said: it's an ancient message in Louisiana. (Think of it as a federalism issue! ;-))

Posted by: Gary Farber [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 10, 2006 04:56 PM

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