“The allegations against Jefferson emerged in the heat of the 2006 congressional election season, when Democrats were castigating House Republicans for tolerating what they called a “culture of corruption.” After the raid on Jefferson’s office, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi pushed Jefferson out of his seat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
But in February, Pelosi – now speaker of the House – agreed to place Jefferson on the Homeland Security Committee. The move drew criticism from Republicans, who accused Pelosi of backing away from promises to clean up Congress.”
The FBI finds $90K wrapped in foil and hidden in frozen food in the dude’s freezer…and then the Speaker puts him on an important committee…unbelievable. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Hey Matt and all of you other guys who so gleefully noted every GOP transgression…why so silent on this one?
Well this democrat finds the Pelosi/Murtha gang to be a tragedy for this country just like Obama and Hillary with their last minute votes to cut off funding for the war. My point is, unlike some Republicans on this board, I have no problem taking my party to task for screw ups.
And to my Republican friends I would also like to recommend that they read “Invasion of the Party Snatchers” by Victor Gold. Mr. Gold is a former press secretary to Barry Goldwater and Spiro Agnew and his book is an extensive criticism of the party and how it has gone astray due to the leadership of the neocons and theocons. This guy has spent his life working on republican campaigns and is a friend of George H.W. Bush. For more on his book you can also watch his recent appearance on Cspan discussing his book at the CATO Institute.
Frankly, I think both parties have lost their way.
I’m not going to defend Jefferson or the Dems or anything else about this. But I remember in some of the threads on this and other forums that even most Dems were calling for his ouster. Heck, the Dems even tried to run several people against him as an incumbent. Somehow though, the folks in his district elected him in a runoff.
That the FBI took more than a year or so to file any charges on this makes it difficult to impose sanctions permanently. Now that charges have been filed, it is much easier to pull him from committees. I would personally prefer that he be removed from office. But we’ve seen in past years that members of Congress can happily continue to cast votes long after they’ve pled guilty to crimes.
Note: that last sentence was included specifically to bring a smile to the folks who wanted to hear the “but Republicans” defense. Enjoy it.
Spot, I think I am the only democrat on this planet who supports the U.S. effort in Iraq. It seems so clear to me that we must succeed in Iraq but my party is so bent on poking Bush in the ass and trying to get short term political support with weak kneed Americans that they are guilty of the same transgression that I accuse Art of committing: Party before flag.
I am not seeing as to how the Democratic Party has lost its way at all. They are back to do exactly what they have done nearly all of my adult life. They are winning. If current or future entitlement programs eventually bankrupt us or the country takes a few hits in the security or world leadership department, that is sometimes just the cost of doing business.
The whole William Jefferson thing is just stupidly small potatoes. Murtha steals more than that in a single bill and he gets busted for threatening to not let another Congressman do it in the future.
The Democratic Party will raise taxes and use the proceeds to buy some elections.
The only serious potential problem is if they are unable to saddle the Republicans with a loss in Iraq, either because we prevail there despite their best efforts or because the Democrats get much of the blame. That is the motivation for trying to ensure a loss before 1/2009. If, like all the debaters from last night assured us, they would make sure the war in Iraq was lost in the first 100 days of their administration, Vietnam type repercussions could be a pretty serious threat to their winning ways.
Somehow though, the folks in his district elected him in a runoff.
I think the key to that comment is that the district in question is that remarkably politically astute district otherwise known as New Orleans. We can rail on notorious Chicago political cronies, and bungling, gay, and law breaking New Jersey governors all we want, but when it comes to the king of political corruption, historically, I think Louisianna has a huge lead, and New Orleans seems to have just escalated itself too new levels in the last several years.
Have the republicans lost their way? Have the neocons and/or theocons taken over the party? If I offer to buy a copy of Gold’s book and mail it to you, free of charge, will you agree to read it and post a review? Take a moment and watch Gold on Cspan and read his bio. Take as much time as you need and let me know when you are ready to commit.
No question the Republican Party has lost its way. I remember way back when it used to be the party of limited government. That went out the window, and the Republican hold on power followed a few years later. Coincidence? I think not.
What is this about my putting my party ahead of my country? BS.
On the other hand, the Republican party is back to doing what they did best for most of life: losing.
**What is this about my putting my party ahead of my country? BS. **
Two examples: Your support for the republicans in Schiavo and FISA demonstrate that you put your party’s postions before the country, i.e. Constitution. Both have been/will be demonstrated to be instances when the republican party sold out and you supported each one. Shame on you. On a lesser note your failure to state any criticism of the piss poor planning of the pre and post war effort in Iraq and your disgusting assertion that outing Plame was okay because she was not covert despite the contrary statement by the DCIA and everyone else with knowledge on her status. Art, you are not to be taken seriously. You have followed Karl Rove to the end of the line and now you have no where to go.
Where did I support Republicans in the Schiavo affair? I thought she should be allowed to die per the court decision. I did say that I thought both sides were just trying to do what they thought was right. I was pretty critical of those stupid, one of laws, both at the state and federal level, that attempted to deal with Schiavo and no one else. The federal law went throught the Senate without objection, so I am not seeing a lot of clean Democratic hands on that issue.
When did I say outing Plame was OK? Never said it. I have called for Armitage to be indicted. Have you?
I do support the NSA foreign surveilance program, along with essentially every responsible member of Congress, many of your Democrats included.
I don’t know that any wars have been better planned than the Iraq war. If you want to name some, that might be enlightening. That is just some sound bite you picked up and swallowed. Please link to a copy to the plan for the Serbian war. How is that exit strategy working? Do you have a copy of the war plan for Somalia? How is that one going? Did Roosevelt ever work out that exit strategy for Germany or Japan?
Did you support federal intervention in the Schiavo case? Have you ever stated that Plame was not covert? Have you ever offered any criticism of the Bush handlng of Iraq whether on WMD, debathafication, troop levels, lack of body armor and proper humvees, failure to train Iraqis to stand up, etc.
“If current or future entitlement programs eventually bankrupt us or the country takes a few hits in the security or world leadership department, that is sometimes just the cost of doing business.”
Sure you are not talking about the Bush administration???
getting a laugh out of this post following the Cunningham, Ney and Delay era (remember when the repubs kept delay in power after his indictment?)
but…what I find funniest is how Pelosi continues to mentally trick fuck the repubs. remember this:
“The raid was criticized by House and Senate leaders, who said it violated more than two centuries of precedent and raised constitutional concerns about the separation of power between the executive and legislative branches of government.”
that was a statement by the leaders at the time, i.e. the repubs. now, in their current rush to see jefferson go down they’ve dropped the objections. with that objection dropped, please stand by while Nancy lines up the DoJ to start raiding repub offices with glee.
do you understand the power of reverse psychology? (hint, it works well with the wife & kids)
another example of Nancy using this was the funding/troop withdrawl veto disaster. She set GW up to pound his fist and say “troops must stay!”, then slyly gave the funding without tying it to troop w/drawl. Who do you think wants the troops out the most now?! standby for the repub scramble to draw down before the election.
Hey Matt and all of you other guys who so gleefully noted every GOP transgression…why so silent on this one?
I’m not one to jump on the Bash the Democrats bandwagon. Normally it is acknowledge the story and move on. However, I do feel ever so compelled to make one observation along those lines in general.
Here, you have started a thread regarding Democrats failing to come through on the high road, and after a couple of days, it has responses from the"right" side of the fence. Fewer than 20, and now mostly about Republicans.
Yet, if this was a thread say started by MattinSF over some inaccurately stated, or downright wrong representation about some Republican activity, we would now be on the sixth page of responses and bashings.
It certainly strikes me as a huge difference in behavior on the forum. What really puzzles me is that I have absolutely no idea why.
This is pretty mild stuff, actually. Politics in our country has a history of being much meaner and more contentious than it is now or even in the lat 15 years. At least Senators aren’t getting beaten bloody by the heavy end of a bronzed cane!
" Did you support federal intervention in the Schiavo case?" Nope.
“Have you ever stated that Plame was not covert?” I have stated that she was not covert per the definition of the statute making her outing potentially a crime. Have you ever called for Armitage to be prosecuted for the outing? No? Guess you must put your Party before country then.
“Have you ever offered any criticism of the Bush handlng of Iraq whether on WMD, debathafication, troop levels, lack of body armor and proper humvees, failure to train Iraqis to stand up, etc.” Not sure if I have criticized those things individually or not, but I am happy to admit that plenty of mistakes have been made. Still waiting for your list of wars that have been better planned and in which such mistakes have not been made. Somehow, I am pretty confident I won’t see it.
