Sunday, 7 December 2008

William Jefferson loses re-election bid.

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La. voters oust indicted Rep. William Jefferson!

Voters in Louisiana sent two Republicans to Congress on Saturday, ousting indicted Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson. Remember this clown? He is the one that federal agents found $90,000 dollars in alleged bribe money wrapped in plastic hidden in his freezer. The 61-year-old Jefferson has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, laundering money and misusing his congressional office.

The 2007 indictment claims Jefferson received more than $500,000 in bribes and demanded millions more between 2000 and 2005, including the $90,000 found in the freezer of his Washington home. Jefferson denies wrongdoing.

No trial date has been set. That's another thing that really angers me greatly about this, if it was you or i that took these bribes as common citizens we would have been swiftboated thru court and be sitting in jail within months. Yet this esteem congressman is still walking around free and still has his job! Wake up America!

What I found most interesting was how people thought about this. Take for instance the following, "People are innocent until proven guilty," said Faye Leggins, 54, an educator and Democrat who moved back to the city six months ago and still has fresh memories of Hurricane Katrina. She voted for Jefferson on Saturday. "He has enough seniority, so he can do a lot to redevelop this city."

Sure he does, but in all the time he has been in congress since Katrina, has the city of New Orleans benefited from his seniority? Is the city rebuilt? Do the people there have their homes back? Did he use his seniority to pressure the insurance companies to treat people fairly? A resounding "NO" to all of these questions. And yet, she voted for him because he has seniority. What about voting for someone who is honest? Who has Integrity? Who truly cares about his constituents?

I've said this before, but I think in Ms. Leggins case it deserves to be said again. "You can not solve problems with the same mentality that created the problem." In other words, we keep voting for the same Senators and Representatives, hoping that they will use their "seniority" to make things all better. When in fact, they have no desire or impetus to do so because then their PAC and corporate buddies would not be lining their pockets with freezer bills.

In ending, I'm glad to see one of the congressional weasels got the citizen axe. I can only hope that he gets a fair and honest trial, with a fair and honest verdict, and a fair and honest sentence.

"A general dissolution of the principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy.... While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.... If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security." - Samuel Adams

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