Redstate

You ask the average person on the street who Bob Ney, or Duke Cunningham is and they will have no idea.

As for this diary. Most corrupt politician ever? This guy isn't even in the top 10.

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why ... I dream of things that never were and ask why not. - Robert Kennedy

Are you going on record saying that Reps and Dems corruption are equally covered by the media?

That was really my point when I used the ave person on the street.

Just because you have the right, doesn't mean you should.

Since there is no way to quantify this sort of thing I don't feel too concerned about going on the record about it.

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why ... I dream of things that never were and ask why not. - Robert Kennedy

I'm using the metric of "Jefferson’s 16-count, 94 page indictment, for which he could serve more than 200 years in prison if convicted" ... what're you using?

Or do you want me to change the title to Most Corrupt Congressman Ever?

George W. Bush: He's A Folder ... Not A Fighter.

We could start off with Dirty Dan Rostenkowski who was indicted on 17 counts.

And none of these guys compare to the politicians of the early part of the last century who made corruption an art form. Warren Harding and the Tea Pot boys?

But when people remember someone 130 years later solely because of your corruption, well you have really hit the high water mark for corruption.

And this doesn't even address the countless Congresscritters who have been busted for all sorts of really nasty stuff.

Just because they are lopping on more and more indictments to make sure you actually get someone convicted these days doesn't make them MORE corrupted.

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why ... I dream of things that never were and ask why not. - Robert Kennedy

... Congressman ever. Happy?

Besides, it's just a blog post title and it doesn't make much of a difference anyway.

George W. Bush: He's A Folder ... Not A Fighter.

Lincoln's Secretary of War, that he would steal a hot stove if he could find a way to get his arms around it. The word "shoddy" remains in our vocabulary because of the cheap wool, called shoddy and made from floor sweepings, that went into corrupt contracts to provide uniforms for the Union Army. Even burial of the war dead was not immune; the contractors got paid for each body buried, so anything that resembled a bone was just lumped together in a grave and the contractor got his money. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In Vino Veritas

Or do you want me to change the title to Most Corrupt Congressman Ever?

or even most corrupt American politician. But most corrupt politician? You have to be joking. Ferdinand Marcos stole 10% of his country's GDP - and it is not even a poor country, close to the median, by global standards. Sani Abacha - mostly famed these days in the e-mails purporting to be from his widow - really did steal billions. One reason people still fall for that scam is that the money really is still out there.

Quentin Langley
Editor of http://www.quentinlangley.net

International Editor of

George W. Bush: He's A Folder ... Not A Fighter.

I bet they SURE know Tom Delay is -- and not for his years in the role as Majority Leader and Whip, but for the phony charges by ding-dong Ronnie Earle, and a completely media-fueled swirl of corruption.

I'm betting they also know who Mark Foley is too -- and I'm VERY doubtful your average person knows who Gerry Studds is, much less who Mel Reynolds is (2 guys who actually committed sex crimes, where Foley evidently did not).

And it's outside congressional scope here, but I'm betting the name recognition of Scooter Libby is about 20-1 compared to Sandy Berger.

There's no debate here. The press is shamelessly leftist, and dirty with it.

It's war -- so when can we start shooting back at the enemy Democrats?

And all we do is blast our own and then accuse them of not standing up for themselves. Too sad.

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As long as Democrats keep getting elected, conservatives will never get what they want.

HI Sandy, not sure what you mean. If you are referring to several of us not feeling the warm-fuzzies over flyerhawk's suggestion that the lefty media is not as lefty as some of us think, well....

Flyerhawk's not really 'one of our own' (and I mean no disrespect, FH, pretty sure you agree with that). He's kinda one of our resident lefties who actually makes a case and states it well, often causing all of us to think alot harder about our arguments. So, yeah, the fur often flies.

It's war -- so when can we start shooting back at the enemy Democrats?

Did you really just say that the reason that people know who Tom Delay is because of his indictment and not because he was Majority Whip and Leader for 10 years?

Mark Foley's story was salacious. Gerry Studds happened 15 years when the Internet wasn't around. Reynolds happened right as the Internet was starting to become popular but well before the current standards of news delivery. They are simply not comparable.

If Scooter Libby were convicted AFTER the Bush Administration had left office it would have been a minor story.

You guys seem to just want to pretend that context is meaningless.

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why ... I dream of things that never were and ask why not. - Robert Kennedy

No googling.
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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777

n/t

He was nixon. BtwI had to look him up.
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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777

Man on the street and Tom Delay? Yes, I did. Don't know of a useful poll out on 'what do you know most about Tom Delay', but I'll make my bets on that.

But as for the rest, oh, just WOW. WOW!!! The press ABSOLUTELY pounded the Foley barely-a-story (salacious compared to what? That was unbelievably TAME, LAME, from the beginning known to not involve a crime) for months upon months, and the reason had NOTHING to do with the internet and EVERYTHING to do with election season. (similar to the WaPo's daily 'macaca' thing for months that successfully got George Allen defeated)

'Election season' is the context. You can blow that 'you guys want to ignore context' meme out that exhaust pipe.

Scooter -- BS. If there were a congressional commission raised in say 2011, and one of GWB's cronies goes to the Archives and steals some (relevant and original) documents shortly before testifying, and gets caught -- That's 3-inch headlines for days and weeks. King-size BS, dude. Great big bull-bisquits.

Press = left. All day, every day.

It's war -- so when can we start shooting back at the enemy Democrats?

indictment, makes me wonder if the prosecutors in this case were trying to get every duck lined up before actually bringing the indictments down.

Either way, this one isn't a surprise to the politically aware-I do wonder though about all those voters that not only voted for him in a primary, but in a general and then in a run off-you would thihnk they would have known about the eventual indictments.

Makes you wonder just who is voting, how informed they are, and whether they actually want congress members that aren't corrupt.

What I heard from friends in NO was that his main opponent was such a loser that people figured they were better off electing him, expecting him to get thrown out in short order. They were willing to take their chances with whoever Kathleen um Babineaux um Blanco would name as a replacement, figuring it couldn't be any worse than those two clowns.

of that explaination. Maybe when it got to the run off point, but you can't convince me there wasn't anyone running in the primary that wasn't better suited or that the democrats could have tried to field a stronger candidate against him.

But then the GOP pretty much sucked at recruitment this last go around, but you would think a bright, young democrat from that area would have seized on the chance to beat Jefferson, a strong candidate with a well run campaign prominantly featuring photos of freezers should have done the trick.

The Dem Party backed State Sen. Karen Carter to replace Jefferson. About 14 candidates ran in the open primary; Jefferson made the runoff on name recognition, Carter thanks to party backing & the funding that followed.

Although it is a black majority district, it includes a portion of Jefferson Parish where strong law & order Sheriff Harry Lee is the key kingmaker.

Carter had accused Jefferson Parish officials of racism after Katrina for not welcoming Orleans Parish evacuaees with open arms. Lee let it be known that he did not favor a vote for Carter, so many loyal Lee supporters either stayed home or voted for Jefferson. It was a big enough effect to swing the election.

Given that the indictment (finally) came down, it was probably a savvy move.

Lee would rather see Derrick Shepherd in office. Shepherd ran 3rd IIRC in the primary. Lee has been diagnosed with leukemia, so it remains to be seen how effective his machine can be in a special election. (I'm operating from memory, so please forgive mistakes.)

It will be interesting, I ga-ron-tee...

Thatnks for the addl info. The always quatable Lee apparently had some real colorful comments about Carter. Let me dig around and see if I can find some.

This clip is pretty funny. Lee gets going about 40% of the way in. His problem with Carter is over her comments in Spike Lee's film about Katrina. He did an anti-Carter mailing, and of course reporters were more interested in things like who paid for it.

People could learn a lot about the complex politics in LA just by watching this 7 min video.

It ain't Kansas, Toto.

so I'll be looking forward to hearing this...

It's war -- so when can we start shooting back at the enemy Democrats?

Well done is better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin

The dhimmies totally used the Republicans to do their dirtywork in protecting Jefferson.
It is as if the Congress thinks they are the only branch that has the right to investigate. I will bet that if the Republican leadership had actually led on the issue that they would not have lost both Houses. The dismay felt by Republicans had to have depressed the vote. It surrendered the corruption issue to the dhimmies completely, making our guys look uniquely corrupt.
While Newt is clearly one of the smartest guys in politics today, he is still human and completely capable of stupid stuff. Defending the indefensible idea of a law-proof Congress is one of them.

...the left became when it came to defending Clinton?

"It is just about sex"

I remember the reporters openly marveling how good of a lier he was in the news casts.

"Wubbies World" - MSgt, U.S. Air Force (Retired): "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know." -Jer 33:3-