Breaking: William Jefferson wins re-election
posted at 1:20 am on December 10, 2006 by Ian
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Here comes the Corruptocrat congress:
U.S. Rep. William Jefferson easily defeated his fellow Democratic opponent in Saturday’s runoff, despite an ongoing federal bribery investigation.
With 44 percent of the precincts reporting, Jefferson, Louisiana’s first black congressman since Reconstruction, led with 61 percent of the vote over state Rep. Karen Carter, who had 39 percent.
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If Pelosi wants to run the cleanest Congress ever, she and the Democrats must refuse to seat William Jefferson, D, LA.
Yeah, that’ll never happen.
flutejpl on December 10, 2006 at 6:51 PM
AERO- Nice name btw, they keep electing these dolts because, “All politics is local”, actually it should be “ARE local” but that’s the saying. But when people make comments like this, it’s easy to see why it happens….
There was no “perceived” debacle! There was a tragic mismanagement of government at the city, state and federal levels that led to the deaths of many Americans, more White than Black, btw ,not that it should matter but lies have been told. The common denominator was not the red herring called RACE but was the invisible elephant called “CLASS”. It was unfortunate that so many concentrated on “race” which can easily be dismissed especially by the “racism doesn’ t exist anymore”, crowd. But if you examine the fact that it was CLASS which is ignorant of Race, then you get to the root of the problem. Does anyone really doubt that if New Orleans was Beverly Hills the outcome would have been different? If a leader (Bush) fails to OVERRIDE the dictates of a silly CRYING WOMAN (Kathleen Blanco) even when he knows she has her head up her butt and doesn’t know the FIRST THING about disasters or much of anything else, that is a failure of leadership my friend. When Bush told her to evacuate and she didn’t he should have overridden her and ordered it. But, afraid to be seen usurping power from a democrat and a WOMAN, Bush caved and let her and criminally negligent Nagin, have their way. Because it was hard to ignore the color of the people stranded on the rooftops, race was thrust front and center into the equation, because “Class” takes a little finer microscope to see. So, you have a failure of government, how is that Jefferson’s fault? I’m not defending him mind you but to compare the cases of Marion Barry who was CONVICTED of his crimes with someone who hasn’t even seen the inside of a courtroom, is ludicrous. Some people actually may BELIEVE that he is INNOCENT until PROVEN guilty, although I don’t think that’s going to be hard to do! There is absolutely NO REASON why people who have benefitted from his pork shouldn’t vote for him when he han’t been convicted….yet. Once he IS CONVICTED he will be removed from office so the point is really moot, isn’t it?
Soothsayer on December 10, 2006 at 7:00 PM
Soothsayer,
I don’t have the energy to read your whole bold lettered post, but you make some solid points. If Laura’s description of this mess is accurate, then my accusation of racism is probably ill-timed. I don’t retract it; I know it’s true. I live in Chicago, where the Cook County Board President found a way to give the job to his retarded son (with apologies to all retarded persons), followed by the interim Cook County Board President giving her interim position to her son.
Is the larger picture that the Democrat party is sickeningly corrupt? Yes, of course. Are African Americans a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Democrats? Yes, of course.
Jaibones on December 10, 2006 at 7:11 PM
I suppose in a “stick it to them” sort of way, but I find it hard to be happy about this, either. Every time I say that Chicago has the most corrupt politics outside of Nigeria, I remember Louisiana. That place is just sick.
As for the money, I had to rethink that post before I submitted it. No one here will question a penny of what they’re sending down there; as the saying goes “we’re not doing it for you, we’re doing it for us”. Sure they’ll make sure it doesn’t go into some scam, but it’ll come…
Jaibones on December 10, 2006 at 7:15 PM
For the record SONNY you’re a realist piece of work.
Soothsayer on December 10, 2006 at 5:26 PM
THANK YOU. I consider myself fortunate to have aroused the scorn of a person such as yourself,as testimony to ALLof your posts here!
sonnyspats1 on December 10, 2006 at 8:07 PM
I wrote “perceived” debacle, because I think the debacleness of it (just made up a word) was greatly heightened by the media. Obviously, there were many mistakes made at all levels (you left out the mistakes made by individuals, by the way–not just the governments are to blame for what happened). However, the federal government never should have been more than a support system for the local authorities, who know their geography and people better than the federal government ever could. And even the local authorities can’t be expected to deal perfectly with a natural disaster on this scale. They could have done WAAAAAAYY better, of course (like Florida, Mississippi, and other states did), but the fact of the matter is they were dealing with a large-scale natural disaster, and people die when such things happen. I’m not saying it wasn’t a debacle–it was and still is. Witness the continued hemorrhaging of money into the region from both government and private sources, and things are still a mess. But I think it was hyped into being a much larger debacle than it really was at the time. Turns out that most of the media-hyped stories about wanton murders, rapes, and toxic waters just weren’t true. One regularly overlooked fact is that there were some of the most heroic and selfless rescues and humanitarian acts in the aftermath of Katrina that this nation has ever seen. Those people, both private citizens and government/military, are always ignored in favor of the “debacle” angle on Katrina. Just my opinion–don’t freak out on me.
aero on December 10, 2006 at 8:21 PM
Congratulations, you piece of shit. And may I take this opportunity to tell the people of New Orleans to go and take a good crap for themselves! Go ahead and re-elect, Noggin, Jefferson, Blanco, a Baby Fat Landry and then expect the rest of the country to feel bad about your crap. Take your head out of your behinds people of New Orleans and look after yourselves, then you will see your fellow americans look after you! If you want to live in the same corruption, count the rest of us out!
NEMETI IN SYRACUSE on December 10, 2006 at 8:54 PM
Laura – thanks for straightening me out – I need it from time to time – more than I know!!! You have my deep sympathy for having to live in such a disfunctional part of the country. I thought Maryland was bad!! Maybe it will be better that he won – his trail will be quite a spectacle-
Gary
iam7545 on December 10, 2006 at 9:09 PM
There was no “perceived” debacle! There was a tragic mismanagement of government at the city, state and federal levels that led to the deaths of many Americans, more White than Black, btw ,not that it should matter but lies have been told. The common denominator was not the red herring called RACE but was the invisible elephant called “CLASS”. It was unfortunate that so many concentrated on “race” which can easily be dismissed especially by the “racism doesn’ t exist anymore”, crowd. But if you examine the fact that it was CLASS which is ignorant of Race, then you get to the root of the problem. Does anyone really doubt that if New Orleans was Beverly Hills the outcome would have been different? If a leader (Bush) fails to OVERRIDE the dictates of a silly CRYING WOMAN (Kathleen Blanco) even when he knows she has her head up her butt and doesn’t know the FIRST THING about disasters or much of anything else, that is a failure of leadership my friend. When Bush told her to evacuate and she didn’t he should have overridden her and ordered it. But, afraid to be seen usurping power from a democrat and a WOMAN, Bush caved and let her and criminally negligent Nagin, have their way. Because it was hard to ignore the color of the people stranded on the rooftops, race was thrust front and center into the equation, because “Class” takes a little finer microscope to see. So, you have a failure of government,
Soothsayer on December 10, 2006 at 7:00 PM
Sir I find this tripe laden poppycock to be full of misconceptions and nonsence. As wittnessed by all readers you have constructed a theory based purely on conjecture put forth and disguised as a meaningful statement. I lived in South Florida from 1976 to 2005. In 1992 the eye of hurricane Andrew pased within 30 miles from my home. The day after Andrew it was documented there were 250,000 people without homes just to give you an idea of the magnatude and scale of Andrew. Thats a quarter million homeless people. People from all walks of life were effected (or if you like to borrow your terminology “class”). This catrastrophy was unprecedented in Floridas history. It brought out the best and worst in the public. From price gouging comodities such as ice,water,and food, to out right looting. On the good side the overwelming majority pulled together immediately and appointed block captians in charge of reconstruction,and post DO NOT TRESSPASS SIGNS TO COMPLY WITH THE LAW. To stop the looting. The insurance companies rented entire floors in remaining hotels to dispatch agents and issue emergency funds. The national guard came about one week after Andrew as did FEMA. The people then took responsibility for their own property whether to rebuild or sell. Fortunes were made and lost and thousands of real state agents and contractors were created as a direct result of Andrew. I have been a licensed contractor in Florida since 1984 and know first hand the scope of such a rebuild. One year after Andrew the damage was hardly evident. Two years after Andrew the damage was nonexistant. The demographic make up of Dade County, Florida is heavily populated with first generation immigrants from Cuba,Haiti,Bahamas,South America. These are the same people who prove your “Class” theory to be balderdash. There is no substitute for hard work and determination which the citizens of New Orleans seem to have no knowlege of. As of late I have seen reported the fine work and rebuilding by the Mexican labor force in New Orleans. Its a pathetic state of affairs when a man doesn’t have the knowledge or desire to aquire the knowledge to stand and be accountable for his own welfare. Irregardless of ones race,color or creed the seven deadly sins are not an acceptable constitution. Some of us are just dumb enough and naive enough to aspire to and attain a higher standard of living. America the LAND OF OPPURTUNITY just ask the thousands of beautiful and wonderful inhabitants in Dade County, Florida. Class my ass punk!
sonnyspats1 on December 10, 2006 at 9:45 PM
And by the way… For all of the “screw New Orleans” posters – I’ve read your comments in many other Hot Air posts, and agreed with them. On occasion some of you have read mine, and agreed with them. So I’m prefacing this to say – I’m not the enemy here. But you’ve all pretty much bought into a convenient package of information that is not strictly true, and I hope you’ll consider an alternative point of view.
First of all, yes, New Orleans has a corrupt political system. Is it more corrupt than the rest of the country, are we so stupid we just get caught more, or do we just not care so we get caught more? Who knows? But please, don’t act as if we invented political corruption. It’s rampant all over the country. We lack shame, which is a completely different problem.
Second, while it’s true that some hefty federal funds have been promised and are just now starting to be disbursed thanks to our local government slowing it down, there are two things you may not have considered. For over fifty years, Louisiana has not received royalties from offshore drilling like other states have. ALL that money has gone to the Feds, all these decades. Our coastline – the best hurricane protection we have – has steadily been eroded while the rest of the country profited at our expense. That is partially the fault of our politicians, but whatever the source, it’s a fact that we’ve been giving a lot more than we’ve taken in this regard, and now we’re paying a direct penalty for that. Keep it in mind, would you? This is not a charity project.
Third, we are the second largest fishery and a major port city, not to mention that whole oil thing… you need us. We are not a charity project. Louisiana contributes a lot to this country’s economy, and New Orleans generates a HUGE portion of Louisiana’s contribution.
Fourth, most of the “Katrina” damage in New Orleans was levee break/flooding damage. Which is the fault of the Corps of Engineers. Go to Wizbang and read Paul’s archive on that. (I can’t link it or it’ll put this comment in the moderated queue.) The Corps publicly admitted that it was their fault. Who owns the Corps? The Feds. So should the federal gov’t have some responsibility for this problem? You bet they should. And you should keep in mind that the Corps has screwed up projects all over the country. Are you going to be this hostile when the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta levees break during an earthquake and tell half of CA that they’re idiots for living in that area?
Your hostility is undeserved. We’re not perfect, but we’re not the devil either, and while we deserve criticism for the politicians we put in office, I suggest that they’re not really any worse than the ones in YOUR cities. It’s just that yours haven’t been publicly put to the test like this.
Laura on December 10, 2006 at 9:54 PM
This little sleezy scumbag got himself elected by the very people that want us to bail their cans out for living in a city 2 feet below sealevel! Yeah, let’s give them all the money they want, they can give it to Noggin, Blanco, Jefferson, and Landreau and we can just scratch our heads and wonder what the hell they are doing. Sure, this sounds like a good idea. Why not? Think about it, Why not?
NEMETI IN SYRACUSE on December 10, 2006 at 9:57 PM
Wow, way to read previous comments, NEMETI!!!
/wondering why I bother…
Laura on December 10, 2006 at 10:18 PM
Laura,
I understand your frustration, and I sympathize. I wrote further up in the thread that I feel very sorry for the hardworking honest folks of NO/LA because of how all this makes you look bad along with the rest. But the hostility comes not only from a lack of depth of understanding of the complexities of NO/LA politics, but also from a frustration that NO/LA officials and citizens don’t seem to be learning from their mistakes. If the federal government screwed up so badly before and after the disaster, why are the people of LA relying so heavily on the federal government to fix everything? You know the feds suck at almost everything they do! The people of Florida don’t do that–they’re always well into cleaning up their own mess after hurricanes long before FEMA even shows up. Florida’s attitude is, “Give us the money and get out of our way.” Louisiana’s attitude has appeared to be more along the lines of, “Give us the money. Now fix everything for us. Now give us more money. That’s not enough. Why haven’t you fixed everything yet?!” It is frustrating for the rest of us to watch our taxes being tossed into what seems like a black hole that refuses to change. We have to assume that the whole thing is doomed to be repeated because the same officials are still in place, the same levee system is still there, the houses haven’t even been rebuilt yet, the refineries still aren’t up to full capacity, and many of the people seem to be waiting around for someone else to fix it all for them (or they just never went back).
Regarding the levees and the Corps of Engineers–if the COE screwed up the levees and caused the whole thing, why doesn’t the LA government contract with a private engineering firm to do the job right? (I admit to ignorance here–could be the federal government won’t allow it.)
My personal hostility towards New Orleaneans comes from the bad experience I described earlier, in which a NO evacuee stole my ailing elderly mother’s wedding ring in the nursing home. I understand that not all New Orleaneans did this single horrible act, but it seemed representative to me of the ungrateful, selfish, corrupt, and shameless behavior of so many evacuees who spit in the faces of those who extended a helping hand to them. They’re all over Texas right now, and in general they have not had a positive impact on our state. I am not accusing you of being one of these people. But they make all of NO and LA look very bad to the rest of us. I’m genuinely sorry that you feel persecuted because of this–you clearly don’t deserve to be painted with the same broad brush.
Thank you for trying to educate us. For my own part, my negativity toward NO/LA is pretty deep-seated, but I’ll try to keep the things you said in mind in the future.
aero on December 10, 2006 at 10:59 PM
Excuse me, Soothsayer, but you totally misread me. I think Katrina was a good start for all of Louisiana, not just the black residents. There are also white people who, lacking the merest understanding of physics, still want to rebuild New Atlantis in the exact same spot. Katrina was an equal opportunity disaster.
Since I didn’t specify a race, what makes you think I was referring to black people? I strongly suggest you consult your mirror the next time you want to call someone a racist.
James on December 10, 2006 at 11:07 PM
PS to Laura:
Oh, and regarding my city’s politicians, I’ll grant you that they have not been publicly tested like the leaders of NO were. But if a natural disaster were to flatten my city and my elected officials acted as incompetently and shamefully of those in NO and LA, I would NEVER vote them back into office. And if my fellow voters did, I’d move in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t want to be around when it all happens again! Because there is absolutely no reason to believe that the outcome next time will be any different at all–same ungainly and slow federal response, same corrupt and incompetent local and state response, same stubborn or ignorant citizenry, same poorly-constructed levees, same probability of another hurricane flooding the city some day. No, you’re not the devil. But your fellow citizens seem masochistic at best and suicidal at worst to the rest of us.
aero on December 10, 2006 at 11:13 PM
Laura,
Good eloquent posts in all your responses. I concur with your assessments and only wish people would take the time to really read them thoroughly. Louisiana is fortunate to have citizens such as yourself.
Bradky on December 10, 2006 at 11:27 PM
aero, thanks for the thoughtful replies. And I know that the Katrina evacuations spread our criminal population all over the south – I’m sorry that happened to your family. And I’m sorry that thousands of former New Orleanians are still mooching off of Houston and other cities today. It’s not right, I completely agree.
Most of us have not been relying on the feds to fix anything, for the simple fact that our state and local pols have held the money up until very recently. What repairs have been made, up until the last couple of months, have been done as a result of other financing – private charity, insurance payments, savings, home refis, etc. That massive federal giveaway has so far just not happened – again, due to local politicians, not President Bush or even Congress. I guess the money is coming now – so I’ve heard… but most of the people left in the city have been working their butts off. The first year after Katrina my husband and I worked seven days a week. We finally took a three day weekend last August, and since then we normally work six days a week. That’s at our regular jobs, mind you, because we have a severe labor shortage. Home repair, side work, helping at church, helping family and friends is in our “spare” time. We’re being overrun by illegal aliens, but we’re so short of labor that it’s hard to complain – until you have to go to the ER, that is. And God help us when the school systems have to start absorbing tens of thousands of Spanish speaking children. But that’s another story… and we’re not going to have any better luck in this regard than CA, TX, or AZ. We’re not bringing them in, as a previous commenter suggested. They’re coming in, in droves, and we can’t stop them. The jobs are here, so they come.
As for Florida… they didn’t sit in floodwater for several weeks. They weren’t restricted from coming home for weeks even after the flood water went down. We got home *three weeks* after Katrina on a permit, because of my husband’s job. They officially opened the city back up some time later, I forget when. For months, people wanted to rebuild but were not permitted to until the Corps got the levees better repaired, and then the feds had to decide how high they had to elevate their homes before letting them rebuild. That took the better part of a year, while people waited. I don’t know what kind of restrictions there have been in Florida, but here, we’re regulated half to death. And I might add, Florida has been hit by how many hurricanes in the last few years? New Orleans had Katrina, before that, a category 1 called Juan in 1985, and before that, Betsy in 1965. This is just not a chronic problem for us.
That said, yes, I completely agree that our pols are a pathetic lot. That’s mostly our fault; we keep electing them. But since Katrina, the electorate here has made decent choices, believe it or not. Nagin was actually the *reform* candidate. I know that’s hard to believe, but it’s true. And in the Jefferson/Carter runoff – to bring me back to the topic at hand – the fault was not with New Orleans voters, it was with Jefferson Parish voters for reasons that had nothing to do with William Jefferson. We need a better class of politicians, but I’m not sure where to find those…
Laura on December 10, 2006 at 11:30 PM
SonnySpats1 said:
Before you get too full of yourself and Dade county please point me to the section of the constitution that guarantees Floridians the right to repeatedly be compensated for losses incurred by building in a high risk zone.
There may actually be people in the other states that get tired giving their tax money to bail you all out. Yes another form of welfare which you probably have strong opinions about.
Bradky on December 10, 2006 at 11:33 PM
Thanks, Laura. A lot of what you just wrote I didn’t know or didn’t take into account. Some of what upsets and confuses me makes a bit more sense in that context.
You wrote:
You should run for public office! I’m serious–you seem intelligent, well-informed, deeply invested in the community, and sensible. I’m sure you’d run as a Republican, which would probably eliminate you right off the bat. But you asked where to find good people, and I think you’re looking at one when you stand in front of the mirror. :-)
aero on December 10, 2006 at 11:46 PM
Good thing I read independent/conservative websites and watch Fox News since I would have never heard about this otherwise…now if a Republican had done this….
pentapenguin on December 10, 2006 at 11:55 PM
aero – and bradky – you’re very kind. As for me running – I have an *extremely* checkered past. If I ran, I’d definitely be Repub, but I could never withstand the scrutiny of a run for office. But I’m active in other ways; with as much time and money as I can give. Jindal and Vitter are good for Louisiana; and we have some good people in the state congress that may be ready to move up to the big leagues next time Mary Landrieu’s seat is available or if Jindal wins as Governor. They’ll have as much support as I can give them. The demographics here have changed dramatically, and illegal immigration is about to be our biggest problem, once the Katrina dust settles.
The next ten years you’ll be seeing some very different political activity in New Orleans, and the race issue isn’t going to be black/white, it’s going to be everybody else/Latino.
Laura on December 11, 2006 at 12:36 AM
There may actually be people in the other states that get tired giving their tax money to bail you all out. Yes another form of welfare which you probably have strong opinions about.
Bradky on December 10, 2006 at 11:33 PM
Well my friend, Florida has mandatory home owners insurance program. The State has put forth a program to provide a group rate to lessen the burden on homeowners, and FEMA. The rebuilding in in flood zones has been prohibited and as a result a company has invented a process to raise existing homes to the required level. Its called free enterprise you should try it some time ITS GREAT!
sonnyspats1 on December 11, 2006 at 6:25 AM
FEMA is funded by Uncle Sam, hence federal taxes – when you eliminate that portion then I will be impressed. Its still welfare to keep you in a home… you are welcome by the way.
Bradky on December 11, 2006 at 6:58 AM
Great Googly Moogly,
I always wondered why my posts would sometimes pop up several minutes later or at all. I am painfully aware I am not one of the better and consistent posters here. I do not use profanity; but, it seems some words I have used are ‘hot’. Now that I know, I will make more vigilant effort.
allie on December 11, 2006 at 12:10 PM
Icky.
Kralizec on December 11, 2006 at 2:00 PM
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