Strange Bedfellows, Indeed.
One of the few perks of losing an election.
By Moe Lane Posted in Congress — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
If this keeps up, I may have to - shock! horror! - apologize to TPMmuckraker and CREW; I had them pegged as merely being... ah, let's be polite. "Zealous Democratic partisans." Which, mind you, I still think that they are.
But the 'merely' may be unfair. We have a new boyo for The Fishbowl. Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) (via Just One Minute):
Focus of FBI Probe, Mollohan May Oversee FBI Budget
By Justin Rood - November 30, 2006, 1:55 PMTwo senior Democrats have seen their leadership ambitions deep-sixed because of their murky ethics histories. Here's a third Democrat heading for a powerful post whom folks may want to keep an eye on.
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) is under investigation by the FBI. And he's set to assume a top post which would put him in control of the FBI's budget. Neat trick, eh?
Indeed, Mr. Rood. Indeed. Read on.
Now, mind you, nothing's been proven yet - this isn't like the situation with Cunningham, Jefferson*, Hastings or Ney - so Justin stops short of saying outright that the guy needs to be booted and jailed, and so will I. He certainly does needs to recuse himself from appropriations decisions involving the FBI**, and it may be wise for the fellow to negotiate a different committee assignment altogether. Granted, I don't know how wise - he's one of the few Democrats to make CREW's Worst of 2006 list*** - but you never know. The Democrats may decide to do a quick housecleaning. God knows that the GOP would have been better off if we had, ourselves. Or maybe, Heaven forbid, not passed so many [expletive deleted] appropriations bills.
Of course, this will all just start getting better and better - from my own, ah, 'zealous Republican partisan' viewpoint - once the Democrats actually get a hit of that sweet, sweet fiscal smack that they've been frankly jonesing for for the last decade. It'll be fun to see who's still on the anticorruption kick in a year or so...
Moe
*Yes, William Jefferson. ...In his freezer.
**In the spirit of fairness, bipartisanship and all that other fuzzy feel-good stuff I agree that if I'm taking seriously CREW's opinion on Alan Mollohan I should do the same for GOP Reps Jerry Lewis and John Doolittle, both of whom are apparently in similar circumstances. Fine. Keeping people under investigation from control over the investigator's budget is a pretty straightforward concept.
**I look forward to their Worst of 2007 list, myself. It'll tell us a lot about whether they went after us because we were Republicans, or just because we were in power.
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Strange Bedfellows, Indeed. 3 Comments (0 topical, 3 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
for the tip. I've marked my calendar for Dec 1, 2007. We'll see who TPMMuckraker and CREW have on their most-wanted lists. You are right: it will be fun. And interesting.
Regarding "**I look forward to their Worst of 2007 list, myself. It'll tell us a lot about whether they went after us because we were Republicans, or just because we were in power."---Those are not the only alternatives. I think CREW would assert that they do neither; that they identify corruption where they can. Omissions from the list will test this (assumed) assertion, especially in 2008. Of course, in any test, one needs a reference standard--in this case, an independently-produced list of corrupt politicians. What would you suggest? Are there other organizations that keep such lists as does CREW?
Thanks again for the tip.
Joe
just don't watch what I do when I get there." Such is the mantra of so many politicians. I find it difficult to believe that we will see "the most ethical Congress in history," largely because (IMHO) politics is not an ethical business. Even if the politician is ethical, the people who work for them...
I am still waiting to find out about William Jefferson's little affair. I still want to know more about Mollohan and all the other Democrats with ethical questions. I mean let's face it, if there are four guys right now who we can point at and say, "these folks have ethical lapses and possibly criminal activities," think about how many more there must be!
This is to me simply another reason why the government should have less power, not more.
"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."
--Thomas Jefferson
but this is pretty ironic that he controls the purse strings of the guys investigating his actions.
I still have to wonder how people even cast votes for this guy and Jefferson-do they not read papers?