This weekend, voters in Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District reelected a crook to the House.
Voters looked past a federal bribery investigation of Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) and reelected the eight-term congressman in a runoff election Saturday...
"I guess the people are happy with the status quo," [opponent Rep. Karen Carter] said [in her concession speech]...
Jefferson, Louisiana's first black congressman since Reconstruction, has been the target of a wide-ranging investigation into allegations that he took bribes -- including $90,000 allegedly found in his freezer during an FBI raid -- from a company seeking lucrative contracts in the Nigerian telecommunications market. He has not been charged with any crime and denies any wrongdoing.
Now this is a guy who not only had $90,000 in cash hidden in his freezer, but also commissioned National Guard troops to help him move it during the height of the hurricane Katrina evacuation.
I guess it's not surprise, then, that during his capaign, Jefferson was endorsed by the man who left scores of busses sitting in a municiple parking lot instead of using them to evacuate people.
Carter raised nearly five times as much money as Jefferson, but she was largely outflanked in endorsements as Jefferson picked up the backing of Mayor C. Ray Nagin and other prominent black politicians.
The endorsements spoke to Jefferson's solid footing in New Orleans politics.
Well, the Islamists have their constituency and representative in Congress, why shouldn't crooks?
Maybe because they're over-represented already...
