Republicans are truly a pathetic bunch. All day long, whining about Pelosi and Jefferson. How dare Pelosi put him on the Homeland Security committee. Where is the "culture of corruption change," that she demanded. More below the fold.
Let's do a quick comparison. First off, demands that Jefferson be expelled (which some GOP members have called for) just rings with complete and utter hypocrisy. Jefferson is now in the same place as Duke Cunningham, Tom DeLay and Bob Ney...which as you recall, the Republicans were just tripping over themselves to expel after their indictments right? Ok, now that you're done tripping (you have to be to believe that s***), you might recall the actual facts. Before DeLay gets indicted, these same Republicans RUSH to change a rule permitting him not only to stay in his seat, but keep his position as majority leader. Ney not only gets indicted, but is convicted (plea or no, it's a conviction) and is allowed to remain in the House and draw his salary for several more weeks. Cunningham resigned AFTER his guilty pleas (not expelled, but resigned) Now Democrats are dishonest b/c they won't support the immediate expulsion of Jefferson? Jesus Christ, these guys are lame. Pelosi kicked Jefferson off his powerful committee assignment when the allegations became severe (shortly after the raid of his office I believe). When the indictment came down, Jefferson ASKED to be removed from his other committee work while he deals with his legal problems. Everyone look back and see if they can find DeLay, Ney, Cunningham asking to be removed from assignments while they deal with their problems. Wait, what's that? The silence is deafening. Why? It didn't happen, that's why. If the Democrats had a communications strategy worth three ounces of s***, they would be all over the news explaining this. They should be all over TV pointing out that the GOP NEVER EXPELLED Ney or Cunningham (who both plead guilty) and fought to have DeLay be allowed to keep his job while under indictment. The hypocrisy is pathetically obvious.
In my opinion Jefferson is a crook. That won't be fact, until/unless he is convicted. But, as of now, he has not been convicted of anything. He should be removed from committees, marginalized in the House, and investigated by the House Ethics committee. If they find sufficient reason to expel him, they should do so. Otherwise, they should WAIT FOR HIS CONVICTION, before expelling him. If the Democrats to decide to expel him ahead of conviction, fine. I personally have no problems with it. My concern is kow towing like cowards to the Republicans whining. The Republicans have absolutely no leg to stand on. Their whining about this is some of the most shameful s*** I have ever heard.
Jefferson should resign from the House. The CBC should cut their support, as should the entire Democratic Caucus. He should be marginalized in the House until his conviction or exoneration is complete. But, in my opinion, he should not be expelled, and certainly not b/c Democrats are "afraid of the Republican argument." Like in every other case, that's the chickenshit way out. Expel him when he's convicted. Until then, the man is innocent until proven guilty. He's indicted, so punish him. Pelosi and the Democrats have and should continue to. The Republicans did NOTHING to their INDICTED majority leader, nor to their others. Tell the damn Republicans to shut their mouths. They have absolutely no moral standing. Pelosi has marginalized Jefferson as much as she now can. Jefferson voluntarily stepped down from committee work (which none of the mentioned 3 did). Let it play out how it will. But Democrats need to counter the b.s. coming from the Republican ranks. It's hypocrisy and cowardice. Let it play out the way it was designed to (or let Jefferson resign, which he should do.
To sum it up:
DeLay: Accused, rescind GOP rules, rules put back, Indicted, continued to serve, resigned months later.
Cunningham: Investigated, Indicted, not punished, continued to serve, Plead Guilty, Resigned (not expelled)
Ney: Implicated, investigated, indicted, continued to serve, convicted, CONTINUES to serve, resigns weeks later.
Jefferson: Investigated, kicked off committee, indicted, resigns from other committees.
Who's the better leader? Pelosi or DeLay/Blunt? Take your pick.