Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana

[Pangloss]

This guy is pretty outrageous. Even as he was complaining about the Bush administration's poor response to Katrina, this guy used the National Guard to rescue belongings from his own home while poor citizens waiting at the Superdome for rescue. Apparently a brief tour was ordered, with the Guard escorting Jefferson around his district. When the tour passed near his home, Jefferson ordered the truck to stop next to his door (so he wouldn't have to step in the rising water), and he disappeared into his house, keeping the troop of six soldiers waiting for an HOUR while he threw items into several suitcases.

 

When they went to leave, the truck was stuck in the mud, and a rescue helicopter was ordered to the scene. The chopper in question had four citizens on board who had been rescued from rooftops. A rescue worker descended from the helicopter to a terrace on the upper story and broke into the house through some French windows. The esteemed gentleman from Louisiana observed the situation for a while and then decided that he didn't want to ride in the helicopter after all. The chopper was sent on its way and rescued three more rooftop-clingers before it ran low on fuel and returned to base.

 

Eventually a larger truck with additional troops was dispatched to the scene to rescue Williams and the first group of soldiers. All returned safely to base.

 

Williams' reaction to all this? He's pissed that his French windows were broken.

 

And he's still blaming the whole aftermath problem on Bush.

 

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1123495&page=1

[Pangloss]

Somehow I don't think Michael Moore will be investigating this, by the way. Jefferson is an African American and a Democrat.

 

IMO this sort of thing just underscores the need for objective analysis of what happened.

[Mokele]

He's a Louisiana politician, so this should come as no suprise at all. Seriously, *nowhere* in the US has corruption and abuse of power like LA, and we're actually *proud* of it, in a warped way.

 

Remember, this is a state who's most popular governor (Huey P Long) once openly said: "I've never bought a senator in my life. I rent them. It's cheaper that way."

 

Seriously, bribery is "local culture", rather than a crime in LA. We elected Edwin Edwards governor 4 times, and he's ended each term in jail. Yet he still got re-elected each time. A KKK grand dragon ran for governor (against Edwards) and, while he lost, he still carried a significant portion of the vote.

 

As Louisiana politics goes, this is par for the course.

 

Mokele

[Hellbender]

Williams' reaction to all this? He's pissed that his French windows were broken.

What an asshole. Sorry I don't have more to offer, but I had to say this.