Tired Old Men that We Elected King ....

Cartoon (c) Mike Keefe
Have you been following the case on Capitol Hill where the Speaker Dennis Hastert is up in arms because the FBI raided the office of Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson after they had VIDEOTAPED him taking $100,000 in bribes? They found the cash wrapped in aluminum foil in his freezer in a DC apartment. And nobody is saying what he did was wrong! Nobody is bothering to say "Hey, you caught me. I screwed up. Sorry." Nah they're talking Constitutional issues over the separation of powers. Is this a case of the lawMAKERS being law BREAKERS because they don't think they are subject to the same rules as the rest of us?

According to news reports, "The FBI executed a search warrant to raid Jefferson's office Saturday night as part of a bribery investigation against the congressman. Earlier, authorities said they had videotaped Jefferson last summer taking $100,000 in bribe money and that agents had found $90,000 of that cash stuffed in a freezer in his Washington apartment. "

Now there are reports that Hastert himself might be involved in a corruption case. He denies it, and says that it was part of a campaign of intimidation and someone at Justice leaked the info to ABC to intimidate him. But the FBI has videotape of Jefferson taking the $100,000. Why isn't Hastert more concerned that a Member has been caught with his hand in the till?

According to the Speaker: "What we want to do,'' Hastert said,"is not protect people who broke the law. But we need to protect the division of powers and the Constitution of the United States. And that's one of the things I talked to the President about."

Even the President has weighed in on this, ordering the paperwork sealed until the White House and the Congress can work out some protocol. Meanwhile, the excuses will come hard and fast, and all the King's men will have a nice week off and come back for a few weeks before taking the Summer off. Elections are in November. Remember to vote - unless of course you have an extra $100,000 to stuff in your fridge.