Pelosi Likes the Bad Boys

I thought that the Dems were promising to clean up the House. Seems strange that Pelosi is supporting Murtha for the Majority Leader.

But Mr. Murtha is also coming under the spotlight on another subject that dominated the campaign: Congressional ethics. Mr. Murtha helped block ethics changes that Democrats had proposed last year. He has been an astute backroom dealmaker known for trading votes for the pet projects known as earmarks. He has had family members who lobbied on issues under his control, and he was caught up in the Abscam scandal more than 25 years ago, though he was never charged.

The leader of one watchdog group said today that Mr. Murtha’s record should disqualify him from the job, particularly since Democrats campaigned so hard against Republican corruption and have promised to make new ethics and lobbying rules a priority.

“How can Americans believe that the Democrats will return integrity to the House when future Speaker Pelosi has endorsed an ethically challenged member for a leadership position?” asked Melanie Sloan, the head of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a “mainstream” group that focuses of government integrity in Washington. “Representative Murtha is the wrong choice for this job.”

Mr. Murtha dismissed the attack and promised that, if elected majority leader, he would help formulate a strict ethics policy. “Wait until you see the ethics package we support and we pass,” he said. “No meals, no trips, nothing. I support it 100 percent.”

And then, let's not forget Pelosi's support of Alcee Hastings for the chairman of the House of Representative's Intelligence Committee.

Prior to his election to congress, Hastings worked as a private-practice attorney, a civil rights activist, and a Florida judge. Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, he became the first African-American federal judge in the state of Florida, and served in that position for ten years. He's still called "Judge" by some of his colleagues, but one would think he'd rather forget his days on the federal bench.

In 1989, Judge Hastings was impeached by the US House of Representatives for bribery and perjury. The Democratic-controlled Senate convicted Hastings of accepting a $150,000 bribe in 1981 in exchange for a lenient sentence and of perjury in his testimony about the case. Hastings said the charges against him smacked of racism.

He distinguished himself by being only the sixth Judge in US history to be removed from office by the US Senate. So damning was the evidence against him that Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), a founding member of the CBC, favored impeaching him.

Conyers, who is also black, said he "found no trace of racism during the investigation." He urged his colleagues to remove Hastings from the bench. He said, "[Hastings] is unfit to serve."

His impeachment was remanded back to the Senate by Judge Stanley Sporkin after Hastings filed lawsuit claiming that his impeachment trial was invalid because he was tried by a Senate committee, not in front of the full Senate, and that he had been acquitted in a criminal trial.

But the US Supreme Court had ruled in a similar case, regarding Judge Walter Nixon, who had also been impeached and removed. The SCOTUS stated that the courts had no jurisdiction to review Senate impeachment procedures and Hastings' impeachment and removal were reinstated. The Senate had the option to forbid Hastings from ever seeking federal office again when it removed him, but did not do so. Which opened the door for Hastings to get himself elected to congress.

Great. They have their "mandate" but they are apparently disregarding it. Hastings may be just a punishment for Jane Harman, who apparently Pelosi can't stand, but that strikes me as fairly ridiculous seeing as to the ethics issues involved.

Then there is the William Jefferson election which is now awaiting the run off in Louisiana. I'm frankly baffled at the apparent acceptance of the voters in his district to ignore the ethical issues that have been sprouting up from his use of the National Guard to retrieve his belongings during hurricane Katrina to his being investigated on bribery charges. I'm quite amazed that the FBI is dragging it's feet on this case.

I don't know why I expected different. Politicians constantly baffle me on these things. Say one thing, do the opposite. There is a lot of talk about ethics reform from both sides of the aisle, but I'll remain the doubtful Thomas on this one.