Remember the ‘law and order’ party?

May 12, 2006

Kentucky Gov. [tag]Ernie Fletcher[/tag] (R) was [tag]indicted[/tag] yesterday, stemming his alleged direction of an “illegal conspiracy to place his political allies in state jobs at the expense of those who might oppose him.” The indictments charge Fletcher with one count each of criminal conspiracy, first-degree official misconduct, and violating the prohibition against political discrimination.

It got me thinking: how many elected Republican office-holders have been indicted, convicted, or subject to a criminal investigation in just the last year or so? By my count, limiting the search to just sitting governors and the federal government, there are at least 10.

* In the House, [tag]Tom DeLay[/tag] (R) is already under indictment, [tag]Duke Cunningham[/tag] is going to jail, and [tag]Bob Ney[/tag] (R) and [tag]Jerry Lewis[/tag] (R) are under criminal investigation.

* In the Senate, Majority Leader [tag]Bill Frist[/tag] (R) is facing questions from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission about his sale of stock in his family’s hospital company one month before its price fell sharply.

* The [tag]Bush[/tag] [tag]White House[/tag] is still in the midst of a criminal investigation.

* In the states, Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) has been indicted, Ohio Gov. [tag]Bob Taft[/tag] (R) has been convicted, and Missouri Gov. Matthew Blunt’s (R) campaign irregularities were referred to the state attorney general’s office for an investigation. (This doesn’t include former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland (R) and former Illinois Gov. George Ryan (R), who were convicted in massive corruption cases, but haven’t been in office for a while.)

Rounding out the top 10 are at least a few other [tag]Republican[/tag] members of the House Appropriations Committee who are under criminal investigation for alleged corruption.

Keep in mind, I’m only looking at those who were actually elected, so I’m omitting several high-profile criminal cases (Safavian, DeLay’s office, several top Fletcher aides whom he pardoned, etc.).

Am I missing anyone?

Laws don’t apply to Republicanite politicans and staffers. Just ask Tom DeLay when he wants to smoke a cigar in a non-smoking section of the resturant.

I’d say they are all going to burn in hell, but I’m not sure there is a hell, so I want them punished in the here and now.

  • One issue I heard on the news that hasn’t got a lot of play is that industry representatives would come to the poker and prostitute parties and deliberately LOSE MONEY to the staffers and congressmen so they could go and have a good time without spending their own reported income.

    Did the staffers and congressmen report their ill-gotten poker winnings before they blew them on call girls? If you win early in the day and lose late, that reduces your winnings (no, I’m not a tax lawyer. check it out if you care). Blowing your illegal winnings in illegal congress does not relieve you of the responsibility to completely and correctly report your winnings.

    Can you say Tax Evasion? I knew you could!

  • I really think you shouldn’t limit your discussion to elected Republicans. Why not look at the “selected” Republicans, such as: David Safavian, Bush administration head of procurement. Claude Allen, Bush administration chief domestic policy advisor. Several of Tom DeLay and Bob Ney’s former staff members. Tom Noe for Ohio coingate and illegal Bush fundraising. Oh, the list could go on and on, but you get the idea. The elected officials are the tip of the iceberg; the real dirty work went on under the water line.

  • Just to add to your line regarding my one and done governor Matt Blunt. He is under investigation by the FBI for irregularities regarding how contracts were awarded for motor vehicle licensing offices and a lobbyist scandal. Incidentally the governor’s brother and sister are both lobbyists for a couple of big firms that seem to be snatching up all sorts of contracts for their clients.

    I would say that the apple hasn’t fallen too far from Roy Blunt’s (R House Majority Whip) tree.

  • While the vast majority of these scumbags are Republicans, I hope that the Democrats will hold their party to high standards and pursue any in-house ethical/legal problems as well.

    I support the Dems, but I won’t be happy if they do the same thing as the Republicans when they get a little bit of power.

  • Don’t forget the investigation into the New Hampshire GOP’s disruption of Democrats’ communications (a.k.a phone jamming) on election day 2002. GOP operative James Tobin has already been convicted, and the party’s involvement might go all the way up to the RNC head Ken Melhman.

  • The Grand Ole Docket tracks trial dates, court appearances and sentencing hearings for players in the current array of national political scandals. But not just any crook can make it on the Docket – it only tracks perps who’ve been named by prosecutors in indictments or plea agreements.

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/grandolddocket.php

  • Nixon’s “Law and Order” party was responsible for the last big bunch of thugs to go to the slammer, though many were pardoned. Reagan’s thugs got off with a wink and a nudge and a wave of Old Glory. Bush I and his criminal pals were driven from office before they could get organized, so they organized the Carlyle Group. Bush II seems to be prepared to simply declare martial law, if that’s even necessary, and stay in power forever. No one among the elected or appointed officials, and few among the general public, seems willing to oppose him or even to give a damn. Groan. What was nominally the “Law and Order” party has morphed into the Bush Crime Family. Study Chicago during the 1920s or Italy during the Renaissance. They had a form of “Law and Order” – it’s just nothing our Founding Fathers would recognize as such.

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