[It'salmosttolate]

bump for posterity

[CIBvet]

I like Traficant. I'd vote for Traficant today ... but I'd button-hole him real fast and tell him to cut out the petty criminal crap IF he did it.

The next time around, I think he'd be enough of a man, and enough of a Patriotic American to shape up and be satisfied to live a normal life like the rest of us working stiffs.

[Lizard_King]

Traficant is a crook and a populist, with a strong element of bombast and ignorance that make him even more of a caricature. I agree that a large part of the devoted attention the law has paid him was due to his unpopular opinions on Clinton, but that in no way mitigates his crimes nor the fact that the causes he seized upon were often corrupt in and of themselves (protectionism for big steel? C'mon...plenty of modern small mill are able to compete these days, and protectionism only prolongs the agony of the aging dinosaurs at the expense of the consumer).

I don't think I'll miss him much.