he detects a sense among some people in the 2nd Congressional District that Jefferson is being persecuted
Posted on 09/02/2008 11:30:28 PM PDT by Libloather
Sentencing postponed for Congressman Bill Jefferson's sister by The Associated Press Wednesday August 27, 2008, 8:38 AM
**SNIP**
Brenda Jefferson, the youngest sister of Bill Jefferson, pleaded guilty in June to helping three of her relatives conceal an alleged scheme to pocket more than $600,000 in state and federal grant money.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon agreed to reschedule Brenda Jefferson's sentencing from September 24 to February 11. She pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony.
Prosecutors said they need more time to evaluate her cooperation in the case against her sister, New Orleans tax assessor Betty Jefferson; her brother, Mose Jefferson; and her niece, Angela Coleman.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
NEW ORLEANS - Sordid bribery allegations and jokes about "cold cash" hidden in Rep. William Jefferson's freezer apparently did not matter much to voters two years ago when the New Orleans Democrat won a runoff election for his long-held congressional seat with a surprising 57 percent.
Hurricane Katrina was a fresh memory throughout much of the city. Jefferson lost his seat on the House Ways and Means Committee amid the burgeoning scandal, yet could argue that his seniority and clout in Congress were vital to the region.
Now that two more years have passed, Jefferson's political future has become more precarious. He is awaiting trial in Virginia on federal bribery charges; his brother and two sisters are ensnared in a separate federal criminal case in New Orleans.
Donations to his re-election have slowed and there is a reported campaign debt of $250,000. Still, few count Jefferson completely out as he faces six challengers in Saturday's primary.
"He's still influential in Congress. He still has supporters in Congress, and in the district," pollster and political analyst Silas Lee said.
Political scientist Ed Chervenak of the University of New Orleans said he detects a sense among some people in the 2nd Congressional District that Jefferson is being persecuted, but he questions whether that will be enough to save the nine-term incumbent.
"It's really the great unknown in terms of whether people will rally around Jefferson or whether they just say, `We've had enough,'" Chervenak said.
Hurricane Gustav, which was due to hit the Gulf Coast on Monday, could delay the decision on Jefferson's fate. Jacques Berry, a spokesman for the Louisiana Secretary of State, told The Washington Post on Sunday that his office was planning for the possibility that the primary may have to be rescheduled.
"We will not make a decision until after the storm comes through," Berry told the Post. "We're prepared for it, though."
While campaigning for a new term, Jefferson also is preparing for a December federal trial in Virginia on allegations that he took bribes, laundered money and misused his congressional office for business dealings in Africa. He is accused of taking about $500,000 in bribes and travel expenses and about 34 million shares of corporate stock.
In what became fodder for late-night talk show monologues well before he was indicted, Jefferson is famously alleged to have hidden in his freezer some $90,000 received from an FBI informant. Jefferson, who did not grant an interview for this story, has maintained his innocence.
Meanwhile, his brother Mose and sister Betty, a New Orleans tax assessor, have been indicted on federal fraud charges in New Orleans. Both are accused of using family owned companies to funnel federal and state grant money to themselves for personal use.
A second sister, Brenda Jefferson, pleaded guilty in June to helping conceal the alleged scheme.
Attacks on Jefferson in television and online ads by his opponents have been unmistakable if oblique, not mentioning him by name.
Former television reporter Helena Moreno sits in a house still in ruins three years after Katrina, bemoans the lack of progress and promises to "restore honesty and integrity" to the office. State Rep. Cedric Richmond of New Orleans says the people of the district "need and deserve real leadership right now."
While the recovery from Katrina is the biggest issue, the race also boils down to geography, demographics, turnout and political alliances.
Most of the district's 369,000 registered voters are in New Orleans. But almost one-third are in neighboring Jefferson Parish, where popular Sheriff Newell Normand has endorsed parish councilman Byron Lee. Most of the voters are black; almost one-third are white.
If voting patterns break along racial lines, that would aid Moreno, the only white candidate in the primary, in earning a spot in an expected Oct. 4 runoff.
Turnout is expected to be low and the vote will be divided among several well-known candidates.
In addition to Moreno, Lee and Richmond, City Council member James Carter, former council member Troy Carter (no relation to James) and Kenya Smith, a lawyer and former aide to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, are running.
"Jefferson's got a core constituency in both parishes," said demographer Gregory Rigamer. "They're going to split this vote up really fine."
The Democratic nominee will face three little-known challengers -- one each from the Green, Libertarian and Republican parties.
http://dailynews.muzi.com/news/ll/english/10077718.shtml
Free Willy !
the good news is that William Jefferson will be defeated in the Primary.
William Jefferson is a criminal and will be voted out of office by large numbers, most of those being black.
And William Jefferson no more gives blacks a bad name than Ted Stevens gives whites a bad name.
Obama voters. Need I say more.
Are you talking about the same William Jefferson who was known to be a criminal caught red handed with $90,000 of FBI bribe money in his freezer when he was reelected in a landslide by mostly Black voters who claimed he was being picked on because of his race? Remember this is the same race where a large majority feel Rodney King is a hero.
I'm glad you have so much faith in the Southern Black communities integrity trumping their commiseration with a brother attacked by The Man. But I'm betting you would have made the exact same comment before the last election and been let down then also. Nice sentiment, but don't bet on it.
An African student I went to college with down south, explained to me one day, "the Blacks you got sold were slaves before we sold them to you, and don't think we'd be selling the good ones by the shipload". He joked "these were worthless fellows. The chief would trade ten of them for a bicycle!" It has also been noted that during slavery days some ambitious, smart, or talented slaves could escape or 'earn their freedom' and move North to non-slave states, while 'bad' slaves were often 'sold down river' as punishment, since the further south you went the worse the slaves were often treated. After the abolition of slavery many former slaves who wanted to move up in the world through their own effort moved North or even West where there was less discrimination and more opportunity. Those who chose to stay on the plantation and keep working for their old masters or went to work at the plantation down the road could be construed to represent Black people with all the best qualities sorted out three times over. The Blacks all the way down the river in William Jefferson's district are not the same as the Blacks you and I meet elsewhere. I really never understood how racism maintained such a foothold down South until I went there and saw firsthand how ignorant both the Blacks and the Whites were in some places in the South. Neither race finds much to respect about the other in some of those backwards places. Towns are often divided along racial lines, and the voting is too.
Marion Barry, and the mayor of New Orleans were re-elected by stupids and I suspect the stupids of New Orleans will re-elect Jefferson.
Course is that as bad as Mass. re-electing the swimmer many times after Mary Jo?
And no I can't believe we keep electing Ted Stevens or Ted Kennedy, or anybody. We need term limits! Most of these guys have to lie on the campaign trail to get elected in the first place, and if they're not afraid to lie for personal reasons or ideology, then they don't have the kind of integrity it takes to posses power for long periods of time and not use a little of it for their own personal benefit. Our only hope is to rotate them out before they figure out best how to screw us brazenly while covering for each other.
And Republicans in Alaska just once again nominated the indicted Ted Stevens for yet another term in the Senate.
At least the Democtats in New Orleans will have the sense not to nominate William Jefferson.
Politicians like Jefferson and Barry get reelected by their voters because once they get busted they have earned street creed. It’s cool to be a criminal in certain circles.
Please provide me a source that documents that "a large majority of the people in the LA 2nd CD feel Rodney King is a hero."
As a part time resident of the LA 2nd I can tell you that he will not win the seat this year, he will not even win his party's primary.
I'm glad you have so much faith in the Southern Black communities integrity trumping their commiseration with a brother attacked by The Man. But I'm betting you would have made the exact same comment before the last election and been let down then also. Nice sentiment, but don't bet on it.
I have little faith in any community of any race to do what is right. The people in the LA 2nd proved that two years ago when they nominated Jefferson and the Republicans of Alaska proved the same thing just a week or two ago by nominating the Indicted Ted Stevens.
Now was it the hoards of Black Republicans in Alaska that once again nominated Ted Stevens or could it have been done by some other ethnic group?
Two years ago, I knew Jefferson would once again be elected however, this year Jefferson in polling at 8%.
I really never understood how racism maintained such a foothold down South until I went there and saw firsthand how ignorant both the Blacks and the Whites were in some places in the South.
You very well be right on that observation and it is that ignorance among both groups that keeps parts of the South and New Orleans economically depressed and racially divided.
At least the Democtats in New Orleans will have the sense not to nominate William Jefferson.
As a part time resident of the LA 2nd I can tell you that he will not win the seat this year, he will not even win his party's primary.
Two years ago, I knew Jefferson would once again be elected however, this year Jefferson in polling at 8%.
I wish I could say you were right about William Jefferson being voted out of office by large numbers, most of those being black. However I obviously had a better grasp on reality than yourself. While Whites in the US are largely able to vote for a Black politician regardless of his ethnicity, It would seem that a large number of Blacks prefer to be able to vote for one of their own, even if he is known to have bad character.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
I have a dream that Blacks would go back and listen to Dr. King and stop listening to the Clown Reverends who hijacked the civil rights movement for fame and fortune.
Interestingly, the people of Alaska proved themselves to be just as dysfunctional as the people of New Orleans when they voted for Ted Stevens.
In a state that is extremely Republican A forty year veteran politician Ted Stevens was given the boot after a minor conviction.
This is in no way the same as William Jefferson being reelected by his voters.
The majority of voters in Alaska don't come close to being as dysfunctional as those in New Orleans.
William Jefferson's reelection is a symptom of a problem that needs fixing in the people and party he represents. Accept it from a guy who saw this all coming while you were still clueless.
The Democrat party thinks Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans are retarded in some way by their past treatment and must get all manner of assistance to function equally to an average person of a White or Asian race. The Republican party of Lincoln thinks that Blacks and people of all races are equal and so there is no need to affirm anybody so long as the opportunity is equally open to people of all races.
It would seem as though 95% of Blacks voted Democrat in this presidential election. I always thought that because we are all created in the image of God it is self evident that all men are equal. However If 95% of Blacks favor the party that thinks they should get extra help to become equal maybe Dr. King and I are wrong and I should recognize that 95% of Blacks are probably right in wanting help to become equal to those of other races.
I guess I'm still not getting how admitting Black students into good universities with lower test scores will ever make Blacks truly equal? It kind of seems like the Democrats are drifting backwards towards declaring a Black man only needs to score equivalent to three fifths of a White man.
He takes a few bribes here and there but that is still really morally upright for a Black man, so we should reelect him.
I take back all my previous comments.
...Postponed???
...Who would have thunk it. I’m half black, and half white, and, if I were in Neo leniency, LA. I’d vote for him. Bribe me with some cold cashhh, WJ... One question for yer, trudogz, what’s with the separation of blacks, and whites? Insinuation???
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