William Jefferson brouhaha

I don't have a lot to say on this subject, but I wanted to post something today and this seemed an appropriate topic on which I could make a few brief points. For those of you unfamiliar with William Jefferson, you need to read the news more frequently. You can find out a little about him here.

Of course, the big story about this is not that there is a corrupt politician running around Washington, D.C. Most of us assume that there are more like Jefferson than are unlike him, and you need only look back to Duke Cunningham for another recent example of corruption. I also am not that interested in what this does to the Democratic strategy of trying to paint the Republicans as the "Party of Corruption." That's a non-starter, just because no one was willing to see the Democrats as the "Party of Virtue" in the first place, so this really isn't going to change the equation much on that score.

Instead, I find interesting the reaction of the House leadership, especially Speaker Dennis Hastert, to the search of Jefferson's office by the FBI. All sorts of claims have been made by the Legislative branch regarding this issue, including that there is some kind of special immunity from these kinds of searches, and also that such a search is a violation of separation of powers. The interesting thing is that the Republicans know this is a losing issue. The public is going to side with the FBI in a case where you are dealing with a crooked congressman, and the thought of Hastert and other House leaders joining together with the Dems on this issue is going to leave a very sour taste in the mouth of most members of the mainstream. After all, there is no constituency for this issue. Civil Libertarians don't really care about the supposed "privileges" of Congressmen...they are worried about ordinary citizens. Law and order types are predisposed towards favoring this kind of search. So, it appears as terribly naive for Hastert and others to assert that the FBI is in the wrong here, unless of course they are standing on principle, and to hell with the consequences.

Thing is, I can't see that happening. Most politicians, Hastert and Co. included, care much more about being re-elected than about standing on principle. Look at the posturing that goes on. And so, I expect that this issue is going to slip quietly into the night. There are now stories that Bush's order to sequester the records that were seized from Jefferson's office for 45 days was designed to provide Hastert some cover, and I expect exactly that to happen. This issue is going to fade away, the House will roll over and let it be, and Jefferson will soon be an ex-Congressman, probably wearing an orange jumpsuit.