I know the people of Louisiana elected him...

But can't the new congress refuse to seat William "Cold Cash" Jefferson?

That would sure go a long ways toward establishing this new congress as the most corruption-free and transparent in memory, as Speaker Pelosi keeps reminding us it's going to be. Hey, I'm all for it. What sets us apart, and makes us, well, better than the bums we just threw out is our willingness to stick to the rules of the game. I want accountability across the board. If we hold our own accountable; when we pants the Publicans in the public square we won't look like freakin' hypocrites.

The people we are after are the same people who, when we were kids, took money out of the Monopoly bank when you went to the bathroom. They cheated then and they still cheat now. That's the difference between us and them. We aren't cheaters. So when we catch one of our own cheating, we can't screw around. If we are the party of anti-corruption, set that bar really effing high and don't lower it for anyone.

Where this issue is concerned don't give me the innocent until proven guilty routine - we aren't talking about summary declaration of guilt in a criminal proceding. We are talking about fitness to serve. They are two entirely different things, and one can be unfit to serve and be guilty of no crime. William Jefferson has not been judged guilty by any court but I do not believe he is fit to serve, either.

Let's face it - he should be up to his eyeballs in subpoenas and indictments, and he would be if the new minority party hadn't been trying to use Jefferson to give themselves cover. They did not want their own activities looked into very carefully, so they packaged the FBI raid of Jefferson's congressional offices as a Constitutional crisis.

I laughed at this, oh how I laughed. Those setting up the loudest howl were the very congresspersons who didn't mind the NSA listening in on your phone calls, yet they wanted immunity from the law on the premises that you and I pay for them to use. Yeah. Their outrage didn't fly then and it still won't. There's a new rule of the day. It's called accountability. Study up, it's going to be on the test.

Whether he eventually goes to prison will be up to the prosecuting attorneys and the justice system. Whether or not he continues to legislate - an activity that affects us all - is up to the House of Representatives. This is a test of their character, and if they take the moral high ground it could very well set the tone for at least a decade of Democratic control of Congress.