Mood:
smellyTopic: "Damn Close" (4)
Huey Long, known affectionately as the "Kingfish" in Louisiana politics, had few equals when it came to gall. Frodo's favorite story took place in Winnfield, Louisiana, during a speech to support the Governor's re-election. Long said words to the effect that he highly resented the United States Government and its effort to convict him for the theft of one million in taxpayer dollars. "I didn't steal one million dollars. I stole two million dollars."
Applause, closely followed by the re-election of the Governor.
Some years later, Edwin Edwards, from Crowley, Louisiana, became the closest thing to a successor to Huey Long. In a series of conflicts with the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI, and probably every other agency licensed to carry firearms, Edwards eventually found himself in a re-election race against David Duke, of Ku Klux Klan reknown. Voters in the "Pelican State" did not shy away from the bumper-stickers which read "Vote for the Crook, It's Important."
Applause, closely followed by the re-election of the Governor.
The fourth of the past eight Governors from the State of Illinois was today greeted by the presence of the FBI on his front stoop at 6:00 AM, and arrested for public bribery and a multitude of other charges in a 78-page indictment. Frodo has to admit that he was impressed by the 50% figure achieved by the US Attorneys Office in the Northern District of Illinois. However, it is important to remember names like William Jefferson (he of the $90K in cold cash found in his freezer), Bob Livingston (who served as House Speaker for three days after Newt Gingrich while testing Viagra on a constituent), and of course, the current US Senator, Mr. Vidrine, whose wife seemed to have a predilection for leopard-skin, or so it appeared on TV (Frodo feels she should have used her claws on his genitals). Corruption, in public, is not limited to the Governors in Louisiana; it is universal. The challengers from Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, and most certainly New Jersey, are merely pretenders to the throne.
Applause, closely followed by a marching band chanting "We're Number One."
