SQUARE PEG, ROUND HOLE ...
by Timothy Rollins, Editor and Publisher
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In
what will probably be the final blow to the controversial career of Congressman
James Traficant (D-OH, right), he now faces disciplinary hearings and probable
expulsion from the House of Representatives following his conviction on 10 counts
of bribery, racketeering and fraud.
Say what you want about Traficant, but he is indeed the complete package – sassy, bold, blunt and a bad hairpiece to boot. When House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) suggested that Traficant resign and save the House the time, energy and expense of disciplinary hearings, Traficant bluntly told Gephardt where to get off.
Traficant plans to run as an Independent in the fall election. He blames the Democrats and more specifically Gephardt for being an impotent leader and for having screwed up the party. Gephardt on the other hand, blames Traficant for casting the vote that elected Dennis Hastert (R-IL) Speaker of the House, the position Gephardt covets most next to the presidency, the latter of which he knows he will now never occupy.
While I believe that Traficant is guilty of at least some offenses for which he was charged, I couldn’t help but think of other factors coming into play here. The man has a record of flamboyance going back more than two decades to when he was a sheriff in Ohio; actions on the job there led to a 1983 federal trial on bribery charges in which he represented himself, successfully winning an acquittal on all charges. He was elected to Congress shortly thereafter.
The increasing fact of the matter is that House and Senate members are no longer really representative of the people. Most of Congress is made up of doctors, dentists, teachers, millionaire businessmen, and far too many lawyers. Ordinary blue-collar folks don’t have much of a chance of getting elected; their party committees and precinct chairmen simply cut them off at the knees and limit the choices of the people at large from which candidates to choose to the ones who have been anointed by the folks at National. Write-in campaigns are rarely successful, although not totally unheard of. Look no further than the recent upset in the California gubernatorial primary, which may not have happened without the due and able help of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Former
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan (left), a pro-abortion RINO (Republican in
Name Only) went up against Bill Simon (right), the son of the late Treasury
Secretary. President Bush and the National GOP went to bat for Riordan and pulled
out all the stops to get Riordan in the race against incumbent Governor Gray
Davis (D-CA) – this despite the fact Riordan has been supportive of Democratic
causes in the past, to include Davis’ 1998 election.
When the final vote was in, of California’s 58 counties, three counties voted for the secretary of state who was one candidate, two (Los Angeles and Imperial) went for Riordan, and the remaining 53 voted in favor of Simon, and in the process sent a powerful signal to the National GOP Committee that regardless of what the ‘beautiful people’ may think, that the phrase ‘we the people’ put in place in the Constitution’s preamble, still has meaning today and that in fact, we the people still do indeed rule.
When former longshoreman Michael Myers ran for Congress in 1976 after serving for a time in the Pennsylvania House, he was one of those wound up in Abscam a couple of years later. Like Traficant, he too, was defiant following his conviction and refused to leave Congress; only in this case, the House held disciplinary hearings and recommended expulsion. In November 1980 – on the floor of the House, Myers plead like a man strapped in an electric chair asking that his career be spared saying words to the effect that a vote to expel was like ‘throwing the switch’. By a vote of 406-29 (if memory serves), Myers became the first member of the House of Representatives to be expelled in over a century.
While
it has long been acknowledged that Abscam was an FBI ‘sting’ operation that
went trolling for politicians, again, I cannot help but think that any time
someone who does not fit the preconceived mold manages to get into Congress,
it seems that their days there are numbered from the get-go. Look no further
than former Congressman Merrill Cook (R-UT, left) who was told by state GOP
officials that he would not be endorsed for a third term because he voted against
Permanent Normal Trade Relations (formerly known as Most Favored Nation status)
with Communist China. Such action was in keeping with the express and overwhelming
wishes of his constituents; nonetheless, state GOP officials actively and spitefully
kept the man from getting elected to a third term in the fall of 2000. Their
spite as well as their subservience to the lackeys at National was so strong
that they ceded the seat to a Democrat rather than endorse Cook and afford him
a legitimate shot at a third term.
What America needs now more than anything – and especially in light of the events of 9-11, is for good and honorable people to step up to the plate and get involved; to stop being afraid and setting themselves up as potential victims of violence. We need to take our country back from those who would do it harm, whether from outside the country or from within, even if they happen to hold elected office, and to use whatever means the law allows to achieve these ends. If it means charging a band of hijackers the way Todd Beamer and his fellow passengers did on United Airlines Flight 93, then so be it. The chances are however, that such drastic action will not be needed by most of us, but there are ways we can still contribute.
How can we do this, you may ask? For openers, we can take care of ourselves, our families, and then our neighbors. Neighborhood watches do wonders in building community spirit and morale. Another way of contributing is to take an active role in local and state (as well as federal) government by either finding responsible and honorable men and women to serve in government, or to possibly consider becoming a candidate yourself. After all, if you don’t actively participate, you have no legitimate right to complain. ***
© 2002 Timothy Rollins
COPYRIGHT © 2002 BY THE AMERICAN PARTISAN. All writers retain rights to their work.
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