Posted on 08/16/2005 9:33:27 AM PDT by Willie Green
A lifetime ago, when William Jefferson was just a plain old congressman, not the central figure in what's shaping up as a major investigation of his business dealings, I sat down to talk to him about one of his pet subjects, international trade.
Jefferson kicked it off by asking whether I was familiar with the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Having skimmed a stack of newspaper clippings on the subject, I told him, with utter confidence, that I was.
Big mistake. Before long he was off on a treatise about trade deals past, with a particular focus on provisions to encourage human rights advances in partner nations. Luckily for me, Jefferson had to cut the interview short, so we agreed to pick it up again a few days later.
Great, I thought. More time to study.
I've thought about that encounter several times since the day, nearly two weeks ago, when federal agents raided Jefferson's homes in New Orleans and Washington, his car in the capital and his accountant's office.
And I've been thinking about it even more since I heard about the cash that FBI agents reportedly found in Jefferson's freezer.
It's not that the raid was about CAFTA, which had passed by a two-vote margin under intense White House lobbying just days before -- though there's a school of thought that federal authorities held off until after Jefferson cast his badly-needed yes vote.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
ping
This vote stinks to high heaven.
ping
check out these key words, why do these freepers have contempt for someone who is merely posting this story? attack the messenger, not the source methinks
btt
LOL!!!
Please don't refer to these flying monkeys as "freepers".
Although my articles often suffer from keyword abuse, the personal attacks would indicate that there may be a different agenda involved.
This past weekend, I taunted some longtime pathetic losers in the land of the banned about that bimbo Cindy Sheehan.
So there is good reason to suspect that these keywords may be part of a retread vendetta.
Thanks for the ping.
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