Of course, everybody LIKED 'Gene Debs. Too bad he was a Socialist, but at least he was sincere. IIRC, he got about 900k votes for President while in prison.
Posted on 08/06/2002 5:17:00 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
James A. Traficant Jr. has left the building.
U.S. marshals picked up the feisty former congressman at 8:47 a.m. Monday at the Summit County Jail and headed east to the low-security Allenwood Federal Correctional Institution in White Deer Township, Pa.
He arrived at his new home at 2:45 p.m., according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Traficant was wearing his famous mop top -- discovered to be a toupee during his jail stay -- when he departed. He had to remove it upon arrival at the federal facility, where hairpieces aren't permitted.
Traficant had been held in Summit since last week, when he was sentenced to eight years in prison for his April conviction on charges of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion.
During his short stay in Akron, he became the jail's resident celebrity -- with calls coming in about his infamous mane and demeanor, as well as multiple requests for interviews, which he did not grant.
His persona in an isolation cell -- where he was kept for his protection -- was no different than the one he displayed on television since taking over the U.S. House of Representatives seat for the Mahoning Valley in 1984, Summit County Sheriff's Department Maj. Charles Poncgracz said.
``He was in pretty good spirits for someone looking at eight years,'' Poncgracz said. ``He's a fighter, I think. He just doesn't have any use for the FBI.''
In the federal prison, Traficant, 61, will be mixed in with the general population at the all-male facility, which is roughly 200 miles east of Youngstown, just off Interstate 80 in central Pennsylvania.
The prison's location -- in a township of about 4,000 people -- is bound to be disappointing to Traficant. He sought to be placed within Ohio to help his campaign to reclaim the 17th District seat as an independent.
Political observers are wary of saying that Traficant has no chance of winning Nov. 5 -- even from behind bars in another state.
There is no precedent regarding a House run from prison.
Constitutional experts say he could serve from another state. Federal courts have ruled that a person's residency is not determined by ``physical or legal compulsion'' -- such as a prison sentence.
Where Traficant may play a bigger role, though, is as king maker. The thought is that he takes more votes from state Sen. Timothy J. Ryan, D-Niles. The better Traficant does, the better it is for state Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin, R-Aurora.
The only polling since the May primary (before the expulsion) put Traficant's support at 13 percent.
John Green, director of the Bliss Institute for Applied Politics at the University of Akron, said Traficant has never been more popular than after his expulsion and sentencing.
Youngstown State University Political Science Department Chairman William Binning said Traficant winning 10 to 15 percent of the vote is realistic.
Meanwhile, in the small communities surrounding White Deer, there was little fanfare regarding the prison's newest resident.
Ed Rolko, owner of Mr. Edward's, a barbershop, beauty shop and wig supplier in nearby Shenandoah, needed some reminders before he could place Traficant's name.
He brushed off the questions with a simple -- ``to me, all those politicians are crooks'' -- and shifted the conversation to his pressing concern: his failing garden.
Rolko, however, joked that he might ask around to find out about Traficant's toupee since he cuts the hair of some prison employees.
``Maybe I could sell him a new one?'' he said, laughing. ``When he comes out, I might be able to take care of him.''
Perhaps not..but Congressman Charles Diggs (D) from Detroit WAS re elected following his conviction for kickbacks. I had thought he was in prison at the time of his re election...
More HERE
Well, if I can be honest, although I'm an Ohian, he wasn't my congresscritter so I didn't pay enough attention to what was going on in his life to have an informed opinion on the subject. To me he was always just a colorful, amusing dweeb that embarrassed the Democrats and gave the rest of us an occasional laugh. The only other thing I know about him was that he was convicted of serious public corruption and that tends to speak for itself.
If that is the case, may I ask, why is it that others whose crimes were much worse still sit in the "honorable" house?
Honor among thieves perhaps? God knows, there are certainly enough scoundrels in that bunch, I grant you.
I watched the hearings on TV the day it all went down for Big Jim, and I found the voting dynamics very ummmm... interesting. The final House vote to expel him was almost unanimous with Gary Condit being the sole dissenting vote.
However, there was a vote taken before the final one. It was to resolve the issue of postponement of the vote. Some argued that it was a "rush to judgement", and it would have been prudent and otherwise harmless to delay the vote until after the summer recess, during which time further facts might come forward that had bearing on the case.
I don't remember the exact vote count, but the Democrats voted against delay almost to the last representative, they obviously wanted him out of there RIGHT NOW, whereas at least a significant minority of Republicans were willing to give Trafficant this one last possible benefit fit of a doubt.
Politics, go figger...
HELP is on the way! At the very least, Traficant's prosecutors/persecutors are doomed to become national laughingstocks. Stay Tuned! Hee! Hee!
Nope! I prefer Traficant! He will be an independent but he will vote with the Republicans for majority leader. And there is an increasing chance he might be let out of prison before the next term begins. Stay tuned! :-)
Interesting. Then again Jim is always fun to watch.
Hey...somebody told me Traficant wears a rug...I find that very hard to believe...MUD
Wasn't there a poll posted here last week (conducted the end of July) that put Traficant well ahead in first place in the new district?
The prison made him take of the rug....oh the humanity. No word yet as to if the rug was released back into the wild.
ROFL...Ol' Jim's a PETA Protest waitin' to happen!!
FReegards...MUD
LOL! They tagged it and took it to a wildlife sanctuary, but the booger keeps beaching itself outside the prison walls!
*ping* gratitude to you. I can't wait to see what PJ-Comix is up to..!
I really don't think your original comments are any more valid than what you write above. Basically, what you are saying is you have not been paying attention but you get on here and rail against Traficant.
If you are ever audited by the IRS and find that the IRS is now required to provide the burden of proof rather than you, will will appreciate what the "amusing dweeb" was able to accomplish for you and the rest of the nation.
As for the laugh you used to get out of Traficant, the laugh is now on you. The man that ruffled a bunch of feathers in Washington, including the feathers of those that want to maintain an onerous IRS, is now in jail and out of Congress.
Your's wasn't the last laugh.
Politics, go figger...
Go figure nothing. That is pure BS. Gee, I was going to delay a vote to stone you to death but seeing as how everyone has voted to decide today, well, let me toss in this boulder and konk you on the head.
Please spare me this nonsense.
Make no mistake, the Republicans wanted him out of office, every last one of them. Just exactly as the final vote showed.
Of course, everybody LIKED 'Gene Debs. Too bad he was a Socialist, but at least he was sincere. IIRC, he got about 900k votes for President while in prison.
Morford and Wells. Not a day won't go by for the rest of their lives when their own friends and co-workers won't be laughing at them. Trust me....Just a few more days.
HELP is on the way! At the very least, Traficant's prosecutors/persecutors are doomed to become national laughingstocks. Stay Tuned! Hee! Hee!
...Nope! I prefer Traficant! He will be an independent but he will vote with the Republicans for majority leader. And there is an increasing chance he might be let out of prison before the next term begins. Stay tuned! :-)
Morford and Wells. Not a day won't go by for the rest of their lives when their own friends and co-workers won't be laughing at them. Trust me....Just a few more days.
C'mon,already!Spit it out!
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