Free Republic

Today I'd like to award my first "On the Pipe" awards to Memphis City Councilmen Rickey Peete and Edmund Ford, both arrested Thursday on public corruption charges. No insult to addicts intended, this award goes to anyone whose behavior is so bizarre, so devoid of any common sense, so head-scratchingly stupid that the only explanation is a serious addiction to the crack pipe. What makes Ford's and Peete's stupidity so memorable, so worthy of the "On the Pipe" award is the timing. In August and October, federal prosecutors say Ford took a total of $6,900 in bribes to get the...

With a hidden video camera rolling, Memphis City Councilman Edmund Ford allegedly pocketed a $1,900 payoff from a government informant in October, then promised results. "I'll drum up seven (votes) or make somebody walk out." That was among allegations levied Thursday against council members Ford and Rickey Peete, who were arrested by FBI agents on federal bribery charges accusing them of accepting thousands of dollars from an informant in exchange for their votes. In the second major local public corruption investigation in two years, authorities say secret audio and video recordings show the pair received cash payments -- $12,000 for...