Back in Business

So, I'm back now after a long absence. For a while I didn't want to displace Jenny's post, then I got wrapped up in exams and moving out. And, so much has happened in the last three weeks I hardly know where to start! So, maybe I'll just start with what I'm watching now on CNN: the sorry spectacle of Nancy Pelosi telling reporters that Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)'s conduct in office is a matter between him and his constituents. Remember, this is the member of Congress who's been the target of a federal probe for over a year now. Court papers released this week revealed that Jefferson was caught on tape accepting a $100,000 bribe from an FBI informant, and that $90,000 in cash was later discovered in a freezer in his DC home.

So, instead of turning this embarrassing episode to the Democrats' advantage by calling for Jefferson's resignation and shutting him out of official Democratic circles, Pelosi cops out by saying it's up to Jefferson's constituents to judge him. And Congressional Republicans, astonishingly, closed ranks with the Democrats by protesting the violation of "separation of powers" which the Feds supposedly perpetrated by searching Jefferson's office for 17 hours last week. (When Bush issues "signing statements" that invalidate 10% of all the laws this Republican Congress has passed, mind you, they didn't raise a peep. But searching a Congressman's office after collecting bullet-proof evidence of corruption on a massive scale? How dare they!)

When a Congressman from either party sells out the public interest and betrays the public confidence by taking bribes, that's not just a concern for his constituents. It's a criminal matter , for one thing, and an occasion for condemnation by political leaders on both sides of the aisle. If the Democrats really want to run against the culture of corruption, they need to be sure to police their own ranks as well. And they need to cast out every individual who abuses a position of high office and high trust to enrich himself personally.

UPDATE: Wolf Blitzer, dutifully, picks up on the "separation of powers" theme in a subsequent interview with Bill Bennett. The whole notion that Congressmen's offices are sacrosanct areas when it comes to criminal investigations is wholly meritless, in my opinion. But if the talking heads are going to run with this particular line of Republican B.S., it would be nice if they would also stop and ask why Congress hasn't acted on other more important violations of separation of powers (signing statements, violations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and anti-torture laws, attempts to escape the jurisdiction of Congress and the courts through the use of Guantanamo and secret CIA "black sites," etc etc ad nauseum).

Goodbye My Friend

On Saturday I received the very sad news that my friend Jenny Chang died after a heroic four year struggle with breast cancer. She was only 28. Here she is just a few months ago outside of her home in D.C., with her beloved companion "Honey":


Jenny was an amazingly gifted and energetic individual: Park Scholar and Truman Scholar, Student Body President at North Carolina State University, and legislative aide to Representatives David Price (D-N.C.) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), among many other achievements. She was also a mentor and close friend of mine at N.C. State and afterwards, and she often told me she considered herself my "big sister." I owe a great deal to her, and it was frustrating to see her in such need over the last few years and feel so powerless to help.

Jenny spent her final years living life to the fullest, fighting the cosmic unfairness of her illness with grace and poise. I never saw her stop smiling, not even when I saw her just two weeks ago. I will miss her very much.

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PS: Please donate to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation at www.komen.org. You can make a donation in honor of Jenny Chang if you wish.