Redstate

Posted at 12:13am on Jun. 5, 2008 Not to pile onto William Jefferson (D, LA-2) (Super-delegate*)...

...Oh, by the way? In his *FREEZER.*

By Moe Lane

...Constant Reader Vladimir is covering the latest controversy between Jefferson and the government. But guess what? Yup, the net's been cast wider (via Instapundit):

Indicted: 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson
by Gordon Russell and David Hammer, The Times-Picayune

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten announced this afternoon that 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson, an elder sister of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, has been indicted on a host of fraud-related charges by a federal grand jury. Also indicted were Jefferson's daughter, Angela Coleman, and her brother, the previously indicted Mose Jefferson.

The charges are the culmination of a probe into charities run by members of the Jefferson family and their allies. In a rare move, the FBI announced it was investigating the nonprofits after a 2006 Times-Picayune story revealed apparent self-dealing at them.

And yes, before you ask: I know that the Democratic Party doesn't actually give a tinker's dam about civic corruption unless they can hang it around a Republican's neck. Jefferson's continuing place in the House Caucus is proof enough of that. But it does make me feel better, at least, to note this sort of thing.

Moe Lane

*Senator Obama, of course: Senator Clinton has more sense. She certainly has more than the DNC, given that they're letting him have a vote in their Presidential selection process.

Posted in Culture of Corruption | Democrats | New Orleans | William Jefferson — Comments (12)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:06am on Apr. 9, 2008 Paragons of Virtue: New Orleans' Jefferson Clan

By Vladimir

Because I ... just ... can't ... help ... myself.

Mose Jefferson pleads innocent

Mose is the older brother of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), the Democratic superdelegate who is currently awaiting trial on 16 counts of bribery &etc. Mose's girlfriend is ex-N.O. city councilwoman Renee Gill-Pratt, also a member of the extended Jefferson clan and Democratic superdelegate.

As we have found on many previous occasions, if there is a Public Teat on which to be sucked, there you will find a Jefferson.

Among the article's juicy tidbits:

Posted in Louisiana | New Orleans | State Politics | William Jefferson — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:04pm on Mar. 8, 2008 Mayor Nagin Finds His Niche

By Vladimir

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's competence has been the subject of considerable debate ever since Hurricane Katrina. It appears that the good mayor has discovered a Core Competency:

Mayor of New Orleans: "I Am A Vagina-Friendly Mayor"

[Note to Self: Next diary, "I Am a Vagina-Friendly Blogger!"]

Nagin made the remark while welcoming the author of the Vagina Monlogues, Eve Ensler to the city to promote the "V-Day" celebration in New Orleans next month.

Posted in Mayors | New Orleans | State Politics | Vaginas — Comments (12) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:13pm on Dec. 22, 2007 N.O. Public Housing: It's Both a Floor Wax and a Dessert Topping

By Vladimir

Times-Picayune columnist Jarvis DeBerry cogently points out that the protesters in New Orleans seem to want to have it both ways: the Projects represent both Degrading Human Warehouses Built by The Man to Keep Black People in Shackles and Idyllic Affordable Housing for the People.

Public Housing: Plot or Paradise?

Do you believe that the American government was engaged in a conspiracy against black people when it began building huge apartment complexes that served to concentrate poverty?

Posted in Culture | New Orleans | Public Housing — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:57am on Dec. 21, 2007 "Don't taze me, Breaux!"

By Vladimir

The New Orleans City Council, by a 7-0 vote, approved plans to raze four of the city's squalid, decrepit and historically crime infested public housing projects. Mayor Nagin has applauded the vote. Even the Washington Post approves:

Corruption and mismanagement led to a federal takeover of the city's housing authority in 2002. The Department of Housing and Urban Development moved quickly to break up these concentrations of poverty and dysfunction. Redevelopment of five of nine complexes into mixed-income communities is well underway. The remaining four complexes -- B.W. Cooper, St. Bernard, C.J. Peete and Lafitte -- hang in the balance. The City Council must vote for demolition.

Posted in Miscellanea | New Orleans | Public Housing | Rabble Rousers — Comments (28) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:18pm on Dec. 15, 2007 Pelosi, Reid Offer Advice on Rebuilding New Orleans

By Vladimir

New Orleans' decaying, decrepit public housing projects gave tenements a bad name. Spread throughout the city, the projects were little more than human warehouses, full of crime, drugs and despair. In turn, they spread crime and criminality to the adjoining areas. They were a testament to everything that's wrong with the traditional liberal model of welfare and public assistance.

The city had begun dealing with the problem pre-Katrina. The blighted St. Thomas project in the Lower Garden District was razed. On its site, a new planned community called River Garden emerged, featuring some home ownership and more livable, modern housing standards.

Posted in Congress | Harry Reid | Nancy Pelosi | New Orleans — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »