Dum Pendebat Filius

Why hasn’t Rep. William Jefferson (D - LA) resigned yet? As Joe Conason puts it –

When FBI agents reach into a congressman’s home freezer and pull out $90,000 in foil-wrapped bills, it is time for him to resign. When the Justice Department announces that the same congressman is on videotape taking a $100,000 bribe in a Virginia hotel garage, his resignation is overdue.

The case of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., is that simple. In a matter of public integrity, his party affiliation doesn’t matter, and neither does his race, color, creed, Harvard law degree or the sad fact that his constituents happen to live in ruined New Orleans. If he somehow doesn’t understand his position, then his political friends — and above all his colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus — should be firmly explaining those realities to him.

If the man has an ounce of integrity in him, he should demonstrate it by resigning immediately.