Bar Jensen from Capitol -- and no TV, either
"Democrats think a humane prison system should have weight rooms, recreation centers and cable TV, but that religion should stay out. Republicans believe that there is more to be learned about right and wrong from people of faith than there is from a whole season of Jerry Springer.”-- One of the Teachings of Speaker Jensen from his website.
Scooter's day of reckoning comes next Tuesday, and he may have a different take on prison reform if the prosecutor gets his way.
WisPolitics reports:
[Dane County DA Brian] Blanchard asks that Jensen be sentenced next week to five-year terms on each of the three felonies of which he was convicted. On count one, Blanchard requests 15 to 20 months in prison followed by supervised release for the remainder of the five-year term. On counts two and three, Blanchard requests 12 months in prison followed by 48 months supervised release.He also asks that Jensen be barred from the State Capitol for five years, to avoid the kind of unseemly event we all witnessed recently with another ex-GOP Assembly leader, Steve Foti, lobbying legislators while on work-release under the Huber Law. Everyone seemed happy to see him, and he didn't have shackles, or even a monitoring bracelet on, as far as you could tell.
I suppose you can't bar Jensen from the Inn on the Park for five years, or prevent him from calling the shots via telephone or Blackberry.
But Step 1 was getting him out of office.
Keeping him out of the Capitol would be an excellent Step 2.
Why pick on Jensen, when four other legislators were convicted? Because none of the others showed the arrogance or lack of remorse that Jensen demonstrated during his three-week trial, which he inflicted on his party and the taxpayers in the mistaken belief that the jury would agree he was above the law.
Back to the Blanchard filing:
"In sum, while Jensen has some favorable character traits, due in part to his apparently strong family ties, when it comes to the matters before the court, Jensen has demonstrated a character of rare and consistent selfishness, arrogance, and deceit, and complete distain [sic] for the rule of law when applied to his own conduct," Blanchard writes. "In this context, he has shown no concern for the public welfare or for the circumstances of the many persons who have, in a number of cases, all too loyally worked for him, while being paid by the public."I say no cable TV for Scooter. Maybe only a black and white set. Or how about no TV at all?
posted by xoff @ 9:35 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
The fact is that Blanchard is nuts and the courts have bent over for these goofy prosecutions. Criminal law and politics don't mix well and these cases were really about prosecuting what 1 man saw as bad politics. None of this was corruption in any sense in which the word has ever before been used. If the rules needed to be changed, the rules should have been changed rather than Blanchard launching his own personal jihad.
One ugly side effect is that allegations of this new form of corruption have played a big part in killing any substance in political debate. And, of course, McCabe, Heck, and Blanchard have gone a long way in teaching people that public service is a sin and that all officials are crooks. McCabe and Heck, both lobbyists, have probably grown the size of their special interest organizations and Blanchard probably thinks he's got a bright future. At the same time, lives have been ruined and voters have been vividly taught that politics is a cesspool.
My problem with smugnerss about Jensen's fate is that it forgets that this monster can turn on anyone. Dems are gleeful over Jensen's demise. I promise that over the years Dems will once again feel sheepish when Blanchard or a Republican version of him turns this nonsense back to Dems who are doing things that the prosecutor personally thinks are bad politics, the real "crime" here.
Personally, I would rather see Jensen sentenced to 12 months in prison with the stipulation that Chvala is his cell mate. In this scenario, allowing television would be appropriate as long as there is only one remote for them to fight over.
How about a three-year sentence and every two weeks he’s moved to another one of our state’s fine county jails. He would get to visit all seventy-two counties and experience county hospitality first-hand.
I think that Xoff should be banned from producing television ads that will "advocate" re-election of his old boss through his "legal" 501(4)(C).
Unlike Scooter, I not only have never been found guilty of violating campaign and election laws, but have never even had a complaint filed against me.
If you don't like the law, get it changed.
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