Give it up, Mel

Is William Jefferson really any better?

Lewis, Rangel Break Ranks on CBC Jefferson Stand
By Paul Kiel - June 14, 2006, 6:20 PM

Well, maybe this won't be such a battle after all.

Tomorrow the Democratic Caucus will vote on whether Rep. William Jefferson's (D-LA) should be stripped of his membership on the House Ways and Means Committee. There's broad support for the move -- with the notable exception of the Congressional Black Caucus, whose chairman complains that it would be a double standard to knock Jefferson off the committee before his indictment comes down.

CBC Chair Mel Watt (D-NC) had promised that the whole thing would "blow up in their face" if the Dem leadership pursued it. But it looks like some powerful members of his caucus have broken ranks.

Most prominent is Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who himself reportedly made the motion to have Jefferson booted off the committee. And Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) took the mission early on of trying to convince Jefferson to step down voluntarily. Those are among the two most esteemed members in the caucus.

Watt says he's not backing down, but it'll much harder to make his stand with those defections.

It's easy to talk about character when it's Thomas and Steele, their lack of it isn't easy to hide.
But what about William Jefferson, abusing his office and now hiding behind his skin color for support.

Watt didn't stick by Cynthia McKinney and there was a real dispute about her conduct.

Now. we're supposed to stand by a man who took MG trucks to clean out his home during Katrina? Who was found with $90K in marked money in his freezer?

Charlie Rangel isn't stupid, and John Lewis's character is without question. So let's stop playing games and get rid of this guy so he can defend himself in court. That's the right thing, not this crap of defending the indefensible.