don't give me that do-goody-good bullshit.

Some of you may be familiar with one Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana's 2nd District, recently re-elected by his New Orleans constituents, and currently under investigation by the FBI for taking bribes from a construction company. The most notable part of the whole deal was finding $90K in his freezer.

Prior to last November's elections, Jefferson had been punted off the House Ways and Means Committee by then Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi after the $90K find was made public, in order to clean house ethically. Lousiana elections are run under the run-off system, so Jefferson won his runoff against another black Democrat, Karen Carter, endorsed by his state's Democratic Party. And with the swearing-in of the 110th Congress, Mr. Jefferson has been welcomed back with open arms by the Congressional Black Caucus:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On the same day that the 110th Democratic-led Congress convenes with a plan to immediately pass lobbyist and ethics reforms, the Congressional Black Caucus Thursday gave a standing ovation to Rep. William Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who faces an FBI probe into bribery allegations.

"The haters... and negative nabobs...the people who spoke against him couldn't prevail against the people who spoke for him," Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, master of ceremonies for the CBC's celebratory event, said Thursday morning.

You stay classy, CBC. It's a shame; I liked Dyson despite his long-windedeness (a common quality of academic types; you get the same problems with Cornel West) because he took good, smart whacks at ignorant Black elites like Bill Cosby and his stupid theories, blaming the poor. The theory as to why someone like Jefferson gets re-elected has a lot to do with perceived persecution: his district consists heavily of Katrina survivors, and they've received little to no attention, and their representative gets accused of bribe-taking (plus, Louisiana elects corrupt bastards at all times, black and white). But how do you ignore, literally, cold, hard cash, never mind Jefferson's using the National Guard to get his stuff when Katrina hit?

The CBC has a double standard: it welcomes Jefferson with open arms, but willingly forgot Rep. Cynthia McKinney existed.