While others bash poor Representative William Jefferson (D-LA), I think it is important for someone to come to his defense.
I just saw the embattled congressman on CNN. He said that there are 2 sides to every story. Even James Carville, the Democratic bullshit artist in residence advocate pooh-poohed Mr. Jefferson's protestations of innocence. Carville said that he couldn't think of even one reason why someone would keep cash in a freezer, nor could his colleagues when he asked them. Well, Mr. Carville, you didn't ask me...
While I understand that keeping a large amount of cash in cold storage is unusual, it is not unexplainable. I can think of many reasons to keep $90,000 in cash in the freezer:
1. Keeping the cash under the mattress of his new Supreme Comfort Adjustable Bed kept resulting in the bills being torn.
2. He uses a lot of vending machines, and $90,000 in coins takes up way too much room.
3. A packed freezer keeps food safer during a power outage. Safety first, people! That's a very important lesson for people who live in areas where hurricanes are a threat, such as the state of Louisiana, the congressman's home. Thank you for your public service, sir!
4. Keeping bills frozen keeps them from getting crinkled, thereby saving the cash acceptor and self-service industry a lot of headaches. Good on you, Mr. Jefferson, for doing your part to help American commerce!!
5. When Representative Jefferson keeps cold bills in his pocket, everything stays cooler. Some doctors say that keeping sperm cool increases fertility. Family is what America is all about!
6. The whole episode was just a big mix-up. Earlier in the day that the raid took place, the very busy representative went to his bank and tried to deposit 6 Swanson TV Dinners and a Sara Lee Poundcake. Can you say embarrassing?
I think we can all learn an important lesson from this. It is easy to castigate Mr. Jefferson without hearing his side of the story. For all we know, the money might have been from a bribe, as alleged. Even if that is true, does that make it bad? Did you ever stop to think that graft and bribery should not be just a Rethuglican problem? Doesn't that serve to just divide the country even more?
I, for one, will wait for all of the evidence before I judge Representative Jefferson. In the meantime, I will leave it to those who have never stuck $90,000 in cash in their freezers to cast the first stone--and just how many of us can put ourselves in that category?