Flame if you must, but note first that I'm a resident of Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District.
Then tell me what you would do.
Sure, I could vote for Malik or one of the other third-party candidates in protest, but I don't want to protest. I want representation in Congress.
And that is precisely what William Jefferson has been unable to provide since before our city was drowned by a war of choice. From the time it was first announced that Mr. Jefferson was being investigated in mid-2005, he has kept the lowest profile possible for a U.S. Representative, tip-toeing around any possible confrontation with the Bush administration.
Understandable. You don't want to unduly piss off people who hold your fate in their hands, particularly when they've shown no hesitation to use their law-enforcement powers to punish their political enemies.
But there was another significant event in the summer of 2005, one that affected more than one congressman, his family and cronies (many of whom seem to have similar troubles with fingers, cookie jars and legal boundaries).
Since the flood, our city has desperately needed a champion, someone up in the grill of every lying, contract-padding, no-one-could-have-anticipated, heckofajob buck-passer that tried to block investigation of and restitution for what had befallen us. Instead, we had a ducking, skulking mumbler whose fear for his own arse outweighed his obligations to those he "represented."
This tendency to put his constituents last on his list of priorities didn't start with the investigation. As Mr. Jefferson said to Lori Moody, the woman he was trying to shake down in the deal that brought him to the FBI's attention, "I'm going to take care of my family then I'm out of here."
My city is not just a Disneyland for grownups or a museum of a time when America was a cultural polyglot. It is a vital center for energy, transportation and trade. Without a thriving port and city here, there is no United States.
And when this city, this keystone of our country's wealth and power, was in greatest need of a forceful advocate, what did we have instead? A fugitive.
I don't care if a jury finds that Jefferson's shady side deals were legal or not. I don't care if his siblings' shell games of companies and "charities" are "legitimate."
My city needs a voice, not a mumble.
If that voice belongs to a man with an "R" behind his name, so be it. We need someone to live up to the title Representative.
And so today I'll be voting for Mr. Cao. I hate it, but it's got to be done, for my city and my party.