Jim Screws Up, Jay Walks the Plank

Wouldn't you love to have a job where if you royally screw something up, one of your underlings gets fired? Well, if you can't get a CEO job, the next best thing is congressman from Wisconsin. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis) was totally out of control last month, sending a letter to Joel Flaum, the chief judge of the 7th circuit of the federal court. He actually demanded that Flaum do something about an individual case. This action was wrong on so many levels that it makes one's head spin. What makes it even worse is that Sensenbrenner is chairman of the House Judiciary committee that controls the budgets of the federal court system. The obvious bullying intent was "do things my way, or you just might see your budget cut next year." This is so typical of how Republicans have become drunk with power. And what was the heinous case that caused Sensenbrenner to take such a spectacularly stupid action? The trial judge in a drug case decided to give a minor participant in a larger case who possessed a small amount of the total drugs involved an eight year and one month sentence. Sensenbrenner in his letter claimed (later shown to be wrong) that under sentencing guidelines, a 10 year sentence was required. Well, one can see how a difference of 23 months in such an everyday drug case would bring the halls of justice crashing down if not rectified immediately. So, when all this came out in the open, what do you think happened? Sensenbrenner had to resign in shame, right? Of course not! Remember, we are living in Republican Bizarro world. Jay Apperson, chief counsel of the House Judiciary subcommittee who brought the case to Sensenbrenner's attention and who publicly defended Sensenbrenner's action with his ridiculous letter resigned last week. That will teach him! You know, Sensenbrenner's actions were so off the wall and so wrong, I am expecting Bush to pin a medal on him real soon.