The congressman that George Bush nicknamed “Congressman Kickass” and one of his favorite members has been arrested . . . again. Former Rep. John Sweeney was charged with driving while intoxicated for the second time in 17 months.
Sweeney garnered national attention and controversy for his role in the he 2000 Florida recount where he was a key Bush official and viewed as highly aggressive at scenes at polling places. He was later implicated in dealing with associates of Abramoff and was listed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) as one of its “20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress.” GHe not only went on trips associated with Abramoff but became his client’s leading cheerleader in Congress to protect sweatshops in the Marianas from federal enforcement. His time in Congress was viewed as one of the most notorious in terms of allegedly corrupt practices. For example, he paid his fiancé and future wife Gayle, $42,570 to do fund-raising, at which she had no previous experience — she received 10% of campaign contributions.
Since his well-deserved defeat in 2006, he has been busy in staying in the news . . . on the criminal blogs.
This arrest occurred at 3:30 am when he was stopped for speeding and then refused to take a sobriety test.
Sweeney pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving offense in November 2007 and lost his license for about three months
By the way, Sweeney is a former STOP-DWI coordinator in Rensselaer County.
Federal investigators are also looking into Sweeney’s dealings with an Albany lobbying firm seeking influence on the House Appropriations Committee in 2001.
Sweeney was also the subject of a 2005 domestic dispute leading to a 911 call. He also achieved notoriety for crashing his car and knocking out all of the power to an entire sky area. On the night of January 23, 2001, around 10:00 p.m., Sweeney lost control of his 2001 Jeep Laredo and hit a utility pole on a rural upstate road . . . stranding skiers aloft on the chairlifts. Sweeney was not charged or ticketed
It now seems that Congressman Kickass seems to be still kicking up a storm.
For the full story, click here.
I think he was the last customer here:
A man walks into a bar and has a couple of beers. Once he is done the bartender tells him he owes $9.00.
“But I paid, don’t you remember?” says the customer.
“Okay,” says the bartender, “If you say you paid, you did.”
The man then goes outside and tells the first person he sees that the bartender can’t keep track of whether his customers have paid.
The second man then rushes in, orders a beer and later pulls the same stunt.
The barkeep replies, “If you say you paid, I’ll take your word for it.”
Soon the customer goes into the street, sees an old friend, and tells him how to get free drinks.
The man hurries into the bar and begins to drink high-balls when, suddenly, the bartender leans over sand says, “You know, a funny thing happened in here tonight. Two men were drinking beer, neither paid and both claimed that they did. The next guy who tries that is going to get punched in the face.”
“Don’t bother me with your troubles,” the final patron responds. “Just give me my change and I’ll be on my way.”
Ok, you know those people who drink to cover up the shame and guilt. Or have been in a sexual position like getting caught at the rest stop just to go to the bathroom and they stay there for hours on all four. You know those want to Be’s that will do anything to get in. Like smoke a pole in the Oval office or be friends with barney. Yes, those type of people.
well he may be able to not get on with his life without the help of somebody. But if you are known as Congressman Kickass by Bush what does that really tell you. So long as Jism was Gov of Florida he was ok and things could be soft peddled. You know kind of like having brown gandbabies.
So you see, this gene pool did not diversify much. But going outside the family can mean to some that they practice diversity. Ya think.
So he’s an asshole AND corrupt, as well as a drunk. Color me shocked.
I well remember Mr. Sweeney’s interference in the Florida recount in 2000. He is essentially a brainless bully and appears unable to maturely cope with the fact of his political downfall. I do not wish ill of people who suffer from alcoholism, but Mr. Sweeney is an individual on whom sobriety is wasted.
I wasn’t certain where to put this info, but drunken ass-holes or, in this case, ones drunk on power, seems to fit the bill. When your govt. monitors you for exercising free speech and association your nation is in a lot of trouble:
“WASHINGTON – April 6 – A recently published “terrorism threat assessment” from a Virginia fusion center says the state’s universities and colleges are “nodes for radicalization” and encourages law enforcement to monitor First Amendment-protected activities of educational and religious foundations as terrorism threats. The document, which drew concern today from the American Civil Liberties Union…“
The Virginia threat assessment comes on the heels of two recently publicized and troubling documents from Texas and Missouri fusion centers. From directing local police to investigate non-violent political activists and religious groups in Texas to advocating surveillance of third-party presidential candidate supporters in Missouri, there have been repeated and persistent disclosures of troubling memos and reports from local fusions centers…
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/04/06-8