The scattered shards of Jim Traficant's career

Jim Traficant was a Democratic congressman from Ohio some years back.

Years ago, I had some degree of approval of Traficant thanks to his economic populism he displayed at the time. As a Youngstown area sheriff, he was one of few law enforcement officers bold enough to exercise his choice not to enforce foreclosures.

But his congressional career ground to a halt after his bribery conviction. By that time, Traficant had become such a self-caricature that his congressional webpage featured an animated picture of himself in which he appeared to be jacking off.

Since being released from prison, Jim Traficant has gone totally bonkers. In fact, he was headed that way even before his conviction.

In September, Traficant appeared on MSNBC's 'Hardball' and delivered a tirade that was virtually indistinguishable from a right-wing talk radio rant.

Traficant boasted about speaking at the right-wing "anti-tax" Tea Parties - yet demanded that the federal government institute a 25% sales tax, as advocated by the FairTax cult.

The FairTax is a hallmark of a thoroughly washed-up politician. Regardless of what the politician's ideology was at their peak, all such political figures seem to conclude their public lives with FairTax nonsense emanating from their lips.

Typically, ineffective politicians do this. A true statesperson does not.

While it's clear Jim Traficant's political career is over, he's actually threatening to run for Congress again. "I'm 25 years old, I'm eligible to run," said the 68-year-old Traficant.

Whatever, Jim.

(Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27505.html)