Jim Traficant (Dem. OH), who has nothing to lose at this point, having been convicted of enough crimes to put him behind bars for the rest of his currently natural life, will defend himself before the House next week in a futile attempt to keep his seat. The Repubs will vote against him because they have some principles and won't put up with corruption, and the Dems will vote against him because he's been disloyal and not willing to tolerate their own corruption (though he's quite satisfied with his own corruption, which is why he'll almost certainly be expelled).

Here's hoping that he'll blow the lid off all of the stuff that the House (and Senate) Democrats have been covering up for years, a coverup that he's been not just asked, but threatened for years, to go along with.

This just may turn out to be "must-see TV."

As an aside, I once met with Rep. Traficant in the subway between the House office buildings and the Capitol. He smiled and said, "How are you doing?" as though he knew me. That's how pols get elected and reelected. They never know whose vote they might influence or whether they're voters in their district, so the easiest thing is to assume that everyone is.

I remember flipping through channels and happening to catch parts of Trafficant's colorful "special orders" rants on C-SPAN. One was always transfixed by the spectacle of this buffoon in a bad toupee shouting "Mr Speaker!" from the well of the empty chamber, accompanied by the obligatory flip chart or prop or visual stunt which so often distinguishes the House's form of political entertainment from the more staid Senatorial variety.

If Jim Trafficant blows the lid off of anything next week, I hope his final performance will include sweating that absurd pile of polyester rug off his dome. That's the real coverup that might at last be exposed...

Yes, "Registered" over at Free Republic has created images of him with a raccoon on his head. It looks almost like whatever he's got there now.

Oh, come on. Traficant's early mentors were the mob -- he knows the penalty for talking.

That's no raccoon... that's a tribble!