Comments (39)

nofltwlt wrote on March 1, 2007 8:20 AM:

If we want the culture of corruption to end people like Ney should be forced to serve time in the general population of a real prison. This will enact immediate ethics reform

MK wrote on March 1, 2007 8:49 AM:

Nothing can erase the constituents that we have been able to do.

Tug wrote on March 1, 2007 8:50 AM:

You know, when I first read that a Garth Brooks song was quoted by the inmate, I naturally assumed it was "I got friends in low places".

I was not expecting "But I's have had to miss the dance".

I am not kidding.

apeman wrote on March 1, 2007 9:18 AM:

Does the sleeping weasel on Ney's head
have to do time along with him?

Bearpaw wrote on March 1, 2007 9:31 AM:

Hmmm. I missed the part of the judge's sentence where Ney was denied access to uppercase letters. Does he get them back after he serves his time?

(Yes, I admit it. I'm being petty.)

DB wrote on March 1, 2007 9:37 AM:

Garth Brooks lyrics: last refuge of a scoundrel

Therap! wrote on March 1, 2007 9:44 AM:

Despite finding a "higher power" the guy is deep into denial.

Maybe while in prison he can avail himself of some therapy.

It's common knowledge in my field that when sociopaths are incarcerated, they become depressed. So possibly the depression will allow the guy to see the TRUTH.

Truth AND consequences. Many more Repub "successful sociopaths" (meaning white collar crime and apparent "success") need both!

Heaven knows this band is one of the largest bands of sociopaths ever! And we are ALL experiencing the consequences!

JohnW wrote on March 1, 2007 9:45 AM:

noflatw1t is exactly right. Make them serve their time in 'prisons' not country clubs. THAT will
get their attention.

JohnW wrote on March 1, 2007 9:47 AM:

One other thing. Republicans hate big government and big government spending until it comes to time build and supply the prisons corrupt Republicans are sent to. Tennis anyone?

Duane wrote on March 1, 2007 9:48 AM:

"I am sorry for things that happened, absolutely, and I will pay the price."

First half passive, second half active.

First half dodge, second half martyr.

Cripes, I hate the non-apology.

Ken Herdrick wrote on March 1, 2007 10:03 AM:

Was this letter written by a 3rd grader? I can't believe this was written by a former member of Congress. And, I'm not being petty. I'm just astounded that he would allow something like this to go out with his name attached.

This is as bad as, if not worse than, Duke Cunningham's writing. Does it have anything to do with the fact that both of them are Republicans?

Legalize wrote on March 1, 2007 10:08 AM:

Am I the only one who finds it interesting that the email was written in all lower case?

Emily wrote on March 1, 2007 10:11 AM:

A better song to quote would have been:

Breaking rocks in the hot sun
I fought the law and the law won.

tom wrote on March 1, 2007 10:19 AM:

You have to love how he equates his losing his job (for steaking truckloads of money) with those who lost their jobs because of outsourcing or the collapse of US industry.

MasonMcD wrote on March 1, 2007 10:30 AM:

Apparently, they have email, TVs and a movie theater.

http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=972

Maybe he can get in shape in the weight room. Work his way up to data entry for $40 a month.

Wouldn't that be swell?

Ewen wrote on March 1, 2007 10:34 AM:

Oh my, thanks for the laughs this morning. The weasel hair comment, the "better song to quote" - oh yes. See ya Bob.

Frank wrote on March 1, 2007 10:34 AM:

A crook is a crook but not in America. We have two classes of prisons for crooks in this country. I'd like to know the difference in costs for incarcerating Ney in the country club, and the cost for one who was not a corrupt politician but jailed in a real prison.

BILL wrote on March 1, 2007 10:51 AM:

LOWER CASE BECAUSE HE IS FEELING LOW. HE REALLY CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO HIM. HE GOT CAUGHT. HE IS IN SHOCK. NUMBED OUT

Richard L. Adlof wrote on March 1, 2007 11:09 AM:

Approximately 9000 days in jail for screwing America for$90000.

Approximately the same sentence he woulda got for carrying one rock of crack cocaine for personal use (which woulda pooched mostly only his life). Crack dollar value ten to twenty bucks.

The USA needs sentencing guidelines that give at least one day in lock-up for each dollar bribed or stolen. I would prefer sentences of one day per dollar of public effect . . . Only I can't figure out how to keep the bastards live long enough to serve out their 9000 century sentences.

Minerva wrote on March 1, 2007 11:42 AM:

Its a microcosm of the Republican aesthetic: eliding reality (i.e., the facts of his naked, breath-taking corruption), utterly unaccepting of accountability for "things that happened" -- in fact there is a distinct tone of victimhood -- and replete with obviously disingenuous references to faith, country, country music, and family (note: he left out Nascar), when all he was ever really about was graft, toadyism, and propaganda.

Too bad the judge couldn't compel him to enlist in the National Gaurd instead of sending him to prison -- he might have served a useful role deactivating IEDs as part of the surge.

disco wrote on March 1, 2007 11:43 AM:

Im totally trying for a jailhouse autograph. Put it right next to my Traficant (who signed his glossy with the p.s. "beam me up" in silver Sharpie). What a wonderful addition to my collection. Does anyone have the Duke's addy???

Farlow wrote on March 1, 2007 12:38 PM:

I really dislike this guy ,too,yet I work in an addictions treatment center and recognize a familiar note in his letter.Many people behave badly ,then have a change of heart when they sober up. His bad values and behavior may not be the result of his addiction,but the illness does impair one's judgement.My clients tell me stories everyday about their selfish,destructive behavior.I tell them it's possible to forgive yourself and have a new life ,but only if you stay clean and sober and make amends as best you can. We'll see if he's sincere soon enuff.

EH wrote on March 1, 2007 12:49 PM:

Referring to "things that happened" is not the mark of sincerity. Is there a form of recovery that does not place value on taking responsibility?

bjobotts wrote on March 1, 2007 1:04 PM:

Yeah, He's sorry now that he's been caught. sorry that he is forced to pay the price. Still, his is a totally subjective viewpoint. It's all "look what's happened to me", instead of "look at all the harm I've done". Make a list of all people we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. Made direct amends...etc.. It's the beginning of the amends process though it be forced. Hopefully he will learn what these 'new' principles are because he cannot change the past. But this is personal stuff. Publicly he screwed the wrong people without a care in the world but his own self-interest. He's not 'special' and deserves prison time. Afterwards he can take his life and go home to his ruins.

Farlow wrote on March 1, 2007 1:10 PM:

Point taken.Another common phenom of early recovery is continued self deception,denial,minimization and rationalization...human defense mechanisms to protect against too much (unbearable) self awareness. AA members often say it took them five years of sobriety to get "out of the woods."
If he stays straight (not an easy or common accomplishment),he may see himself more clearly. That other prominent Repug who hasn't had a drink in years (they say ),demonstrates the old AA saying ,"you can take the alcohol out of the fruitcake ,but you've still got a fruitcake." That's one of the reasons that treatment centers recommend AA for aftercare. Drying out is the merest beginning of the process. Untreated sober alkies are "dry drunks" and notoriously angry ,un-self-aware people. Sound like anyone we know?

Farlow wrote on March 1, 2007 1:11 PM:

Point taken.Another common phenom of early recovery is continued self deception,denial,minimization and rationalization...human defense mechanisms to protect against too much (unbearable) self awareness. AA members often say it took them five years of sobriety to get "out of the woods."
If he stays straight (not an easy or common accomplishment),he may see himself more clearly. That other prominent Repug who hasn't had a drink in years (they say ),demonstrates the old AA saying ,"you can take the alcohol out of the fruitcake ,but you've still got a fruitcake." That's one of the reasons that treatment centers recommend AA for aftercare. Drying out is the merest beginning of the process. Untreated sober alkies are "dry drunks" and notoriously angry ,un-self-aware people. Sound like anyone we know?

Richard L. Adlof wrote on March 1, 2007 1:14 PM:

Touching on the lack of CAPS issue as it bugged me, too:

I am guessing that Bob Ney is a fourteen year old girl . . . No. There is a notable lack of little hearts dotting the "I's". This can't be the reason.

I am guessing that Bob Ney lacks postive self-appreciation and displays a markedly devalued sense of self worth . . . No. Bob Ney is sociopathically impressed with himself so that can't be it.

Perhaps Bob Ney is pathetically stupid and does not know what the 'Shift' key does and can not be held liable for the crap that his secretary should be doing . . . Close but not mean-spirited enough for this jackhole.

What gets your vote?

twistuition wrote on March 1, 2007 1:34 PM:

I think it was corrected after the first "I" he keyed didn't look right to him. He may not have wanted a quotation legacy showing correct case and punctuation. Oh and my opinion ... I wish he was, (so I could be wrong) but this creature is not sorry. His "intimate" letter to friends and (whatever) drips with self pity at a predicament he willfully and criminally chose to take part in as one of the "Smartest guys In The Room", and now deceptively would like to appear humbled and shallowly self-effacing, although it contains not the smallest smattering of apology and request for forgiveness, but instead explains somewhat clearly how he views himself now as unfairly disadvantaged.

rumpole wrote on March 1, 2007 2:29 PM:

One of the great ironies of the hill hiring process is that it in large part depends on a writing sample. Staff is clearly held to a different standard than the members. This guy would need cliff's notes for schoolhouse rock.

gradysu wrote on March 1, 2007 2:49 PM:

This clown was also one of the sponsors of the "No Frills Prison Act," designed to make jail as unpleasant as possible. The most unpleasantness he'll face is being locked up with the naked fat guy from Survivor, who's in the same prison.

And also, someone needs to tell him that selling your house is not "losing" your house. He pocketed the cash. (This time legally.) And he still has his big fat House pension. He's in much better shape than a lot of victims of the Republican economy.

And your crimes didn't "happen," Bob. You committed them. I thought 12-step programs had some provision for accountability. Also, I'm pretty sure that having a drinking problem doesn't turn you into a conscience-free, sleazy bribe taker.

From the tone of the email, the song he should've picked was "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me." Or to paraphrase another Zevon song, "Lobbyists, Golf and Money."

Wendy wrote on March 1, 2007 2:54 PM:

Why don't these guys (perps) take the time to find God before they do the crime?

gcchung wrote on March 1, 2007 4:41 PM:

Put Ney in the context of the Repug stranglehold on Ohio politics. Remember, we may have lost 2004 because of electoral fraud. Single-party rule led to Coingate and who knows how many other everyday acts of corruption that we will never know about?

stiffy wrote on March 1, 2007 6:54 PM:

I sure hope he gets raped with a cactus.

"you got a purty mouth, toupee-boy."

Extradite Rumsfeld wrote on March 1, 2007 9:47 PM:

He doesn't deserver prison. Treasonous thieves like these deserve to be detainees in a place like Abu Graib or Guantanamo. They also should be stripped of rights to habeus corpus, fair trial, and they should also be tortured.

There is no punishment severe enough for america-hating corrupt criminals like these. They destroyed our country, our rights, and then they sold it off piece by piece.

Isn't anybody concerned about the fate of the workers whose pensions this man STOLE? What are these people going to eat when they retire? Where will they live?

oldnumberseven wrote on March 2, 2007 5:17 AM:

I live in Morgantown, and am a former resident of Ohio. If I went over to the prison, do you think he would see me? Feel free to e-mail (drinkingclub at gmail.com) me any questions you would like me to ask him, and if he will see me, and answers any of them, I would be happy to report back to tpmmuckraker.com.

Judy 5C wrote on March 2, 2007 7:36 AM:

Back in December of 1991, I had a temp job filling in for Bob Ney's secretary at his State Senate office in Columbus. He was only there for a few hours--he was getting ready to go on a skiing vacation. (I don't know who payed for it) The office was filed with huge tins of Danish butter cookies, gifts from the Lottery Commission. The handsome young aides to Sen. Ney spent their days being wined and dined by lobbyists.

At the time, I was a struggling substitute teacher in the Columbus Public Schools. For me seeing the workings of my state government up close was both apalling and fascinating. I hated the arrogance and extravagance but couldn't help feeling a bit of excitement at my proximity to power.

Anyway, I am not at all surprised at where Ney ended up. I just wonder how many other state legislators out there are living the life of Ney.

Incredulous wrote on March 2, 2007 11:44 AM:

Why is it that every time one of these corrupt, usually Rethuglican, politicians gets caught displaying a lack of moral and ethical principles, it is always blamed on alcohol or substance abuse? Can't these people own up to anything? They seem incapable of coming clean and taking responsibility for their ethical failings..."the alcohol (or fill in the blank) made me do it". This is bogus! Let's put aside the question of whether there is any truth to these excuses or not, which I doubt. While alcohol/substance abuse can certainly cloud one's judgement, I find it hard to swallow that it would suddenly cause an otherwise morally and ethically principled individual to act in a manner totally inconsistent with their character and principles, repeatedly and habitually, not just in an isolated moment of "impaired judgement". It just doesn't pass the smell test for me. And this from people who claim they value "personal responsibility" above all else as a personal virtue. Please!

Although a therapist might say that this behavior and the denial of it are part of "the disease", I wonder which comes first, the disease of addiction or the "disease" of moral turpitude.

These are also the same people who routinely play the "religion/moral values" card, as Ney does so pathetically and transparently, above. As noted in a number of posts, there really is no apology or heartfelt acknowledgement of guilt or remorse. Saying he's sorry for "things that happened", just doesn't cut it. These people use religion just like they use/abuse their public office. I think John Dean hit the nail on the head in his book, "Conservatives Without Conscience", in characterizing these people as right-wing authoritarians and in Ney's case, a double-high, social dominator. One of the main character traits of such people, according to self-reporting on anonymous questionaires, is amorality. The letter is basically a feeble attempt at a whitewash, offering up a list of his self-perceived accomplishments, more excuses and shameless appeals to the sympathy of friends and 'many others in the district who have lost all' (as if he fits in that category!).

But, the thing that irks me the most about this is the tired "born again" trick at the end where he says "my family and my life is starting anew, thanks for being part of it". It doesn't matter what these clowns do, they think they get to erase the slate and get another "do-over", managing to rise from the ashes like a phoenix to sin again. It reminds me of the line in that great Frank Zappa song about Jimmy Swaggart (who can forget that creep?) where he says, "I made a mistake, now I sinned". Until they get caught there is no sin, but once they do, the flood of insincere contrition and crockadile tears flows in torrents! Shame on us if we are fooled again.

tom baker wrote on March 2, 2007 4:32 PM:

Bob Ney: "Crime totally pays. I'm going to get in shape and write a book in the can, then when I get out, my REPUBLICAN buds are going to hook me up big time!!"

oops wrote on March 23, 2007 10:29 AM:

Things happen when you are a shit.