http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apTin54hH4w

What you and Kidd are describing should become known as the “Sandusky effect.” When someone in power has perpetrated bad acts for so long (with some of them being so remote in time) that the community becomes desensitized to them, the aura surrounding that person becomes sort of the “wink and nod” joke. Then, something cataclysmic has to happen to “out” that person.

The same is true with corrupt political figures and politically-connected people, a few of whom have been referenced here. We will call this the “Edwards effect.” Another prime example is a certain La. State Senator who recently switched political parties. The aura around these people is that they are “dirty,” but it becomes laughable because they have gotten away with so many misdeeds spanning so many decades. This is why even the ones who do get prosecuted and convicted act as if they’ve done nothing wrong. It’s why Aaron Broussard was so jovial after pleading guilty. He views himself as a folk-hero, and he undoubtedly sees his fate and legacy as being comparable to that of Edwin Edwards. And of course, the majority of the public does not received EWE as a felonious scumbag, but as a celebrity. This is how AB will be received when he is done with his sentence and returns to the JP power structure.

I will not step down from the soap box and remove my tin foil hat.