IS TIM PRINCE THE MAN WHO WILL SAVE SAN BERNARDINO FROM THE STIGMA OF HAVING AMERICA'S MOST CORRUPT POLITICIAN REPRESENT THEM IN CONGRESS?

If you go through DWT you'll probably notice some recurring mentions of really bad guys-- the Tom DeLays, Duke Cunninghams, Mitch McConnells, Bill Frists, Rahm Emanuels, Doc Hastings, Dick Cheneys of the world... the worst of the worst. But no one holds a candle to public enemy #1: San Bernardino congressman/culture of corruption posterboy Jerry Lewis. I did a google search for "downwithtyranny" plus "Jerry Lewis" and came up with 14,100 articles. I didn't write every one of them. Here's a good one to start with if you haven't been keeping up on Congress' most corrupt member. But... well, let's put it like this. Jerry Lewis belongs in prison far more than small fry like Cunningham and Ney. And I'm certain he's headed there, despite his success in having Carol Lam fired as the Federal Prosecutor in San Diego.

Lewis was even catigated for his greed and corruption by the right-wing Republican propaganda tool that the Editorial Page of the Wall Street Journal has become. Back in April they were warning fellow Republicans that they would lose control of Congress if they continued allowing criminals like Lewis to pillage at will. They did (both). The Congresspedia entry on Lewis reads like a crime rap sheet.

Last year Lewis didn't have a real opponent. Louie Contreras managed to nab the Democratic nomination by default, didn't run any kind of a campaign and some think Congressman Lewis was behind the whole operation. Even under those circumstances, Lewis' margin of victory shrank dramatically since 2004 (67% instead of 83%). Although this FEC report shows that Lewis spent over $1,800,000 and that his "opponent" spent not even one thin dime, fewer people are still being taken in by his slick political bullshit. In the past, he's been known to buy off so-called "Democrats. That isn't going to happen next year.

Democrats are already lining up to take on a severely weakened incumbent who is constantly in the media defending himself against federal investigations into his bribe-taking and corrupt practices. He hasn't even been indicted yet but has spent a million dollars in legal fees, a good deal of it on getting U.S. Attorney Lam, the prosecutor who brought down his pal Cunningham and had the goods on him as well, fired. Many observers think Lewis won't run for re-election next year.

If he doesn't, there are some Democrats who are looking at taking a shot at this overwhelmingly red Inland Empire district (Cook Partisan Index of +9 Republican in which Bush took 62% of the vote against Kerry). Right now all the buzz in San Bernardino and in DC is for prominent Democratic attorney
Tim Prince. He said if Lewis retires he's in for sure and is making up his mind on whether or not to challenge Lewis if he decides to run again. Last week a new political action committee, dedicated to electing Democrats in the fast-growing Inland Empire, led a kick-off fundraiser featuring Prince.

According to the San Bernardino Sun the largest paper in the district, Prince's announcement "comes as Democrats begin a new push, locally and across the nation, to defeat Republican incumbents they see as ethically challenged."

Lewis faces scrutiny as part of a wide-ranging federal investigation into a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm and the use of congressional earmarks, special funding projects that lawmakers insert into legislation.

In May, a federal grand jury subpoenaed documents from several Inland cities and counties about their decision to hire the lobbying firm formerly known as Copeland, Lowery, Jacquez, Denton & White and its relationship with Lewis.

Prince is a member of the San Bernardino County Democratic Central Committee and he ran for mayor in 1998.


UPDATE... AND THE REAL TIM PRINCE HAS COME FORWARD

Well... at least he sent me a photo of himself and his lovely family. As you see, there's a strong resemblence between Tim and his cousin from Minneapolis.