I’ll always have a soft spot for Jim Traficant. Yeah, totally get that he was crooked, but damn the man had panache. I still remember the last thing he said to me, “I think they’re gonne get me this time [TSO].” Me too I replied.<\/p>\n
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, Sept. 6 — The Elvis impersonator had ceded the stage, and the toupee contest was over. <\/p>\n
The main act appeared to thunderous applause, looking pretty plucky for a guy who had just spent seven years in prison. <\/p>\n
“I plan to get right back in it!” boomed James Traficant, the former Democratic U.S. congressman from Ohio’s 17th District, announcing to 1,200 cheering supporters Sunday that he just might still have a little of the old magic under that memorable rug. <\/p>\n
Just as in his heyday, Traficant promised that he’d take on the federal government that he said “cheated” to put him behind bars for racketeering and bribery. As the crowd shouted “Run for Senate,” he trashed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and caused a frenzy when he proclaimed: “If we can take care of people all over the world, damn it, we can take care of our people here!” <\/p>\n