Wanna Good Laugh?
2 December 2008 by Bob
Okay, so back in April there was this story:
Leaders to adorn sackcloth and ashes to fight crime: At Tuesday’s Birmingham City Council meeting, Mayor Larry Langford proclaimed Friday, April 25, a “day of prayer in sackcloth and ashes” in Birmingham. [...] In the decree, Langford said that Birmingham’s crime problem “pails” (sic) in comparison to the biblical City of Nineveh. The proclamation tells the Bible story of Jonah and the city of Nineveh: “Whereas Chapter 3, verse 5 & 6, of the Book of Jonah, Old Testament states, that the people of Nineveh believe God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them,” the resolution reads.
And it actually looks like it worked…
Alabama mayor arrested on corruption charges
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) – Federal authorities arrested the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday in a corruption probe surrounding a sewer bond debt that could lead to the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Authorities arrested Mayor Larry Langford in Birmingham at 7 a.m. (1200 GMT) and charged him with 60 counts including bribery, money laundering, conspiracy and filing false tax returns, according to U.S. Attorney Alice Martin. Langford was charged along with investment banker William Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre for a total of 101 counts. The government said it was also seeking $7.6 million in forfeiture from the three men. [...] Langford, a Democrat, was the head of the Jefferson County commission at the time it engaged in variable rate, auction and bond swaps to raise money to improve its sewer system. “He sold out his public office to his friends Blount and LaPierre for about $235,000 in expensive clothes, watches and cash to pay his growing personal debt. All the while, Blount was paid fees topping $7 million,” said Martin.
Oh, the irony! It’s a miracle!
2 December 2008, on 6:20 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
OMFSM! Sweet delicious irony!
3 December 2008, on 12:55 am
Hmmmm….
Perhaps “Chapter 3, verse 5 & 6, of the Book of Jonah, Old Testament” was completely mistranslated; and SHOULD read:
[referring, of course, particularly to the "put on Sackcloth and ashes" part; with some possibly later passages, of course, theologically debatable.]:
“…the (totally delusional) people of Nineveh believe in their [whale imprisoning (& constipating?)] Sky-God and stupidly proclaimed a fast…
which, alas, was a (real) “PUT ON” by ASSHOLES WEARING SACKCLOTH…from the greatest pricks even to the least of them!”
I could be wrong, of course.
3 December 2008, on 12:40 pm
praise the LAWD! prayer really did work, for once, LMAO!!! I love these stories. Its not as good as Ted “I like to take it in the ass while high on meth” Haggard, but its close
Dare I say…schadenfreude?
3 December 2008, on 2:55 pm
How can we be sure Satan didn’t frame him to discredit gawd?
Seriously, though, that is hilarious!! I’m sure the whole prayer thing was preemptive to get him some support from the fundies who will point to him being a man of faith.
3 December 2008, on 6:36 pm
It just goes to show that often the most outwardly “devout” are actually the most corrupt.
The louder and more public anyone is about their “faith,” the more I view them with suspicion…
3 December 2008, on 10:38 pm
Be careful what you pray for, I guess.
4 December 2008, on 12:08 am
I think he must not have really believed in the power of prayer at all, otherwise he might have been worried for his own criminal actions.
Just goes to show that most people don’t really believe in religion anyway, but they sure as hell believe in the power it has over people.