300px-tammany_ring_nast.jpgFrom the WaPo:

In a letter to President Bush, Jackson, 62, said he is stepping down effective April 18 and would "fully assist in the orderly transition of the leadership at HUD."

He added: "There are times when one must attend more diligently to personal and family matters. Now is such a time for me." He made no mention of the controversies that have cast a pall over his agency at a time of crisis in the nation's housing industry.

Spare me the feigned surprise. Nobody really believes that any of these odious racketeers are going to acknowledge that the blatant corruption in which they were directly involved during their tenure might not really have been in the best interests of the country. These guys make Tammany Hall at the height of its power look like a Quaker meeting house.

Bush, who departed yesterday on a trip to Eastern Europe for his final NATO summit, issued a written statement calling Jackson "a good man" and "a great American success story."

For several reasons, this makes me laugh. No sooner has the President has uttered his magic command, "heckuva job [fill in name of latest professional incompetent here]," the political appointee drools in Pavlovian fashion that he or she is "leaving for personal and family matters." I'm assuming that excuse is actually code for "I'm about to be brought up on RICO charges." To be fair, Jackson did last longer than the other resignees, so I guess that makes him a great American success story, for sure.

And, in typical Republican/right wing fashion, Jackson tried to get away with saying the most execrable nonsense by insisting it was all just a joke:

Jackson is also the target of investigations by a federal grand jury, the FBI and the Justice Department. Those investigations began after a speech in Dallas in April 2006, in which Jackson said he had arranged the firing of a contractor who told him, "I don't like President Bush."

The secretary later said he concocted the anecdote . . . .

I'm not entirely clear on what the purpose of concocting an anecdote that shines the spotlight on your ongoing corrupt practices would serve, but then again, I have a conscience. During the EschaCon political humor panel last Saturday, Athenae asked us how best to counter instances in which wingnuts make offensive comments and then, when called on the carpet for them, respond with "I was only joking!" In my opinion, Ted Rall had the best answer: "If a joke had been made, there would have been laughter."

So it looks like Alphonso Jackson has finally learned (with the help of several Senate, DOJ and HUD investigations) that blackmailing cities into submission and funneling major government contracts to his friends has not been getting laughs.

Don't let that NOLA trailer door hit your ass on your way out, Alphonso.