Sweeney At It Again

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It seems like every time former Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY) is about to recede off the front pages and settle into the obscure life typical of a former congressman defeated for re-election he goes and does something to focus attention on himself all over again. It’s like he misses being kicked around by the likes of TPM. This time, it’s another DUI arrest. It happened last night, but in Sweeney’s defense, there was no pretty young thing sitting on his lap when he got pulled over, like there was last time. Progress?

(Thanks to TPM Reader MT for the link.)

Late Update: TPM Reader BD sends along more about the arrest from the Albany Times-Union.

Funny how things work out. Sweeney’s drinking and alleged wife beating while in office doomed him against Kristen Gillibrand in the 2006 election. Then when Sen. Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State, Rep. Gillibrand was appointed to fill Hillary’s empty Senate seat. (If you really want to connect the dots to political misdeeds and carnality, Gillibrand was appointed by David Paterson, who would not be governor if not for Eliot Spitzer’s call girl flameout. But I digress.) The special election for Gillibrand’s seat, the NY-20, was last week and ended in a virtual tie, with both national parties now preparing to battle it out in court over the still-to-be-counted absentee ballots.

So in a way, you could say the men of the Union College chapter of Alpha Delta Phi helped make history. Here they are partying with Sweeney back in ’06, in one of the pics that derailed his political career (if it isn’t terribly obvious, Sweeney is the one wearing a tie):

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