Take me out to the corrupt ex-Rep. Traficant prison release party?
Alas, no — a planned “Traficant Release Night” was canceled today by the Single-A Cleveland Indians affiliate in the disgraced former congressman’s district after angry residents complained, the AP reports.
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers in Youngstown, Ohio, planned the event for Sept. 2, when James Traficant, the Republican Democratic congressmen who was sent to prison in 2002 after being convicted of corruption, is due to finally come home.
The typical complaint to the team’s front office consisted of something like, “I can’t believe you’re doing something to glorify Jim’s release,” The Vindicator of Youngstown reports.
The team maintained the event was not a celebration, but merely an observance. The release would be mentioned and a slideshow of the flamboyantly coiffed Traficant would be shown.
Traficant is a “polarizing figure” and his release “will be the talk of the community” said tone-deaf Scrappers General Manager Dave Smith in explaining the event.
(Via Mike O’Brien.)
