Scott Jensen is not "innocent"

Yes, I believe in the concept that someone is innocent until proven guilty. Sort of.

Rep. Scott (Scooter) Jensen, the Waukesha Republican who had to step down as Assembly Speaker because of a Capitol scandal, says he is "thankful that my constituents understand that someone is innocent until proven guilty."

I'll bet he is. They've re-elected him twice since he was indicted on felony charges in connection with directing hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to a political fund-raising effort to help Republicans. And he has stalled and stalled in the courts to keep from coming to trial on the charges of misconduct in public office.

It is now almost three years since he was indicted, and Jensen has somewhat redeemed himself in the GOP-run Assembly. As a Joint Finance Committee member, he was a key player in the state budget just passed by the legislature.

But now Scooter has an opponent, a young Democrat who isn't afraid to talk about the trouble Jensen is in.

"If you can't trust them, they can't lead you," 25-year-old Sterling Lynk says, announcing his plan to run against Jensen next year.

The Waukesha County Dem Party chair, Rick Congdon,, had the best line: "If (Jensen) loses (in court), he's a criminal. If he wins, he's going to be the Michael Jackson of Wisconsin politics: You know there's something dirty going on, you just can't put your finger on it."

And that is a point that needs to be made. Whether Scooter is found "not guilty" or not, he is not innocent. He doesn't deny hiring a staffer on the state payroll at a big salary to raise money full-time for Republicans. He just says that was part of his job, and not illegal.

If Jensen ever gets to court -- and I wouldn't bet on it -- his lawyers may find some loophole to allow him to wriggle off the hook.

But that won't make him innocent. Jensen's days of innocence ended years ago. It does appear, however, that he managed to put his conscience to sleep. Otherwise, he'd never be able to argue that he's done nothing wrong, when he clearly has. Just like there is "not guilty" and "innocent," there is "wrong" and "illegal."

Jensen seems to have lost the ability to make those distinctions -- or at least to admit them.

Story on challenger.

Earlier Xoff post: "Just doing our jobs, raising money on taxpayers' tab."