Bar Jensen from Capitol -- and no TV, either

Jensen, right, and Foti, in their glory days

"Democrats think a humane prison system should have weight rooms, recreation centers and cable TV, but that religion should stay out. Republicans believe that there is more to be learned about right and wrong from people of faith than there is from a whole season of Jerry Springer.”

-- One of the Teachings of Speaker Jensen from his website.

Scooter's day of reckoning comes next Tuesday, and he may have a different take on prison reform if the prosecutor gets his way.

WisPolitics reports:

[Dane County DA Brian] Blanchard asks that Jensen be sentenced next week to five-year terms on each of the three felonies of which he was convicted. On count one, Blanchard requests 15 to 20 months in prison followed by supervised release for the remainder of the five-year term. On counts two and three, Blanchard requests 12 months in prison followed by 48 months supervised release.

He also asks that Jensen be barred from the State Capitol for five years, to avoid the kind of unseemly event we all witnessed recently with another ex-GOP Assembly leader, Steve Foti, lobbying legislators while on work-release under the Huber Law. Everyone seemed happy to see him, and he didn't have shackles, or even a monitoring bracelet on, as far as you could tell.

I suppose you can't bar Jensen from the Inn on the Park for five years, or prevent him from calling the shots via telephone or Blackberry.

But Step 1 was getting him out of office.

Keeping him out of the Capitol would be an excellent Step 2.

Why pick on Jensen, when four other legislators were convicted? Because none of the others showed the arrogance or lack of remorse that Jensen demonstrated during his three-week trial, which he inflicted on his party and the taxpayers in the mistaken belief that the jury would agree he was above the law.

Back to the Blanchard filing:

"In sum, while Jensen has some favorable character traits, due in part to his apparently strong family ties, when it comes to the matters before the court, Jensen has demonstrated a character of rare and consistent selfishness, arrogance, and deceit, and complete distain [sic] for the rule of law when applied to his own conduct," Blanchard writes. "In this context, he has shown no concern for the public welfare or for the circumstances of the many persons who have, in a number of cases, all too loyally worked for him, while being paid by the public."

I say no cable TV for Scooter. Maybe only a black and white set. Or how about no TV at all?