Things I Learned From Week One of the Larry Langford Trial

• Larry Langford loves clothes.  Really loves clothes.  Whomever coined the cliche that it is women that love clothes obviously did not meet Larry Langford.  Prosecutors in the trial claimed that Larry returned 65 dress shirts to the Gus Mayer store.  65!!!!  I am not sure I even own 65 articles of clothing, period!  And if you combine all the dress shirts I have ever owned, I don’t think you would get close to 65.  And this is just what the man returned.  How many does he still have?
• On the other hand, perhaps it just means that Larry really hates doing laundry.  That’s an idea I can support!
• Bill Blount, Al LaPierre, Steve Sayler….associates of Langford.  It’s probably just me, but just the names sound sleazy.
• Larry even lies about his age.  Probably.  Unless he both graduated high school and enlisted in the Air Force when he was 16.  How sad is that?  What difference does it make whether you are 61 or 63?  Really?
• Larry buys whatever he wants now, and worries about how he is going to pay for it later.  This actually explains a lot about his budget philosophies when it comes to dealing with county and now city business, doesn’t it?
• Larry’s team seem to be applying a version of the Richard Scrushy’s “I’m stupid” defense that worked for Scrushy in his Birmingham trial, but failed at his other trial.  Larry is claiming that he assumed that all these gifts and loan repayments where just gifts from good friends.  Apparently the fact that these “good friends” were then rewarded with county business was just coincidence.  And now his “friends” have stabbed him in the back!  Can the “I’m stupid” defense really work again?
• Of course, it would be like our justice system to find the people giving the bribes, etc. guilty while finding the receiver of those bribes innocent.  Really, doesn’t either everyone have to be guilty, or nobody is guilty, in this scenario?  I realize Blount and LaPierre rolled on Larry to get a lesser sentence.  But if they really didn’t think they were going to get anything in return for the favors they were doing for Larry, they wouldn’t have ever plead guilty in the first place because they wouldn’t have done anything wrong.  So it’s not like they can be totally lying either.
• I am amazed how little people care about the appearances of impropriety around here.  Because even if you believe Larry is totally innocent, you have to admit that this stuff just doesn’t look right.  You shouldn’t take personal gifts from people you also do public business with, period.  And we shouldn’t elect people into office that do.
• I am getting a sinking feeling that Larry is either going to completely walk, or get off very lightly.  Then again, I am the guy who got the feeling that Tennessee was going to beat Alabama and therefore I am going to have to wear a stupid Crimson Tide cap every time I run the rest of the year.  So what do I know?  My gut is not as big as it used to me, maybe that is why it is failing me lately!