Darrell Issa is running for Duncan Hunter's soon-to-be-vacated Congressional seat in order to cut Ammar Campa-Najjar off before he actually wins that solidly Republican California district. Issa has some experience with criminal activity, so he feels whatever empathy a Republican can feel for Hunter's self-inflicted plight.

He has some thoughts for Hunter, according to the San Diego Union Tribune, specifically with regard to whether Hunter should actually spend a day in prison.

“But I would certainly say the commuting of sentencing… has a certain ability to balance the public good," Issa said. "Are we better off spending $60,000 a year to put him behind bars or are we better off with him doing community service and going on with his life with the likelihood of him committing a crime in the future being pretty low?”

I think it's pretty certain that Duncan Hunter will always be capable of committing white collar money crimes because he is a man who likes to live high on the hog with lots of women, expensive wine, the finest restaurants, and more. So yeah, toss him in jail, sooner rather than later.

I wonder, would Issa make the same argument if it had been a Black Congressman? I went to look.

When Rep. Charlie Rangel was brought up on House ethics violations for alleged similar behavior, Issa said, “If lawmakers are found guilty of or admit to violations of House ethics rules, having their pension revoked should be a consequence that the ethics committee should be allowed to impose.” Ultimately he was censured by the House.

I also searched on Jesse Jackson, Jr. You may recall that he got 30 months in federal prison and his lovely wife got 12 months for violations identical to Hunter's. He resigned his seat and went off to prison. No one suggested clemency for him. Issa was silent. No outcry from him at all.

From that, I can conclude that Darrell Issa believes it's only cost-effective to commute sentences when the offender is white and Republican.