Senator Thomas J. Dodd was an accomplished man by the time the late 1960s rolled around.  He’d been an FBI agent, an attorney in private practice, and a prosecutor of Nazis at Nuremburg.  Indeed, it was on this basis that his career became the stuff of legend in most Connecticut households.

Less so noted is Senator Dodd’s ignominious end - he became only the sixth U.S. Senator in history to be censured by his colleagues.  The crimes?  Misuse of campaign funds for personal use and a too cozy relationship with big corporate interests.  A ragged looking Dodd swore his innocence until the bitter end.

Fast forward to the current, when the latest iteration of Senator Dodd has come under fire in recent months for too cozy relationships with moniedcorporate interests and receiving personal benefits because of his office.  The Countrywide VIP mortgage scandal, the Irish cottage fiasco, the pardons for felonious friends, and the AIG brouhaha all sound strikingly familiar as a ragged looking Dodd continues to swear his innocence.

Yesterday, a number of conservative media outlets alleged that Sen. Dodd had played a central role in passing legislation that paved the way for AIG to hand out bonuses to executives, despite the fact that AIG has taken more than $160 billion in taxpayer bailout dollars.  Numerous liberal media outlets countered that Dodd wasn’t involved.

But today, Senator Dodd seemed to change his tune on the matter:

Sen. Tom Dodd’s ghost must surely be unimpressed by this turn of events. 

However, no one can claim that the old man isn’t close to the action.  He lays buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery in Pawcatuck - less than five miles from the doorstep of former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons.