I guess the Norman Hsu story is not yet complete. The Governor of Pennsylvania has now chimed in on this fugitive from the law:

I want to hear him out; I don’t want to be one of the guys to pile on,” Rendell said last Thursday. “Norman Hsu’s one of the best 10 people I’ve met. He raised money for me because he believes in all the things we’re doing and he never asked for a bloody thing - not a job, not a contract, not to attend a wedding.”

The next day, the governor said: “I think this whole thing stinks. If this conviction stands I will give the money back, but this idea of making him out to be some sort of major criminal is absurd.”

Also in that interview, Rendell said he had spoken with Hsu two days earlier - at a time he was still considered a fugitive. Rendell said Hsu “apologized for any embarrassment he caused me. I said, ‘Norman, you didn’t cause me embarrassment. . . . I wish you the best of luck.’ “

So let’s get this straight, as long as he is raising and donating money, Mr. Hsu is one of the best 10 people Governor Rendell has met? And he is admitting speaking to this man while he was still a fugitive from the law and after knowing that fact, still wished the man luck? Had he forgotten for a moment exactly why this man had been sentenced to prison 15 years earlier:

Hsu pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, admitting he had defrauded investors of $1 million after falsely claiming to have contracts to purchase and sell latex gloves. He was facing up to three years in prison when he skipped town before his 1992 sentencing date.

As of the article above, the Govenor has not yet decided to return the money Mr. Hsu had raised in his behalf , but he seems to have had a change of heart. This afternoon the AP is reporting that he has reversed his earlier decision.

Gov. Ed Rendell said Thursday he has decided to donate to charity the nearly $40,000 he received from a disgraced Democratic fundraiser who failed to show up for a California court hearing.

Rendell had said last week he planned to keep the money he received from Norman Hsu, who had failed to appear for sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge, but would return it if California prosecutors won a “sustainable conviction” in the case.

On Wednesday, Hsu skipped a bail hearing.

“Though Norman is my friend, and remains so, his failure to appear casts a new light on his assertions regarding the original case,” Rendell said in a statement. “As a result, I will follow other elected officials and donate the money he contributed to me to charity.”

So the fact that Hsu had been convicted and sentenced to jail years earlier made no difference but now that he has once again defied the justice system, well they can still be friends but gee, let me give the appearance of doing the right thing.

I am certain there are many who wish this story would simply disappear or see no merit to it at all. But when newspapers like the LAT and the Philadelphia Inquirer are continuing to follow it closely it means it has gone well beyond only those on the Right. It is a matter of principle and justice that this story gets the attention it deserves and if that means certain politicians are seen in a less than favorable light then so be it.