Abramoff and scandals
I had suspected that the Jack Abramoff corruption express would afflict the Democratic Party to a smaller scale in the way Enron did, which is my 80-20 rule: 80% to the Republicans, 20% to the Democrats; you buy the Republicans, you rent (key) Democrats. (The corallary is the “What’s the Matter with Delaware?” question: so, um, what are you supposed to do with corporatist Democrats who support something like the Bankruptcy Reform Bill because that’s the money behind their state? And can we call them “Rockefellar Democrats”?) With Enron, a Republican smirks “Hey! Let’s look how much money Enron donated to Clinton!!”, to which I can reply “Why do you think I am lukewarm with Clinton?”
But I was wrong. Abramoff is… a Republican plague, and does not cross beyond that side of the aisle. He is a foot-soldier in the Republican cause, pure and simple. Despite what you have heard, Bryan Dorgan has not received his money. Harry Reid has not received his money. You have to go a few levels removed to connect Abramoff with any Democrats — Democrats with large Native American constituencies have received money from… Native American groups.
Which means that when Abramoff gives the number 60:
A onetime chairman of College Republicans — a close ally of such party luminaries as Tom DeLay, Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist — Mr. Abramoff says he has information that could implicate 60 lawmakers.
It is… 60 … Republicans. That may be on the high side, but then again. It may not be.
And I invite you to look over E.J. Dionne’s litany of Abramoff quotes, found here.
Bryan Dorgan, for his part, issued forth this statement:
Senator John McCain and I have worked for more than a year to expose the corruption of Jack Abramoff. Today’s announcement by the Justice Department that it has secured a guilty plea from Jack Abramoff confirms much of the work that we have done and much of what we have found.
I welcome today’s development because it provides some justice to the Indian tribes that Jack Abramoff defrauded of tens of millions of dollars.
That’s pretty cool. A Senate over-sight committee exposes corruption. Now I wonder… seeing as Abramoff has had as much, if not more so, a corrosive effect in the House, and seeing how Tom DeLay has now officially called it quits (to become a lobbyist, perhaps?… sigh, and groan) for the good of the Republic and the good of the Republicans’ efforts in 2006, let me roll on over to a dumb repetitive running political joke I’ve been working on: does the head of the House Ethics Committe have a similar patting of the back to make? Let’s consult his government website.
I hear crickets chirping. I see tumbleweeds rolling by. (This being the district Hanford sits in, they’re radioactive tumbleweeds.)
I also see that he has donated some old campaign funds to charity. It’s a charitable season all of a sudden in Washington, DC.