Domino

Another domino has fallen in the vast criminal conspiracy otherwise known as the Republican Party. Tom Delay was the mastermind of the K-Street project, under which tens or hundreds of millions of dollars flowed from Indian tribes, the Russian military and other sources into party coffers. Not incidentally, a lot of it stuck to the fingers of Republican Party officials and their aides. Now that Delay has resigned to spend more time with his lawyers we should not forget that he was at the center of a much larger pattern of corruption. It seems likely that the dozen or so Republican Congressmen already known to be tainted are only a sample of the whole.

And before any Republicans write in with the wing-nut response du Jour - "Democrats do it too" please be prepared to cite a contemporary example. If you are having trouble, let me give you a hint: Cynthia McKinney has a wierd hairdo, and is always doing something strange. PS: to demonstrate comparability, you will need to show several millions in graft and vote selling.

UPDATE: I like to think that I've been around the political block a couple of times, but I have to admit that I couldn't resist a little twinge of awe at the amount of dishonesty this Republican Spinner managed to pack into one ordinary word. Rae Ann post a link to the site in the comments. After a bit of juking and jiving, the Pubs get down to the "point."

The NRSC has begun circulating among fellow Republicans new reports showing that all but five of the chamber’s 44 Democrats have taken Abramoff-related money.

So what exactly is Abramoff-related money? It turns out that it is money from Indian tribes or associates of Abramoff. How much of that money was from Abramoff? Well, how about zero. How much went through Abramoff? As far as anyone can tell, also zero.

For the record, their is nothing illegal about taking campaign contributions. Even if they are from Indian tribes, especially tribes in a state that you represent. It's also not illegal to take campaign contributions from people who know Jack Abramoff, people who hired Jack, or even the old Jackster himself.

It is illegal to take bribes or pay them, and that's one of the crimes that Jack, key associates of Jack, key Delay aides, and former Congressman Duke Cunningham pleaded guilty to. Tom Delay masterminded the K-street project, which institutionalized a shakedown and bribery racket intended to benefit the Republicans in the House of Representatives. Abramoff did a little riff on this theme to funnel off millions for himself and friends.

I doubt that money was Delay's motive, he wanted power. The only problem is that once you control all those vast streams of wealth, who can blame you for sucking just a bit off the top for yourself. And that will be the undoing of many a Republican Congressman. I felt a little twinge of pity when I learned Jim Ryun, the Congressman and former running great, was one of those who couldn't resist a little indirect bribery in the form of a "special deal" on a house.