One thing the wingnuts haven’t mentioned is that Abramoff is and has always been a right-wing Republican activist. He was the chairman of the College Republican National Committee, the chief contributor to Delay’s K-street project, and part of the Bush Cheney transition team in 2000. He’s the guy who said “It is not our job to seek peaceful coexistence with the left, our job is to remove them from power permanently.” Why on Earth would he help any Democrats ever? No matter how much the ditto-head talking-point hacks want to spin it with meaningless post-hoc Kevin Beacon connections, it IS a Republican scandal. Period.

Also, the media seems to be completely ignoring the worst crime Abramoff committed. He wrote and produced the movies Red Scorpion. That alone means he should be locked in a basement somewhere and studied like Hannibal Lecter where he can’t harm anyone again.

The party that isn’t in power has criminals also bud. Some have been convicted (cough Traficant).

Not working to deflect and spread blame. Working to make sure partisans like you don’t get away with ACTING like the Dems are squeaky clean when they aren’t. Honesty is here and not with you.

I’m not leaping to denial as you accused in your last paragraph (nice pattern of libs accuse accuse accuse), I’m the one saying that anyone who’se committed a crime should be held accountable.

It’s the implication that’s misleading. Given the context in which you mentioned it, it comes off like an attempt to tie the Democrats to the Abramoff scandal. No facts (as of yet) support that. That’s why I said it was misleading instead of wrong.

Baklava: “BTW, Thanks for the link”

Hey, I’m here for you. But seriously, I’m still waiting on you to return the favor and link to the page where Repubs claim responsibility for themselves. I could respect that so much more.

And strategically, it makes more sense: Distance the party from the “bad apples” instead of making all Repubs seem complicit.

Anyway, it seems I inadvertently whipped you into a frenzy with that link and the point I was making with it sneaked by you.

Which was in answer to your original question…”why it matters”.

It matters b/c the party that’s in power has a huge scandal, and rather than openly acknowledge it and earnestly work to restore the public trust, they spend more time trying to deflect/spread blame through a “cloud-the-issue” campaign.

So, their response is to leap into denial and try to make this a Dems issue. It has to make you wonder how well that big cleanup that WE ALL earnestly desire will work out.

What is misleading about it. There are charts and graphs and actual numbers to back up my quote. And my goal is that everyone who broke the law is held accountable. If that happens to be Dems too so be it. You are the one saying no it’s only Republicans…. The partisanship comes through with you. Me? I don’t care!! I care that everyone who broke the law is held accountable.

BTW, Thanks for the link. I didn’t see it before because I never go to that site. Did you read it? I just did. It looks like you/Democrats are plain hypocrites. That’s what that showed. And the trips are still going on the link showed. Democrats have cojones. I’m just playing with ya. Actin’ all partisan like ya

You still going to go on with the partisan Dems are squeaky clean rhetoric? ???

The majority may be certain repulicans and he does not deny this, but he is just pointing out that this corruption is not limited to just republicans, even if the democrats are trying to act like the crap don’t stink, they too will be having fall out from this, whether you wish to believe it or not.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/03/ap/politics/mainD8FHTD1G9.shtml

Huh, but they didn’t mention democrats.

Oh right. Maybe that’s because this is a REPUBLICAN scandal.

Edited. –ST

Yet, you seem to be fighting so hard to implicate Dems specifically with misleading statements like: “1/3rd of the over a billion that Abramoff had distruted went to Democrats”.

And why does it matter? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you should ask the rest of the folks in your party who are working so hard to implicate the Dems. Start here.

You know, it’s funny. I was able to find that page pretty easily on the RNC site, but I had trouble locating the one that talks about the Repubs that were involved and what the party plans to do about it. Can you help me find it?

Lobbying is not illegal. Neither is big government. But I’d be HAPPY to see people pay attention to the fact that there is TOO MANY people trying to get a piece of the taxpayer dollar pie.

This is great for conservatives!!

BTW, I’ll put in my two cents for 6% of my Social Security contributions going towards a nest egg I can call my own!!!

But you could have a lobbyist argue for privatization. That’s not a big government problem.

So let’s just say we conceded that at this moment in time it is (which it isn’t) a Republican scandal. So what? What’s your point? WE ALL (CONSERVATIVES ANYWAY) WANT ANYONE WHO COMMITTED A CRIME TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. You liberals and Democrats are going to see a government that shrinks finally and will be kicking and screaming because of it and you don’t see that coming for some reason.

You have no point I think other than to keep saying something incorrect in our eyes but correct in your eyes over and over and over again as if what? To gain political points?

I don’t care about individual personalities.

I care about the fact that I as a conservative LOVE THE FACT that it is VERY apparent now that there are 27,000 registered lobbyists (true number) lobbying 30,000 Congressional staff members because BIG GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM

It’s hillarious because that’s what matters to conservatives.

Conservativism matters not an individual personality. We are getting stronger because of this “scandal” that is supposedly just “Republican”.

And again… What’s your point? Care to elaborate? Or are you going to go off the deepend as liberals do calling this a culture of corruption that Republicans have. Because that’s a tactic that’ll lose in this debate.

Sorry I posted twice ST. I moved my entire paragraph to the wrong place and had to rearrange the post and post again.

So let’s just say we conceded that at this moment in time it is (which it isn’t) a Republican scandal. So what? What’s your point? WE ALL (CONSERVATIVES ANYWAY) WANT ANYONE WHO COMMITTED A CRIME TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. You liberals and Democrats are going to see a government that shrinks finally and will be kicking and screaming because of it and you don’t see that coming for some reason.

It’s hillarious because that’s what matters to conservatives.

Conservativism matters not an individual personality. We are getting stronger because of this “scandal” that is supposedly just “Republican”.

And again… What’s your point? Care to elaborate? Or are you going to go off the deepend as liberals do calling this a culture of corruption that Republicans have. Because that’s a tactic that’ll lose in this debate.

You have no point I think other than to keep saying something incorrect in our eyes but correct in your eyes over and over and over again as if what? To gain political points?

I don’t care about individual personalities.

I care about the fact that I as a conservative LOVE THE FACT that it is VERY apparent now that there are 27,000 registered lobbyists (true number) lobbying 30,000 Congressional staff members because BIG GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM

It’s really very simple: The Abramoff scandal is THUS FAR a Republican one. Have Dems ever done anything unethical? Yes. Are some engaging in unethical acts now? Possibly.

But, this particular scandal has SO FAR proven to be a Republican one. Whether any Abramoff clients gave to Dems is irrelevant, b/c that, in itself is not illegal.

To suggest otherwise or attempt to implicate Dems is unfounded, desparate, denial of reality . Not only that, it’s irrelevant with regard to taking responsibility for your party.

And to say “we just want all involved to be punished” is a thinly veiled attempt to again imply that the Dems are involved and deflect/spread the blame. You think it’s giving you the moral high ground, but it’s just a cop-out that puts you on the low-road.

Why is it so hard to admit that your party screwed up and leave it at that?

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060220/blumenthal

God’s party huh?

So tell me, all of you “this is a bi-partisan scandal” fantasy land dewllers, how many democrats were part of the Delay/Abramoff K-Street Poject?

I have not made any “direct money” argument, you are misdirecting again. If this scandal was about just taking money, there would be no investigation, for the 100th time, it is what happened after the money was accepted.

The Jack Abramoff scandal is Republican only. A Republican lobbyist giving money to Republican congressmen with direct legislative actions to show for it.

You keep saying the money is not illegal, but you fail to address the result of the money. Oh by the way, the money is illegal on the part of the Congressman if it was the reason for his action.

If there are Democrats involved in this, then they need to be held accountable just like anyone else, but none are under investigation, none are implicated.

Tell me which Democrat is a person of interest in this matter, by the Justice Department.

There are at last count, six Republicans who are implicated by the Justice department report, no Democrats.

When you acknowledge that the Abramoff scandal is a Republican only scandal, which is a fact, we can have a dialogue about other issues. You might just agree with some of my thoughts about current Democrats.

But you are so invested in your party being right that you are committing a disservice to your country.

If you let the Republicans off the hook on this scandal, what do you think the Democrats are going to do if they regain the Senate? Think they are going to behave much better? You Republicans have to do the right thing for our country or it will just continue to get worse.

Well gentlemen take care. I am writing this from a Starbuck’s 1,300 miles from my wife and toddler boy, both of whom I miss immensely.

Everyday most of get up and go to work, we make ethical decisions, do not steal from our employers or customers, and are just desperately trying to either survive or get a little ahead and face ourselves in the mirror each day.

Fighting among ourselves about our party being right or wrong is such a joke. Very few of those people represent or care about us, they are engaging in a chess match for political superiority while our troops are pawns on a real battlefied.

Take Care

I attacked your argument. I don’t know your character. I used a lot of your same words in your last 2 paragraps also.

I dealth directly with your irrelevant McCarthyism type arguments. Additionally, Direct money is not illegal.

Please understand again that Democrats (and yourself) using the direct money argument only does a disservice and does NOT implicate guilt or innocence (as I was trying to say). Please understand also that you were using McCarthyism type arguments with respect to the College Republican President comment.

It doesn’t matter if it was FROM Abramoff or FROM his associates or from Bill Gates or Micky Mouse. Your paragraph about “several Democrats did receive payment of those kind last year” IS THE ISSUE not whether it was direct or not.

Hope this helps. All who need to be held accountable should not just what you seem to be saying (Republicans only).