Talk about carrying the water. Get a load of this Reuter's article on the Abramoff scandal:
Democrats said the Abramoff case, along with other ethics issues, will give them valuable ammunition as they seek to take back control of Congress in November.
"We've been talking for months about the culture of corruption in Washington," said Sarah Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "When the Republican leadership is completely consumed with defending itself from ethics scandals, then the work of the people does not get done."
Huh? It's not exactly a secret that both senators Reid (the ranking Senate Dem) and Levin have already been talked about as implicated in this same issue. You can read about Levin's part here and here. Reid's involvement is mentioned here and here.
The Abramoff money-for-influence scheme is a scandal, but one that touches both parties. You wouldn't know that by reading this piece of agenda journalism.
It's too bad you try to repeat the Fox canard that Reid got money from Abramoff. Absolutely untrue. Reid got contributions from Nevada interests who had hired Abramoff, but Abramoff was careful not to donate to Democrats for his part.
The Abramoff scandal is Republican through and through. It's not crime for Harry Reid to take money from a Nevada Indian tribe. It IS a crime for Abramoff to deliver favors to Republican politicians in return for favors to his clients -- and that's what Abramoff has pleaded guilty to doing.
Tom DeLay and his methods are inherently corrupting. The corruption has started to surface. It's time to clean house, or House, and the fact that it's mostly Republicans who have been in on the trough-feeding shouldn't be subject to spin.
Get rid of the crooks. That's all. That most of the crooks (or all) are Republican may be a sign of the times; but going after crooks is not time to try to balance things out by party.
Posted by: Ed Darrell | January 09, 2006 at 11:33 PM
No one is spinning. Nor did I anywhere say that this was not affecting Republicans. I will continue to say that it is "spin" to play the game of "well I didn't DIRECTLY receive money from Abramoff" and you absolutely know it. To play the game that somehow YOUR guys all got clean money (think the NEA and their 65 million dollars of support for Democrat causes) but somehow OOOONLY the Republicans did wrong is beyond the pale.
It's weak and you know it.
Incidentally, I don't have TV and never watch Fox so you'll have to pick another lame Dem/Liberal talking point to come at me with.
Posted by: Stephen D Oliver | January 10, 2006 at 10:40 AM
Just to deal with your contention that this is all Fox spin and that not taking money DIRECTLY from Abramoff makes it somehow OK:
"The top Democrat on the Senate committee investigating casino lobbyist Jack Abramoff is returning $67,000 in donations after press reports showed that he collected the money from Mr. Abramoff's gambling clients around the time he took actions favorable to those clients."
The salient point here being, not whether or not he received money from Abramoff DIRECTLY, but that he took money from ANYONE and then took actions directly favorable to the donator. It's called being "bought." I'm sure if it was Tom Delay, Dems would be howling "laundering."
Posted by: Stephen D Oliver | January 10, 2006 at 01:01 PM