Jack Abramoff and the Politics of 2006 (John Nichols-NATION)

[laststeamtrain]

Jack Abramoff and the Politics of 2006

John Nichols
Tue Jan 3, 5:15 PM ET

The Nation -- By any serious definition of the word, Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff is a rat. His decision to enter guilty pleas Tuesday to three felony counts of defrauding his own clients merely added a personal acknowledgement of the fact to the official record. Frank Clemente, the director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch, summed things up succinctly, and accurately, when he said Tuesday: "Make no mistake about it: Abramoff is a crook."...
(snip)

If a desire to protect Reid and other Democratic recipients of the lobbyist's largesse causes the opposition party to pull its punches, Democrats will gain no more ground as a result of this scandal than it did from the Enron imbroglio. Thus, the ultimate question does not boil down to what Abramoff will reveal. Rather, it is this: Will Democrats hold every member of Congress who has been implicated to account. If Democrats are smart, they will recognize that this is, at its core, a Republican scandal. And they will say: Throw all the bums out -- just as Republican Newt Gingrich did in the early 1990s when several Republican House members were linked with scandals that generally involved Democrats. Only by being genuine in their commitment to clean up Congress will Democrats turn the Abramoff scandal fully to their advantage. And, as everyone in Washington knows, it has been a long time since Democrats were that genuine -- or that smart politically.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20060103/cm_thenation/146591&printer=1;_ylt=AjztQYUmUuJ1JoRQMqIQNvU__8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

[Mojambo]

1. It's not only the right thing to do politically

It's the right thing to do. Period.

[Demeter]

2. There Won't Be Any GOP Left If They Throw Out the Crooks

not that I'm complaining, mind, just making a comment.