So did Sen. Cornyn throw Ralph Reed under the bus

[DefenseLawyer]

today on MTP or did Ralphie already have tread-marks?

[Fridays Child]

1. I missed it. Do tell...

...or is there a thread on it?

[DefenseLawyer]

7. There is a clip of it

on canofun.com. Basically Cornyn was defending a contribution he had gotten from Abramoff, I believe when he was attorney general of Texas. He said that while the contribution as legal, that Reed later sent out e-mails "taking credit" for some legislation based on the contribution. Cornyn said he had no knowledge of the e-mail and that Abramoff AND REED had been "bilking their indian clients". I have heard Reed's name in all this before, but it was the first time I had seen a Republican specifically single him out like that.

[Fridays Child]

13. I hope that the Republican bloodletting gets gory enough for...

...Mel Gibson to turn it into a movie.

:popcorn:

[annabanana]

16. so Reed's taking credit for a quid pro quo from Cornyn

.. and Cornyn's support of that legislation is just a "coincidence"..

"Honest! All that money had nothing to do with it. It was incidental, really."

[flordehinojos]

8. here is the link to the transcript, in case you'd like to read it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10721401/

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

2. Abramoff affair has exposed Reed, a millionaire cockroach hiding

under the same rock.

[Gman]

3. I thought so at the time

but its been 12 hours ago and I forget everything Cornyn said.

[rusty_parts2001]

4. Sort of........

He said that he didn't know anything about what emails the two cons (Abramoff and Reed) were exchanging and that his position vis a vis gambling was consistent. He wasn't too happy about being asked about it.

As AG, he filed suit to enjoin the Tiguas (a tribe competitor to the Coushattas that Abramoff ripped off for millions) from continuing to operate their casino near El Paso, Texas. Abramoff ripped off the Tiguas for millions too, when he told them that Rep. Ney could slip a provision in a bill to override the state anti-gambling laws, and secure legalized gambling in Texas for them.

[cally]

12. Thanks for the clarification and

welcome to DU! :hi:

[NAO]

5. Ralph Reed is a Man of God. Leader of the Christian Coalition.

Before Ralph does anything, he asks himself, "What Would Jesus Do?". I don't understand how he could have been mixed up in any of this corruption stuff. Possibly it is just a trick of Satan to hinder the work of the People of Faith by discrediting their leader.

****

"It probably will not be long until the churches will divide as
sharply upon political, as upon theological questions; and when
that day comes, if there are not liberals enough to hold the
balance of power, this Government will be destroyed. The liberty of
man is not safe in the hands of any church. Wherever the Bible and
sword are in partnership, man is a slave."
- from Robert G. Ingersoll's 1889 lecture "Some Mistakes of Moses"

Some Mistakes of Moses (1889)
Robert G. Ingersoll
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/some_mistakes_of_moses.html

[Sydnie]

14. They go way back

Abramoff's conservatism stretches back to his college days, when he chaired the GOP's College Republicans in the 1980s. It was there that Abramoff, an orthodox Jew, bonded with evangelical Christian Ralph Reed, who would later go on to lead the Christian Coalition (and then to work for Enron).

http://www.alternet.org/story/13134

[LiviaOlivia]

6. Cornyn is playing Bush defense

And those Texas boys are going to fling shit at anyone in order to cover their fucking evil corrupt asses.

[MissMarple]

10. Colorful language, sweetheart...and quite correct.

;)

[hlthe2b]

9. Calling CatWoman or other Georgia DUers: how's Reed faring?

has the proverbial shit hit the fan in GA over Reed and is his run for Lt. Gov. in death throes?

[CatWoman]

15. bwahahahaha

excellent opinion piece in the AJC:

OUR OPINION: DeLay's, Reed's pride preceded Abramoff's fall
Cynthia Tucker - Staff
Sunday, January 8, 2006

Back when he was House majority leader --- before he lost that post to indictment in a Texas political scandal --- Tom DeLay was among the chief moralizers of American politics. He was a grand high potentate of the "culture of life" crowd that championed intervening in the tragic case of Terri Schiavo. He vigorously opposed abortion. He could be counted on to whip up a frenzy against gay marriage.

Yet, DeLay's sense of morality was never troubled by the business practices of one of his "closest and dearest friends," Jack Abramoff, who bilked Indian tribes, set up sham enterprises and bought the votes of powerful congressmen. Indeed, DeLay was among those on whom Abramoff, a highly paid Capitol Hill lobbyist, lavished expensive gifts. As just one example, Abramoff paid for a pricey golf excursion for DeLay and his wife to Scotland.

Nor was morality any brake for political consultant Ralph Reed, former cherub-in-chief for the Christian Coalition, now a candidate for lieutenant governor in Georgia. Reed has a long-standing public record of conservative religious views, and he used that record to promote his consulting practice to conservative religious groups. But that didn't stop him from working with Abramoff to promote gambling interests, including pushing for an online gaming company.

Politics has always been a dirty business, prone to a disproportionate share of hypocrisy, back-stabbing and dissembling --- even more than can be commonly found in corporate boardrooms. Still, the level of hypocrisy exposed by the Abramoff scandal is hall of fame stuff --- the sort of outsized arrogance and disregard for law and decency that make it a benchmark against which other scandals will be measured for decades to come. In a strictly amoral universe, Abramoff and his cronies would deserve medals for sheer gall.

Reed and DeLay are the sort of men who believe the rules don't apply to them, that the morality they preach to others is not meant to contain their own grubby ambitions, that they are somehow exempt from the common decency that ought to apply to all. In other words, theirs is the sin of pride --- a human failing that doesn't merit as much attention from today's public moralizers as it should.

Little wonder, since so many of them are guilty of it.

> Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor. Her column appears Sundays and Wednesdays.

[e-mail]

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/opinion_340c3a3ad20ce11b00d0.html

[hlthe2b]

17. oh, I knew Cynthia Tucker would come through!

thanks, CatWoman! :rofl:

[Ksec]

11. The Conservative Revolution is over

People like ralph reed, tom delay, abramoff, gwbush,and the rest of that bunch who lied and schemed their way into power have done a real good job of committing political suicide, all by themselves. Like the old saying goes "give em enough rope" Oh theyve hung themselves all right. And its over for that bunch of neoconservative christian coalition nazis. Im not bashing Christians btw. Just that cult of Reed bunch who have distorted that Bible beyond belief.