Abramoff: A REPUBLICAN Scandal

Republicans are trying to claim that the Abramoff trial taints Democrats as well as Republicans. This really does not seem true. It is true that the Indian tribes that hired Abramoff ALSO gave money to Democrats. But it is NOT the Indian tribes that are guilty of corruption. It is Abramoff. So politicians who took money from the Indian tribes are no more guilty of corruption than any other poliitician. But those who are directly linked to Abramoff, including the top Republican Congressmen, are quite probably corrupt.

Here is Howard Dean's take on it from an interview with Wolf "I used to be a good journalist" Blitzer:

BLITZER: Should Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, who has now pleaded guilty to bribery charges, among other charges, a Republican lobbyist in Washington, should the Democrat who took money from him give that money to charity or give it back?

DEAN: There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, not one, not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money. And we've looked through all of those FEC reports to make sure that's true.

BLITZER: But through various Abramoff-related organizations and outfits, a bunch of Democrats did take money that presumably originated with Jack Abramoff.

DEAN: That's not true either. There's no evidence for that either. There is no evidence...

BLITZER: What about Senator Byron Dorgan?

DEAN: Senator Byron Dorgan and some others took money from Indian tribes. They're not agents of Jack Abramoff. There's no evidence that I've seen that Jack Abramoff directed any contributions to Democrats. I know the Republican National Committee would like to get the Democrats involved in this. They're scared. They should be scared. They haven't told the truth. They have misled the American people. And now it appears they're stealing from Indian tribes. The Democrats are not involved in this.

BLITZER: Unfortunately Mr. Chairman, we got to leave it right there.

I know CNN wants to be the paid mouthpiece of the Republican Party the way Fox News and MSNBC are, but this is stupid. Trying to claim that the Indian tribes themselves are somehow the root of the corruption and hence shifting the blame is NOT responsible journalism. But CNN has not practiced responsible journalism since the early 1990's.

Go Howard Dean! And let's remember that this is the same Howard Dean who has raised a record amount of money for the DNC and has done it by relying MORE on direct contributions from voters and LESS on soft money that is so open to corruption. With Dean's Democracy Bonds the Democratic Party now has a reliable source of clean money month after month, becoming even less corruptable. Meanwhile, the Republicans seem more and more tied up in corruption in their attempts to feed the military-industrial-religious complex they worship and in their attempts to make large profits from politics.