Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Quote for the Day, 1/3/2006   "The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the empty soul, every bitter thing is sweet."   -Proverbs 27:7 7:27:07 PM    comment []

The Abramoff-DeLay Linkage   You know, as I was posting the piece on Abramoff, I asked myself if it was fair to mention his close friendship and long time-association with Rep. Tom DeLay.  It might appear to suggest that Rep. DeLay condones corruption, and perhaps even endorses it.  I decided it was fair. On further reflection, I think the mention more likely to damage Mr. Abramoff, who is a babe in the woods next to Rep. DeLay.   By comparison, Mr. Abramoff is involved in only a very small amount of corrupt activities; on any moral--if not legal--scale, Mr. Abramoff is infinitely less guilty of damaging the country.  Mr. Abramoff is on trial for ripping off an Indian tribe, some cruise ship people, and a bank.  Rep. DeLay rips off more people than that before lunch.  It's like comparing a street corner hood to Al Capone. I apologize to Mr. Abramoff for associating his name with Rep. DeLay.  While the friendship and association is real, mentioning that he so much as knows Rep. DeLay on a day when he pled guilty to crimes for which he might face up to 30 years in prison is needlessly cruel. 5:00:40 PM    comment []

Jack Abramoff Pleads Guilty   In return for his agreement to testify against a series of US House Representatives and their aides in a corruption scandal that bodes to be the biggest since the Teapot Dome Scandal (you may not have heard of it...but with a name like Teapot Dome, trust me, it was an extremely long time ago), Jack Abramoff has agreed to a deal where he only has to plead guilty to three felonies...today.  There are more felonies to come in a different criminal case against Abramoff...where, as in this case, Abramoff's co-defendant has already copped a plea to testify against Abramoff.  Jack Abramoff, a close friend of Rep. Tom DeLay who illegally financed a vacation for DeLay and his staff to St. Andrews, had to plead guilty or he was looking at life-plus in prison.  The main question at this point is just how many Representatives are going to jail, and how many are merely going to be so disgraced that they either resign or are voted out of office.  It's likely Democrats as well as Republicans will go down with the crooked lobbyist (but I repeat myself).  For supporters of clean government, and lobbying and campaign finance reform, Christmas came really early this year. 11:48:45 AM    comment []

"Ms. Personality"   Katherine Harris loves Washington, D.C.  She is trying to meet everyone there.  She's already hired and fired many of them.  According to a former aide, 54 people have left her employ since she arrived in Washington less than 3 years ago; believe it or not, this does not include her campaign staff; if you include those folks, her casualty list is even higher.  You can judge a person by who their friends are; you can judge them even better by how they treat the people who work for them.  Most of the people who've worked for Harris would rather be unemployed than be a Congressional aide for her, which is one of the better jobs in town. She's running for Senate.  I can just see the campaign ad against her in her Senate race:  Interview some of her ex-employees, and then end with: KATHERINE HARRIS. STOP HER BEFORE SHE HIRES AGAIN. 5:35:04 AM    comment []