With Jack Abramoff cooperating with federal prosecutors about his good friends in government, many Republicans are a little nervous. Republican Rep. Bob Ney (OH-18) is probably the person with the most on the line. Ney enjoyed many benefits, including that famous golf trip to Scotland, because of his relationship with Abramoff. Republican Tom DeLay, who once called Abramoff his best friend, could find himself heavily involved in the scandal.
Since Abramoff was one of President Bush's "Pioneers" (someone who raised over $100,000 for the Bush campaign), there are questions about Abramoff's relationship with this administration. Reportedly, Bush has donated $6,000 of the $100,000 of Abramoff's donation to a charity. So, what about the rest of the money???
Now with the Republicans deep in scandals, a voice from the past has emerged. Former Republican Rep. Newt Gingrich is advising Republicans on how to get out from under their scandal-smeared associations. Gingrich, who always stresses family values, has been married three times and divorced twice. He had one wife served with divorce papers while she was recovering from cancer surgery. What a guy!!!
(Newt Gingrich: (MSN) ------
In 1996 the House Ethics Committee mildly reprimanded Gingrich for not registering his political action committee (PAC) with the Federal Election Commission. In January 1997 the House voted to reprimand Gingrich for ethics violations that included giving the Ethics Committee false information and using tax-exempt donations for political activities. As the first Speaker in history to be disciplined by the House, Gingrich was fined $300,000. He was reelected as Speaker later that month, but he resigned from that position and from the House altogether in the wake of Republican losses in the November 1998 elections.)
However, there are other people who have to worry. Rev. Dobson and Ralph Reed, two radical right wing self-appointed moral values experts, are also tied up with Abramoff. Dobson and Reed said they were "duped" by Abramoff. Duped? I wonder how much money Dobson and Reed made off their relationship to Abramoff.
From CNN: A prominent Baptist minister, Lonnie Latham, was arrested for propositioning a police officer in Oklahoma City. Latham is an outspoken anti-gay activist.
Cheney said this yesterday: "America has been protected not by luck but by sensible policy decisions by decisive action at home and abroad and by round-the-clock efforts on the part of people in law enforcement, intelligence, the military and homeland security."
The vice president called Mr. Bush's decision to intercept "a certain category of terrorist-linked international communications" important to national security.
"There are no communications more important to the safety of the United States than those related to al Qaeda that have one end in the United States. If we'd been able to do this before 9/11, we might have been able to pick up on two of the hijackers who flew a jet into the Pentagon."
WHAT IF THIS ADMINISTRATION HAD PAID ATTENTION TO THE PDB (Presidential Daily Briefing) ENTITLED 'Bin Laden Determined to Strike U.S'? What if Bush had followed through on that PDB instead of taking a 5 week vacation? Huh?
