Jack Abramoff Going to Prison

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Remember Black Jack? He got four years yesterday. You can read about it here.

I understand that yesterday was McCain's big day of accepting the Republican nomination for president, so I can understand why this may not have been headline news, but how was this not even front page worthy? I didn't hear a peep about this, and just happened to stumble across it today.

The news spends countless hours on Palin's pregnant daughter, which has nothing to do with anything, but gives short shrift to a story about fraud and government corruption (he bribed a Congressman), which should concern just about everybody. Ticks me off.

 

Imagine that, the media would rather attack Palin then report on a crime. Who would have thought of that

 

Please explain how the media is "attacking" Sarah Palin.

 

Oh yes, Jack Abramoff bribed Bob Ney, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

A little reminder on 'Black Jack' - his scandal was really juicy and very high level: First, he was a top tier fundraiser for the GOP, one of Tom DeLay's 'closest and dearest friends'. He collected $100,000+ for Bush Jr.'s re-election campaign, becoming a Bush Pioneer. So far, so good.

The fun really started when it came out that he overbilled six Indian tribes for millions for his services - lobbying against gambling licenses in neighbouring areas, with the help Christian Right anti-gambling activists through his GOP connections - while promoting his client's gambling interests with his GOP connections in DC - all while talking about his clients as ****ing *******s, and bribing said congressmen and others along the way. To use that line from a movie: He's so crooked, he could eat soup with a corkscrew.

To get the idea, watch this and this. And that for where the money went.

 

They're attaking Palin by making a big issue over her daughter's pregnancy, the controversy over a few firings, her husband's DUI when he was 22, and more than a few feminist articles claiming she's deserting her children. Some of those attacks may be legitimate, others may not, but they're all attacks. Any newspaper would rather report on the juicy details of a possible crime coverup than the results of a boring court proceeding like sentencing. Seriously, of all the major legal cases that have come up in the US national news in the last few decades, the only ones I remember hearing a conclusion on were O.J. and Clinton's impeachment, both of which were not-guilty and both of which were plenty juicy while the case was going on.

There's something you all need to remember about the American media. Beyond bias, beyond greed, beyond any other motivation I have yet heard, the American media suffers from the biggest case of ADD I have ever seen.

 

I disagree, NOG. They are not attacking her, they are reporting. Palin and McCain are putting her family front and center, and I'm sorry, but for a candidate running for the hardcore-family-values vote to have an unwed pregnant teenage daughter is newsworthy. If the same had happened to Obama's daughter had she been the same age, it would have destroyed his candidacy, and people like Palin would be the ones holding the pitchforks. The media is also covering it because the campaign was not forthright about it to begin with. It's not that she "fired people," it's that she's being investigated for corruption as a result (and given the DOJ controversy, this is relevant). I agree that her husband's DUI not newsworthy, but that's not really being covered in the mainstream press.

No one knew who Palin was before McCain picked her. If she had been mentioned as a potential candidate sooner than a week ago – let's not forget, McCain bagged the nomination 6 months ago – most of Palin's story would be well known. When you look into someone who is unknown, you follow the stories you find. You can argue that reporting on Palin's family issues are beyond the pale, but you can't call it an attack - it's called reporting. They aren't saying anything that isn't true, they're following up on the information they find. In other words - the press is doing the vetting McCain's people clearly never bothered to do in any serious manner. Instead of whining at the press for actually doing their job, McCain should be acknowledging that his people didn't do theirs.

Any unknown candidate being thrust to the top of any national ticket would get the same level of scrutiny, a fact that even McCain's own people have conceded.

On that, I definitely agree. As it pertains to the Abramoff ruling, I would take it a step further: it's kind of like a really important movie being released on the same weekend as 3 other big-budget blockbusters...it's just not getting the attention that it deserves, but out of a sense of timing, not lack of interest.

 

I think the corruption of the Republican Party is no longer front page news; it's kind of taken for granted (just read the text of Mac's speech last night to the RNC). The party followers are willing to look the other way, while the rest of us are waiting for "better" government to happen, as if by magic, because, as NOG, points out, the country suffers from ADD (and I agree). That's the real issue with Palin, what's she gonna do for all those soccer mom's as far as the better kind of government many are looking for? And please spare us the meaningless platitudes about "family values." because we are looking for how this actually tranlates into real policy, and you can keep the sermons on morality for the local church cook-off or whatever evangleicals do for entertainment these days (like wife-swapping their 16 or 17 year old brides or whatever it is they do for fun).

 

Well, I personally could care less about Mrs. Palin's daughter or what her husband did some 20 years ago, but a few firings can be a serious issue. Anyway, on Abramoff - good for him, er, everyone else. Apparently the man has more than deserved it.

 

Chandos, she's really, I mean really for small government. She even had Alaska sell the Governor's Leer Jet because she said it wasn't worth it. For one or two trips to D.C every year, I figure she can fly first class. For flying around Alaska, a Leer Jet is useless.

 

It is so nice for the GOP to get back to its roots. I know it is wrong to say (and hopefully the secret service doesn't monitor these boards), but I would love to see Mac have to give up the Presidency after a couple of years and let Palin take over. It is a shame we can't reverse the ticket. That would be interesting, it would be two inexperienced people with experienced VPs running against each other.