Jack Abramoff Sentenced to Four More Years!

Photo from source, Raw Story

John McCain's declaration to break from the current Republican leadership might have been more noteworthy, had he mentioned the sentence handed down to Jack Abramoff yesterday. Abramoff represents the entrenched corruption in the Republican Party of the last several years, and their attempt at a "permanent Republican majority."

Many, many of the current Republican power base have connections to Abramoff (maybe even McCain and Sarah Palin?), not the least of which is Turd Blossom himself, Karl Rove, who is "unofficially" guiding McCain's campaign. But, hey, at least somebody is getting his comeuppance.

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GOP lobbyist Abramoff gets 4 years in prison

Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced on Thursday to serve four more years in prison in a corruption scandal that rocked Washington's power elite and helped Republicans lose control of Congress. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

New Barack Obama Ad: McCain, Abramoff & Reed

This is the way to play it, at least to political junkies. Lefties like me react viscerally to images of McCain, tied together with creepy Ralph Reed and convict Jack Abramoff. But I worry that much of the electorate doesn't pay close enough attention to know who these guys are.

I like that no lying is necessary for Barack Obama to attack John McCain. But I hope he starts using some of the more accessible stuff.

Photos Released: George W. Bush with Jack Abramoff

Image from source, TPM Muckraker

With the swirl of the Democratic primary race just barely over, it's kind of nice to turn to some other topics. Topics that sort of feel like ancient history now.

Remember back when lobbyist Jack Abramoff got into such a mess of trouble, and actually went to jail? Remember George W. Bush affecting an "I don't know Jack" attitude, and only grudgingly admitting to have met the man once or twice? Well, surprise, surprise, it was at least a little more than that.

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Bush and Abramoff Meet: Four New Photos

Late this afternoon the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released six photographs cited in today's report that show President Bush meeting with jailed uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The pictures contradict the White House's previous statements that the President met with Abramoff only two times. . .

Read more at: TPM Muckraker

McCain Recipient of Abramoff Money?

Photo from source, Huffington Post

One of the biggest arguments ongoing in the Democratic Party is the viability of the Democratic nominee against John McCain in the general election. In national polls, Barack Obama outpolls McCain by a slim margin, and Hillary Clinton loses by a few points. This, it is said, is a pretty strong argument for nominating Obama. Maybe.

There's also the argument that many conservatives are no fan of McCain, and are not motivated to turn out to vote in large numbers. But, give them some Clinton red meat to vote against, and they'll turn out in droves. Maybe. The mostly unspoken argument is that having an African American on the ticket might also drive many--shall we say--unenlightened conservative voters to the polls. Maybe.

Personally, I believe that national polls on the general election are completely unreliable. It's too early to know what sort of information may lead to a skewing of the polls. There is much America doesn't know about John McCain, and Barack Obama for that matter. Hillary Clinton's "scandals" are pretty widely known already, and America tired of hearing about them a long, long time ago.

Here's a little nugget of information about John McCain that we didn't know about before today. This is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

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McCain Received $100,000 From Firm Of Abramoff Notoriety

. . .A review of campaign finance filings shows that the Arizona Republican has accepted more than $100,000 in donations from employees of Greenberg Traurig, the very firm where Abramoff once reigned. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

White House Declares Abramoff Meetings "Secret"

Photo from Daily Kos

In this White House, is there anything that isn't a "secret" or "Excecutive Privilege?" For a party that is very fond of the phrase, "personal accountability," this particular administration seems to have none. Why isn't Right-wing World up in arms about that? Cognitive dissonance?

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Secrecy invoked on Abramoff lawsuits

. . .The Justice Department, citing a Cold War-era court ruling, declared that the contents of the "Sensitive Security Records" cannot be publicly revealed even though they could show whether Abramoff made more visits to the White House than those already acknowledged.

"The simple act of doing so ... would reveal sensitive information about the methods used by the Secret Service to carry out its protective function," the Justice Department argued.

"This is an extraordinary development and it raises the specter that there were additional contacts with President Bush or other high White House officials that have yet to be disclosed," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that filed the suit. "We've alleged that the government has committed misconduct in this litigation and frankly this is more fuel for that fire."

Read it at: Raw Story