Throw The Bums Out

Republicans remained on the defensive this weekend. Just when the GOP thought the Foley Fiasco might shift from boil to simmer, another Republican Congressman stepped forward to disclose that he knew of inappropriate contacts between Foley and Pages as far back as the year 2000. Which kept the story front-and-center.

Then, on Sunday’s Meet The Press, Bob Woodward revealed that Vice President Cheney called him recently to complain about being quoted confirming regular meetings between Bush and Henry Kissinger, an embarrassing disclosure. In tantrum mode, Cheney called Woodward’s use of the quote “bull s---” and hung up.

Adding to Republican woes, one of Karl Rove’s staff resigned Friday because of numerous gifts she accepted from criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff. This on the heels of a bipartisan report that the White House had over 400 contacts with Abramoff and accepted upwards of $25,000 in gifts and freebies.

The news was made more significant because PBS ran its two-hour Moyers documentary about the Abramoff and DeLay scandal throughout the weekend. It painted an absolutely devastating and horrifying picture of the sleazy, crooked and unrepentant participants, and is sending shock waves through the corridors of power in Washington.

Even hardened politicos can’t believe how brazen, unethical and corrupt the pay-for-play system of lobbying became under DeLay. Nor can they believe how hypocritical and manipulative blowhards like greedy Ralph Reed turned out to be. To hear Tom DeLay declare that he wanted people to see “Jesus in his mugshot” was at once chilling and disgusting. When I look at DeLay, Abramoff, Reed, Ney and their acolytes, I see greed, lies and corruption, not Christ. They are, if anything, Satanic.

A headline this morning read “GOP Hit by Wave of Political Bad News.” What rubbish. The bad news isn’t some external force hitting the Republican party. It’s the direct result of the party’s arrogance, greed, incompetence and lust for power at any price. The GOP’s wounds are purely self inflicted. And the sooner the wounded beast retreats to heal itself, the sooner others can begin to undo the damage done to our nation during the last five awful years.

- JT Compton