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February 13, 2012
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February 7, 2012
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Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
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Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
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Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
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Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
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Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
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January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
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Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
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Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Jan. 16, 2006
/ 16 Teves, 5766
Lobbyists traitors to the Republican revolution
By
Jonathan Gurwitz
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
"This is the way the world ends," T. S. Eliot wrote, "not with a bang but a whimper."
And this may be the way the Republican revolution ends, not with some earthshaking ideological event, but with a snicker.
The snicker comes from Michael Scanlon, the business partner of superlobbyist Jack Abramoff who pleaded guilty in November to one count of conspiracy to corrupt public officials. Scanlon also happens to be a former press secretary to Rep. Tom DeLay. Abramoff has also pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion. Both are now cooperating with the federal probe into corruption on Capitol Hill.
Back in October 2001, when most of the nation was still grieving over the 9-11 attacks and most of Washington was focused on protecting the nation, Scanlon and Abramoff were busy enriching themselves by pitting the gambling interests of Indian tribes against one another in Louisiana and Texas.
Scanlon laid out the lobbyists' cynical strategy in an e-mail to his cohorts, made public in congressional hearings:
"Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them. The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees."
It wasn't the only snicker to come from the dynamic lobbying duo. Abramoff, in correspondence, chortled about their clients as monkeys, troglodytes and morons.
But the e-mail is the clearest indication of just how far a former aide of the former House majority leader, a former national chairman of the College Republicans and dozens of others around them with putatively conservative GOP pedigrees came unmoored from the principles that put Ronald Reagan in the White House in 1981 and brought Republican majorities to the House and Senate in 1995.
Anyone who thinks the Abramoff scandal is just another contrived effort to hurt the conservative cause and roll back Republican leadership needs to look at that e-mail again. The corrupt lobbyists who were leading this effort were counting on the gullibility of Christian conservatives and the ignorance of everyone else.
And as Newt Gingrich told Washington reporters, "You can't have a corrupt lobbyist without a corrupt member or a corrupt staffer on the other end."
Other than Abramoff and Scanlon, none of the figures implicated in the investigation has admitted to any wrongdoing, and federal prosecutors have not issued any indictments.
Aside from the legal issues, however, is the betrayal of principle.
"This year's election," read the Republican Contract with America in 1994, "offers the chance, after four decades of one-party control, to bring to the House a new majority that will transform the way Congress works."
Among the pledges made by Republican leaders, including then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay: Restore accountability to Congress, end its cycle of scandal and disgrace and guarantee an honest accounting of the federal budget.
Until recently, DeLay had the Contract with America posted on his congressional Web site among other "Great Documents of Freedom." Interestingly, the link no longer exists.
An exploding federal budget and the monumental growth of pork-barrel earmarks over the past 11 years provide ample evidence that the current Republican leadership hasn't lived up to its 1994 pledge. The ethical morass exemplified by DeLay's "K Street Project" to transform Washington's lobbying establishment into an instrument of Republican power provides another.
GOP uneasiness about the numerous and lengthy connections between the growing Abramoff scandal and DeLay's office compelled the Sugar Land representative to step aside permanently as majority leader. Republicans must do much more to restore their credibility and their commitment to principle.
If the Republican majority does not clean house, voters will surely cleanse Congress of a Republican majority and the Republican revolution will come to a whimpering end.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department.Comment by clicking here.
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© 2005, Jonathan Gurwitz
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