Bush tries to distance himself from the Abramoff/Delay scandal, with TIME claiming it was Never a Texas Two-Step:
"They're worried about the Congress," an adviser said after talking to White House aides, "and they're worried about themselves."While the TIME article is basically a Karl Rove talking point, it does provide some telling details:
Bracing for the worst, Administration officials obtained from the Secret Service a list of all the times Abramoff entered the White House complex, and they scrambled to determine the reason for each visit. Bush aides are also trying to identify all the photos that may exist of the two men together. Abramoff attended Hanukkah and holiday events at the White House, according to an aide who has seen the list. Press secretary Scott McClellan said Abramoff might have attended large gatherings with Bush but added, "The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him."Newsweek calls it A Tidal Wave, providing this link between Abramoff and the White House:
Abramoff's tentacles reached into the White House; he could boast that his former secretary Susan Ralston had become assistant to Deputy White House chief of staff Karl Rove. (The White House joined the parade to disavow Abramoff last week.) Abramoff's prosecution and plea agreement will draw tremendous scrutiny to the influence-peddling business, though whether it will bring real reform is hard to say.Meanwhile, Howard Dean renders Wolf Blitzer speachless by refuting the standard GOP line that the Abramoff scandal is bipartisan.
Video here for broadband users. Worth watching if you wanna see some Democrat spine.
2 comments:
Agreed, there is a massive culture of corruption in Washington which is truly bipartisan. But that is not to say that this Abramoff/DeLay scandal is bipartisan: even if a few Democrats are roped into it, it's definitely a GOP mess. And the press should not be falling over themselves looking for ways to paint it as "bipartisan".
And Abramoff is hardly what you would call "slick and sophisticated"! This was just pigs at the trough in a feeding frenzy: look at some of the emails that were flying about.
Further to that comment: sure, there needs to be a comprehensive change in US politics, and even society.
Let's start by rooting out the Bush team, then work out how this disastrous administration ever came to be, then work out how to make sure it does not happen again.
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