Before I raised the campaign flag for Barack Obama, I was a crusader against corruption in high places.
Top Gun Shot Down By Corruption (Nov 29, 2005)
A former top gun navy pilot, known to Congress as “the Duke”, fell from the skies of glory when his high-flying political career crashed and burned amid scandal and corruption. Representative Randall Cunningham (50th District-California) is the latest casualty in the FBI’s war on political corruption and influence peddling in Washington, D. C.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called for an investigation into his relationship with a government military contractor. The shocker came when Congressman Cunningham emerged from court Monday after pleading guilty to bribery conspiracy charges and tax evasion. [End]
They buy and sell votes, and we, the poor of America, have not a chance to speak or be heard in any debate. Our voices do not count because we have not the mean to purchase a vote. The lobbyists have all the votes, all the money, and all the power. Randall Cunningham is merely one case amid the culture of corruption in the seats of power.
Prior to his admission of guilt, Cunningham had stonewalled the media, vowing to fight to defend his reputation against all the flying allegations of secret dealings and favoritism. One of his chief defenders and fellow congressman, Representative Darrell Issa (49th District – California), issued a statement in June: “When this is all over, I think the final story will be exactly what Duke says”. Unfortunately, it was not.
But Washington is teeming with cronies and cohorts willing to defend their fellow legislators on influence peddling and corruption charges. The Scanlon-Abramoff scandal, the indictment of Tom DeLay, and other investigations of corruption and bribery reveals what politicians in Washington already know: The political sky is falling and the Supreme Court is crumbling.
TODAY
New York Governor Elliot Spitzer is another political leader caught up in charges of corruption, to wit secret payments to a high class sex rings, making arrangements for sexual favor, influence-peddling by sex and corruption, adulterous and hypocritical. Never mind that he was a Democratic, albeit a Hillary Clinton super-delegate, a delicacy he must return.
Wed, 30 Nov 2005 11:12:06 -0500
I understand your frustration, and that of many other people, when they hear about elected officials behaving inappropriately. However, I was concerned that you lumped all other Members into your commentary.
There are well over 500 elected officials in Washington that people never hear about - these are the truthful, upstanding, law abiding citizen-Members doing exactly the jobs they were elected to do. In every situation, of every population, there will be bad seeds, but good systems find them and root them out. That is part of what constitutes and "good system."
As you come to know more about Congressman Burgess, I hope that you will see that good, caring, honest individuals can, and do, thrive in Washington.
Again, thank you for sending me your article. I look forward to your next installment and our next meeting.
Michelle Stein
[End]
Enter Jack Abramoff. A onetime producer of B movies, Abramoff was a superstar Washington lobbyist with lots of well-placed friends, Republican lawmakers who wielded the levers of power on Capitol Hill. His deep involvement in conservative-movement politics dating back to the Reagan years and his longstanding associations with many of the icons of the Republican revolution of the mid-1990s made Abramoff an unusually hot commodity in the nation's capital.
"He had unbelievable access," says one Democratic lobbyist, bestowing the ultimate compliment among the city's well-heeled influence peddlers. "He got results."
FYI on Political Corruption -Eddie Griffin
Thu, 1 Dec 2005 14:52:30 -0800 (PST)
Gangsters live around casinos, hit-men and robbers for hire. Here is an attached article about Casino Jack, whom you know as Jack Abramoff. After reading it, you will understand some of the insides of outlaw thinking, and how politicians can easily be corrupted by accepting gifts and favors, small at first, then the offer you cannot refuse. Tom DeLay cannot shake Jack Abramoff.
The case of Rep. Cunningham is only a prelude of what is to come. You will understand also why I oppose any federal funds to the gaming industry. Be particularly watchful of those who sponsor such legislation. Remember, they have no choice, they must propose rules and regulations in favor of their masters. They cannot be persuaded by logics or argument. They are bought and paid for. A YES vote is forever, faithful to their client. Always lurking in the background and in the shadows is the hit-man. Staying clear of corruption is imperative.
FYI on Political Corruption -Eddie Griffin
Wed, 11 Jan 2006 14:50:11 -0800 (PST)
Jack Abramoff should be lynched because the body of Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis lay at his feet.
Gus Boulis had the misfortune of being one of Casino Jack’s business partners, one who complained one time too many of being cheated. He accused Jack and his partner, Adam Kidan, of double-crossing him and backsliding on $23 million they owed him in the purchase of his fleet of floating casinos in Florida. The purchase involved a bogus wire transfer (which case is now under investigation in Florida), on which the three partners collaborated in order to secure a $60 million loan from Foothill Capital and Citadel, while keeping the true nature of the transaction secret and while inflating their own personal financial statements. With friends like Jack, there is no need for scrupulous credit checks. But when the deal was completed, and the $60 million secured, the partners balked at paying Boulis the $23 million IOU.
From the outset, Gus Boulis, a self-made millionaire in the restaurant business, was forced to fire sale of his casino business, SunCruz Casinos, after an insertion into the Congressional Record by US Representative Robert “Bob” Ney (Ohio). The insertion was highly critical of the casino’s operation, with Ney referring to it as “one bad apple” that would hurt the gaming industry. As of late, however, Ney claims that Michael Scanlon, a former aide to US Representative Tom DeLay, duped him into making the insertions. In any case, Boulis was pressure into a partnership and business deal that would end with his life.
Boulis never received his $25 million dollars for Kidan and Abramoff. Instead, he got whacked, gangland-style, trapped in his BMW on a lonely bridge, betwixt three cars and the devil and the deep blue sea, with three hollow-point bullets buried in the chest, February 6, 2001, Fort Lauderdale. How was Bob Ney to know that this was how it would end for the man he lambasted in the historical records?
Florida investigators claim they know who did the shooting. The Mafia. But no one knows for sure who ordered the hit. Many suspect Adam Kidan. But Kidan was well out of the country at the time of the murder, and Casino Jack was nowhere to be found in the picture. [End]
Robert William "Bob" Ney was an American politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. A Republican, Ney represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3, 2006, when he resigned. Ney's resignation followed his guilty plea to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal.
Before his own guilty plea, Ney was identified in the guilty pleas of Jack Abramoff, former Tom DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy, former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon and former Ney chief of staff Neil Volz for receiving lavish gifts in exchange for political favors.
On May 18, 2006, the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into bribery allegations against Ney, and on 7 August 2006, Ney announced that he was withdrawing from the 2006 election race.
On September 15, 2006, the Justice Department filed Ney's guilty pleas to a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to a charge of falsifying financial disclosure forms. Both charges are related to actions taken on behalf of Abramoff's clients in exchange for bribes, as well as separate actions taken on behalf of a foreign businessman in exchange for over $50,000 in gambling sprees at foreign private casinos.[1] Ney is the first member of Congress to admit to criminal charges in the Abramoff investigation, which has focused on the actions of several current and former Republican lawmakers who had been close to the former lobbyist.[2] Ney resigned from the House of Representatives on November 3, 2006.[3] He was sentenced to thirty months in prison.[4]
Thomas Dale DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Sugar Land, Texas. He was House Majority Leader 2003–2005 and is a prominent member of the Republican Party.
DeLay was first elected to the House in 1984. He became known as "The Hammer" for his enforcement of party discipline in close votes and his reputation for taking political retribution on opponents.
In the 1990s, he helped to start the K Street Project, an effort to pressure lobbying firms to hire Republicans to top positions. He was a driving force behind the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998. DeLay was elected House Majority Leader after the 2002 midterm elections, and compelled House Republicans to unite to an unprecedented degree, especially in support of President George W. Bush's agenda. In the early 2000s, DeLay helped to coordinate efforts to redistrict congressional districts in Texas to favor the election of more Republicans.
In 2005, a Texas grand jury indicted DeLay on criminal charges that he had conspired to violate campaign finance laws during that period. DeLay denied the charges, saying that they were politically motivated, but Republican Conference rules forced him to resign temporarily from his position as Majority Leader. In January 2006, under pressure from fellow Republicans, DeLay announced that he would not seek to return to the position. In the months before and after this decision, two of his former aides were convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal. DeLay ran for re-election in 2006, and won the Republican primary election in March 2006, but, citing the possibility of losing the general election, he announced in April 2006 that he would withdraw from the race and resign his seat in Congress. He resigned on June 9, 2006, and sought to remove his name from the ballot.
The descent to infamy for Jack Abramoff, from the lofty perches of K Street and Capitol Hill and his fall from grace from the sacred halls of power came as a result of making one business partner too many. Whether he chose it or it chose him, he became partner with the devil, the Mafia. The “fix” was in. Everything is fixed, as they used to say in the Dixie Mafia. Every man has a price, politicians not excluded.
Jack Abramoff was an unorthodox lobbyist in a powerful arena of Washington elite. As the Mafia would say, he was “connected”. He could get things done in DC, in high places, at some of the highest levels of government. Though Casino Jack may have looked like a high-flying underworld mobster, he was no gangster by a long shot, let alone murderer. His game was giving politicians a corrupt taste of the good life. The gangster image was only a façade, which is characteristic of a “wanna be”. Among hardcore gangsters, a man does not commit the crime if he cannot do the time. A “wanna be” gangster like Jack cannot do the time for his crime.
As he stood before a federal judge to plead guilty of a myriad of corruption and fraud charges, Jack pleads for mercy and redemption.
“Your honor, words will not be able to express how sorry I am for this, and I have profound regret and sorrow for the multitude of mistakes and harm I have caused.”
These words are reminiscent of the apology issued by Stanley “Tookie” Williams, recently executed founder of the Crips street gang. Tookie also regretted leading young people into the hands of the corrupt exploiters, to be used as petty street distributors for the multi-billion dollar worldwide drug trafficking network, and to be used as cannon fodder for gun manufacturers who have always profited from conflict, war, and violence for the sake of increasing gun sales and sales of ammunition. But the gang bangers never really see who pulls the strings.
“All of my remaining days, I will feel tremendous sadness and regret for my conduct and for what I have done. I only hope that I can merit forgiveness from the Almighty and from those I have wronged or caused to suffer. I will work hard to earn that redemption.”
The government has a habit of overstating the crimes of the poor and understating the crimes of the white collar, connected, and affluent criminals. It reminds me of the case of a black wino being charged with armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon because he used the heel of his shoe to gain a dollar from a drinking buddy who was holding out on him.
What is Jack Abramoff true crime? Treason via Impeding and Subverting the Legitimate Function of the United States Government and Usurping the Legitimate Rights of American Citizens to have their wishes carried out by their Duly Elected Representation. Otherwise, Jack Abramoff and his cronies operate as an illegal government by proxy of influence-peddling and briberies.
Treason should still be punishable by hanging, or at least Life in Prison. But the main question is: Should the innocent be made to hang on the gallows with the guilty?
For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate. [Amos 5:12]
Jack Abramoff confesses to be a corruptor of political and elected officials. Although Washington politicians are scattering like flies to distance themselves from the crook, Jack Abramoff confirms his own criminal intent. Regardless of who claims to have been tricked, duped, deceived, defrauded, or bamboozled there was always a reward, a gift, a graft, a bribe at the exchange for their support. Like the defamed politician Randall Cunningham, a US Representative from the 50th District of California, who recently confessed accepting over $2 million dollars in bribes.
They tell us to vote, like good law-abiding Americans. They tell us that this is the American way of freedom. Choose the leader of your choice, the one who mirror our sentiments and share our views and priorities. We want them to be our voice. But when we elect him or her, they go off to Washington and start taking bribes for their support and votes. They are no longer our voice but the voice of a game few. And so, they sell their consciousness and take the honesty out of debate. They mute the power of persuasion. They cannot vote their conscious even if they wanted to, because they are bought with a price.
The Rezko Corruption Effect
While Hillary Clinton is trying to connect Barack Obama with accused Tony Rezko, she forgot to that a look at the Skeletons in Her Closet. Guess who? The Clintons & Tony Rezko… just the three of them.
This morning a photo surfaced of Bill and Hillary Clinton smiling with Tony Rezko. She was forced to answer to the photo this morning on the Today Show, saying only that she didn't remember meeting Rezko and that her comments to Obama were merely a "counter attack."
"I don't know the man, wouldn't know him if he walked in the door, I don't have a 17 year relationship with him..." she told host Matt Lauer. [End]
Sounds familiar? "I don't know that woman... I never seen that woman in my life... I did not have sex with that woman... I wouldn't know that woman if she walked through the door."
It's the Clinton way.
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