This piece in the WaPo tells us why Ralph Reed will burn in Hell!

[trumad]

I can't even begin to believe the hypocrisy in this vile little man. This WaPo story is an amazing story of corruption at the highest level.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30274-2005Mar12.html

[Bridget Burke]

1. Can you give a clue to those of us...

Who don't have log-in rights to the WaPo?

A paragraph or 2?

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Here's a clip

Abramoff arranged for Dobson and Reed to pressure federal officials to reject the Jenas' bid on anti-gambling grounds. He and his partners drafted anti-Jena letters that were then signed by congressional leaders, some of whom have received thousands of dollars in donations from tribes represented by Abramoff. One ally inserted language opposing the casino into a bill late in the legislative process.

And in an attempt to influence the Interior Department -- which has the final say on a tribe's gambling ambitions -- Abramoff directed his tribal clients to give at least $225,000 to the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, a conservative group that was founded by Gale A. Norton before President Bush chose her to be his interior secretary. Federal officials are investigating the nature of the relationship between the group's president, Italia Federici, and Norton's then-deputy, J. Steven Griles.

The Jenas lost their first round. They came back to win approval for a second casino plan. Meantime, the spoils of the lobbying war have been bountiful.

Tribal money bolstered the campaign coffers of many members of Congress. Dobson had the opportunity to flex grass-roots muscle that he would later use to mobilize evangelicals for Bush's reelection. Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, quietly received as much as $4 million to whip up public sentiment against expansion of gambling in Louisiana and Texas. Reed's efforts, in turn, boosted support for a congressman from Louisiana who was elected last year to the U.S. Senate.

[brainshrub]

7. Switch to the Firefox browser and install this extension:

http://roachfiend.com/archives/2005/02/07/bugmenot/

By itself, this feature will make you never want to open IE again.

Whenever you visit a site that demands an asinine registration, you just right-click and BAM, you are in.

:D

Best. Extension. Ever.

[alfredo]

17. It says it is no longer listed

or incompatible. I will just have to sign up

[Hand]

8. Here's part of the story

"Abramoff arranged for Dobson and Reed to pressure federal officials to reject the Jenas' bid on anti-gambling grounds . He and his partners drafted anti-Jena letters that were then signed by congressional leaders, some of whom have received thousands of dollars in donations from tribes represented by Abramoff. One ally inserted language opposing the casino into a bill late in the legislative process.

And in an attempt to influence the Interior Department -- which has the final say on a tribe's gambling ambitions -- Abramoff directed his tribal clients to give at least $225,000 to the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, a conservative group that was founded by Gale A. Norton before President Bush chose her to be his interior secretary. Federal officials are investigating the nature of the relationship between the group's president, Italia Federici, and Norton's then-deputy, J. Steven Griles.

The Jenas lost their first round. They came back to win approval for a second casino plan. Meantime, the spoils of the lobbying war have been bountiful.

Tribal money bolstered the campaign coffers of many members of Congress. Dobson had the opportunity to flex grass-roots muscle that he would later use to mobilize evangelicals for Bush's reelection. Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, quietly received as much as $4 million to whip up public sentiment against expansion of gambling in Louisiana and Texas. Reed's efforts, in turn, boosted support for a congressman from Louisiana who was elected last year to the U.S. Senate."

I'd love to see this whole thing bring down Gale Norton along with the rest of the turdblossoms--in her way, she's one of most dangerous members of Chimpy's cabinet, and apparently smart enough to keep a low profile while devastating the environment and murdering people with toxic emissions.

:grr:

ON EDIT: Appears that The Backlash Cometh and I had the same idea at more or less the same time, eh? :hi:

[diamond14]

12. -snips- Casino Bid Prompted High-Stakes Lobbying

(very long - 5 web pages - insightful article into how America SMASHES down the poorest people in America and KEEPS THEM IN POVERTY, ...bush* fundies: hiding behind gawwwddd, while stuffing their own pockets with all the money they can possibly carry away - major Justice department corruption investigation - this is how bush* fundies corruptly influence the incredibly malleable bush* worshipers in the Southern states...what bush* and his 'christian' THUGs do is HORRIBLE, immoral, and in this case ILLEGAL)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30274-2005Mar12.html


Casino Bid Prompted High-Stakes Lobbying
Probe Scrutinizes Efforts Against Tribe

By Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 13, 2005; Page A01

When a ragtag band of Louisiana Indians won their governor's support for a casino three years ago, they never could have fathomed the powerful cast of characters who would collaborate to flatten them.

Jack Abramoff, one of Washington's most prominent Republican lobbyists, tapped into the gambling riches of a rival tribe to orchestrate a far-reaching campaign against the Jena Band of Choctaws -- calling on senior U.S. senators and congressmen, the deputy secretary of the interior and evangelical leaders James Dobson and Ralph Reed.

Tribal money bolstered the campaign coffers of many members of Congress. Dobson had the opportunity to flex grass-roots muscle that he would later use to mobilize evangelicals for Bush's reelection. Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, quietly received as much as $4 million to whip up public sentiment against expansion of gambling in Louisiana and Texas. Reed's efforts, in turn, boosted support for a congressman from Louisiana who was elected last year to the U.S. Senate.

Abramoff profited, as well. He and Michael Scanlon, the public affairs executive he recommended to the tribe, were paid $32 million over three years by the Coushattas.

Christian Coalition

Meanwhile, Abramoff opened a second front to bring outside pressure on Interior against the Jenas. He looked to Reed, the former Christian Coalition leader who operated several consulting companies. Reed has acknowledged receiving as much as $4 million from Abramoff and his associate, Scanlon, to organize grass-roots anti-gambling campaigns in Louisiana and Texas. The money came from casino-rich Indian tribes, including the Coushattas, but Reed said that although he knew of Abramoff's connection to the tribes, he did not know until media accounts surfaced last summer that his fees came from gambling proceeds. Reed then turned to Dobson to marshal his vast network of evangelicals, Abramoff's e-mails show.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Ralph Reed will grow old and fat and eventually less appealing

to his right-wing crowd who count on superficial judgment to determine the difference between good and evil.

[rodeodance]

4. the greed machine in all its glory!! very good story in its entirity.

[Warpy]

3. Here ya go

When a ragtag band of Louisiana Indians won their governor's support for a casino three years ago, they never could have fathomed the powerful cast of characters who would collaborate to flatten them.

Jack Abramoff, one of Washington's most prominent Republican lobbyists, tapped into the gambling riches of a rival tribe to orchestrate a far-reaching campaign against the Jena Band of Choctaws -- calling on senior U.S. senators and congressmen, the deputy secretary of the interior and evangelical leaders James Dobson and Ralph Reed.

The story of what Abramoff did for the Louisiana Coushatta tribe provides the most complete picture yet of the role of the lobbyist at the center of a widening federal corruption investigation in Washington. It was reconstructed through interviews with tribal leaders, government officials and former business associates, as well as through Interior Department and other documents and e-mails obtained by The Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30274-20...

On edit: Register, dagnabbit! This article is pure dynamite, and a reason why registration at a few selected papers is essential to folks who no longer get their "news" from the nightly TV propaganda hour.

[trumad]

9. Here's my favorite part of the piece

Christian Coalition

Meanwhile, Abramoff opened a second front to bring outside pressure on Interior against the Jenas.

He looked to Reed, the former Christian Coalition leader who operated several consulting companies. Reed has acknowledged receiving as much as $4 million from Abramoff and his associate, Scanlon, to organize grass-roots anti-gambling campaigns in Louisiana and Texas. The money came from casino-rich Indian tribes, including the Coushattas, but Reed said that although he knew of Abramoff's connection to the tribes, he did not know until media accounts surfaced last summer that his fees came from gambling proceeds.

Reed then turned to Dobson to marshal his vast network of evangelicals, Abramoff's e-mails show.

Yeah.,..and I got swamp land in Florida for sale!

[rodeodance]

10. Interior Dept is frightened of Dobson

Abramoff wrote to Scanlon in a Feb. 20, 2002, e-mail that Dobson would make radio ads against gambling. Reed "may finally have scored for us! Dobson goes up on the radio on this next week!" He suggested giving Reed $60,000 for the ads to run in Louisiana and Texas. "We'll then play it in the WH and Interior," he told Scanlon.

The prospect that Dobson would become involved had an immediate impact at Interior. His regular radio show had a huge audience, and his Colorado-based Focus on the Family actively campaigned against gambling as a social evil.

One of Dobson's top aides, Tom Minnery, wrote to Norton saying Louisiana "already has an alarming number of gaming establishments" -- a letter he copied to White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. The Interior Department's White House liaison, Doug Domenech, sounded the alarm.

"Doug came to me and said, 'Dobson's going to shut down our phone system. He's going to go on the air and tell everyone who listens to Focus on the Family to call Interior to oppose the Jena compact,' " said a former senior Interior official, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified..........

[diamond14]

14. more bush* family values: take GAMBLING money to lobby against

any competition....and MAKE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS....LIE on TV that you are against gambling, while stuffing MILLIONS of gambling dollars into your own pockets....


all while stifling competition and destroying lives in one of the POOREST STATES IN AMERICA......reTHUGlican values...

[roguevalley]

5. I hope he's in Gannon's rolodex.

[RubyDuby in GA]

11. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm really looking forward to

primary season here in GA, where Mr. Reed has filed his papers for candidacy for Lt. Gov.

I will smile as I watch him go down in flames. :evilgrin:
I hate this man almost as much as I despise Sadie Fields, his female counterpart.

[kbm8170]

13. Invoking the name of James Dobson alone

should have raised an investigation. I'm surprised the televangelista wannabe didn't propose the tribe make Spongebob dolls and then attack them for supporting the "homosexual" agenda.

[trumad]

15. kick

[indepat]

16. I wonder if all who use the name of Jesus to foster partisan politics

wholly antithetical to all Christian doctrine will burn in hell. Just wondering rather than judging.

[jswordy]

18. Yes, and they seem to get away with it over and over. Sigh.

I have been following all the threads of this story since before the election. It is really an octopus story with tentacles that envelope every gaming tribe on some level, and a story of extortion of the tribes, as well. I was dumbfounded that the media did not give more prominent play to it, given Reed and the others are all high level Bush campaign operatives. Dan Rather and CBS would have been far better off concentrating on this one than on Bush's "service."

[trumad]

19. Kick

[spanone]

20. This kind of shit makes you wanna take a hostage. Fuck Reed.

Christian coalition. Give me a break. I wouldn't piss on the guy.

[Jesus Saves]

21. This is truly one of the most vile seedy stories of DC corrpution ever

[NoPasaran]

22. Here are a couple of more stories on this

From the Texas Observer. I'm sure you'll all be SHOCKED that Tom DeLay's name comes up in all this corruption talk.
http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=1800
http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=1830

[RevCheesehead]

23. When I served in churches in North Carolina,

there were stories of bootleggers who paid off local clergy to preach of the evils of alcohol. This was especially prevalent whenever a referendum came up in a "dry" county. Believe it or not, bootlegging of alcohol still exists, because some people don't want to have to drive to the next county.

Hypocrisy knows no bounds.