NationStates Jolt Archive

Right when Bush was beginning to take the heat for connections with the corrupted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Cheney goes hunting and shoots his friend. Accident or not, this worked greatly in Bush's favour. Have we heard anything about Abramoff? Any new developments with Abramoff and the pictures with Bush? I sure haven't seen anything. Perhaps it's just an eerie coincidence that the Abramoff news suddenly became old right after Cheney shot his friend. Yeah, that has to be it.

Actually I've been seeing a good amount of stuff on the Abramoff web of corruption. Randy "Duke" Cunningham got the longest sentence ever handed out to a then sitting member of congress, a CIA official has found his way to center stage, and the shrub is still on the hook.

The really galling thing I've heard lately is about Frist though. He's threatening to restructure the SIC to kill the NSA investigation.

Why is it republicans have to keep changing the rules instead of just following them?

Why is it republicans have to keep changing the rules instead of just following them?
Probably the same reason Democrats try to change the rules instead of just following. They're involved in government, and being involved in government makes people scum.

Probably the same reason Democrats try to change the rules instead of just following. They're involved in government, and being involved in government makes people scum.

Name me five times that the democrats have done so, and I'll show you TEN republican examples just within the last six years of darkness.

Actually I've been seeing a good amount of stuff on the Abramoff web of corruption. Randy "Duke" Cunningham got the longest sentence ever handed out to a then sitting member of congress, a CIA official has found his way to center stage, and the shrub is still on the hook.

Cunningham wasn't involved with Abramoff's money, was he? At least the articles I read said nothing about it.

Cunningham wasn't involved with Abramoff's money, was he? At least the articles I read said nothing about it.

"Duke" got a lion's share of his illeagal funds from defence contractors, but he wasn't clean in the Abramoff thing either.

I'll try and locate some material in it

i'm pretty sure the strategy at this point is to keep the scandals and outrages coming fast and hard. if they move fast enough, nobody will be able to keep up, let alone come to a full understanding of any particular one. and then they'll get confused, and each scandal will recede into the mist of 'old news' that has 'already been dealt with' and by bringing it up again you are just showing that you 'hate america'.

oh for gods sake what a stupid theory

so the vp is out hunting with a big time republican donor and suddenly gets the idea that if he shoots the guy, itll take the pressure of the president and his cozy relationship with abrhamoff.

republicans will NEVER shoot the rich guy!

what happened was that WHITTINGTON thought the whole thing up. his boy tom delay has already been poleaxed by a teeny tiny bit of money laundering, he certainly didnt want bush and cheney to get hit too

so HE suggested to cheney that cheney "accidentally" shoot him a little bit while they were quail hunting. a little bird shot from a distance isnt all that bad. cheney was just following someone else's plan. so it was a bigger hit than they intended, itll just mean more pork for that section of texas. its not like the guy DIED or anything.

geeez how could you think that cheney would ever go with shooting someone all on his own??

Right when Bush was beginning to take the heat for connections with the corrupted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Cheney goes hunting and shoots his friend. Accident or not, this worked greatly in Bush's favour. Have we heard anything about Abramoff? Any new developments with Abramoff and the pictures with Bush? I sure haven't seen anything. Perhaps it's just an eerie coincidence that the Abramoff news suddenly became old right after Cheney shot his friend. Yeah, that has to be it.

Great LOL, Karl Rove does it again LOL, we Republicans will do it again and win the next 2006 elections by Karl Rove, great.

Bush had nothing to do with Abramoff. he was a congressional lobbyist so the White House was out of his circle of influence, at least directly. Just because he took a picture with the guy doesn't mean Bush was getting golf games at exclusive Irish resorts in exchange for not vetoing spending bills or anything.

Bush had nothing to do with Abramoff.

so how does that fit with the fact that abramoff was a 'pioneer' donor to both his 2000 and 2004 campaigns and was on bush's 2000 interior dept. transition team?

a sampling of sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/05/AR2006010501903.html
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/49_37/news/3189-1.html
http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/ContributorsAndPaybacks/pioneer_search.cfm

so how does that fit with the fact that abramoff was a 'pioneer' donor to both his 2000 and 2004 campaigns and was on bush's 2000 interior dept. transition team?
There were thousands of people who gave Bush money and a position on some team doesn't mean shit. The question is only wether or not Bush took money or gifts from Abramoff in exchange for political favors.

Believe me, I hate the guy as much as anyone. I think he's the worst president this country has ever had and that he is immeasurably damaging America and the world, but to try to link him personally to every coruption scandal to hit washington is a waste of time and effort. It doesn't make sense that Bush would have any direct link to Abramoff because Abramoff didn't operate in that circle. He operated in the halls of Congress, not The White House.

I gotta admit, the Bush Administration has managed the media very well to its own advantage.

"Most of the population doesn't even bother voting because it looks meaningless. They're marginalized and properly distracted. At least that's the goal."
-Noam Chomsky Media Control

There were thousands of people who gave Bush money and a position on some team doesn't mean shit. The question is only wether or not Bush took money or gifts from Abramoff in exchange for political favors.
...
It doesn't make sense that Bush would have any direct link to Abramoff because Abramoff didn't operate in that circle. He operated in the halls of Congress, not The White House.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-02-21-abramoff-malaysia_x.htm

"Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said disgraced U.S. lobbyist Jack Abramoff was paid $1.2 million to organize a meeting between him and President Bush in 2002..."

and a pioneer isn't just any old donor. pioneers raised $100,000 dollars each, and a significant percentage of them got to be appointed as ambassadors and whatnot. and you've certainly got to be in the loop somehow to get on a transition team.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-02-21-abramoff-malaysia_x.htm

"Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said disgraced U.S. lobbyist Jack Abramoff was paid $1.2 million to organize a meeting between him and President Bush in 2002..."

and a pioneer isn't just any old donor. pioneers raised $100,000 dollars each, and a significant percentage of them got to be appointed as ambassadors and whatnot. and you've certainly got to be in the loop somehow to get on a transition team.
You have to focus on what's illegal, though. None of this is out of the ordinary. It may be a screwed up system, and hopefully John McCain is successful in cleaning up at least some of it, but there's no indication that Bush and Abramoff brokeback mountained the law in relation to each other. You'd have to show that Abramoff gave money or expensive gifts directly to Bush in exchange for specific political and tangible favors. Trust me, if there was a connection the Dems would be screaming bloody murder and they're not because they know there's nothing there. Look how fast and hard they went after the whole Plame affair and this only touched his staff. Look how much of a boner they had for DeLay and he was just SHouse Speaker. Can you imagine how wet Barbara Boxer would be right now if she thought she could dig up enough dirt to have Bush himself indicted as part of this scandal? She'd have to wear depends just to soak up the secretions...

You have to focus on what's illegal, though.

why? i'm merely pointing out that the statement "Bush had nothing to do with Abramoff" is plainly false.

i don't think that abramoff is necessary to justify marching on washington and dragging the entire body of the de jure ruling elite into the streets and then chasing them out of the country. we've long since passed the point where opposing such action even deserves to be mentioned, let alone debated. abramoff is just a footnote.

why? i'm merely pointing out that the statement "Bush had nothing to do with Abramoff" is plainly false.

i don't think that abramoff is necessary to justify marching on washington and dragging the entire body of the de jure ruling elite into the streets and then chasing them out of the country. we've long since passed the point where opposing such action even deserves to be mentioned, let alone debated. abramoff is just a footnote.
Well then we're having a debate without a difference because, as I said earlier, I think this administration is the worst in history and I think the system in place regarding money and politics is not a problem but the problem so we probably agree on so much with regards to this that any disagreemenst we have amount to nothing more than semantics.