THE MISSING LINK BETWEEN DeLAY & THE DUKE IN REPUBLICAN CRIME WAVE

The Republican Culture of Corruption in DC is undeniable-- as much as the Republicans and their media handmaidens in the mass media keep denying it-- and although it shouldn't be very difficult to find a few sleazy Democrat scumbags here and there to muddy the waters, what's happening here is very much a well-directed and systematic gaming of the political environment specifically for the benefit and enrichment of the Republican Party and its favored members. As the distinguished Arkansas journalist Gene Lyons wrote on January 11, there is "nothing bipartisan about [this] congressional scandal". As Lyons writes, "American politics offers few spectacles quite so diverting as the pious hypocrite unmasked. For your entertainment dollar, nothing beats the United States Congress in full scandal mode. Particularly, it must be said, a Republican Congress. So brazen and nefarious were the schemes of former GOP House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, for example, that it appears "The Hammer" might with more accuracy have been dubbed "The Chisel." What with GOP super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff having pleaded guilty to five felony counts of conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion, and agreeing to help prosecutors, there's no telling how many high-fliers he'll take down with him. Abramoff boasts that he's got the goods on as many as 60 congressmen and their staffs."

Howard Dean set Wolf Blitzer and his CNN viewers straight on this when Blitzer brainlessly asked Dean about Democrats who accepted bribes from Abramoff. Abramoff never gave one cent to one Democrat; all his bribes-- every cent went to George W. Bush, Tom DeLay, Conrad Burns and other right-wing Republicans like himself. But it isn't only Democrats pointing this out. Even a staunch right-wing hack like Rich Lowery in a right-wing Republican propaganda outlet like the NATIONAL REVIEW admits the whole Abramoff mess is a totally Republican scandal.

Meanwhile, many people have had trouble, aside from feeling and sensing something, connecting all the dots to show what a vast conspiracy this whole endeavor is. Earlier today, Ken pointed out Krugman's explanation of the nexus between GOP policies, the K Street Project and the Abramoff-DeLay corruption revelations.

And how do all the disparate strands with people like Bob Ney and Randy "Duke" Cunningham and John Doolittle and Kenneth Blackwell and Jerry Lewis and Duncan Hunter all seemingly running around willy-nilly stuffing bribes into every orifice that isn't already filled? Were these rogue elements? Freelancers trying to feather their own nests? Not a chance! Today's AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN reports that there are law enforcement officials putting together all the strands that make up the monstrous Bush/DeLay crime machine. They're focusing on the connections between DeLay's unbelievable crime spree and Cunningham's bribery case. They're focusing on strands like this: "PerfectWave Technologies, a San Diego-area firm, gave DeLay's committee $15,000 to help elect Republicans to the Texas Legislature. It sent the rest of the $40,000 to a gala tribute to Randy 'Duke' Cunningham, the San Diego-area congressman who resigned after pleading guilty last year to taking bribes from military contractors." Coincidence? Texas law enforcement officials don't think so. "The $15,000 from PerfectWave came at about the same time $190,000 was given to the national Republicans. Last month, prosecutors subpoenaed bank records of PerfectWave Technologies, a company that builds technology for battlefield communications, plus documents from San Diego military contractor Brent Wilkes, a big donor to Republicans. Wilkes owns PerfectWave and several other defense-related companies, as well as a Washington-based lobbying firm, Group W." Nice name for a DC lobbying firm!