REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMEN ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW-- HOW MANY WILL GET PRISON SENTENCES?

Former right-wing Republican Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham lives in a prison in North Carolina. Half a dozen big time Republican lobbyists like Jack Abramoff and Brent Wilkes and Mitchell Wade have already pled guilty to numerous serious crimes and will be sentenced to prison terms too (determined by how cooperative they are with Federal investigators trying to nail high ranking Republican solons). The chances of Bob Ney not going to prison are so small that they aren't worth thinking about. Tom DeLay will soon be in prison. Earlier today the Federal investigation of House Appropriations Committee Chairman, Jerry Lewis on a mind-boggling bribery scam was reported in the L.A. TIMES today. Other Republican congressmen with prison sentences in their immediate future probably include Duncan Hunter, John Doolittle, Richard Pombo, Virgil Goode, Jr., Katherine Harris and as many as a dozen others. There are also some on the Senate side that have some legal concerns, particularly the Senate's Jack Abramoff best pal, Conrad Burns (R-MT).

The Republican Culture of Corruption is so widespread and so deeply ingrained in Washington that scores of Republicans are worrying if their name will be the next one to wind up in the headlines of their hometown newspaper. Former Republican Senator from Wyoming, Alan Simpson speaking at the National Press Club today indicated how widespread the Republican worry is: "One time, you're the toast of the town, then you're toast. One day, you're on the cover of Time, then you're doing it."