REPUBLICAN "FAMILY VALUES" ARE CRIME FAMILY VALUES (+ THE STANDARD GREED, BIGOTRY, SELFISHNESS, ETC)

Yesterday's WASHINGTON POST carried a dismal story about Ohio Republican Congressman Bob Ney which could easily have been titled "Why The Hell Isn't Bob Ney In Prison Yet?" Unfortunately these is no satisfactory answer to that question. Beyond rubber-stamp, Ney is corruption personified, a veritable posterboy for the DeLay-Abramoff Republican Culture of Corruption that has become pervasive in Washington since Bush stole the 2000 election. According to the POST story Federal prosecutors are going after Ney on "a wide range" of charges instead of a narrowly focused bribery case ala his now-imprisoned pal Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Ney is involved in every Republican scandal, from defense contractor bribing to ripping off American Indian tribes to involvement in a Mafia-style murder of the owner of a floating casino, not to mention accepting bribes from virtually anyone who was willing to pay a few bucks for special treatment from Congress.

"Ney has been under investigation by federal authorities in Florida and the District for actions that helped Abramoff and two partners buy a Fort Lauderdale-based casino cruise line. The deal that Ney promoted in the Congressional Record hinged on the Abramoff group's creation of a counterfeit $23 million wire transfer. The Miami U.S. Attorney's office has vied with the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section over who would have primary jurisdiction in the Ney investigation. Last month, the Justice Department decided that any case would be brought in the District. Under the statute of limitations, Thursday was the deadline for bringing bribery charges against Ney focused solely on his actions related to the Florida casino boat transaction." Are we talking about a powerful leader of the political party who's biggest claim to fame is their insistence that they are God's party and that they represent family values? This sounds like it's coming from an episode of THE SOPRANOS.

"Court papers filed in recent months show that prosecutors have lined up at least four cooperating witnesses against the Ohio congressman: Abramoff, former congressional aides Michael Scanlon and Tony C. Rudy, and businessman Adam Kidan. All have pleaded guilty to various conspiracy, fraud or public corruption charges. The court filings that accompanied the plea agreements of Abramoff, Scanlon and Rudy accused Ney of accepting 'a stream of things of value' in exchange for official actions. And Ney claims he will be the candidate of the Republican Party even after he is indicted!


And Ney is just one of so many. One of the party's chief propagandists was just arrested again on drug charges (Limbaugh/hillbilly heroin). One of Bush's staff members was caught in a petty theft scam, another resigned on corruption charges and several have been implicated in leaking the name of an active duty CIA agent for partisan revenge-- an act both criminal and treasonous, which certainly leads straight to Cheney's office if not to Cheney himself (and that "if" is way too big for anyone to believe). On top of this you have the head of the Bush-Cheney New England election campaign going to prison for election fraud and the GOP governor of Mississippi implicated in further electoral "dirty tricks" both in New Hampshire and New Jersey. And then there's the Republican congressional prostitution ring.

You may remember Brent Wilkes and Mitchell Wade, the Republican defense contractors and lobbyists who were two of the crooks bribing Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA; now in prison), Katherine Harris (R-FL), Virgil Goode, Jr. (R-VA), Jerry Lewis (R-CA), and Duncan Hunter (R-CA). Federal prosecutors have discovered Wilkes was keeping 2 suites in fancy Washington hotels where he would arrange for assignations with hookers and other Republican congressmen who were helping him bilk the government out of millions of dollars. Wade has already admitted he was providing prostitutes to Cunningham in return for special treatment for his business. Ad it turns out that the limo company that would fetch the prostitutes for at least half a dozen GOP congressmen, Shirlington, was rewarded with a fat Department of Homeland Security contract. (A spokesman for the Department told the press, somewhat incredibly, that the Department doesn't run background checks on the pimps contractors it hires!

The SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE reports that "Several of Wilkes' former employees and business associates say he used the hospitality suites over the past 15 years to curry favor with lawmakers as well as officials with the CIA, where both Wilkes and Wade sought contracts. Wilkes hosted parties for lawmakers and periodic poker games that included CIA officials as well as members of the House Appropriations and Intelligence committees. Cunningham, who sat on both committees, was a frequent guest, according to some of the participants in the poker games."

All this contrasts mightily with Democratic Party values, which are the opposite of selfishness and involve people and communities working together for the greater good: opportunity, fairness and investment in people and the future. Republican values inform the policies of a political party that has been absolutely toxic for out country in every way. We shall see if these Democratic values guide that party once they take over Congress in November. Meanwhile, sifting through all the Republican sleaze that has been done in the name of the American people in the last half dozen or so years, I can't think of anything more reprehensible than the DeLay-Abramoff-GOP approach to the American colony in the Northern Marianas. They set up a kind of uber-free-enterprise experimentation camp complete with imported labor, virtual slavery, forced prostitution (with forced abortions), barbed wire, toxic environment... all the excesses the Republican vision leads inexorably to-- and just what they have in mind for America if they could ever get away with it (and they are close, very close).