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Culture Of Corruption for 11/3/05

More of the sort of government you can expect when you elect Republicans.

‘Can I quit now?’ FEMA chief wrote as Katrina raged

Two days after Katrina hit, Marty Bahamonde, one of the only FEMA employees in New Orleans, wrote to Brown that “the situation is past critical” and listed problems including many people near death and food and water running out at the Superdome.

Brown’s entire response was: “Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?”

DeLay staffers attempted to help controversial lobbyist

Rep. Tom DeLay’s staff tried to help lobbyist Jack Abramoff win access to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, an effort that succeeded after Abramoff’s Indian tribe clients began funneling a quarter-million dollars to an environmental group founded by Norton.

“Do you think you could call that friend and set up a meeting,” then-DeLay staffer Tony Rudy wrote to fellow House aide Thomas Pyle in a December 29, 2000, e-mail titled “Gale Norton-Interior Secretary.” President Bush had nominated Norton to the post the day before.

These aren’t aberrations or hiccups. They happen by design. Conservatives don’t believe in an effective or useful government, they believe its only use is to get their cronies a steady salary and to make life easier for fat cat lobbyists and corporate crooks.

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18 Responses to “Culture Of Corruption for 11/3/05”

  1. Big Gay Al says:

    Cue conservative bringing up a democrat nutcase slashing some republican’s tires (”That’s the real outrage!!!!”) in 5…4…3…

  2. Hedley says:

    A politician tried to help a lobbyist gain access to the federal government???? No!!!!!

    Tell me it isn’t true. I can’t believe that ever happens.

    I am stunned. What is this world coming to. Please bring back the Democrats and the good old days of simply buying access to the Lincoln Bedroom.

  3. Quaker in a Basement says:

    A politician tried to help a lobbyist gain access to the federal government???? No!!!!!

    You left out the part about the quarter-million dollars. Forgetful, aren’t you?

  4. zorro says:

    That’s OK BGA, you took care of that for us. Thanks!

  5. SaveFarris says:

    So it’s not that there’s corruption. You’re just pissed about the Dollar amount. Or so I read Quaker…

  6. Hedley says:

    Whose forgetful? Remember ABSCAM?

  7. Quaker in a Basement says:

    Thanks for trying to read my mind Quaker, but not surprisingly, you are wrong.

    Hunh? Mind-reading?

    Maybe you can read mine and tell me when I thought I was doing that. You asked about ABSCAM. I answered and gave a rousing cheer. Then I moved on to address Mr. Farris.

    While you’re at it, maybe you can help me out with this one too:

    unlike you, I don t believe that either party has a monopoly on corruption

    Maybe I’m having one of those….uh, whaddya call ‘em…uh, you know, where you can’t remember stuff…uh….senior moments, that’s it!

    When did I say anybody had a monopoly on corruption?

  8. Hedley says:

    Thanks for trying to read my mind Quaker, but not surprisingly, you are wrong.

    I agree with you that corruption is bad. It’s bad, bad, bad.

    Where we differ is that unlike you, I don’t believe that either party has a monopoly on corruption but rather, everyone’s shit stinks just the same.

  9. Quaker in a Basement says:

    Remember ABSCAM?

    I do. As I recall, several people went to trial and were convicted. Hooray!

    So it s not that there s corruption. You re just pissed about the Dollar amount.

    See, it helps if you read the part of the previous comment that I conveniently cut-and-paste. Hedley was trying to pretend that this is all about a nice Mr. DeLay just being helpful and helping nice Mr. Abramoff meet some new friends.

    I thought I pointed that out.

    Anyway, if you take Hedley’s original description of an innocuous friendly get-together and remember to mention the quarter-million dollars, why you begin to see these events in a whole new light.

    So, to answer your question, no, I’m not pissed only about the dollar amount, and yes, it is that there’s corruption.

  10. Hedley says:

    Semanticleo, I’ll take your word for it. Don’t want to know how you know that.

    Both parties have produced an equal amount of shit over the years.

  11. Semanticleo says:

    Hedley;

    No. A bigger pile of shit smells worse than a smaller one, and a freakin’ yellow shit storm is the stankiest of all.

  12. Semanticleo says:

    More republican shit;

    http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/11/03/abramoff/index_np.html

    And no, Hedley, it is far from equal.

  13. Jay C says:

    These aren t aberrations or hiccups. They happen by design. Conservatives don t believe in an effective or useful government, they believe its only use is to get their cronies a steady salary and to make life easier for fat cat lobbyists and corporate crooks.

    Christ Oliver, you sound like a fucking cartoon character. You’re much smarter than this, so why do you do it? I mean, are you so afraid of losing readers like Jadegold?

  14. Quaker in a Basement says:

    Quaker, you, Semanticleo, and plenty others act as though corruption and the like is par for the course with the Republican party and a mere aberration when committed by a Democrat.

    I won’t speak on behalf of Semanticleo or the “plenty others,” but for my own part, I’ll ask again: evidence, please?

    As I said before, “Hooray for ABSCAM!”

  15. Semanticleo says:

    Hedley;

    I will grant you it occurs on both sides.

    However, in 35 years there have been three administrations (actually, FOUR if you count the midnight escape by Bush I in his pardons of Iran/Contra indictees BEFORE they went to trial). who have been mired in incredible scandals that dwarf Democratic scandals in both numbers AND magnitude.

    It would appear that corruption is endemic in the republican party. Not that republicans are corrupt; rather it has to do with the opportunites that are a call of the wild to the corrupt, when republicans are in power.

    Republican governmental policies are the Fertile Crescent of Corruptiion.

  16. Hedley says:

    Quaker, you, Semanticleo, and plenty others act as though corruption and the like is par for the course with the Republican party and a mere aberration when committed by a Democrat.

    You can arrogantly deny it all you want but we have a political system that breeds corruption and no party is immune.

  17. buma says:

    What’s important is exposing corruption and prosecuting it. The knee-jerk response of “they do it too” is not the way to react to corruption. ABSCAM involved quite a few perpetrators here in Philly and I am glad they were prosecuted. Of course they were mostly Democrats because this is a Democratic town. Since the federal government is controlled by the GOP, of course most of the corruption is by Republicans. The response should be to investigate, expose and prosecute, not to blame Clinton.

  18. Zappa says:

    Kick the corrupt politcos out of office be they red or blue.
    I bet there will be a lot more losses of red then blue.