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PBS: Capitol Crimes

Oliver

Penultimate Amazing
Oliver
Joined
Aug 12, 2006
Messages
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I know that the term "Capitol Crimes" may bring up some nostalgia,
but you have to watch the latest PBS-coverage yourself to
make a proper statement about recent developments on Capitol Hill:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08012008/watch.html

Quote: "With former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is already serving five and a half years, expected to be sentenced on other charges next month, Bill Moyers takes viewers back to the scene of the crime in this update of "Capitol Crimes." The program examines the web of relationships, secret deals and political manipulation that exposes the use and abuse of power in American politics. "
 
Great job Bill. Politicians are corrupt. News story of the century. Every country has corrupt people in power. Power always corrupts.
 
Policenaut said:
Great job Bill. Politicians are corrupt. News story of the century. Every country has corrupt people in power. Power always corrupts.
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That's not the interesting or new part ... it's the insight itself that is interesting, at least to me, while I agree that all of that isn't surprising or new ...
 
Too bad Jack Abramoffs friends Tom DeLay and Ralph Reed are not in jail. And David Safavian didn"t go to jail. The only one went to jail was Bob Ney. There are still many people who are not in jail and are linked to Jack Abramoff. Karl Roves aide was linked to Jack Abramoff. Ah and Bob Schaffer was affiliated with Jack Abramoff. Bob Schaffer even took a trip to the Mariana Islands. Don"t forget that even Harry Reid is linked to Abramoff.
 
Then there is the murder of Gus Boulis. What was Jack Abramoffs role in that? Looks like Jack Abramoff was involved with organized crime.
 
Tom Delay said that Jack Abramoff was "one of his closest and dearest friends". Why is Tom Delay not in jail with Jack Abramoff?
 
moon1969 said:
Tom Delay said that Jack Abramoff was "one of his closest and dearest friends". Why is Tom Delay not in jail with Jack Abramoff?
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Since when is being someone else's friend a crime?

Let's look at this for instance. My friend Dave, who I hung with for three years in High School, and a couple of other friends, chose (for reasons I am still unclear on) to commit armed robbery when he was 18. He was sent to prison.

He was a good friend of mine. Should I have been sent to jail as well, on that basis? This is what you just suggested.

DR
 
Maybe he just felt that Abramoff should have some friendly company while in prison. You know, in case he needs a hug. Or something.
 
Nice hatchet job by Moyers, who's done plenty of them for PBS. What he conveniently leaves out of the story is that Reed was opposing a new casino, which ironically meant that he was on the side of existing casino operators. I have not watched far enough to tell if they're going to repeat the lie that Abramoff decreased payments to Democrats from those tribes; I hope he doesn't go there because I personally forced Paul Krugman of the New York Times and Greg Sargent of the American Prospect to retract those claims.
 
Darth Rotor said:
Since when is being someone else's friend a crime?

Let's look at this for instance. My friend Dave, who I hung with for three years in High School, and a couple of other friends, chose (for reasons I am still unclear on) to commit armed robbery when he was 18. He was sent to prison.

He was a good friend of mine. Should I have been sent to jail as well, on that basis? This is what you just suggested.

DR
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Former boss of mine, best boss I'd ever had up to that time (my current one is my best ever), got caught last December in a serious tax fraud case. He pleaded guilty last month to receiving over $9 million in fraudulent tax refunds. Sentencing next month; he's looking at decades in prison.

Maybe those of us who worked for him and liked him as a boss should go to prison too.

Of course, that means Bill and Hill also belong in prison, with all the felons they know...
 
Brainster said:
Nice hatchet job by Moyers, who's done plenty of them for PBS. What he conveniently leaves out of the story is that Reed was opposing a new casino, which ironically meant that he was on the side of existing casino operators. I have not watched far enough to tell if they're going to repeat the lie that Abramoff decreased payments to Democrats from those tribes; I hope he doesn't go there because I personally forced Paul Krugman of the New York Times and Greg Sargent of the American Prospect to retract those claims.
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I think there's more then enough stuff in the broadcast - including actual communications between Reed and Abramoff - to support the broader points made against old Ralphy.

He claimed to have around 40 000 church members ready to fight the extension of gambling in certain areas that would have represented competition to the Choctaws. Turns out that nobody in these churches was "at the ready", and Reed was blowing smoke up Abramoff's bum to get that next cheque.

Any quibbles you may have with the way Reed was treated by people other than Moyers are with them, not Moyers, and even then I think its pretty clear that this joker is cut from the same cloth as Abramoff and others like him.

Overall I thought it was a great piece and I think the broader point of the show holds true: these guys are not particularly out of the ordinary, they are just the most visible when it comes to Washington corruption. There are systemic pressures that formed the context that created Abramoff, Reed and others like them. The political race is a race for money and the plain fact is that what these guys did - while crossing a few lines here and there - is pretty much par for the course in a system that has become divorced from the people it claims to represent.
 
moon1969 said:
Too bad Jack Abramoffs friends Tom DeLay and Ralph Reed are not in jail. And David Safavian didn"t go to jail. The only one went to jail was Bob Ney. There are still many people who are not in jail and are linked to Jack Abramoff. Karl Roves aide was linked to Jack Abramoff. Ah and Bob Schaffer was affiliated with Jack Abramoff. Bob Schaffer even took a trip to the Mariana Islands. Don"t forget that even Harry Reid is linked to Abramoff.
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I heard he met Kevin Bacon once, so throw in all of hollywood.
 
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