The Abramoff bribes: “The biggest corruption scandal in a generation”, but…

If one did not know better, however, one might think he was caught committing crimes that make tricky-Dick Nixon look like a choir boy. For example, the usually staid Washington Post describes Abramoff’s bribery scheme as “[t]he biggest corruption scandal to infect Congress in a generation.”

But anyone who thinks Abramoff is unique or that only Republicans thrive on such bribes is either naive or being hypocritical. After all, influence peddling for unvarnished profit is (and always has been) intrinsic to politics in America. (Remember Abscam?)

I’m a lobbyist (though more minnow than shark in the Washington pond). I know well that customary practice is often at variance with the professional code of conduct for my profession. Nonetheless, what Abramoff did is what almost every lobbyist aspires to do; albeit, with a little more discretion and far less greed. Moreover, I suspect the level of job satisfaction on Capitol Hill would plummet if lobbyists were now prosecuted for the lavish perks they provide Congressmen for political “access”. (FYI: Perks that include resort vacations, skybox fundraisers at professional sports events, campaign contributions, jobs for political spouses, and, of course, the now pedestrian power lunch.)

Incidentally, Republicans reportedly compose the vast majority of corruptible politicians in (Republican) Abramoff’s blackberry. But it can only be a matter of time before his Democrat counterpart is caught and his equally distinguished blackberry list of crooked Democrats is exposed.

Meanwhile, the media are focusing on the corrupt politicians. But they are not paying nearly enough attention to the corrupt consequences that followed when these politicians performed their end of these quid-pro-quo deals with Abramoff. Because the real story here is that, for a proverbial few pieces of silver, politician after politician sold the good offices of the U.S. Congress (by modifying gambling legislation) to enable Abramoff to fleece $82 million from unsuspecting American Indians.

This level of exploitation is unconscionable. Even worse, Abramoff is on record boasting, in the most racist and derogatory fashion, about how he swindled the Indians who paid and trusted him to represent their interests. Indeed, the few email transcripts that have been disclosed in this regard portray Abramoff as a latter-day Christopher Columbus making journal entries about the ignorant natives who just gave up their land and volunteered to work as slaves without a whimper of resistance.

Yet you’d be hard-pressed to find a Washington pundit on national TV fulminating with the moral outrage this warrants.

So as this story unfolds, do not be misguided by all the self-flagellating talk by politicians about changing or enacting laws to prevent influence peddlers from bribing them. Or by speculation about which politician might feel so guilty by his association to this shyster that he’s forced to resign. (For now, anxious Washingtonians from President Bush to congressional freshmen are purging their political coffers and personal closets of any contribution or gift from Abramoff.)

Instead, ask yourself why these indignant, repentant and reform-minded individuals seem so unconcerned about the victims in this scandal – the Indian tribes. And, since the only article of faith in these cases is “to follow the money”, then ask yourself why in discussing the $26.7 million Abramoff must pay the government there’s no mention of the fact that he’s making that restitution from the $82 million he stole from the Indians.

Frankly, I pity the politicians who’ve been caught in this mess. But I resent the fact that Abramoff has been allowed to finger them to escape just punishment, when he should be scalped for fleecing these Indians.

Note: In a court appearance in Florida yesterday, Abramoff entered a guilty plea to conspiracy and fraud charges unrelated to his tangled web of bribes in Washington. Nonetheless, one must assume that he has shown prosecutors incriminating evidence on many top-dog politicians (like Republican Majority Leader Tom Delay) for them to agree to these sweetheart deals. This, of course, only intensifies the fear and gloating back here in Washington….

Technorati Tags: Jack Abramoff, U.S. Congress, Indian Tribes