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Opinion
Abramoff scandal should make everyone angry


""The whacko�s get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees. ... Simply put, we want to bring out the whacko�s to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."

Those are the words of Michael Scanlon, former press secretary to the pious but indicted Congressman Tom Delay and top executive at Capitol Campaign Strategies, a public relations firm in Washington D.C.

The bottom line is that Christian voters got rolled in what amounted to little more than a sophisticated shell game. They ought to be angry. But then we all ought to be angry. Reading through the documents related to the Indian Affairs investigation is enough to make one want to take a shower. As American Enterprise Institute Scholar Norman Ornstein wrote �I don�t think we have had something of this scope, arrogance and sheer venality in our lifetimes. It is building to an explosion, one that could create immense collateral damage within Congress and in coming elections.� Ornstein is right, the duplicity and hypocrisy of the scheme is a stunning example of the cynical manipulation of Democracy for money."

Get the Story:
John McDonald: Scanlon, Abramoff, Rove and The Republican Strategy (eTalkinghead.Com 11/11)

Watch Hearing:
Senate Indian Affairs Committee

Relevant Documents:
Exhibits from Hearing | Senate Witness List / Testimony

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