The tastiest news today is surely the continuing saga of Jack Abramoff, Michael Scanlon, "Lawmaker A," Grover Norquist...like Bob Woodward said about Nixon, this is truly the gift that keeps on giving.
This could build the tidal wave that sweeps Republicans out of power. Crucial grafs from today's Times story:
Scholars who specialize in the history and operations of Congress say that given the brazenness of Mr. Abramoff's lobbying efforts, as measured by the huge fees he charged clients and the extravagant gifts he showered on friends on Capitol Hill, almost all of them Republicans, the investigation could end up costing several lawmakers their careers, if not their freedom.
The investigation threatens to ensnarl many outside Congress as well, including Interior Department officials and others in the Bush administration who were courted by Mr. Abramoff on behalf of the Indian tribe casinos that were his most lucrative clients.
The inquiry has already reached into the White House; a White House budget official, David H. Safavian, resigned only days before his arrest in September on charges of lying to investigators about his business ties to Mr. Abramoff, a former lobbying partner.
"I think this has the potential to be the biggest scandal in Congress in over a century," said Thomas E. Mann, a Congressional specialist at the Brookings Institution. "I've been around Washington for 35 years, watching Congress, and I've never seen anything approaching Abramoff for cynicism and chutzpah in proposing quid pro quos to members of Congress."
I'm sure one or two Democrats will be found to have taken Abramoff's money, but six months from now voters will have a new meaning for G.O.P. -- Get Out Pronto. Earlier campaigns to "Clean Up Congress" used a broom as a graphic symbol --this next one will require a vacuum cleaner.
Moving on from stories of political mortality to real death--no, this won't be about Iraq--check out this fascinating obituary from today's NY Times. One of the reasons we need newspapers is for stories like this --nobody online has the kind of obituary file the Times famously built.
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