For those who do research into the stories of our politics, C-Span has just released a gold mine.
They have put years and years of searchable video online. As I poked around I could trace some mentions in Abramoff billing records to Congressional action on the floor. Amazing stuff.
There were several tapes where Jack himself is a featured speaker.
Here around the 51:00 mark he introduces his longtime co-conspirator Daniel Lapin (who gave him fake awards for piety in one of their many scams). Jack and Daniel are speaking at a Towards Tradition conference, their group to promote an alliance between extremist Christians and extremist Jews back in the 1990s.
Here around the 23:00 mark he gives advice to the 2003 College Republican Conference and introduces fellow co-conspirator Tom DeLay.
And here around the 88:00 mark he follows fellow co-conspirator Ralph Reed to the stage of the 2001 College Republican Conference. (As a side note, around the 92:00 mark Jack gives a shout-out to Ralph Nader for helping to throw the 2000 Election Bush’s way).
If you can stomach watching these weasels, it will give you a good idea of how the Republicans and the modern conservatives actually operate. These are clips of Abramoff pre-scandal and where he is being celebrated as a conservative hero. Little has changed in the conservative movement these days–it is as corrupt as ever. The only change has been that most of Jack’s pals have trouble remembering how closely they worked with Jack over the years. So it goes.
Still, I’m glad that C-Span has given the world a new toy.
Cheers
dengre