Get well soon, Arianna

Apparently she has leprosy.

Oh, yeah - she has some points in the above-linked article, but misses much more than she gets.

The good points? Those who knew Abramoff and are denying it are making a mistake. Knowing someone, even being friends of someone who's breaking the law doesn't make one a party to it. Kenneth Lay surely had friends who were unaware of his day to day activities at Enron, and just knowing him shouldn't be a crime. The mistake that Arianna makes is in the assumption that distancing themselves somehow makes Republicans party to Abramoff's crimes.

The number of politicians benefitting from Abramoff-related money is large enough to suggest to any with common sense that some of these politicians probably did engage in influence peddling. If proven, this group should be punished. But common sense also tells us that many of these beneficiaries would have voted the way they did on bills whether they got the donations or not, and some may have been swayed by persuasive arguments and the money didn't factor in their decisions. The problem is sorting out who is who, and I'm not sure if it's even possible to do so.

So Abramoff is bitter that he's been abandoned by folks who used to dine with him? Welcome to politics, Jack. But considering how he lied to and swindled the tribes he represented, Arianna and the rest of the left would be hypocritical if they suddenly believe everything he says about his former running crowd in DC, especially after they've been telling us for over a year how evil he is. I suspect that much of what Jack says now will be spin or unprovable accusations from a man who stands to benefit from a reduced sentence for "spilling the beans".

But how to sort it out - Abramoff was a Republican, and it should be no surprise that he would donate (or steer donations) to the party he supports. In fact, it should be expected of him, even if he had not committed any crime. On the other hand, donating to (or steering donations to) the opposition is far more suspect. Why would anyone help their political opposition unless there were something to be gained? Why do the Dems not see this? Why aren't they asking Harry Reid the hard questions about the $66,000 he received?

Why, Arianna? Hmmm?

After characterizing Abramoff as a "corrupt insider looking for a reduced sentence", should I expect you to take any future accusations from him with the grain of salt they deserve? Will you consider the source and give whichever Republican Abramoff next accuses the benefit of the doubt he deserves?

Or will I see a post from you taking his next "revelation" as gospel because it's about a Republican...

Oh, and please get better soon, dear.

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