WTF Is It Now?!?

Moral bankruptcy
Former Democratic strategist Bill Press and crisco'd WH dicklapper Terry Jeffrey join CNN's Wolf Blitzer. In... The Situation Room...

BLITZER: Guys, thanks very much for joining us. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, issued a statement saying this, "Today, Jack Abramoff admitted to conspiring to bribe two members of Congress, a despicable action that strikes at the heart of our democracy. Sadly, it is not a surprise because this Republican Congress is the most corrupt in history, and the American people are paying the price." Strong words, Terry, from Nancy Pelosi.

TERRY JEFFREY: Well, they're very strong words. I don't know if it's the most corrupt Congress in American history, but clearly, the Republicans have a problem. I would caution the Democrats though, Wolf, that if they think that they can run the election this year purely on scandal, I don't think it will work. If you look back to 1994, when the Republicans took the majority, a lot of people say that the scandals in the Democratic Congress, which had been in power for 40 years, played a role in it. But if the Republicans hadn't had the positive agenda they had in the Contract with America, I don't think they could have nationalized the election and taken the majority. So far, the Democrats haven't come up with a positive public policy agenda.

BILL PRESS: Oh, for the love of criminey... Well, I appreciate the good advice from Terry Jeffrey, but I think the Republicans here are clearly the ones with the problem. Nancy Pelosi is right. Wolf, look, this is not an isolated incident. It comes on top of Tom DeLay's first problems, it comes on top of Bill Frist, it comes on top of Randy Cunningham and Scooter Libby. And as Vin Weber, former Republican member of Congress, has said, the problem with this Abramoff thing is the tentacles are so long, and they reach into the House of Representatives, into the United States Senate, all the way to the White House where there were meetings with Vice President Cheney, meetings -- if I may finish -- meetings with John Ashcroft. We don't know where it leads. That's why so many members of Congress are understandably nervous today.

JEFFREY: Well, we don't know where it leads, and it could also lead to Democratic members. This could be a bipartisan scandal.

PRESS: Jesus Christ. No, you fucking idiot. There will definitely be some Democrats, I believe, included. But look. This is a Republican scandal. Jack Abramoff was a Republican lobbyist. He was a Bush pioneer. Hew as former head of the college of Republicans. Tom DeLay...

BLITZER: When you say Bush pioneer, means he raised at least $100,000.

PRESS: Raised $100,000 for George Bush. And if you look at -- some Democrats may have gotten some money, but most of the money and the biggest money went to Republican members of Congress. The two we know today are Tom DeLay and Bob Ney, both of whom are in serious trouble.

JEFFREY: I don't know that it's a party scandal. It's a scandal for the people who are involved. And the people who are involved in corruption should be held accountable. Whether or not one party or the other is the right party to lead the country, I think, is determined by where they want to lead the country on public policy.

PRESS: You Christless whore. Hello! The Republicans lead the congress, they have to take responsibility. He was their guy. He was going to Republicans in charge of the committees to get what he wanted. The worst part about this -- here I do believe we agree -- is that nobody should rejoice in this. This is outrageous stuff. It puts a black mark on the whole United States government. And all Americans, I think, have to regret that. But at the same time, Terry's right. The people who were taking cash in return for official acts should be brought down, whether they're Republicans or Democrats.

BLITZER: This is what Vin Weber, former Republican congressman, said back in October. He said, "The one investigation that people are most worried about is Abramoff because it seems to have such long tentacles. This seems to be something that could spread almost anywhere." Terry and Bill, you guys know Washington. Usually, when the prosecutor accepts a guilty plea, a plea bargain arrangement, whether from Abramoff or Michael Scanlon, this other former lobbyist, these are relatively, in their view, small fish because they want bigger fish. They want these guys to testify against the biggest fish, if you will. And that's the normal way these prosecution, these plea deals, work.

JEFFREY: Sure. I mean, this prosecutor wouldn't have made a deal unless he thought he was getting something of value from Jack Abramoff. And clearly, a corrupt congressman is more valuable to a prosecutor than a corrupt lobbyist. I mean, I hope for the sake of this country that there aren't that many people who end up being in Congress who somehow were corrupted. But this investigation should go forward. It's a legitimate thing. I'm not sure it's really a partisan thing. And again, if the Democrats can't come up with a positive agenda that's right for the country and persuade the people on public policy, they're not going to win the election.

PRESS: It's a Republican scandal led by a Republican lobbyist and centered around the Republican former majority leader of the House of Representatives. You stupid fuck.

LESLIE: Thanks, guys. We'll continue this conversation down the road. But right now, I want to go back to Anderson Cooper. He's in West Virginia, covering the story of those 13 trapped coal miners -- Anderson.

Let's recap. Attention, please, Ed wHenry and worthless 'political analyst' Bill Schneider:

Number of dollars Abramoff donated to rethugs between 2001 and 2004: more than $127,000
Number of dollars Abramoff donated to Democrats: Zero.

A search of the Center for Responsive Politics database of campaign contributions did not find any contributions from Abramoff to Democrats or Democratic leadership political action committees.

ThinkProgress has a handy list.