Corruptie in Washington 4

Joe Conason schrijft in een redactioneel commentaar in Truthout over politieke en religieuze fraudeurs: 'Jack Abramoff and his deeply religious right-wing cronies express their "biblical worldview" by swindling Indian tribes and bribing legislators. Verily, mysterious are the ways of the Lord. Let Us Prey. Rarely has the contrast between the rhetoric of the religious right and the behavior of its leaders been so starkly exposed as in the Abramoff scandal. The most obvious example was the manipulation of Christian activists in Louisiana and Texas by Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, who said he was helping them fight gambling when he was actually using them to promote Indian casinos (and to make a few million bucks for himself). That episode alone should have alerted honest Christians to the moral rot within the Republican leadership that professed to represent their interests. But there is of course much more evidence of the religious cynicism of Abramoff and his cronies. Consider the curious figure of Rabbi Daniel Lapin, a self-styled authority on the relationship between biblical morality and modern political life who is also a great pal of Abramoff's and DeLay's. An outstanding example of the bogus religiosity that has enshrouded this gang, Lapin has scarcely received the notice he deserves in the scandal, although he has provided many of the most darkly comical moments as it unfolded during the past year. For those who don't know him, Lapin leads conservative organizations that have brought him alliances with Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Michael Medved, as well as close friendships with DeLay and Abramoff. This particular man of God, vaunted for his scholarly understanding of the Bible and his apologetics for Christian fundamentalism, turns out to have served as a money launderer and fraudster for Abramoff. He was paid by Abramoff's bogus Washington charity, the Capital Athletic Foundation, which passed money along to the wife of California Rep. John Doolittle, among other dubious "charitable" payments. Lapin's own peculiar "religious charity," Toward Tradition, took in thousands of dollars from an online gambling firm, which it then passed along to the wife of DeLay staffer Tony Rudy.' Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010606D.shtml