Like Rats Jumping From the Ship

Bush and Others Shed Donations Tied to Lobbyist

President Bush and senior Republican lawmakers moved on Wednesday to dump thousands of dollars in campaign donations from Jack Abramoff, the former lobbyist, hastily distancing themselves as he pleaded guilty to two more criminal counts under his agreement with prosecutors. Mr. Bush will donate $6,000, the amount he received from Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Abramoff's wife and a lobbying client in his re-election campaign in 2004, to the American Heart Association, a spokesman said. The former House majority leader Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas, and his successor, Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, also announced plans to give away campaign cash related to Mr. Abramoff. "The funds were donated in full compliance with federal law and disclosed properly and publicly," said a spokeswoman for Mr. DeLay, Shannon Flaherty. After months of insisting that there was nothing wrong with his alliance with Mr. Abramoff, with whom he traveled repeatedly overseas, Mr. DeLay decided to return $15,000 in donations that flowed from Mr. Abramoff. Mr. Abramoff's "admission of guilt and improper actions warranted our action to make something positive come of all this by donating the money to local charities rather than retaining it," Ms. Flaherty said.

So now all of a sudden these guys are scurrying like rats trying to distance themselves from Abramoff. Little late, don't you think? If you take stolen property from a thief or you take part of a bank robber's take, do you get a free pass by giving the proceeds to charity when you get caught? I smell an awful lot of rats. Isn't it funny how George Bush and all of his sheep now try to act like Abramoff, a former president of the College Republicans and a man who gave $120,000 to Bush/Cheney just last year, is an 'equal money dispenser' to both parties? Abramoff NEVER gave a dime of his personal money to a Democrat. Not a dime. Time to clean house. Bush and the Republicans are far too deep into this to allow the U.S. Justice Department to handle all these crooks. The public needs to demand an independent investigation into the Republicans 'culture of corruption'.