So, the news breaks that Phil Gramm is "resigning" as John McCain’s economic advisor. And like all members of his Corruptionist Party he whines as he leaves the spotlight for the shadows.

In truth, he isn’t going anywhere. It is a play for the rubes in the cheep seats and the well-trained media sycophants who make up McCain’s "base". McCain can no more quit Gramm than he can quit Bush or quit his very long record of enabling and protecting corruption in politics. Despite a well crafted myth to the contrary, Curveball McCain is running to continue the policies of Gramm, Bush, Gingrich, DeLay, Norquist, Abramoff, Black and the long, long list of Republican grifters who have built their identity, careers and livelihood on the destruction of our Constitution and our Government.

Together, they are The Wrecking Crew and they must be stopped.

To the jump...

Have you ever wondered about the seemingly endless scandals that have become an everyday attribute of Conservative rule?  Have you ever been appalled by the incompetence smothered with a thick coating of self righteous greed?

Have you ever thought that these endless scandals can’t be an accident, or random coincidence?  

Well, wonder no more. It is by design.

In August, Thomas Frank will have a new book out.

It is called "The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule" and it helps to explain why there is so much failure and corruption when Republicans are in charge—it is part of their plan.

The August issue of Harper’s Magazine has an essay adapted from the book. This is perfect reading material on the way to or from Netroots Nations or whenever you can get your hands on a copy.

To the jump...

Thirty years ago I was one of thousands who had joined the Longest Walk.

This morning, another group of walkers reached the White House as they finished the Longest Walk 2.

I wrote about both walks in a Dairy the other night:
30 years ago, I walked to DC and changed my life...

This morning I joined the walk for the last few blocks on the way to the White House and the circle that gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue. I thought I would share a few photos of the event:

To the jump...

Thirty years ago I was walking across Pennsylvania and Maryland. I was on my way to Washington DC and I was not alone.

I was one of thousands who had joined the Longest Walk.

This was a spiritual walk of protest—a call to action to oppose Legislation in Congress that would strip the indigenous peoples of America of their rights, land and Tribal Sovereignty. The Walk was led by Native Americans, but representatives of all races and many Nations joined in solidarity to fight this attack on justice, dignity and human rights.

In 1978 I had no idea that joining the Longest Walk would change the arc of my life, but it did.

Tonight, another group of walkers are on their way to DC and the Longest Walk 2 should reach the White House Friday morning. I plan to be there.

I want to honor the path that the Longest Walk set me on. I want to honor all of those who have chosen to set themselves on a path of change, a path of action and the fight for justice as we work to take this Country back.

To the jump...

I’ll try to keep this one short and on point.

I have been researching Jack Abramoff and the Republican Culture of Corruption since 1998 and writing about it on Daily Kos since 2004.

I’ve written about a lot of bad guys and their dirty deeds

One of the very worst of them is Dana Rohrabacher.

At the start of the 2006 cycle he was at the top of my list—just after Tom DeLay—of Abramoff-connected weasels that I wanted to see defeated. Unfortunately, in 2006, Dana was in a safe seat with a little known and underfunded Democratic challenger. I kept him high on the list of the Abramoff 65, but I set my sights on others.

This time out, Rohrabacher is back at the top of my list. And I am very happy to see that he has a serious challenge: Debbie Cook.

This is great news. Please help defeat Rohrabacher and donate to Debbie Cook!

Let’s jump...

In the circles of Hell reserved for politicians there is a special place for those pols who were specifically charged with fighting corruption and chose instead, to enable it.

John McCain is one of those politicians and so is Doc Hastings.

The ethically challenged Doc Hastings has been in Congress since 1994 and his career is highlighted by his extreme dedication to Tom DeLay and the Leaders of his Party. As for the people of his District, they are just the chumps who keep sending him back to Washington no matter how little he does for them. This year, his luck may be about to run out.

The WA-04 is shaping up to be a very interesting race. Right now it is rated as being Safe Republican, but I have a hunch that this is one of the long-shot races that could suddenly become very competitive.

A fired-up Democratic base, a very corrupt Republican, a great Democratic Candidate and the unique "Top Two" Primary on August 19 create an opportunity for real change.

To the jump...

John McCain has an undeserved reputation as a maverick. The hype is overwhelming. For many, the great gap between his actual record and the myth he’s carefully crafted is too much to take in. They would rather embrace the myth than confront the truth. Reality hurts their brains. And yet, I am afraid that I have to hurt the brains of McCain’s media sycophants—like the equally ancient David Broder—just a bit more.

Inside the beltway McCain gets a lot of praise and credit for the exposure and investigation of the Abramoff Scandal. It is undeserved.

When it comes to the Abramoff Scandal, the real work has been done by some fine investigative reporters and the Department of Justice. I’ll also give props to the various Congressional Committees that have revealed very narrow slices of information and several thousand pages of documents, but none of these Congressional-based inquirers could be called a full investigation of the scandal. That has not happened and it may never happen.

The reason is John McCain.

He morphed a nascent investigation into a cover-up and went on to embrace Abramoff’s most corrupt cronies.

To the jump...

In November 2000 I was driving back to Maryland from Michigan where I had worked to GOTV for Al Gore and Debbie Stabenow. I helped elect a Senator, but as I listened to NPR on the way home I could not believe what was happening.

I was angry, frustrated and very, very concerned for the fate of the Country I loved. I knew things were going to get very, very bad if Bush stole the election. By that time I had already been researching Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay and their web of corruption for a little over a year. It was clear to me what these guys would do if they had the run of our Government.

At a stop for gas I was so distracted by these thoughts that I drove away with the pump nozzle still in my tank—as I paid $125 in repairs, I knew that this was only the first of the many payments and indignities that Republican rule under George W. Bush would cost me and my Nation.

The reality quickly settled in: the core issue was (and still is) Taking this Country Back!.

Then came 9-11 and Bush used it to win the 2002 midterms. Next came Iraq and it seemed everybody had surrender to Republican rule.

Then a voice said NO...

If you’re like me, sometimes your mind wanders to the year 2000 and what might have been if only the votes had been counted.

It is at those times that it becomes hard to untangle the rush of emotions as I think about the legacy of George Bush, his appointment by the Supreme Court and what might have been if we had Al Gore in the White House.

At these moments, I think about Florida and I get mad.

Now, anger has fueled me over the last decade as I’ve researched and exposed the culture of corruption. Truth be told, it still does.

It was Jack Abramoff’s role in the Florida recount that had my hair on fire back in late 2000 and 2001. He sent his team. He raised money, lots of money—on and off the books. He funded the infrastructure of the coup d’état we suffer under to this day.

Without Abramoff and his fellow lobbyist—the shadow army of the GOP—George W. Bush would be a village resident of diminished mental capacity somewhere in Texas.

Instead, every day, he gets to insult and diminish the Nation I love.

It is time for payback.

And a great revenge will be to defeat John Mica.

To the Jump...

As they say, "The wheels of Justice grind slowly..."

In the Bush years, Justice hardly moves at all.

The absence of justice has become expected (and I’m sure that you could cite at least twenty examples of failed justice in the Bush years—or more).

The list of unfinished investigations is staggering as is the ever expanding list of scandal.

Cleaning up after the Bush era will take a generation. It will take a revitalized Department of Justice. A DOJ that is willing to pursue crime (instead of covering it up). The same will go for the House and the Senate.

All of these institutions have failed us in the Bush Years.

A better day is coming. Barack Obama long had the best record and the best proposals for cleaning up Washington. And now he is our Nominee. He is a real reformer.

John McCain pretends to be a reformer when a teevee camera is near. In reality has lived to protect the status quo with cover-ups and misdirection—and that is the extent of his record.

Like 2006, corruption is a big issue in 2008. It is impacting the Main Event and many Senate and House races.

And in September a corruption bomb will drop on the GOP.

Let’s jump...

Scandals are breaking out everyday.

Monday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a new draft Report and hundreds of documents detailing the extensive contacts and close working relationship between Jack Abramoff, his Team and the Bush White House.

It is rich in scandal details and I could write 20 Diaries about it if I had the time.

This was on the heels of the latest guilty plea in the Abramoff scandal that I wrote about the other day.

I find myself spending time talking to researchers, reporters and sources from Alaska to Florida (and many States in between) and helping them connect the dots.

Time is running short and I need some help.

I need a Research Posse:

To the Jump...

It has been a busy week.

We have a Nominee. Senator Clinton gave a great speech and is showing everybody how to unify the Party.

This is good news.

And yet, some important stories are getting lost in the flood of end-of-primary Diaries.

This is one of those stories.

Last Monday, on the eve of the final Democratic Primaries and while John McCain was practicing his performance art shtick in front of a green screen, word came that yet another Republican had plead guilty in the ongoing Abramoff corruption scandal.

The latest perp is a fellow named John Albaugh. He used to be the chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK). Now he is a cooperating witness—just another GOP insider spilling his guts to the Feds.

Albaugh’s plea deal is a very interesting and merits an examination.

It not only spells trouble for the Republican Party, it also calls into question John McCain’s investigation cover-up of the Abramoff Scandal.

To the jump...

This is going to be a very ugly campaign.

John McCain has surrounded himself with advisors and supporters who have their roots in the dirty tricks of the ‘72 Nixon Campaign and every sleazy Republican campaign ever since.

We should know this, but we don’t. We ignore history and research at our peril.

John McCain is preparing one of the sleaziest campaigns in US history and he has selected the worse of the worst to lead it.

I’m talking about Charlie Black. This guy has been destroying our Nation for more than 30 years and now, he owns John McCain.

Black is a creator of our divisive politics.

Black is a creator of the revolving door between government and lobbyist.

Black is a master of the negative campaign.

Standard Black campaign MOs are already in play. The negative viral Obama emails are a classic Charlie Black campaign tactic. He has been doing this kind of stealth dirty trick for decades.

If Black is not behind these emails, it is his life’s work that inspired their creation.

It is time to fight back.

To the jump...

This weekend I was engaged in research. As is my habit, I take a break every now and then to check email, Daily Kos and other sites I’m in the habit of visiting.

While checking in with Big Orange, I came across a post on the front page that caused me to make a change in my research plan. It was "McCain's Campaign Led by Tainted Lobbyists".

That McCain is dependent upon lobbyists for his career, campaign and myth is not a surprise. Anybody who digs into McCain’s record quickly realizes that it is one curveball of deception after another.

In the ad, MoveOn focused on McCain’s brain, lobbyist Charlie Black. Specifically the ad focused on Black’s work as a lobbyist for despots in Angola, Zaire and the Philippines back in the 1980s.  

That got my attention. Jack Abramoff was also a lobbyist for some of these same despots back in the 1980s.

And yes, Charlie Black and Jack Abramoff are linked.

They would have worked together.

And Charlie is far worse than Jack.

Join me on the jump...

I just turned off the TV.

I know we are in the final stages of the Democratic Primary. And that the race is over (unless the Party chooses to embrace our inner George Wallace).

The path is clear: Barack Obama will be the Democratic Nominee in 2008.

Senator Clinton can cause problems and delay the moment of Party unity, but that is about all she can do.

We have dodged a bullet.

You see, I’ve been researching Jack Abramoff since 1999.

Since 2004, I’ve written about my work at Daily Kos. Abramoff and the sweatshops of the Mariana Islands were my point of entry and I’ve dug into the Republican Culture of Corruption for over nine years.

I have shared this research. It has helped. I am still digging and sharing.

This was a powerful issue for Democrats in 2006. It will be a powerful issue in 2008.

In 2006 only Republicans were connected to the Abramoff Web of Corruption. That is still mostly true, but one Democrat has become the exception.

Her name is Hillary Clinton.

She can not be our Nominee for President or Vice-President.

She is connected to the Scandal and Abramoff.

Let’s Jump...

Mark today in your calendars.

Today the long delayed and obstructed reform legislation to end the abuse on the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) was signed into law.

I have been in meetings all day, but I was thrilled when I found this in my inbox:

This is a great Victory.

I urge you to go and recommend this Diary, President Signs S.2739 -An End to Human Rights Abuses in the CNMI by long time human rights advocate and American Hero, Wendy Doromal.

It should be on the top of the rec list.

This victory would not have ever happened if Democrats did not take control of Congress.

Elections matter.

Thank you one and all.

Cheers

Hey, have the Primary wars got you down?

Are you worried that the Democratic Party may be on a course to divide the Party and hand the election to John Curveball McSame?

Are you starting to see defeat everywhere?

Relax. I come with great news!

Tonight we have a major VICTORY to celebrate:

On April 10th, the Senate had passed S. 2739 by a vote of 91-4.

Tonight at 7:17 PM EST, the US House passed the legislation by a voice vote (Yeas—291, Nays—117, not voting—25).

This is a great Victory and we need to celebrate it.

Jump with me for joy...

What is the threshold to link somebody to corruption?

What is the threshold to link a candidate to a bad person and/or group?

Is it one point of linkage? Will a social connection do the trick? Or do you need a financial link? Or do you need a link of legislative action or non-action?

Will one link do? Or do you need more?

How tight does the linkage need to be?

Judging from the press, the GOP and the Clinton campaign one link is all you need if the candidate is black. If the candidate is a white Republican or a Clinton, then you will need many more links to make a scandal drive a news cycle.

Fine.

These are the rules.

The bar is high for some and low for other.

That’s the American way.

Clinton or McCain require multiple ties to corruption and/or links to people with problematic histories in order for anybody to dig into those links.

Well, the links are there.

In the case of Hillary Clinton there are multiple links of contact, money and action to the sweatshops of Saipan and the Chinese family behind the abuse. And if one applies the "weatherman" standard of connection, she is also linked to the Abramoff scandal.

To the jump...