Can this be any clearer? Apparently not, because certain people - Republicans and sloppy and/or lazy journalists, mainly - keep trying to convince us that the Jack Abramoff scandal is really an "equal opportunity" problem, with both parties "on the take," etc. Except for one thing: that's not true! Here's DNC Chairman Howard Dean, ripping Wolf Blitzer a (well-deserved) new one yesterday on CNN's Late Edition (read transcript here, see video here):
BLITZER: Should Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, who's now pleaded guilty to bribery charges among other charges, a Republican lobbyist in Washington ? should the Democrats who took money from him give that money to charity or give it back?DEAN: There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff. Not one. Not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican, every person under investigation is a Republican, every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money, and we've looked through all those FEC reports to make sure that's true.
BLITZER: [Stammering] But through various Abramoff-related organizations, and outfits, a bunch of Democrats did take money that presumably originated with Jack Abramoff.
DEAN: That's not true either. There's no evidence for that either, there's no evidence...
BLITZER: What about Senator, what about, what about, what about Senator Byron Dorgan?
DEAN: Senator Byron Dorgan and some others took money from Indian tribes. They're not agents of Jack Abramoff. There's no evidence that I've seen that Jack Abramoff directed any contributions to Democrats. I know the Republican National Committee would like to get the Democrats involved in this. They're scared. They should be scared. They haven't told the truth, and they have misled the American people, and now it appears they're stealing from Indian tribes. The Democrats are not involved in this.
BLITZER: [Long pause, apparently getting direction in his earpiece] [Sigh] Unfortunately, we, uh, Mr. Chairman, we've got to leave it right there.
Got that? The Democrats are NOT involved in this. This is a Republican scandal. The Republicans are trying to make it a story about how "they're all corrupt in Washington," but they're not telling the truth. Thanks to Howard Dean, a sharp cookie if there ever was one, for clearing this up. Now, can we get back to investigating Republicans for their abuse of power the past decade? Oh, and can we get back to getting them - Eric Cantor, Thelma Drake, JoAnn Davis, Tom Davis, Virgil Goode, et al. right here in Virginia - the hell out of power in November 2006?