Scanlon Down. Can Ralph and Grover be far behind?

Be still my heart. The Abramoff Scandal is the gift that just keeps on giving. For those of you who are not up on the nuts and bolts of it, just peruse the Wikipedia entry, which is pretty good, though it does not go into the nuance of this scandal. Nuance meaning that it hits just about everyone.

Jack Abramoff’s partner and Tom DeLay’s former spokesperson, Michael Scanlon, is about to plead guilty to conspiracy and rat out, more than likely, everyone involved.

The WAPO reports:

Scanlon, 35, is charged with one count of conspiracy. He has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, said sources familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Such cooperation from a pivotal figure in the Abramoff case is a major advance in the 18-month federal investigation into alleged bribery and corruption involving the lobbyist, members of Congress and executive branch agencies.

In the court documents, prosecutors said Scanlon, once a press aide to former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), worked with Abramoff in a scheme in which the lobbyist would direct tribes to hire Scanlon's public relations firm without telling them Scanlon had agreed to kick back half of the profits to Abramoff.

So, who will be next to stand in front of the judge and declare his innocence? We can pretty much assume that Jack will be having to make an appearance in court. Maybe Jack will even have to make an appearance before another judge in that pesky “gangland style murder” case in Florida. We can pretty much assume that Rep. Ney will have to plead one way or another. I am sure that there will be other Representatives dragged before a court of competent jurisdiction as well.

"I think this has the potential to be the biggest scandal in Congress in over a century," said Thomas E. Mann, a Congressional specialist at the Brookings Institution. "I've been around Washington for 35 years, watching Congress, and I've never seen anything approaching Abramoff for cynicism and chutzpah in proposing quid pro quos to members of Congress."

But folks, what I want to see is Grover Norguist and Ralph Reed in the dock. These two self-righteous bastards have used libertarianism and religion to undermine democracy and enrich themselves in the process. Okay, so they are part of the “Republican Revolution,” so, what is my point?

My point is that there are many folks out there that have been led astray by their rhetoric and perversion of a philosophy to benefit themselves and the oligarchy. Okay granted we all know that the States has a very low level literacy rate which makes it even easier to take advantage of folks. But, these guys are scum and need to be taken down. And they need to be taken down sooner rather later.

So, as the noose tightens around their necks, I have to say, “Thank you Jack Abramoff, and a special thanks to Michael Scanlon.”

Oh, and in that other scandal rocking the Administration, I want to see Faux Ambassador John Bolton taken down.

A girl has to dream.

UPDATE: ReddHedd at Firedoglake has a very good post on this with some exceptional links. As she said, “Now pass the popcorn.”