Oh, for the Days When Covert Evangelical "Humping" Involved Actual Sex

Writing in The Nation, Max Blumenthal has a nice rundown of the ways Jack Abramoff used the Christian right.

Comments

[sage]

Hee-hee, you said "jack." But you didn't mention the Ultimate Fitness Program. Shocking.

[ChrisO]

Assuming the facts in this article are, in fact, facts (article is skimpy on naming its sources), this doesn't really indict the Christian Right, per se, but politically active nonprofits in general.

Having worked at such groups in the past, I can say with authority that most are quite willing to look the other way in order to keep the cash flowing. I doubt that Reed, Dobson, and all of the other holy rollers in the religious right leadership really cared whether Abramoff was using them to further the interests of some casino owners at the expense of others--as long as the money kept rolling in and they could make at least some claim that they were opposing gambling interests.

It's a particularly interesting form of "Potomac fever." In a town full of plushbottomed lobbyist/lawyers, bureaucrats, and high-level congressional staffers, it's difficult to 'keep up with the Joneses' and it takes a LOT of hard work to fundraise the old-fashioned way by soliciting donations from individuals. How much easier just to take a few larger checks without asking too many questions. That way you can buy your $5 million McLean manse, drive your SEL Mercedes, and carry out 'God's will'.