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...
Dana Rohrabacher is about as bad as they come. For years and years he has represented the CA-46. Since his early days in the Reagan White House, Dana has been a force for ill in the world. It is time to kick this beach bum out of Congress.
Here he is from one of his many trips to the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) to help Jack protect the system of sweatshops for the GOP’s Chinese patrons:
Dana has known Jack Abramoff since they were young pups running dirty tricks out of the basement in the Reagan White House. Back in the day, Jack, Dana and others worked with Ollie North to plot and implement the crimes that would form the heart of the Iran-Contra scandal. A highpoint of their early work together was organizing a gathering of terrorists in the jungles of Angola. Dana has always had Jack’s back. He was the first Congressman to sign on to the CNMI project with Jack. He lent Abramoff "credibility" to build his lobbying empire. John Duncan (TN-2) explained in a letter to a human rights worker that he took a 1996 Holiday to the Marianas because Dana asked him to go.
Dana was a frequent point of contact with Jack throughout the CNMI billing records. He was Jack’s go to guy when a Congressman was needed to hype an Abramoff client or attack an Abramoff enemy. He once helped Jack smear the reputation of a rape victim. And Dana was the only Member of Congress to stand by Jack as he went to jail for his crimes.
It was way back in early eighties when Dana started to host his Chili and Tequila Blowout. Back in 2003 The Hill wrote about the grand day out:
The party has changed from the days when it was a couple dozen mostly drunk guys and a couple of dozen mostly attractive girls, held at various Capitol Hill town houses (including that of California GOP Rep. Chris Cox, then a White House lawyer).
Now it’s a more sedate and (relatively) mature crowd of 150 or so Congress members and aides, plus some Supreme Court justices, White House staffers and ambassadors and such regulars as former House Speaker Bob Livingston, lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Ollie North, mixed in to add cachet.
The Hill recently gave more background on the party:
The ninth-term California congressman is a qualified adviser on how to put the "fun" back in fundraiser. Rohrabacher’s yearly tequila-and-chili party, founded in the early 1980s during his days as a White House speechwriter, is legendary in conservative circles, although the event has changed since its heyday.
Rohrabacher still cooks a mean pot of chili for his co-workers and associates but has switched from regular beef to exotic game supplied by a few House hunters. Reps. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.), Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) have all been asked to provide prey for Rohrabacher’s bash.
The fun-loving, surfing congressman doesn’t use his own house for the party. He borrows the spacious yard of Washington Times editorial page editor Tony Blankley, a former aide to House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).
Jack, Ollie, Dana, Duke, Chris, Grover and all these guys came up as the young bucks of the Reagan era. It is likely that everyone who has regularly attended Dana’s party over the last twenty-five years is connected to Abramoff and the Republican corruption scandals that grow around him.
I could on and on about why Dana Rohrabacher needs to go. I could cite chapter and verse of his long record of bad deeds. From supporting the Taliban to excusing torture to his hand and hand relationship with Abramoff, Dana’s record is one shameful moment followed by the next. It is way past time for him to go.
We need Debbie Cook in Congress. There have been Diaries written about her and why she is the best candidate in this race. She is a courageous Democrat taking on one of the worst Republicans in office.
She has earned our support. I first gave to her months ago. We are coming to the end of the second quarter. Please donate to Debbie Cook and help her defeat Dana Rohrabacher.
Defeating Crazy Dana would make America a safer and saner Country. It would also make me very happy.
This one is high on my wish list.
Help Debbie Cook if you can.
Thanks and cheers.