It looks like Senator Reid read my recent articles (here and here) where I equated the GOP leadership to gangsters. Reid penned an editorial for Tom Delay’s hometown newpaper entitled If We Can Beat Mob, We Can Fight DeLay-Style Politics.
Over the next few years, there would be threats on my life, bribes, FBI stings and even a car bomb placed in my family’s station wagon. It was a terrifying experience, but at the end of the day, we cleaned up Las Vegas and ushered in a new era of responsibility.
My term on the gaming commission came to an end in 1981, and when it did, I thought I had seen such corruption for the last time. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. It is not quite the mafia of Las Vegas in the 1970s, but what is happening today in Washington is every bit as corrupt and the consequences for our country have been severe.
Our nation’s capital has been overrun by organized crime — Tom DeLay-style.
Senator Reid knows corruption when he sees it. And he knows how to prevail over organized crime. His take on the GOP has credibility.
There is a price to pay for the culture of corruption, and we can see it in the state of our union.
These comparisons of the GOP to the mafia are amusing, but they are also accurate. Daniel Hopsicker puts it colorfully:
‘Big Tony’ Moscatiello and two second-rate mobsters were charged with the murder of Sun Cruz Casino magnate Gus Boulis in September. It is a case in which Jack Abramoff and his henchman Adam Kidan both have massive and totally obvious criminal exposure.
The Gambino hit men were paid $250,000 (ostensibly) for catering services and security. We know how that goes. One day Abramoff is giving a guided tour of the West Wing, the next he is hanging out with Anthony ‘Big Tony’ Moscatiello and Anthony ‘Little Tony’ Ferrari. The day after that he is on the phone with Tom DeLay and Karl Rove. So, it is not too much of a reach for the Senate Minority Leader to compare the GOP to the mob.
And now for a flashback to a fictional Nevada senator, who thought he could tell the mafia what to do.
investment in your state. I have made that state my home; plan to raise my children here. The license fee from the Gambling Commission costs one thousand dollars; why would I ever consider paying more?
SENATOR GEARY: I’m going to squeeze you, Corleone,
because I don’t like you; I don’t like the kind of man you are. I despise your masquerade, and the
dishonest way you pose yourself and your fucking family.
MICHAEL: (quietly) We’re all part of the same hypocrisy, Senator. But never think it applies to my family.
SENATOR GEARY: All right, then let me say you’ll
pay me because it’s in your interests to pay me.
And we all know Senator Geary woke up hungover next to a dead underage prostitute.
But there’s at least 2 degrees of separation between him and the mob. Abramoff is only linked to Kidan, who is not even a suspect in the gangland style hit.
The prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty agains the three accused Boulis murderers, according to the article.
At least that’s the police and prosecutors’ stories.
Which isn’t to say that DeLay’s political operations aren’t mob-like.
they may not believe that Kidan was involved, but there are good reasons to be suspicious. And if Kidan was involved then it is very likely that Abramoff was as well.
I’m hoping the police and prosecutors are just being coy.
These 3 guys were hired by someone as they certainly had no motive for killing Boulis. Kidan’s the only person who was giving one (at least) of the three goons money in chunks, and who, at the same time, had a motive.
I like to imagine him and Abramoff sitting aboard a SunCruz ship in some sleazy 70s-looking cabin, discussing what to do about their mutual problem.
Abramoff: “Don’t you know someone who specializes in this kinda thing?”
Kidan: “I could probably get in touch.”
Abramoff: “And it shouldn’t cost us — those Indians’ll believe anything I tell ’em.”
How could it be otherwise in a reality-based world?
I sure as hell wish someone would wake me up from this nightmare. Never, ever, ever in my wildest dreams did I ever believe our once great country could turn out so corrupt and destroyed but a flunky like Bush and his cronies.
Didn’t Reid take several thousand from Abramoff?
Didn’t Reid take several thousand from Abramoff?
No. No Democrats took money from Abramoff, although the Republicans would dearly love to convince the public that this is a case of “they all do it.”
See Howard Dean’s excellent clarification of this to Wolf Blitzer on CNN. Video at Crooks and Liars
.
DoJ 8/11/2005 5:36:00 PM
As alleged in the Indictment, in February 2000, Konstantinos (Gus) Boulis agreed to divest himself of his ownership interest in SunCruz Casinos (“SunCruz”). That June, the defendants sought financing for the purchase of SunCruz from Foothill Capital Corporation, in conjunction with Citadel Equity Fund, Ltd. As a condition for providing financing, Foothill and Citadel required that the defendants make a cash $23 million equity contribution toward the purchase of SunCruz.
According to the Indictment, on Sept. 21, 2000, the defendants executed an agreement to purchase SunCruz for $147.5 million. This Purchase Agreement provides that “Buyer shall pay to Seller the amount of Buyer’s financing plus Buyer’s equity contribution in the sum of Twenty Three Million Dollars ($23,000,000) . . . by means of a cashier’s check or wire transfer …” To provide financing, the defendants executed with Foothill and Citadel a $60 million loan agreement that likewise required “evidence satisfactory to (the lenders) that Adam Kidan and Jack Abramoff have made an equity contribution to (SunCruz) in cash in an amount no less than $23,000,000.”
Link from my diary :: Scanlon Pleads Guilty in Conspiracy Abramoff & Bob Ney Accused
● W.J. Jefferson (D-La) Connected to Bribery Charge ¶ FBI Sting Operation
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY ▼
IIRC, there was a documented reference between Abramoff and Kidan that had Kidan metioning that help was coming to address the problem in Fl. The statement Kidan made was in regard to his mother who was killed in a botched robbery attempt that also had network connections.