As one of the founders of the Bust Bob Novak web site -- which launched over two years ago -- I take a back seat to no one when it comes to spotlighting the CIA leak case for the treachery it was.
That said, while the Libby-Rove case drags on – and it will -- I think it is important to make sure that our eyes don't stray too far from one other prize – former Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed.
The Jack Abramoff-Ralph Reed Indian casino scandal is really, I mean really, gross. Total insider enrichment, linking the former head of the Christian Coalition to simple pay for play, not pray for God, politics.
I'm not saying forget Tom Delay, Bill Frist or anybody else. But to the average person, these guys are just two more blow-dried Bob Forehead-Congressional types being hypocrites – we've all seen that movie. But the head of the Christian Coalition turned "consultant", finding time to take $130,000 Scottish golf junkets with wild and wooly gaming lobbyists after railing against gaming, who is now running to become lieutenant governor of Georgia in 2006 from the high moral ground, while dodging his own misstatements on the case, well this one is worth amping up.
In case you didn't track the rise of the right a whole lot in the last 15 years because say, you had a life, Reed WAS the Christian Coalition. Launched not by church-going folk but with a $64,000 check from the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, Reed built up the organization from nothing while playing up to the line with IRS rules about politicking in churches. The thought of this emerging Elmer Gantry getting elected to anything is pretty scary stuff.
Reed has long denied knowing that mega-lobbyist Jack Abramoff (who is currently under indictment for fraud and conspiracy) was funding his anti-gambling initiative with casino profits. However, a long chain of his own emails reveals that Reed did know and didn't care.
So all I am saying is let's hope the lights go out in Georgia…real soon.
And to Ralph if you are reading: whatever happens, you know you'vemade it if you've made Wikipedia.