Washington's Dirty Side

 I recently finished reading a book by Jack Abramoff. For those of you who have not heard of him, Mr. Abramoff was perhaps America's most notoruous lobbyist. For those of them who want to know more about Mr. Abramoff and his activities, the following quotes (they're all rather lovely; we can all only dream of being spoken about in such a way) were located on the back of his book:

"Jack Abramoff, he's scum." -Paul Begala, "CNN Crossfire"

"To most Americans, Jack Abramoff is the bloodsucking bogeyman with a wad of bills in his teeth who came through the window in the middle of the night and stole their voice in government..." - Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone

"... and I hope he goes to jail and we never see him again. I wish he'd never been born..." - Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana), The Billings Gazette

"... he is a creep, and we hate him." - Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio), The Columbus Dispatch

"... in a profession of such rock-bottom standards, to distinguish yourself as unethical requires villainy on a truly epic scale." - The New Republic

"... this stuff could gag a maggot." - Richard Ben-Veniste, "Hardball with Chris Matthews"

"... the most evil lobbyist ever to be operating in Washington..." - Margaret Carlson "Capitol Gang"

"... lower than pond scum parasite with no redeeming qualities." - Eric Baerren, The Morning Sun (MI)

His book, Capitol Punishment, provided an interesting look into the underside of Washington. Readers will be immersed into the belly of the beast, and at times, it can be frightening. However, at the end of the day, you have a sense of enlightenment. Abramoff may be a bad guy in most books, yet in mine, he is like a modern-day Robin Hood. He 'stole' from the rich, and gave back to the poor. The poor in this case being the various groups of people he represented, and the rich being federal funds. However, the unfortunate truth is Jack broke the law, and he had to pay for that. At the end of his book, Abramoff openly admits he was wrong. Yet he does provide us with some useful information on how Washington works, and the lobbyist enterprise is only the tip of the iceberg here. The real problem is the system set in place in Washington, and Abramoff is not the only one complaining about it. Although, he of all people would know that it is indeed a flawed system. With our national debt currently over $15 trillion, it is time the American people tried to become part of the solution. We may not be able to pay off this whole debt. However, we can try to fix the system. Porsche's 911 is considered the perfect sports car by many aficionados. Yet each year, the company improves the model. It's time we do the same thing. Anyway, do check out Capitol Punishment. It was a truly interesting book and it will appeal to many who have some sort of interest in politics. However, I must warn you: do not be intimidated by the books size; it's not as bad as it seems.