What with all the bad news for the administration, it’s easy to lose track. Let’s not forget Jack Abramoff, shall we? It appears he also wanted to help African heads of state get in touch with the Bush White House. Money may have changed hands, in a way that’s usually frowned on by government auditors.

Lobbyist Sought $9 Million to Set Bush Meeting – New York Times

Mr. Abramoff’s ties to Gabon were first revealed in a letter that was among hundreds of pages of documents from Mr. Abramoff’s files that were released last week by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which has conducted a yearlong investigation of his lobbying for Indian tribes.

When he first approached Gabon, Mr. Abramoff was not new to issues involving West Africa.

He had been a Washington lobbyist for President Mobutu Sese Seko, the repressive leader of neighboring Congo, called Zaire at the time. He also had connections to Gabon through a former business partner, David Safavian, who was a registered agent in Washington for President Bongo. Mr. Safavian, a former White House budget official, was arrested in September on charges of lying about his ties to Mr. Abramoff.

The three-page letter released by the Senate panel was written to Mr. Bongo on Greenberg Traurig stationery and dated July 28, 2003; Mr. Abramoff suggested that he had unusual influence to arrange a meeting with President Bush.

Safavian has ties to Utah due to his work for Rep. Chris Cannon. Abramoff’s attempt to pick up a couple of African leaders (one of which is a pretty notorious dictator) is suspect. Why was he so eager to make connections there? Probably because of oil and mineral rights.

I’m hoping for more embarassing news for the Administration coming out of the Abramoff case. Everybody connected with the guy seems to have ties to Republican politicians in lots of different states. How far did his influence extend? Pretty damn far, I’m thinking.

Chicago Tribune | Pat Robertson Warns Pa. Town of Disaster

You know what? Pat Robertson has a pattern of shooting off his mouth, getting wide reportage, and then issuing a “statement” about what he really meant to say. In the article, he’s threatening fire and brimstone on the town of Dover, PA, whose citizens were intelligent enough to vote the intelligent-design rascals off their school board. It’s painfully apparent that the whole ID issue is all about injecting religion into the nations schools and tearing a big whole in the wall separating Church (big C) and State (big S). The Child Evangelism Society is right behind them, aided in no small part by our newest Supreme Court nominee, Judge Samuel Alito Jr.

But come on, Pat, this statement is sheer idiocy:

“God is tolerant and loving, but we can’t keep sticking our finger in his eye forever,” Robertson said. “If they have future problems in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them.”

Listen, Pat, God is great. Nobody can vote Him out of office. They can, however, vote out rascals, incompetents, cronies, cranks, wingnuts, and fanatics.

I shudder to think what would happen if someone like you got in office, because you’s nuts. However, this fear is tempered by the mental image of the Three Stooges doing an eye-poke schtick on the Big Man Upstairs.

“Don’t make me come down there!”

Is is a slightly befuddled elder statesman of the Religious Right, or a dangerous lunatic? Since he seems to be sidelining himself and embarrassing his compatriots every time he spouts off, I’m thinking the former, with a generous dollop of loony on the side.