Pity poor Jack (Abramoff)

No. Don't. He doesn't deserve your pity. He deserves your scorn and contempt.

In The Washington Post today, E.J. Dionne remarks on Abramoff's "vanishing friends". All over Republican Washington, they're running from him like the Bushies ran from Kenny Boy Lay.

Jack who? Nope. Don't know him. Oh... that guy? He's a bad dude, and I hope they put him away for good, but, no, we were never friends. Promise. Cross my heart. Hope to die.

Ah, but Dionne has the evidence -- a lot of it -- to show that Abramoff had some pretty good and powerful friends when he had all that "moolah" to hand out, all those connections to grease, all that bribing, uh, lobbying to do.

You know, guys like Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist, like President Bush himself.

What does it mean when a soon-to-be convicted felon, one of the dirtiest crooks in Republican Washington, and that's saying something, is one of your biggest donors and loyal supporters?

Coincidence? I don't think so.

They can run, but they can't hide.

(See also Hullabaloo and First Draft.)