Ron Mills- News And Commentary: Is Newt Gingrich really outraged about corruption?

Is Newt Gingrich really outraged about corruption?

Really, I must say, the media never ceases to set the bar ever lower these days. Case in point is the pooh-poohing of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R), as he feigns outrage at the GOP for its corruption scandals. How anyone at all could view this as anything other than the most rank and shameless form of revisionist history by a guy desperate to clean his record for a run for president is absolutely beyond comprehension.

As just one of the many examples of the coverage of Gingrich these days, take the Washington Post breathlessly reporting on a speech the former House Speaker gave yesterday. "The dire alarm the former sp eaker sounded, calling the scandal 'central to the survival of the United States' and 'a serious, profound challenge"'to our system of government." The Post continued, noting Gingrich said, "The Abramoff scandal has to be seen as part of a much larger and deeper problem...[what the Founders would see as] a system of corruption." The article ends with Gingrich claiming that Republicans under his tutelage "arrived here as a reform party" and that he is lamenting the GOP's corrupt ways - as if he had nothing to do with them. This is all, mind you, being swallowed whole throughout the media without one ounce of context.

So let's just take a little walk down memory lane - a walk that would take reporters all of 5 seconds on Yahoo to find when they report on people like Gingrich who are supposedly outraged about the corruption. Is Newt Gingrich really outraged? Or was Newt Gingrich the very man who actually created this culture of corruption to begin with? Let's take a look:

GINGRICH STARTED THE K STREET PROJECT: "Starting in the mid-1990s, some Republicans, including then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and DeLay, have advocated tracking the political affiliation of lobbyists, as part of an effort to place more conservatives on K Street." [Source: Washington Post, 8/2/02]

GINGRICH RAKED IN CASH FROM THE K STREET PROJECT'S SHAKEDOWN OPERATION: "Their strategy, which Norquist dubbed the 'K Street Project,' was designed to transform Washington's business PACs and lobbies -- and the businesses they represented -- into loyal soldiers in the new Republican revolution. In exchange for legislative favors, Gingrich, DeLay, and other congressional leaders expected that the businesses would provide the funds to keep them in office. Meanwhile, Norquist's group, the Christian Coalition, and other Wednesday groups would be rewarded with generous 'educational' cont racts from the Republican campaign committees. In 1996, Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform received a $ 4.6 million windfall from soft money contributions to the Republican National Committee. This new strategy worked admirably during Gingrich's first six months as speaker. While the Republican leadership introduced a spate of controversial bills gutting regulatory agencies, business contributions more than doubled from what they had been during a comparable period in 1993." [Source: American Prospect, 3/13/00]

GINGRICH OVERTLY USES LEGISLATIVE FAVORS TO GET LOBBYIST CONTRIBUTIONS: "The most famous and ominous warning came in 1998 from then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.). The two leaders held up a vote on intellectual property legislation in protest of the Electronics Industry Association's plan to hire a Democrat to run the group." [Source: Washington Post, 6/26/03]

Ok. So now we know Gingrich was the architect of the regime of corruption that he is now supposedly outraged over. But what about the Abramoff scandal in particular? Did Gingrich have anything to do with helping Abramoff use corruption to ascend to prominence? Or should we believe Gingrich is shocked - just shocked! - that this could have happened? Let's take a look:

ABRAMOFF KNOWN TO BE CLOSEST TO GINGRICH: "Few lobbyists in Washington are closer to House power brokers Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay than Abramoff." [Source: Washingtonian, 12/98]

ABRAMOFF REGULARLY TOUTED HIS PROXIMITY TO GINGRICH & USED IT TO WIELD POWER: "In these capacities and through his work on political campaigns and grassroots efforts with organizations such as the Republican National Committee, the Christian Coalition, and the National Jewish Coalition, Abramoff developed and maintains strong tie s to Speaker Newt Gingrich, Majority Leader Dick Armey, Majority Whip Tom Delay and Republican Policy Committee Chairman Chris Cox and their staffs." [Source: Preston, Gates & Ellis Press Release, 12/30/94]

ABRAMOFF & GINGRICH WORKED CLOSELY ON THE K STREET PROJECT: "Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist here who is close to Mr. Gingrich, said House Republicans were watching very closely to see whether lobbyists were making more than a token effort to help Republicans stay in power." [Source: New York Times, 3/20/95]

K STREET SAW ABRAMOFF AS THEIR BRIDGE TO GINGRICH: "The GOP victories in 1994 transformed [Abramoff] into a valuable asset as law firms recruited activists with connections to the new Gingrich team." [Source: National Journal, 7/29/95]

The truth is, Gingrich is a smarmy, dishonest and corrupt politician. That means we shouldn't expect any less than for him to disgustingly pretend that he's Mr. Clean, when in fact he was the guy who took the GOP's corruption into high gear. But we should expect more from the media. We should expect some context. We should expect 5 seconds worth of research to give readers a little history about how this supposed saint was the guy who got us to this point in the first place.

David Sirota is the author of the upcoming book Hostile Takeover, due in bookstores Spring 2006. To advance order the book, go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/