A little tidbit from the Washington Post about the Abramoff scandal before we get to the REAL outrage

(Speaker of the House Dennis) Hastert appears secure in the speakership, despite his own ties to Abramoff-related fundraising and other activities. Abramoff’s guilty pleas have renewed scrutiny of a letter the speaker sent to Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton in June 2003 urging her to block a casino opposed by Abramoff’s Indian tribe clients. The letter was sent just days after Abramoff’s tribal clients contributed more than $20,000 to Hastert’s political action committee at a fundraiser at Signatures, the swank restaurant the lobbyist owned at the time.

If the following story weren’t serious, it’d be hilarious. Instead it’s sad and makes me wonder how this jerk can remain on television and out of the mental hospital

Pat Robertson: Sharon’s stroke is God’s wrath
Televangelist suggests illness is divine punishment for ‘dividing God’s land’

Updated: 7:48 p.m. ET Jan. 5, 2006
NORFOLK, Va. – Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine punishment for “dividing God’s land.”

“God considers this land to be his,” Robertson said on his TV program “The 700 Club.” “You read the Bible and he says ‘This is my land,’ and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, ‘No, this is mine.”’

Sharon, who ordered Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza last year, suffered a severe stroke on Wednesday.

In Robertson’s broadcast from his Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, the evangelist said he had personally prayed about a year ago with Sharon, whom he called “a very tender-hearted man and a good friend.” He said he was sad to see Sharon in this condition.

He also said, however, that in the Bible, the prophet Joel “makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who ‘divide my land.”’

Sharon “was dividing God’s land, and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU (European Union), the United Nations, or the United States of America,” Robertson said.

Invokes 1995 Rabin slaying

In discussing what he said was God’s insistence that Israel not be divided, Robertson also referred to the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who had sought to achieve peace by giving land to the Palestinians. “It was a terrible thing that happened, but nevertheless he was dead,” he said.

The Anti-Defamation League issued a statement urging Christian leaders to distance themselves from the remarks. Robertson made similar comments as the Gaza withdrawal occurred, it said.

“It is outrageous and shocking, but not surprising, that Pat Robertson once again has suggested that God will punish Israel’s leaders for any decision to give up land to the Palestinians,” said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the group, which fights anti-Semitism. “His remarks are un-Christian and a perversion of religion. Unlike Robertson, we don’t see God as cruel and vengeful.”

Pro and con

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said a religious leader “should not be making callous political points while a man is struggling for his life.”

“Pat Robertson has a political agenda for the entire world, and he seems to think God is ready to take out any world leader who stands in the way of that agenda,” Lynn said in a statement.

Robertson spokeswoman Angell Watts said of critics who challenged his remarks, “What they’re basically saying is, ‘How dare Pat Robertson quote the Bible?”’

“This is what the word of God says,” Watts said. “This is nothing new to the Christian community.”

In August, Robertson suggested on “The 700 Club” that American agents should assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has long been at odds with U.S. foreign policy. Robertson later apologized for his remarks, saying he “spoke in frustration.”

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

Meanwhile, back in Oklahoma, the Abramoff scandal hits 5th Dist. U.S. Congressman Ernest Istook, who is reportedly getting ready to run against Brad Henry. I worked alongside Ernie Istook when he was covering city hall for KTOK radio and he was the dumbest guy in the press corps at that time. We used to rib him and make fun of him for not being able to understand the issues. Once, we passed out little frog clickers from T.G. & Y. (remember that store? an old time five and dime.) and clicked them every time he tried to record something for his radio report. Suffice it to say I think Istook is not the sharpest pencil in the drawer. Anyway, here’s a little something from an Oklahoma Democrat Party website I read, but mostly don’t subject others to reading.

DemoOkie Editorial:
You may recall that Istook was busted taking contributions directly from Jack Abramoff. He tried to defend it by saying Democrats took money from him too. What Iscrook fails to mention is that the Democrats did NOT take money from Abramoff but rather from tribes who are also a client of Abramoff, such as…… the CHEROKEE TRIBE of OKLAHOMA who gave over two thirds of the money. Hmmmm. The other money came from the CHOCTAWS.

Wonder if he thinks we are all too stupid to realize that money donated went to the Carson Race and Carson was A MEMBER OF THE CHEROKEE TRIBE. Istook would rather say this is an Abramoff connection.

What Istook should do is offer his explanation how a “Self professed Indian Sovereignty hater” got money from Abramoff directly and from Abramoff’s clients.

Could it explain how “Anti-Gambling Advocate” Istook accidentally amended a bill which would have allowed Indian Casino’s in Oklahoma County. Istook said the amendment was a mistake and removed the amendment after it was revealed in the press. He claimed the same thing when he inserted a spying provision into the tax code. We say it needs an investigation.