Odd observation by Tom Delay in one of the Post’s John McCain stories today:

“McCain has done more to hurt the Republican Party than any elected official I know of,” said DeLay, the former House majority leader, who was personally damaged by McCain’s Senate probe of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a probe that implicated numerous DeLay associates.

Anyone who read the results of the 2006 Congressional and Senate elections might argue otherwise, that it wasn’t McCain who cost the the GOP both chambers, it was Abramoff and the folks surrounding him.

Laura Blackann is spokeswoman for Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA). But she speaks for all of us in the Washington Post’s Jack Abramoff story this morning:

Christmas 2001 was a far more high-flying holiday for Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff … Abramoff was a top rainmaker at Greenberg Traurig’s Washington office and liked to be generous at this time of year, at least to those who could help him. He compiled a list of 45 people to whom his staff was supposed to send gifts such as a Baccarat crystal bowl and a platinum Tiffany clock … Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) was to get a less valuable gift: some Jerry Seinfeld CDs. … Doolittle spokeswoman Laura Blackann said the Seinfeld CDs were of negligible value.

Yes!  We’ve been arguing that point for years!  Not that’s there’s anything wrong with it.

Thnk you know everything about the Jack Abramoff case?  Well, did you know that Michael Scanlon goes by a second name?

We learn from the site My Jack Abramoff Story: 

Q: You mean that Michael Scanlon is also known as Sean Scanlon?

A: Yes! The guy that you’ve been reading and hearing all about is Michael Scanlon, and the guy that I know is Sean Scanlon.

Q: But there the same person, right?

A: Yes, they are the same person. The way I understand it, is that in D.C. Scanlon goes by Mike, and in Rehoboth, and to friends and family, he goes by Sean.

Heard this today:

Jack Abramoff’s deli restaurant Stacks closed a year ago.  People are still waiting to get served.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), quoted in the Washington Post story about ex-Tom Delay aide Tony Rudy pleading guilty to charges that he conspired with Jack Abramoff: “How did Abramoff and Rudy meet, through JDate? No, they met through DeLay.”

Vanity Fairs serves up its Jack Abramoff profile in the new issue.  Lots of old ground, but some fascinating new quotes by Abramoff.  One amusing running bit in the story is citing the big-name politicians who met or knew of Abramoff, but suddenly claim they had never heard of the guy.

A fun example involving Sen. John McCain (R-AZ):

Abramoff believes the hearings were unfair and blames McCain, with whom he says he has long had a contentious relationship ….

“Mr. Abramoff flatters himself,” said Mark Salter, the senator’s administrative assistant. “Senator McCain was unaware of his existence until he read initial press accounts of Abramoff’s abuses, and had never laid eyes on him until he appeared before the committee.”

“As best I can remember, when I met with him he didn’t have his eyes shut,” replies Abramoff. “I’m surprised that Senator McCain has joined the chorus of amnesiacs.”

Headline in the Boston Globe: “Abramoff pushed plan to drill for oil in Israel.”

Hmmm … what was that essential fact again? Oh yeah, that’s right, I nearly forgot, now I remember: JACK ABRAMOFF IS JEWISH!

Bloomberg News runs a story that begins:

Jewish groups have made Israel the top foreign destination for U.S. lawmakers on privately funded trips. Now, they’re fighting to make sure the fallout from the Jack Abramoff scandal doesn’t ground those flights.

You can read the full story here. Let’s cut right to a section featuring a friend of mine:

Representatives of Jewish groups say the educational value of the travel to the lawmakers is clear. “We are not bringing them to play golf,” said William Daroff, vice president for public policy at United Jewish Communities, a New York umbrella group that’s lobbying against a total travel ban.

William is right. I’ve been on one of those trips and I can tell you first-hand golf is not a part of Israeli life. Heck, in Israel, if you try to play the back nine, you’ll hit Gaza.

You’re telling me this is the best they’ve got?

New York Times caption:

President Bush shaking hands in 2001 with Chief Raul Garza of the Kickapoo tribe of Texas. In the background at left is the lobbyist Jack Abramoff; Karl Rove, the president’s top adviser, is at the right.

Talk about “in the background”! I needed my electron microscope to find Abramoff.

By that reasoning, the late great John Ritter and I were best friends.

Here’s the evidence: