abramoffal shakedown operation

* in response to this post, miguel:

"Sibel has said, and the VF article implied, that more than one Congressperson is suspected of taking bribes from Turkish interests. It seems the Congressional Turkish Caucus might be a good place to start... I strongly suspect Alcee Hastings. He was accused of corruption as a judge, and I can see no other reason why he would be such a strong supporter of Turkey."

Does anyone have more on Mr Hastings?


* and in response to this post, calipendence writes:

"Just like we have a cabal in charge of our government and in various points of power that a majority of Americans don't support and if known what they do would want to put them in prison, there are probably a number of Turks in positions of influence over there that are part of this mafia, that later (hopefully) when this cabal here is brought down, Turks will also be thankful that Turkish members of this cabal are also taken down in the process, and perhaps then our two countries can have a constructive and healthy relationship again and they will be more welcome into the EU too.
[snip]
For all we know there perhaps were competing bribes from Armenian lobbies both to Hastert and other congress members on that resolution too. We don't KNOW that like we have strong hints on the Turkish corruption from Sibel's testimony, but we shouldn't think that this issue is black and white, except for what appears to be might be the Speaker of the House taking bribes from foreign nationals to dictate our nation's business in congress.

The more we can remove any kind of bribery/special interest excessive influence over congress people that will be what restores the integrity and credibility of that body then. That will probably need things like public financing, etc., but that's a whole different topic that should have its own thread.
[snip]
I'd like to think that some day, if and when we can clear this mess up, (Sibel will) be revered as a hero both in this country and in her native Turkey for having helped clean houses in both places."

Indeed, indeed and indeed.

If they Armenian lobby isnt trying to bribe congresscritters, then they probably arent doing their job properly... (and presumably will never be effective, given the playing field they have to operate on)

Similarly, one of the odd things about the genocide resolution is that it got as far as it did. The Turkish lobby should have been bribing earlier - it would have been cheaper and less dangerous. Sometimes I wonder whether the whole thing wasn't a shakedown operation out of Abramoff's playbook...
step one: threaten to bring up some legislation
step two: charge like a wounded bull for killing the legislation