A Pox on Both Your Houses, MSNBC and Fox News!

Watching MSNBC’s Hardball and Countdown yesterday, I heard the phrase, “A Pox on Both Your Houses” twice to describe the public’s supposed reaction to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Nora O’Donnell said it to Chris Matthews, who just laughed and agreed. Then, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post said it to Keith Olbermann, without being challenged.

I felt like I might as well be watching Fox News, because spreading this line to describe public sentiment about the culture of corruption in Washington is just plain bullshit!

Consequently, I was compelled to send the following e-mail to Countdown in the hope that it will make its way to Mr. Olbermann.

A Pox on Both Your Houses (Fox News and MSNBC)

Will you quit using this ridiculous phrase to describe public sentiment about the Abramoff lobbying corruption scandal? I normally respect Keith for being more than just a talking head reading a teleprompter, but he can't keep letting guests like Dana Milbank (who I normally also respect) keep spreading this line of bullshit! It is just wrong.

So far, the democrats are looking at the evidence and seeing a republican “culture of corruption." The republicans are looking at the evidence and seeing "widespread misuse of power among both parties." Until you are able to find a democrat in Washington, or among the public, who views the evidence as a sign of corruption in the Democratic Party, it is stupid to imply that the "public" is saying "a pox on both your houses!" The republicans are saying it because it's their ass-covering talking point! Nothing more, nothing less.

The bottom line is:

There are no democrats who have been accused of changing legislation, or their votes on legislation, due to bribes from lobbyists.

There are no democrats who have been accused of taking golfing trips to Scotland, and other blatantly outrageous perks, from lobbyists.

There are no democrats who have been accused of having their wives paid for questionable work by corrupt lobbying firms.

There are no democrats who have been accused of taking money directly from admitted felons.

There are only democrats who received campaign contributions, along with many other campaign contributions, from some of the same organizations that were employing Jack Abramoff as a lobbyist.

Saying this lumps them in with the republicans under scrutiny in the investigation, is like lumping Keith Olbermann in with Bill O'Reilly because there are individuals who have watched both Countdown and The O'Reilly Factor! And saying that the public lumps them together, because republican apologists from among the crowd are bleating their tired talking points about bipartisan corruption, is irresponsible and wrong!

Sincerely,
seenos