Proof? Pfft!

Yesterday, I asked (as did a lot of other people) for Washington Post Ombudscreature Deborah Howell to provide "one-half of one molecule's worth of evidence that Abramoff DIRECTED any Indian anywhere to give one dollar to any Democrat that otherwise would not have received it." The Post has made an effort to back her BS.

I still haven't received my half-a-molecule's worth. According to the Post:

Prominent Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff mounted a far-reaching campaign in 2002 on behalf of his clients, the Louisiana Coushatta tribe, to prevent another tribe, the Jena Band of Choctaws, from winning federal approval for a rival casino. As part of his efforts, Abramoff sent the Coushattas a list of politicians and organizations, titled "Coushatta Requests," for whom he wanted to tribe to write checks.

This article is cunning work. The Postfolk do not circle names and say "See? Democrats! Right here!" And an unrelated squib directs our attention to Ralph Reed. This charade is designed to convince us that they are being fair and balanced.

But in the attached graphic, we see only a partial list (mostly restricted to people whose names begin with C) of pols who -- supposedly -- received an Abramoff recommendation. In that list are Max Cleland, Jean Carnahan and Tom Daschle. Dems all.

Does that list prove Howell's point? Not by a long shot.

Remember, the challenge is to find a donation to a Democrat who otherwise would not have received one. Indian tribes traditionally give to Democrats. When Jack got his blackmailing clutches into a tribe's guts, he diverted much of their political contributions to the right.

Mark Schmitt tells us the part of the story the Post doesn't want you to know: The Coushatta tribe didn't give one dime to Jean Carnahan. Obviously, the tribal leaders received further "directions" in their confabs with Team Abramoff.

Jack Abramoff did, however, make a hefty donation to her Republican opponent. And where did Jack get his loot? From the Coushattas! (And from a lot of other places, most of them shadowy and grotty.) Since money is fungible, we can fairly say that Coushatta money went toward the effort to unseat Jean Carnahan.

Same thing with Daschle. Even though he is good on Indian issues, and even though he has often received tribal donations in the past, the Coushattas did not give him a farthing. Meanwhile, Coushatta money found its way (after a brief stop in Jack Abramoff's bank account) into the coffers of Daschle's opponent.

Which leaves Cleland, who received a grand total of $500 from the Coushattas. His opponent got eleven times as much. That tiny $500 amounts to spitting in the face of a thirsty man and then bragging that you gave him a drink.

Republicans got millions. They cannot build the case for a "bipartisan" scandal based on the claim that, in this entire country, one Democrat received the kind of money that might pay for a valve job.

The point is this: The Indians wanted to help Democrats, their traditional allies, who surely would have received far more from tribal donors if Jack Abramoff never existed. We still don't have even a quark's worth of proof that any tribe gave any amount to any Democrat purely because Godfather Jack directed them to do so.