Back in 1995, when Republicans took over Congress, a new cadre of daring and original thinkers arose. These bold innovators had a key insight: that you no longer had to choose between being an activist and a lobbyist. You could be both. You could harness the power of K Street to promote the goals of Goldwater, Reagan and Gingrich. And best of all, you could get rich while doing it! …
Soon the creative revolutionaries were blending the high-toned forms of the think tank with the low-toned scams of the buckraker. …
As time went by, the spectacular devolution of morals accelerated. Many of the young innovators were behaving like people who, having read Barry Goldwater’s “Conscience of a Conservative,” embraced the conservative part while discarding the conscience part. …
The sleazo-cons thought they could take over K Street to advance their agenda. As it transpired, K Street took over them.
Note this is from Brooks, the Liberal’s favorite Conservative. If you’re unfamiliar with Abramoff the Scoundrel, read this and then start researching. Now with Bill Moyers covered this in depth 6 months ago. mjh