Culture of corruption

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"Culture of corruption" is a political slogan used by the United States Democratic Party to refer to a series of political scandals affecting the Republican Party during George W. Bush's second term as President of the United States.

The phrase was originally coined by District Judge Frederick Motz while sentencing Maryland lobbyist Gerard E. Evans to 30 months jail for his part in a scheme in which he lobbied against non-existent legislative proposals to control lead-paint. The alleged co-conspirator, Democratic politician Tony Fulton, was found not guilty of 11 charges of fraud. As a slogan, it fits into a family of similar phrases in which political parties characterize themselves or their opponents of having a set of values inculcated at the cultural level (e.g. Culture of Life, Culture of Death).

The phrase was first used in connection with a national political scandal by Howard Dean in an attempt to link allegations of insider trading by Senator Bill Frist to the then-emerging Abramoff Scandal. Dean asserted that Republicans "have made their culture of corruption the norm".

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[edit] Use by Democrats

The phrase has since been repeated by other Democratic Party leaders, including Nancy Pelosi (responding to the indictment of Tom DeLay):

The criminal indictment of Majority Leader Tom DeLay is the latest example that Republicans in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people

The phrase has since been applied to link successive indictments and convictions of Republican politicians to the Republican party itself. These include:

Politicians that have not been indicted but commonly attacked as being part of "the culture of corruption" by Democrats include:

[edit] Republican response

While usually avoiding using the phrase, Republicans have responded to Democratic charges by pointing out that some Democrats have also been involved in similar scandals. These Democrats include:

  • William J. Jefferson, who was indicted for alleged acceptance of bribes after being videotaped accepting a $100,000 bribe from an FBI informant. A police search of his house discovered $90,000 of that money stored in a freezer. Some of the charges in the 96 page indictment include racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money-laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
  • Brett Pfeffer, a former congressional aide, who admitted soliciting bribes on Jefferson's behalf and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
  • Telecommunications executive Vernon Jackson, who pleaded guilty to paying between $400,000 and $1 million in bribes to Jefferson in exchange for his assistance securing business deals in Nigeria and other African nations.

[edit] 2006 midterm elections

Political corruption was a key issue cited by voters at exit polls during the 2006 Midterm Elections, as the voters made their frustration known. [4] The Democratic Party regained control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. William Jefferson was re-elected in his district despite the on-going investigation, which some political commentators such as Rush Limbaugh have decried as a hypocrisy of the "culture of corruption" label that the DNC had been branding the Republicans with.

Democrats also regained a majority of state governorships and control over a plurality of state legislatures.

[edit] Use by the media

Responding to the use of the phrase "culture of corruption" by the Democratic Party, authors Lynn Vincent and Robert Stacy McCain published "Donkey Cons" in April, 2006. "Vincent and McCain do not claim that the Republican Party boasts only the good, the pure and the beautiful, as Aristotle said..." They contended that "the Democratic Party has a 200-year history of urban corruption, treason and subversion, mob control, alliance with corrupt unions, and aiding and abetting criminals that has no parallel in the GOP... Which was "supported by 650 end notes that should give pause to even diehard Democrats." [1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] (or see "Reviewing Donkey Cons" in the External Links).

[edit] External links