Guest Post by Morbo
Back when Ralph Reed was running the Christian Coalition for Pat Robertson, I thought he was just an annoying twerp who, like many religious fundamentalists, burned to use the power of the government to force his backward theological views onto everyone else.
These days I think even less of Reed. I’m starting to believe he merely posed as a religious fanatic to gain fame in conservative circles and that his real gods are money and power.
Reed left the Coalition in 1997 and started a successful political consulting firm/lobbying group called Century Strategies. Last year, reports surfaced that Reed had taken money from a lobbying group retained by a Native American tribe in Louisiana that owned a casino and wanted to stop a rival tribe from opening their own gambling operation.
Reed ran around the state, organizing fundamentalist Christians to stop the spread of casino gambling. He never bothered to tell them that he was himself fronting for a different set of casino interests that simply wanted to protect its own turf. Reed says he didn’t know the money he made could be traced to gambling interests. He must think people are awfully stupid.
The whole sorry mess was explained by Susan Schmidt of The Washington Post recently. Schmidt explains how Jack Abramoff, a well-connected Republican lobbyist, paid Reed’s firm $4 million to stir up religious opposition to efforts by the Jena Band of Choctaws to open a casino in Vinton, La.
Members of the Coushatta Tribe, who already operated a casino and resort in Kinder, were alarmed by the Jena plan, fearing that a new gambling operation would cut into their action. They hired Abramoff to lobby in Washington to block the plan. Reed was hired to mobilize the grassroots in Louisiana. Reed in turn enlisted Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson to help out with the effort.
He [Abramoff] looked to Reed, the former Christian Coalition leader who operated several consulting companies. Reed has acknowledged receiving as much as $4 million from Abramoff and his associate, Scanlon, to organize grass-roots anti-gambling campaigns in Louisiana and Texas. The money came from casino-rich Indian tribes, including the Coushattas, but Reed said that although he knew of Abramoff’s connection to the tribes, he did not know until media accounts surfaced last summer that his fees came from gambling proceeds.
OK, let’s back up. Reed knew Abramoff was tied to a casino-owning Native American tribe. He knew Abramoff had retained him to organize opposition to another tribe’s proposed casino. He must have known the Jenas were trying to open their own casino and that the Coushattas opposed it, as this had been widely discussed in regional media. Yet, despite all of this, Reed did not know his money came from gambling proceeds?
Sorry, it does not compute. Reed is a savvy political operator. He must have been able to put two and two together and figure out what was going on here. What did Reed think was the source of the money? Why did Reed think Abramoff, a big-shot D.C. lobbyist, was suddenly so interested in a small Indian tribe in a forgotten corner of Louisiana?
Let’s assume Reed really is bothered by the fact that his paycheck came from casino funds. There’s an easy remedy for that: Give the money back.
I don’t expect to see that any time soon. Certain “explanations” for dubious behavior are simply too fantastic to be believed, and Reed’s is one of them. Reed, who once described legal gambling as “a cancer on the American body politic,” was fronting for legalized gambling. That may be hard for him to admit, but it looks to me like that is what he did. Look your children in the eyes and explain it, Ralph. They say confession is good for the soul.
This little incident could have some interesting fallout. Reed recently announced that he will run for lieutenant governor of Georgia in 2006. Frankly, Reed does not come off looking good in this affair, and it should prove to be fertile ground for those who oppose Reed politically. Get your shovels and start digging, folks.
(Supposedly, Reed’s plan is to advance from lieutenant governor to governor and then to the White House! Advance tickets to Canada will go on sale shortly.)
Secondly, Reed really burned Dobson here. Dobson, from all accounts, was simply manipulated. Unlike Reed, Dobson really and truly hates state-sponsored gambling, and no amount of money would change his view. He apparently did not know Reed was on the payroll of another casino interest when he signed on to fight the Jena Band’s proposal.
Dobson, who does not like to be crossed, is a very powerful figure in the Religious Right, perhaps the most powerful today. If Dobson wants to, he can make life very difficult for Reed and perhaps throw a big speed bump on that road to the White House.
This is not to say that Reed is necessarily trembling in fear. Remember, Reed studied at the feet of Robertson and knows a few things about dirty tricks. This is the guy, after all, who once bragged about leaving his political opponents in “body bags.”
Talk about a smack down! I say put Reed and Dobson in an iron cage and let them go at it until only one man is left standing. Put it on pay-per-view. I could even back allowing a little wagering on the outcome.