Of all the scoundrels who have helped Abramoff over the years a few standout as particularly despicable, but Rep.
Ralph Hall is in a class of his own.
Abramoff and the rest of his Republican cohorts pursued their crimes to meet a political end--they wanted to establish one-Party rule in the USA. To them the ends justified the means. (And they were happy to get rich as a side benefit of the Reagan/Gingrich/DeLay/Bush/GOP revolution). Their crimes were rooted in the twisted logic of their politics and they stay true to their vision regardless of morality or reality.
Ralph Hall was different. He was (and is) a Party of One. He operates from the same sense of entitlement that animates the campaign of Joe Leiberman, but Hall is worse. He is a serial betrayer with a devotion to self that has allowed him to betray his District, his old Party, his new Party and anybody else who might stand in the way of his power and enrichment. That includes a 15 year old girl forced to perform onstage sex acts in a Marianas Island nightclub.
Hall's betrayals are coming home to roost and we can help...
When I put together the list of
The Abramoff 65 there was a wide range to the races Jack's pals faced this November. Some were in very competitive races. Some like DeLay and Ney have already lost. Others like
Conrad Burns,
John Doolittle, and
Richard Pombo are in a fight for their political survival. Other races are or are emerging as competitive.
And then there were the races where some sweatshop enabling, human trafficking protecting, Friend of Jack was in a "safe seat" and likely to win in November. Sadly, this category contains some of the worst of the worse of Abramoff's partners in crime. Don Young and Dana Rohrabacher easily come to mind.
And so does Ralph Hall. I really hated that this sick bastard would skate to re-election without the voter in his district knowing he was the ONLY US Congressman--in the history of the Republic--to enter an attack on a rape victim into the Congressional Record.
And then something happened.
Ralph Hall's "work" to help Abramoff protect the system of sweatshops, human trafficking, force prostitution and forced abortion on the Commonwealth of North Mariana Islands (CNMI) surfaced in the TX-04 election.
Suddenly it was clear that Ralph Hall is running against a Democrat who is holding him accountable.
Folks, meet Glenn Melancon. He is a history professor and a Democrat. And he has taken the fight to Ralph Hall. Please support Glenn with your donations so he has the resources to hold Hall accountable through November.
Let me tell you why.
Some weeks ago, Melancon put up a Web site, Ralph Hall of Shame, and began circulating postcards in the district that told of Hall's involvement in protecting the abuse on the CNMI.
Of course Hall went batpoop crazy and the local press covered the story:
A candidate running for U.S. Congress has alleged that longtime incumbent Congressman Ralph Hall has been paid to cover up child prostitution and forced abortions -- a charge which Hall vigorously denies.
Glenn Melancon, D-Sherman, also accuses Hall of publicly attacking a rape victim. [snip]
Hall says yes he visited the islands 10 years ago, but he did not visit the islands in order to examine prostitution or other state rights. He went there at a request from various high-ranking members of the U.S. government regarding government strategy in the Pacific Rim region. He said he toured some factories and had a meeting with the governor.
"I have never been in one of the bordellos," he said. "I had my wife with me (during the trip)." [snip]
Melancon has also alleged that Hall has accepted dirty campaign contributions from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who faces charges of conspiracy and money laundering, and Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in January to charges stemming from a public corruption investigation.
Hall said DeLay gave him money 10 years ago -- a period of time when DeLay's campaign contributions have not been questioned. Hall also cautioned that DeLay has still not been tried on the counts.
Hall also said he's never met Abramoff and wouldn't recognize him if he saw him.
Wow.
I have been posting about Abramoff for some time now and have been researching him since 1999. I am impressed at how the Democratic Candidate from TX-04 is using this issue to drawn attention to his campaign and hold a lying weasel accountable.
Melancon's postcard and Ralph Hall of Shame Web site provoke Hall to tell a number of Texas sized lies and admit that DeLay funneled money to him ten years ago (money that is not declared on Hall's disclosure forms).
Lies like that deserve some attention.
Two years ago, a mention of scandal in a small local paper might have never left the District. Today, scoundrels everywhere need to fear the Muckrakers, especially the good folks over at TPMMuckraker.com. On Monday afternoon Paul Kiel and Jeffrey Hughes explored some of the Texas tall tales Hall told his local newspaper:
A Texas congressman is denying charges he slandered a foreign sex slave at the behest of Jack Abramoff. But documents obtained by TPMmuckraker contradict the Republican's claims.
In November of 1997, Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) publicly questioned the credibility of a teenage girl's claims that she'd been the victim of the sex trade in the Northern Mariana Islands. The statement, which Rep. Hall entered into the Congressional Record, was prepared by Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist for the islands.
"[S]he wanted to do nude dancing," Hall's statement said of the fifteen-year-old girl. She had earlier told federal investigators that she'd been forced to work for a local nightclub in a nightly live sex show.
This story is a must read. It is filled with damning details and links to documents that refute some of the recent lies of the Scoundrel from TX-04. From the story you can link to PDFs of Hall's CR statement, Team Abramoff billing the CNMI for helping to draft Hall's statement, a DOL investigation of the claim of abuse, and proof of Abramoff's payment for Hall's CNMI trip.
As things move around the Web, the TPMmuckraker tale of Ralph, the Texas size Liar is spreading. Wonkette picked it up and so did some local Texas blogs. One was by Wick Allison, a well-known local Republican blogger for the Dallas based D Magazine. He even references my work at Daily Kos.
The next step is to move this story along. There are many more lies Hall told to the local paper. I expect he will tell more as this story grows. Think of it as a "Macaca" event in the TX-04. We need to push this story. We can help hold Hall accountable.. And it couldn't have happened to a more deserving scumbag.
Ralph Hall is a serial betrayer. At multiple junctions in his career he has been faced with a choice between honor and betrayal. Hall has always chosen betrayal.
When the Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, Hall was a Democrat. To keep his power he made accommodations to the new the leaders of the Gingrich revolution. He became Tom DeLay's DINO cabin boy and repeatedly betrayed the Democratic caucus through the 1990s. But that was not enough. At the beginning of 1996 Jack Abramoff needed help to sell the system of human trafficking on the CNMI as a "laboratory of liberty". Now Jack already had DeLay, Rohrabacher and Dan Burton in his pocket. Hall was the next to jump in (Pombo, Doolittle and others were right behind Ralph).
Jack created a bull-shit report by the Hay Group to justify the abuse on the CNMI. And Ralph Hall joined with Rohrabacher to promote the report to their Congressional colleagues. In fact, all through 1996 and 1997 Hall led the way as an active player on Team Abramoff. He was the first Congressman to travel to the CNMI on Jack's dime.
And when Jack needed somebody to attack a child sold into the CNMI sex trade, Ralph Hall was his boy. Ralph knew that Betraying that 15 year-old rape victim would get him in solid with the new bosses of Congress. He jumped at the chance. (According to the CNMI billing records even Dana Rorhabacher turned done the request to attack the rape victim in the CR, perhaps he knew that Ralph would do it, because Ralph would betray anyone and anything).
In 2004, after years of quietly betraying his Party, Ralph Hall switched and became a Republican. We are lucky to be rid of him.
Money and power are at the root of Hall's many betrayals. He has been in Congress since 1980 and according to the Hill newspaper, he has gotten very rich while in office. The Texas Blog, Capital Annex, highlighted the fact that Ralph Hall earns more than $1.2 million above the median household income in his district. And that is more than $1,000,000 above his Congressional salary. My guess is that there is a lot of muck and corruption behind Ralph's fat wallet.
And we are lucky to have a fighter like Glenn Melancon taking on this untrustworthy, shifty and deceitful opportunists from Texas. Please show Melancon some love. Donate some funds so he has the resources to keep holding Hall's feet to the fire. This CNMI teenage sex slave story has the potential to go National. And Hall should get his moment as the worst person in the world.
This little campaign in Texas has been fought without the help of the State or National Party. It has been fought without the help of the Netroots. Melancon and his band of Texans are surrounded on all sides by the DeLay Republicans. We can not let them fall like the defenders of the Alamo. Lend a hand and force the GOP to defend yet another one of their "safe seats".
And encourage Democrats in other races that folks consider "safe GOP seats" to mount a fight. Be imaginative. Find an issue and force it to the surface. If your GOP opponent is one of The Abramoff 65 follow the lead of Glenn Melancon's Ralph Hall of Shame and Charlie Brown's DoolittleFacts.org and use the crimes of CNMI as a tool to hold these weasels accountable.
It is a simple one-two punch:
1. The situation on CNMI was and is inhuman, corrupt, unAmerican and unChristian.
2. ______ actively worked with Jack Abramoff to fund and protect this system of abuse.
The Abramoff 65 is listed in the Tip Jar. Find a Democrat to support. Donate before September 30. And then send more in October. Volunteer. Get involved in the GOTV effort.
Unless we double our efforts and fight like hell, the GOP may win on November. We have to bring the fight to them everywhere.
Please do what you can. And then do some more. To win we need your time, money and energy. We need to fight hard and fight smart.
2006 is now. It is way past time to take our Country back.
Let's do this.