Paying the Piper

So Jack Abramoff got a little less than six years in jail from a federal judge in Florida. (Sentencing for the offenses he pleaded to in Washington has been held off until he finishes singing.)

Let's face it, Abramoff got a slap on the wrist. The minimum under federal guidelines. His lawyers got hundreds of lawyers from respectable people who could be convinced to set aside knowledge of the crimes that Jack committed (which might have led to murder, although that was not in the indictment) to concentrate on "the man." As if his criminal conduct is not part of his character.

As Anatole France observed, the rich as well as the poor are forbidden to sleep under the bridges over the Seine. Things haven't changed.