Owner of a Support Glenn Beck site indicted in Abramoff investigation.

[sabrina 1]

While the media gave hours of airtime to the angry mobs at Congressional Town Hall meetings incited by the likes of Glenn Beck, what was not covered by the MSM are the ongoing investigations into the many Abramoff Affairs.

In this excellent diary by Dengre however, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/23/771141/-NEW-Abramoff-Indictment:-Aide-to-Dick-Armey,-Sweatshop-Protector,-and-Beck-defender- you can catch up with the news on the latest developments. I have followed Dengre's excellent reporting on this story for several years and I don't think anyone has done a more thorough job of navigating the various twists and turns of what has to be one of the biggest stories of political crime and corruption of the past decade.

When the story did make it to the MSM, the RNC made a herculean effort to make this a bi-partisan crime sending daily memos to the 'stenographers' in the media laughingly referred to as 'journalists'. These 'journalists' dutifully read the RNC memos as if they were 'news'. The truth is that while there is corruption in both parties, the Abramoff Affairs were a uniquely Republican scandal, spreading the corruption into almost all branches of government and over many years, dating all the way back to the Clinton admistration at least.

But, what makes the most recent Abramoff news relevant to this Summer's top 'news' events, is the indictment of Horace Cooper. To find out more about him you can read his bio in Dengre's link along with the indictment charging him with corruption.

Also interesting about Horace is his connections to two of the rightwing, anti-healthcare reformers, Glenn Beck and Dick Armey

To quote Dengre:

Horace Cooper is the latest person to be indicted in the growing and ongoing Abramoff Scandal. He was an inside man for Abramoff from at least 1996 through Abramoff’s fall from power in 2005—first as a long-time staffer for former Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey, then as a Bush appointment to the Voice of America and finally as a Bush appointment to the Department of Labor.

Cooper’s indictment is a reminder to the GOP that their long tainted history of corruption with Abramoff and other lobbyists is far from over.

Conservative websites have been busy scrubbing his name from their sites and his own website appears to be gone. But ...

Still up is a new web site that Horace Cooper started just a few days before his indictment. On August 18 Townhall announced the site with great fanfare (emphasis added):

Conservatives Defend Glenn Beck

As several large corporations join the boycott of Glenn Beck, conservatives are rallying to his defense.

Institute for Liberty Senior Fellow in Law and Regulation Horace Cooper, JD, has created a FIGHT FOR GLENN BECK website as "a place for those of us who support him to speak out."

Here is a link to his 'Fight for Glenn Site' http://fightforglennbeck.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post.html#comments.

Since I last looked at the site, there is a new post up, but the comments have been removed on the last post made right before the news of his indictment was reported and he doesn't seem to be allowing comments anymore.

More from Dengre:

Yep, Abramoff crony Horace Cooper started a wingnut effort to pushback on the growing boycott of Glenn Beck by sane people just hours before he was indicted. His opening post is a classic example of a conservative grifter spewing lies and spin:

ColorofChange.org -- the group once run by self-professed communist Van Jones, now a senior White House staffer, a.k.a. the "Green Czar"-- is spearheading an effort to persuade advertisers to drop their sponsorship of Glenn Beck's show. That is, lefties want to muscle Fox into canceling Beck's show on Fox. There is no evidence that Fox is ever going to cave in to such pressure, of course, but that won't stop ColorofChange, aided by the MSM, from trying.

There are millions of us who watch Glenn Beck's show regularly. And so I have created this website as a place for those of us who support him to speak out.

Let's all join together on behalf of Glenn Beck. Please join me--because this is your fight, too.

And even under indictment, Cooper is still finding the time to defend Beck (it looks like he put up a new post today, but it is hard to tell as all posts are unsigned). So far his defense of Beck has attracted an impressive 25 followers.

Just a small sample of the anti-healthcare reform inciters, Glenn Beck, Dick Armey and Abramoff crony 9b0Horace Cooper. It's not inconceivable that Dick Army might be on the list of co-conspirators.

One big piece of news for anyone following the Abramoff affairs is that Susan Ralston, assistant to Karl Rove has just been named as one of 30 co-conspirators in the Abramoff case. I will always remember the photo of her and Rove at the WH on the night of the 2004 presidential election.

So many crooks, so little time but it's encouraging to see that the wheels of justice are still turning and that maybe, Tom Delay won't be able to keep his appointment with Dancing with the Stars after all.

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Excellent find

Precisely the sort of analysis that is ignored by the corporate media. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

[sabrina 1]

2. You're welcome, but the credit goes to

Dengre. If you are not familiar with him, he has written extensively on the Abramoff affairs, focusing on the scandals on the Marianas Islands and imo, he deserves a Pulitzer prize for his work on this. I would love to see him on Rachel's show as they both have a way of breaking down complicated stories like this and making them understandable for the rest of us.

I noticed some of the commenters suggested that Dick Armey's resignation from his job at at the lobbying firm DLA Pipe "in response to a growing chorus of critics who claim his "grassroots" advocacy group, FreedomWorks" which was about four days before the indictment of Cooper, might be more because he knew about the upcoming indictments. In the diary not all of the 'co-conspirators' have been named yet and some people (sorry lol) are speculating that Dick Armey might be on the list.

[DCKit]

3. Nice catch Sabrina.

I could spend 24 hours a day on the 'nets looking for they stuff I get right here at DU because of the work people like you do. It is no small service you do bringing things like this to our wider attention.

[sabrina 1]

5. Very nice of you to say that, thank you DCkit ~

This indictment is so important that I am amazed it has not made the MSM. Especially considering that Cooper was a 'respected' TV cable show pundit, one of their own.

A bit more from Dengre. I see also that he was involved in Dick Armey's 'FreedomWorks' (I swear, they are making me hate the word 'freedom' as they have given it a whole new meaning.

From Dengre's diary. There was so much there it was hard to choose what to highlight.

Before his indictment a few days ago, Cooper was milking his connections for all they were worth. He had a gig with the Abramoff connected National Center for Public Policy Research. As a Black Conservative he helped to front the National Center’s Project 21, a cynical effort to find African Americans willing to hype a conservative agenda for fame and fortune. Cooper got on that gravy train. His connections with Abramoff got him a teaching gig at GMU and easy access to conservative organizations. He became a Fellow at the Institute for Liberty and was (at least until his indictment) writing regular columns for conservative publications and web sites. Cooper also worked his connection to be a TV talking head pundit on this, that or the other thing. And of course he has worked with his old boss Dick Armey to promote the ideas and goals of Freedomworks and has had his writings published at Townhall and other collection points for predictable conservative dribble.

You would think the MSM, having covered these lunatics and claimed they were ordinary Americans, would at least report on this since he was apparently, one of the organizers. Let the public know who is lying to them.

[lib_wit_it]

8. Freedom's just another word...

co-opted by the RW for the nefarious obfuscation of their fascist ideals and goals. Fucking Orwellian assholes.

[sabrina 1]

9. 'Freedom', 'liberty', 'patriot'

I find myself cringing every time I hear those words anymore.

They protest too much, the last thing they are for is freedom or liberty, and their idea of a patriot is Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh.

They are scary and I notice the rest of the world is beginning to notice them also. I have to admit I was pretty blissfully unaware of their existence until a few years ago.

[lib_wit_it]

11. We;; then, I guess this may also open your eyes to what is out there in the name of

America and Christianity: http://faithfulwordbaptist.org/050706p.mp3

I dare you to listen all the way through.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

4. Kicking for this sentence alone:

"Yep, Abramoff crony Horace Cooper started a wingnut effort to pushback on the growing boycott of Glenn Beck by sane people just hours before he was indicted."

They never cease to amaze...

[sabrina 1]

6. It IS amazing, the sheer dedication to doing harm even as

they are going down.

Also amazing as I said in my above post, that the MSM has not been all over this guy, one of their own as well as being involved with Dick Armey's FreedomWorks, exposed by Rachel Maddow for the role they are playing in trying to kill healthcare reform.

I hope Rachel covers it, she's so good at telling stories like this and connecting all the dots.

[WillyT]

7. Big K & R !!!

:kick:

[sabrina 1]

10. Thanks, I need to make a correction to the OP

I said that Horace Cooper had removed comments from his site, but they are still there. My mistake and too late to correct it in the main essay.

One of the comments lets him have it regarding the indictment and his history which is now knows as it was laid out in the indictment, of corruption. I'm surprised it has not been removed to be honest.

I've checked Fox, and have found nothing on this story. Odd, considering he used to be a guest on Fox.