A June 3 Newsmax article by David Patten claims that the John Edwards mistress/love child scandal is “igniting a backlash from tea party and social conservatives who say it’s another example of rampant corruption that is spilling across the Potomac and into America’s heartland.”
And who does Newsmax talk to denounce said corruption? Ralph Reed.
That’s right — the very same Ralph Reed who received millions of dollars from corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff to mobilize Christian voters against casinos in Mississippi that would compete against casinos operated by Abramoff’s clients.
Patten doesn’t mention Reed’s corrupt past. But he does let Reed pontificate about the corruption of others:
In an exclusive Newsmax interview shortly after the indictments were announced, Reed told Newsmax that the ongoing spate of scandals at the top levels of governance are directly linked to the flood of special-interest money and influence inside the Beltway.
“And frankly, it’s a pox on both parties, it doesn’t matter whether its Republicans or Democrats,” he said. “If government is too big, if it’s out of control, and it’s taking too much of our income, and it’s regulating our lives too much, then people try to influence it and they do so in a corrupt manner.
“What we’re about at the Faith and Freedom Coalition is electing men and women of principle and faith in God and of strong moral beliefs who can get in there and change the system.
“We can’t just put those people in the same system we have,” Reed said. “We have to elect them and appoint them, and then we have to change the system.”
You’d think Reed’s experience with being part of the corruption in Washington would be relevant enough for Patten to note. But as we’ve detailed, Patten is nothing if not a loyal conservative, and Newsmax has been working to rehabilitate Reed post-Abramoff.