I had the pleasure of interviewing Matt Margolis and Mark Noonan, the authors of Caucus of Corruption, a great book that levels the playing field by pointing out the corruption in the Democratic Party. I read and thoroughly enjoyed the book and reviewed it here.
BIG DOG: Your book, Caucus of Corruption: The Truth about the New Democratic Majority, focuses on corruption within the Democratic Party. What do you say to critics who might claim the book is partisan and ignores the corruption within the Republican Party?
MATT: First, I would tell them to read the book, because we do recognize that there is corruption in the Republican Party and we do say that corrupt Republicans should be removed from power and kicked out of the party. The problem with those critics is they don't want people to know about corruption in the Democratic Party. They'd sooner keep the corrupt Democrats in power than risk letting honest Republicans have any political advantage or control.
MARK: We can be sure that those who are accusing us of being unfairly partisan weren't at all upset as the way the MSM -- and the Democratic leadership -- ruthlessly ignored the facts of Democratic corruption. One longstanding Democratic tactic in these matters is misdirection - like when Clinton was wrapped up in his adultery scandals, Democrats were all about how this or that Republican did it, too. We're not doing that - what we're doing is acknowledging the totality of corruption in our politics by highlighting the long-ignored Democratic aspect of it.
BIG DOG: You point out the corruption involving William Jefferson of Louisiana, a case that has been building for nearly two years. In the book you discuss the fact that the Democrats failed to remove him from his committee seat until after it was reported by the AP that a video of criminal activity existed. How do you address critics who feel Jefferson is innocent until proven guilty and that if the people of Louisiana put him back in office despite the allegations, he should be left alone unless he is convicted?
MATT: It's amusing to see Democrats pull the "innocent until proven guilty" line now because any time a Republican is accused of wrongdoing, whether the charges are unfounded or not, they immediately label that Republican as guilty. Howard Dean was calling for Tom DeLay to go back to Houston and serve his jail sentence four months before DeLay was even indicted... and it was a bogus indictment no less.
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