Since the days of the ancient Roman Senate, the rich and powerful have always used paid intermediaries to influence politicians and to steer political outcomes in favor of their interests. The Abramoff and Cunningham scandals gave us a unique window through which to view the more modern day view of the GOP’s version of the Imperium. Fallout from both scandals is still affecting the GOP, and the Democratic Party sweep of congressional elections in 2006 have helped to (at least temporarily) derail Tom DeLay’s “K-Street Project“, wherein the most powerful lobbying firms became the career track of choice for ex-GOP officials, staffers, and congressional representatives.

Ken Silverstein has written a scathing piece on the Washington lobby industry for the upcoming issue of Harpers Magazine. In preparing the article, Silverstein went undercover as a shady European dealmaker, and approached various K Street lobbying firms to remake the image of the totalitarian regime in Turkmenistan. What he experienced is as revealing as it is depressing, because his story is one of how our government operates on a day-to-day basis. Suffice it to say that it doesn’t operate in anyone’s best interest (unless you’re, for example, Lee Raymond or an executive from the pharmaceutical industry).

Here’s an example from the full Harper’s article (only an excerpt of the article is available on Harpers Magazine website):

In addition to the core team around the table, Schumacher stressed, APCO had on hand a number of other heavies who could be called upon to assist the Turkmenistan campaign. These included former Senator Don Riegle, who, Schumacher said, was tight with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; and former Congressman Don Bonker, who had close ties with Tom Lantos, the new Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. But what about the Republican side? I asked with concern. Schumacher assured me that the firm had access to people in both parties, “not because we’ve contributed money” (though APCO employees, I subsequently discovered, had contributed more than $100,000 during the last three election cycles) but because of the high esteem in which the firm’s stable of former officials was generally held. And, he added with a grin, [former Cheney spokesperson Jennifer Millerwise] Dyck had such strong ties to the G.O.P. that she alone was “worth six” of APCO’s Democratic lobbyists.

“What can I say?” Dyck crowed, throwing her arms out…

What she could say is that the subsequent Powerpoint dog-and-pony show, given by APCO management to the undercover Silverstein, was worth more than all of the tangled and confusing indictments of Jack Abramoff’s cabal of thieves and Duke Cunnhingham’s slush fund minders put together, in terms of understanding the hubris and reach of the beltway lobbying industry.

It’s safe to say that no one has penetrated the inner sanctum of the Washington lobbying industry as has Silverstein in his expose. Both firms that Silverstein worked with claimed that they could get good op-ed page placement for pro-Turkmenistan opinion pieces by leading think tank authors and other scribes. After reading Silverstein’s article, it’s hard to see how anyone could read even one more op-ed opinion piece, progressive or conservative, without wondering: “Who paid for this shit?”.

Maybe you should ask yourself that question as you read this Howard Kurtz hit piece in the Washington Post that, rather than express outrage at the lobbying industry, expresses outrage at Ken Silverstein for going undercover and exposing these firms.

Got a few hours? You’ll come away from the following links quite outraged:

The original excerpt from Harpers Magazine

Bill Moyer’s conversation with Ken Silverstein (24 minutes of “must view” watching)

Bill Moyer’s blog and poll (the comments, the comments…)

APCO’s response the the Silverstein article

Ken Silverstein’s response to critics

And, if you’ve managed to get this far, here’s your bonus for sticking with it. Big tip o’ the zonehat to Susie for getting me hooked on this article…