For anyone who, like me, hasn't been keeping up with all the Abramoff-related scandals in Washington, Matthew Continetti has two very readable overviews in the Weekly Standard. The SunCruz affair in particular, which ended in a mob slaying, seems like a very big deal. Although it's hard to see what the point was of bribing Rep. Bob Ney to insert mean things about a casino owner in the Congressional Record. Obviously it's unethical, but is this really the best way to intimidate a stubborn casino seller into selling his boat? It's a bit unclear. And Ney's defense seems to be that he wasn't bribed to make those remarks, he just often puts random things handed to him by lobbyists in the Congressional Record. Fun times...