Review of
Casino Jack,
DVD starring Kevin Spacey
The epitome of sleaze in a very sleazy business
The “industry”
of congressional lobbyist is one of the darkest and dirtiest in the land. It is
all about influence and face time and is a case of the greenest wheel greases the
members of Congress. Jack Abramoff was not structurally any different from
other lobbyists, he just was more extreme in his methods and bribes of members
of Congress and other government officials.
This film stays
fairly close to Abramoff’s history of lobbying for Native American casinos, lobbying
for businesses in the Northern Marianas Islands and directly or indirectly
bribing members of the American government of both parties. Kevin Spacey plays
the part of Abramoff very well and the supporting cast fill their roles
admirably.
It is a look
into the dark side of how Washington actually works, men and women with no real
moral or ethical scruples will go where they are allowed to go. What is amusing
in the dark sense is how close the ties were between Abramoff and people in the
religious right and those that espouse “traditional values.” Those connections
are part of this movie.
Even though he
was convicted of felonies and spent four years in prison, Abramoff was
convicted more for being excessive in what he did rather than for the actions themselves.
A total of 24 people associated with Abramoff were also found or pled guilty to
crimes. As Abramoff himself admitted, he was involved in a system of legalized
bribery, one that has not really been changed by the massive scandal depicted
in this movie.
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