So Many Republican Hypocrites, So Little Time

October 26, 2007 | SEND TO A FRIEND | GET EARLY NOTICE OF THE HOTW

Richard Mellon Scaife

Welcome back to the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

The effort to impeach Bill Clinton started before he was even formally elected. In the beginning, even before the disproven Whitewater accusations emerged, there was an orchestrated effort to make Clinton's personal sexual life a "criminal" issue.

Of course, digging up and creating dirt comes at a cost, and one of the key backers of the initial efforts to discredit Bill Clinton was none other that Pennsylvania billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife. In fact, Scaife was a key financier of what became known as the "Arkansas Project," which ended up including the Paula Jones accusations, Whitewater, and multiple other efforts to undermine Clinton and to legally entrap him.

Scaife has been a long-term backer of right-wing think tanks, Republican candidates, and smear attacks on Democrats, including efforts to make the GOP appear more "moral" than its opponents.

So, it was with great interest that we read an October 22 Washington Post article "Low Road to Splitsville: Right-Wing Publisher's Breakup Is Super-Rich In Tawdry Details."

Ironically, no one needed to spend a cent to find Scaife's dirty linen: it's all public knowledge as a result of the proceedings surrounding the second divorce of the wealthy scion.

The Washington Post even has a "video tour of the Richard Mellon Scaife divorce." His home is in the appropriately named "Shadyside" neighborhood in the Pittsburgh area.

Allegations include that Scaife was fooling around with a known prostitute while married to his second wife. The WP calls the Mellon breakup a "fabulously tawdry and surpassingly vicious spectacle."

Of Scaife, The Washington Post notes, "He's best known for funding efforts to smear then-President Bill Clinton, but more quietly he's given in excess of $300 million to right-leaning activists, watchdogs and think tanks. Atop his list of favorite donees: the family-values-focused Heritage Foundation, which has published papers with titles such as 'Restoring a Culture of Marriage.'"

Yes, for a man of such high moral principle, he sure is a low-life and, of course, the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

Until next week, remember our motto: So many Republican hypocrites, so little time.

Catch up with you soon.