Dwight Dekeyser rating: BAB
Dear Friend:
This is a whale of a story – in more ways than one. A “whale” is casino slang for a gambler who can afford to gamble (i.e., lose) millions of dollars in a single throw of the dice. To reach this level of play one must have skill, guts, brains, and more luck than common sense working for you. It also helps to be slightly insane. This would be a good description of Jack Abramoff, the former super lobbyist and convicted felon. “Super lobbyist” sounds so much nicer than “racketeer” or “organized crime associate” but that it what this one is commonly called. “Casino” is a nice word too; it means “club” in Spanish. In English it implies gambling, and as we have all been taught, gambling is a vice. And to whom do we look to supply our vices (e.g., money, drugs, prostitutes, bootleg whiskey)? Why, our associates in organized crime, or course – some one like Jack Abramoff, conservative Republican activist, observant Jew, and super lobbyist. That is, if you have the millions for him to gamble (i.e., steal) to provide you with Congressional “influence.” Sound like a license to bribe? It is. The Supreme Court would call it “free speech” but I am not here to espouse a polemic. This is a movie review, after all.
2010 was a BIG year for our Jack, if you believe “there is no such thing as bad publicity,” to quote Brendan Behan. Talk about a hot property – he had not one but two films released about him: a documentary I have not seen called Casino Jack and the United States of Money (2010), directed by Alex Gibney, and Casino Jack, directed by the late George Hickenlooper, staring Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, and Jon Lovitz. He went from being a felon to a legend before his work release was over. Now, Abramoff is more than a shamed shellfish – he is Moby Dick (1851) and The Great Gatsby (1925)! He is the Bugsy Seigal who lived to count his chips. (They share the same birthday, February 28!) Even Meyer Lansky would have been impressed -- he may have conquered Havana (until Fidel), but Abramoff took Washington. To top it off, as of December he no longer resides at a halfway house in Baltimore and quit working at Tov Pizza, a Kosher pizzeria in the city. The owner Ron Rosenbluth is a mench who has a history of giving employment to others “caught up in the legal system” to give them a “second chance” and to get people “on their feet again.” (Abramoff was his first super lobbyist, bless his heart.)
This is a movie with a lot of story to tell. It could easily have been turned into a serial (and probably will) there are so many angles and subplots. The filmmakers did a good job of supplying the cogent facts, events, and characters without sacrificing the history or overwhelming the viewer with too much information. A quick internet search on Abramoff would be an advisable preparation for a more complete background on the subject. While a little refresher course on the scandal is not required, it could reinforce the scenes as they transpire in rapid succession. These were people on the go and, boy, did they get there. Abramoff and his cohort Michael Scanlon were men in a hurry who dreamt big. Abramoff’s father worked for Arnold Palmer Enterprises (lots of golf in this picture) and became president of the Franchises Unit of the Diners Club, which was owned by Alfred Bloomingdale, a member of Ronald Reagan’s “kitchen cabinet.” Jack went to Beverly Hills High (didn’t we all?) and later became Chairman of the College Republican National Committee while attending Brandeis University. Scanlon was an aide to Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Want to be a super lobbyist? Have super contacts. (I am reminded of Mrs. Hurst’s appraisal of the Bennet family in Pride and Prejudice 1813, “such low connections.”)
Well, there was no pride but plenty of prejudice in this movie. Atlantic City-born Abramoff had gambling in his blood and convinced a Native American tribe they needed his influence in Congress to prevent federal taxation of casinos located on Indian reservations. He succeeded for a signing fee of a cool million and a little help from his friend Tom DeLay. He continued to bill the tribe for work not done for several more million until it was financially ruined. He had no trouble accepting 6.7 million from the government of the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands to exempt them from U.S. labor and minimum wage laws. The only minority he appeared to have helped were the Israelis for whom he illegally supplied night-vision glasses from Russia.
Cannily, Abramoff was able to forge alliances with such Christian conservative operators as Ralph Reed under the guise of being “men of God” who appeared to believe that “capitalism” (i.e., bribes, lies, theft, and corruption of public officials) was the surest route to heaven and reelection. Their sanctimonious Bible study, prayers groups, sermonizing, and demonization of others gave them all the divine inspiration they needed to justify their criminal behavior at the expense of the American public. Surely, no one would question the work of the Lord. Abramoff was fond of quoting movies, in particular The Godfather: Part II (1974). He would imitate a deadpan Michael Corleone in a meeting with a senator in his home office in Reno. When the senator demanded a cut of the Las Vegas casino profits, Corleone responded, “Senator, you can have my answer now, if you like. My offer is this: nothing.” A more enlightened Abramoff might have quoted an earlier line from the same scene, “Senator, we are all part of the same hypocrisy.”
Here’s the trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi402888985/
From the vault: The Godfather: Part II (1974), directed by Francis Ford Coppola; staring Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton. I just love the scenes of pre-Castro Havana and then the Revolution! In a conversation with Lee Strasberg, Meyer Lansky once told him that Strasberg, “could have made him (Hyman Roth) a little nicer.” In this context, Abramoff comes off quite “nice.”
Best of luck in your movie selections. Your faithful friend,
Dwight Dekeyser
© 2011 Dwight Dekeyser, Esq. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment