Bogie-man
Safavian trial exposes golf's seamy side

Dana Milbank has a delicious column up today about the dominance of golfspeak at the trial of David Safavian, the Bush appointee who was led out of the Old Executive Office Building last fall in handcuffs for his dealings with the infamous lobbyist, Jack Abramoff.

You'll recall, mes amis, that one of the doings that first brought Abramoff into the media spotlight was his sponsorship of a golf outing in Scotland of which former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay availed himself.

Earlier this month, a treasure trove of e-mails between Abramoff and others implicated White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, currently under investigation in the exposure of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, in the tangles of the Abramoff web. From Milbank's Washington Sketch column:

A thick stack of e-mails between Abramoff and Safavian -- which prosecutors have used to demonstrate Safavian's aid to Abramoff as he tried to acquire GSA properties -- also describes a golfing partnership in which regular rounds during the workday were par for the course.

"Can't pull weekday golf until I'm a bit more ensconced as chief of staff," Safavian writes.

"Loser!" Abramoff replies. "I told you to come with me and not the gov!! You'd be playing golf non-stop."
In another e-mail, Safavian demurs on an Abramoff invitation, writing, ""I am a hard working civil servant and I have the people's business to do."

For her part, your cybertrix fails to see the charm of a sport in which the clothes are so ugly. Is there a reason for this? (Until the golfing industry introduces some becoming Spandex togs, your Webwench will stick to cycling.)

That the media have paid such scant attention to the Safavian matter pains your blogstress's heart, so rich is the broth from which it is drawn.

And whatever happened to that supposedly pending Rove indictment?

CLICK HERE TO READ ALL OF MILBANK

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