Abramoff's Folly.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Scandal: By most accounts, Washington super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff's plea bargain will widen into the most sordid tale of political misbehavior in decades. A few sobering thoughts are in order.

To start, Abramoff was up to bad business, so serious that, according to The Weekly Standard, he and his associates operated with scarcely a degree of separation between themselves and the mob.

Such connections came to light as Florida investigators looked into Abramoff's efforts to purchase a casino cruise line. Indictments followed -- indictments unrelated to the probe of his influence-peddling in the nation's capital.

There, prosecutors say, he traded money and entertainment for favors from lawmakers for his clients. Lobbying is one thing, but when there's a quid pro quo, it becomes illegal.

Abramoff's plea acknowledges such expectations. He vowed to point the Justice Department to legislators and their aides who broke the law. Media accounts number the targets from 4 to 60.

True enough, the gargantuan scope of l'affaire Abramoff could be wishful thinking on the part of an adversarial mainstream media.

We've been down this road before, from the clearly partisan indictment in Texas of House Majority Leader Tom Delay, to recent efforts to depict President Bush as a lawless Big Brother.