Abramoff dragging more into his web - or is Abramoff in a primarily Republican web?

The rats are jumping the ship fast. There's a growing list of knuckleheads returning money given by Jack Abramoff, now including: Republicans Tom DeLay; Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert; current House Majority Leader Roy Blunt (sitting in for DeLay due to his indictment in Texas); George W. Bush himself; Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio; Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon; Reps. Bud Shuster and Melissa Hart, both of Pennsylvania; Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia; Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist; Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana; Rep. John Sweeney of New York; and more to come.

Democrats with dirty money are: Sen. Max Baucus of Montana; Sen. Byron Dorgan of Montana; Rep. Nita Lowey of New York; and probably more to come, as well. A number of legislators, including Hillary Clinton, have received small amounts from various tribes but haven't decided to return the money, presumably because it's unclear if the money is connected to the Abramoff scandal.

Well-known Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of Harlem received donations from Abramoff but doesn't intend to return the money because he apparently believes he remains untainted. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has been rather testy about his large number of donations from Indian tribes that appear tied to particular votes. He maintains that he's in the clear, but the pressure is on.

It bears repeating that this is primarily a Republican scandal because they're in power, and they've grown arrogant and believe themselves to be above the law (as has Bush in the presidency). That a few Democrats who live in states with large Indian populations have gotten ensnared is an embarrassment, and they should face the same music. But let's not let the focus shift from Republicans in power to all of Congress. When the Dems were in power there were corruption scandals for sure, but this is more like the Titanic than the House Post Office.

Update: DailyKos puts the number of members of Congress tied somehow to Abramoff's Indian tribes at 210.

Late Update: Andrew Sullivan offers this find of a "complete" list of Abramoff-only (i.e. not from Indians) recipients. Looks pretty darned Republican to me. (Hint: Everyone is Republican or Independent.)