Devil's Advocate Jack Abramoff

So here is someone you may have heard of... Jack Abramoff!
So Jack was a lobbyist, now a convicted criminal and the center of a still unravelling corruption inquiry. He also happens to be a graduate of the most prestigious law school in the city, Georgetown. Let me tell you, it was a proud day for Georgetown when this guy's career went through the mud... maybe they'll revamp the ethics curriculum...

For me, part of what is so remarkable about Jack is his religious fervor. Abramoff is an Orthodox Jew, and I always find it shocking how cynically people can behave, even while professing (and experiencing) deep ethical and religious convictions.

Abramoff was convicted of tricking clients out of their money, but he would not merit mentioning as a devil's advocate if he was just a swindler. This kind of petty money-shuffling is not uncommon, but Abramoff is still special. His deception and self-agrandizement were the least of his problems... Abramoff was a lobbyist representing gambling interests. His strategy was to convince conservatives to kill anti-gambling legislation by claiming the legislation was not "strong enough" and proposing tougher legislation. The tougher legislation would not pass, and instead of stronger gambling restrictions, we end up with none.

This made everyone happy, particularly "conservative" politicians, who could grandstand and pose for their base, while secretly helping very wealthy interests their base despises.

This is another example of the way the modern conservative movement sneers at its religious and socially conservative base. This alone would be enough to earn Abramoff a Devil's Advocate, but his personal ethical twistedness and egoistic hubris are the icing on the cake.