American politics offers few spectacles quite so diverting as the pious hypocrite unmasked. For your entertainment dollar, nothing beats Congress in full scandal mode. Particularly, it must be said, a Republican Congress. So brazen and nefarious were the schemes of former GOP House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, for example, that it appears "The Hammer," might with more accuracy have been dubbed "The Chisel."

What with GOP super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff having pleaded guilty to five felony counts of conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion, and agreeing to help prosecutors, there's no telling how many high-flyers he'll take down with him. Abramoff boasts he's got the goods on as many as 60 congressional leaders and their staffs. He's probably blowing smoke, but plenty of name-brand Republicans are having trouble sleeping nights.

But God forbid anybody call a spade a spade. In keeping with Republican National Committee talking points, many in the media are loath to call it a partisan scandal. Every TV account I've seen, whether on CBS, ABC or CNN, has stressed that voters blame Democrats and Republicans equally for corruption.

GOP editorialists prefer equivocations like "bipartisan Tsunami." The Wall Street Journal editorial page, which published several fat volumes of invective about Whitewater, Bill and Hillary Clinton's ill-fated real estate investment (which became perhaps the longest shaggy-dog story in American political history before eventually petering out with no evidence they did anything wrong) finds itself reduced to philosophical bromides about how "Washington power can corrupt absolutely."

Democrats who state the obvious are accused of excess partisanship. Democratic national Committee chairman Howard Dean shocked poor Wolf Blitzer almost speechless during a recent appearance on CNN's "The Situation Room."

"Should Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, who has now pleaded guilty to bribery charges," Blitzer wanted to know, "... give that money to charity or give it back?"

"There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff," Dean answered. "Not one, not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money. ... I know the Republican National Committee would like to get the Democrats involved in this. They're scared. They should be scared. They haven't told the truth."

But, but, but, Blitzer sputtered, what about Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota? Indeed, Dorgan did accept legal campaign donations from American Indian tribes Abramoff represented, even as the super-lobbyist reportedly privately referring to their leaders as "morons," "monkeys" and "troglodytes" and swindling them for lobbying services he never performed.

It's for putting things so bluntly that Howard Dean's often derided as a wild man. In this instance, however, he's right. See, Abramoff wasn't just any GOP lobbyist. "Casino Jack," as he was widely known, was the King of the K Street lobbyists, and the principal financier of the "Republican revolution," an insider's insider.

The former head of the College Republicans, Abramoff qualified as a "Pioneer" for raising more than $100,000 for President Bush's 2000 campaign. He boasted of his close working relationship with White House political adviser Karl Rove. In 2001, Abramoff's personal assistant, Susan Ralston, became Rove's.

Until quite recently, Abramoff and fellow GOP strategist Grover Norquist were giving interviews boasting of their creation of a one-party political machine. With Republicans holding the White House along with both houses of Congress, anybody who wanted anything out of the United States government needed to contribute heavily to GOP causes, hire their proteges and drop the Democrats like a bad habit.

If Democrats have any sense, they'll emphasize two aspects of the scandal: First, the massive betrayal of faith and trust. "Rarely has the contrast between the rhetoric of the religious right and the behavior of its leaders," writes my colleague Joe Conason, "been so starkly exposed as in the Abramoff scandal."

An orthodox Jew, Abramoff missed few chances to pose as a man of God and philanthropist while bribing legislators with casino cash. Former Christian Coalition choirboy Ralph Reed played along, admonishing the faithful in Texas and Louisiana to fight the moral scourge of gambling while helping himself to millions from Mississippi casinos he was secretly working for.

DeLay has rarely missed an opportunity to stress his personal relationship with God. He's repeatedly lambasted Democrats for having the "wrong worldview." Meanwhile, his "U.S. Family Network," was building the nation's "moral fitness" by taking $1 million dollar checks from Russian oligarchs presumably in return for services rendered.

And while this pious co-hort has been lining its pockets, taking lobbyist-paid golfing excursions to Scotland, enjoying sumptuous feasts in Malaysia, and sightseeing in Moscow, American families have gotten little or no help with issues politicians can actually do something about, such as stagnating wages, vanishing pensions and affordable medical insurance.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Gene Lyons is a national magazine award winner and co-author of "The Hunting of the President" (St. Martin's Press, 2000). You can e-mail Lyons at genelyons2@sbcglobal.net.