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Thanks to Grover Norquist, the Republican lobbyist and right-wing anti-government guru, the world has just gotten weirder.
Along with Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, Grover developed the “K-Street Project” in the 1990s. It was an effort to require corporate lobbying firms (which are mostly headquartered along Washington’s K-Street) to hire partisan Republicans as their lobbyists and to give the preponderance of their campaign donations to the GOP. The unwritten quid pro quo of the project was that corporations that played this game of footsie could expect a friendly reception for their legislative agenda.
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As you might expect, this quickly devolved into a system of thinly-veiled bribery, with lawmakers trading legislative favors for lobbyists’ cash. Thus, the term “K-Street Project” has now become a political pejorative, an iconic brand-name for big-money corruption in Washington. This negative PR for his pet project has mightily upset Norquist, so he is trying to trademark the phrase, “K-Street Project” – and he says he’ll sue the pants off of anyone who uses it as a symbol of unethical behavior.
And you thought that Republicans were opposed to frivolous lawsuits! No, they only oppose your lawsuits – as a group, corporate Republicans are the most litigious bunch in America.
Maybe Grover could trademark “Wall Street” while he’s at it, or “Madison Avenue” – both have a negative connotation to much of the country, and Norquist could keep a whole circus of lawyers busy suing folks who speak badly of his trademarked streets.
This is Jim Hightower saying… A fun-loving group called The Talent Show has suggested that Grover should use his trademark to market a line of appropriate products bearing the “K-Street Project” logo, such as gold cufflinks, money clips, paper shredders – and why not orange jumpsuits for the well-dressed lobbyist’s jail term? Let the weirdness flow.
Sources:
“Norquist seeks trademark on ‘K Street Project’ name,” The Hill, April 18, 2006.