How to catagorize Republican criminals

Empty Wheel makes the point:

"...the Republicans are a bunch of criminals, or at least accused criminals. Abramoff, Cunningham, Tony Rudy, the NH phone-jammers found guilty; Libby, Tom Noe, Safavian, Ken Lay, Claude Allen, Brian Doyle and two more DHS perverts stand accused; Rove, Frist, DeLay, Santorum, Gale Norton under investigation. And that doesn't even count Dick getting off for his drunk and disorderly shooting accident."

The problem is that the list is so long that it has become difficult to keep them all straight.

Her solution is to assign the miscreants to categories. Here are EmptyWheel's suggestions (which I have reframed):

• the guys who approach elections as unrestricted warfare and don't mind breaking the law: Libby, Noe, DeLay, the phone jammers.
  
• the guys who just want to accumulate unlimited power or money and don't mind breaking the law. Abramoff, Cunningham, Lay, Santorum, and Rudy.
• the guys who break the law for some purely personal other reason. Allen, Fristie, Brian Doyle.

The common thread is a total disregard for the rule of law. The differences are motivation.

The question then must be asked - why are all these people in the Republican Party? What is it that attracts them there?

Read EmptyWheel and see if you think she explains it.