DeLay indicted!
Frist under investigation by the SEC!
Arrests made in Abramoff murder-for-hire case!
Joy!
Rapture!
The sun is shining a little more brightly. The sky is a deeper shade of blue. It is all as I forecast last December:
I’ve seen a lot of grumbling among my fellow progressives about the complete loss of ethics among Republicans in the U.S. House. First the slap on the wrist that DeLay got for vote-buying a few months ago, and then this week’s news that Hastert is yanking the Republican head of the Ethics Committee and replacing him with one of DeLay;s guys in Texas. Pride goeth before the fall, and seldom has there been quite as much pride as there is right now.
House Democrats were in the same boat before the ’94 Gingrinch revolution. They got overconfident, started to feel invincible, and then got nailed for ethical violations. Today’s news that House Republicans are effectively eliminating ethics rules is the clearest sign yet that Republicans have become so over-cocky as to have lost all caution.
I think it’s great. Really, I’m excited. I feel a bit like all of Disney’s PAs probably felt before they hurled all of those lemmings over that cliff so many years ago. Republicans, though, are eliminating themselves — no assistance necessary.
O Joyous Day!
Delay indicted, Bush approval ratings at 40, Frist under investigation…Time to take the country back – Starting in 41 days!
Ronnie Earle (the Democratic D.A.) loves to cry wolf. This is the third (yes, third) time that he’s finagled an indictment based on these identical facts. Nothing new, just tweaking the charge. Indictments make big news, but that’s all. Any reasonably competent D.A. can get a grand jury to indict anybody he wants. People on grand juries are unsavvy laypeople who are very easily convinced. No other attorneys allowed… just the state, presenting only the facts they want to present, and in the light in which they want to present it.
Why hasn’t Mr. Earle been able to get any further along the process with the other TWO indictments that he’s gotten? Could it be that he’s using the criminal justice system for political purposes? Get outta here… no Democratic politician would ever do that!
You might want to save your rejoicing until this actually gets beyond the indictment stage. I suspect that in a couple months we’ll have forgotten all about this, there will be a fourth indictment that gets splashed across the headlines of MSM, and you’ll make another post about the downfall of DeLay and the GOP.
Hmm. So you’re saying it’s a sort of a vast-left-wing conspiracy?
Most of the politicians Ronnie Earle has brought down over the decades are Democrats. He’s not a Dem operative… merely an iconoclast who gets off on taking out people in power. And if they’re guilty, as Tom DeLay very clearly is on many, many levels, then more power to him.
Hmm. So you’re saying it’s a sort of a vast-left-wing conspiracy?
Did I say that?
Earle has a hard-on for DeLay, and loves getting indictment after indictment…. why hasn’t he gotten anything other than indictments? It smells like a personal vendetta, and an abuse of discretion on Earle’s part.
Still, if DeLay is guilty — and he may be — I hope the jury convicts him and he gets an appropriate sentence. In the meantime, a prudent observer would look at recent history and withhold judgment. Imprudent ones, on the other hand, will foam at the mouth and go for blood… and quite possibly look pretty silly in the process.
So you guys are set, right? I mean, there’s NO EXCUSE not to win this November for you guys, right?
Should be in the bag. No worries for ole Timmy K. (snicker)
Will anyone out there admit to actually liking Tom Delay as opposed to just supporting him cause he is a republican? I can think of some democrats I might say the same about. There’s nothing wrong with being a “team player”.
You know, I could buy some of these excuses that I. Publius is offering if this were something isolated. But criminal corruption is everywhere you look in the Republican party. Bill Frist’s insider trading. Half the senior officials in the White House are staring at October indictments for the Plame affair and associated counts of obstruction of justice and perjury. Jack Abramoff – the money man behind the Delay political machine – is now clearly guilty of having ordered a mafia-style hit on a business associate through the book keeper for the Gambino crime family (who has long been a friend and ‘business associate’ of Abramoff).
Then we could get into the the MZM scandal involving Duke Cunningham, Virgil Goode and other Republican congressmen. How about the billions and billions of dollars in no-bid contracts that your party has been awarding (read: stealing from America) to Abramoff’s clients in exchange for his laundered campaign contributions.
Face the facts: your party consists of a bunch of crooks. The Republican party has become the largest system of organized crime ever to blight America. In light of the overwhelming flood of criminal behavior that Republican leaders are systematically engaging in every day, you’re excuses about indictments not meaning anything sound pretty thin. It’s like saying that Al Capone was a legitimate businessman because Elliot Ness clearly had a vendetta against him.
Face the facts and stop voting for organized crime.
IP is regurgitating standard GOP talking points. What he would not like you to know is that Ronnie Earl is an equal opportunity destroyer of top-level polticial corruption.
Top Prosecutions by Ronnie Earl (Alleged Partizan Hack):
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, 1994: Acquitted of official misconduct and records tampering after Earle dropped the case during the trial.
Former state Rep. Betty Denton, D-Waco, 1995: Sentenced to six months probation and fined $2,000 for listing false loans and contributions on campaign finance reports.
Former state Rep. Lane Denton, D-Waco, 1995: Sentenced to 60 days in work-release program and six years probation, fined $6,000 and ordered to pay more than $67,000 restitution after being convicted of theft and misapplication of fiduciary property for funneling money from the Department of Public Safety Officers Association to a Denton company.
House Speaker Gib Lewis, D-Fort Worth, 1992: In plea bargain, Earle dropped more serious charges when Lewis pleaded no contest to failing to disclose a business investment. Lewis was fined $2,000, and the judge said he took into consideration that Lewis was retiring from public office.
Attorney General Jim Mattox, Democrat, 1985: Acquitted on felony bribery charges. Won re-election.
State Rep. Mike Martin, R-Longview, 1982: Pleaded guilty to perjury after lying about having himself shot to gain publicity. Did not run for re-election.
State Treasurer Warren Harding, Democrat, 1982: Pleaded no contest to official misconduct and dropped re-election bid.
Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Yarbrough, Democrat, 1978: Sentenced to five years for lying to a grand jury and forgery. Gave up seat.
So his highest profile prosecutions include a Democratic state supreme court justice, a Democratic attorney general, a Democratic state treasurer, and a Democratic speaker of the Texas House.
Remember that as Earle is smeared as a partisan Democrat.
Thomas Jefferson,
I can say “I like Tom DeLay.” Without offering an opinion on the indictment, I can tell you
that I was a former employee of Mr. DeLay’s in the Whip Office….back in the day. His personal
demeanor is pleasant and he is grateful for every day that he gets to go to work and help the
people of his district. When I was there, on The Hill, he was always good to his staff (something that not all members are good at.) I was also aware of the tremendous work he did with children’s groups to help children find adopted homes. I understand that he is a lightening rod for critisizm, from the left. That’s ok. We have Nancy Pellosi for our part.
Mr. DeLay has also faced some trying times that I pray none of you will ever have to face, like the day a gunman broke into the Capitol, after shooting Capitol Police Officer, JJ Chesnut in the head, killing him. In the gunman’s attemt to flee, he entered the rear of the Whip Office which was mistakenly unlocked. DeLay’s “detailee,” Agent Gibson, who I knew fairly well, exchanges fire with the intruder, seriously wounding him. Sadly, Gibson had been shot too. He died of his wounds. DeLay was devastated and did everything he could for the families of the family of Agent Gibson as well as Officer Chesnutt.
If you ever had the occasion to go into DeLay’s office you would notice on the way in, a plaque to the memory of his friend and “Detailee” who very possibly saved his life and the lives of his staff that day. There next to it, are the carved, wooden words “This could be the day,” a reminder to him of mortality.
Whether he is guilty or not, Tom DeLay is a good man, not the devil that many of you make him out to be.
He has a wonderful family and his daughter Danni is an exceptional person. Take it for what it’s worth.
Just as I said at Drunk on Democracy, celebrating this is immature and reflects poorly on you. I will not defend DeLay (particularly as I do not know enough to say whether he is or is not guilty), but enjoying someone else’s grief is quite disturbing.
Celebrating the capture of a criminal is as old as society and culture, and there ain’t a damned thing wrong with it.
I’m right there with you, Mr. Waldo. DeLay has been guilty of a lot in the past, but being one of the most powerful men in the world a lot gets forgiven. Especially, when your friends are in charge of the forgiving.
Isn’t this a culture that believes in the idea of being innoncent until proven guilty? You presume guilt, and the only reason I see why is nothing more than a general hatred for conservative politicians.
I’m reminded of the guy who, earlier this year (or was it last year?) escaped from the courtroom, shot a few people, and ended up being captured at that woman’s house a day later. He’s still being described as the “alleged shooter.” There’s no question, of course, that he did it — the evidence is absolutely overwhelming.
Ditto for DeLay. He has repeatedly confessed, admitting that his PAC took in corporate dollars and gave money to state candidates. That’s a crime in Texas. Not only has he confessed, but the paper trail couldn’t be more obvious — a $20k check received from a business, followed by a $20k check to a candidate.
Sure, the courts can assume he’s innocent. But in a case this clear, I see no need why I should pretend to think that he’s anything other than guilty.