A Great American: Hammered

What a bum rap for House Majority Leader Tom "The Hammer" DeLay. This fine American is plain getting hosed.

Forget about Kansas. What’s the matter with Texas? They let Democrats be prosecutors down there?

What kind of partisan horsepuckey is that? How’d that guy Ronnie Earle get to be a D.A. without first being a Republican?

This is obviously a baseless, unfounded witch hunt. A partisan frame-up. A cheap political charade. Some very ugly payback for an upstanding American politician who has always played by the rules. Who has always put the little people and their welfare first.

And just what is Brother DeLay being accused of anyway? What’s the big deal? So he might have conspired to launder illegal corporate donations that fueled a Republican takeover of the Texas legislature which then proceeded to redistrict congressional districts in favor of the…um… Republicans. Doesn’t anyone have a sense of humor anymore?

I stand proudly with this Great American, Tom DeLay.

Comments

[Jim Rockford]

Ronnie Earl is from Austin. Texas's Berkeley. He indicted Kay Bailey Hutchinson and THAT one failed too, big time as Cheney would say.

The indictments are probably true, wether they are actually illegal is another matter (as Eliot Spitzer has found out). And just like Reps like Livingstone paid the price when the Impeachment movement grew against Clinton (Hustler's Larry Flynt outing his long-time affair); so too will Pelosi who faces the same kind of charges, and Charles Schumer who was caught having his staff illegally run an opponents Credit Report in violation of a number of federal laws.

There's always more than enough dirt to dig up against long-time Congressmen and Senators. The game is rigged that way. Newt bounced some Speaker over financial impropriety and got caught himself.

Long-term fallout helps "outsider" candidates like Tom Vilsack over Hillary, and of course Rudy. I could happily vote for either of those guys right now. Outsiders tend to be "marginally" cleaner and have accomplished some things.

I fully expect a tit-for-tat Pelosi and Schumer (well, he's already under investigation) in exchange for DeLay and Frist.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could get rid of ALL OF THEM?

Well, I can dream can't I?

[rfichard locicero]

Let me paraphrase Dighby and review the bidding:

The Majority Leader of the House is indicted for violations of Texas Campaign Finance Laws.

The Majority Leader of the Senate is under investigation by the SEC for possible Insider Trading Violations.

Jack Abramoff, a close associate of Tom Delay, Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist has been indicted and other investigations are pending.

Two more Abramoff associates have been indicted for the murder of an activist in the Northern Marianas. They are mob related. Abramoff represented clients in the N.M. that ran sweatshops, houses of prostitution for "Sex Tourists" and forced women workers to have abortions. When a bill was proposed to curb this Tom Delay squelched it and said later at (What else?) a fundraiser that the "Northern Marianas were doing what we Republicans want to being to the US."

Karl Rove and Scooter Libby face possible indictments in the Plame Affair. We'll know soon.

The former head of the OMB Procurement Office hasa been indicted for perjury in an investigation of irregularities there.

Well at least they didn't get blow jobs and lie about it!

I'll leave it you, Marc, to place the odds on these guys becoming guests of the state. But I would like to thank the GOP for restoring Honor and Decency to Washington.

On a serious note I saw Pat Buchanan on MSNBC today and he made a very good point. Given a President in deep political trouble, a "Culture of Corruption", and the usual 6th year losses for the in party, if the Democrats don't do well , very well, in 2006 then there is something very wrong with them. I think he's right and I expect that anything short of winning back at least one house would be disappointing. Note that I didn't even talk about GOP scandals in Ohio and Kentucky. So this is a big chance and how they take advantage of it will say a lot about us as a country withj a functioning democracy.

[Robert Fiore]

Well, if Kang's a crook you have to vote for Kodos, don't you?

[Michael Crosby]

Not sure I have anything of moment to say, but, just this once, let me express my feelings about Tom DeLay's current plight: "Yeeeaahhh...Yeeeaayy....Hurray!" About f-n' time, don't you think?

I remember when the Clinton impeachment was fired up, there were strong but unattributed rumors that DeLay was threatening the 20 or 25 Republicans not lined up for impeachment with the promise that he and the religious right would run their candidates against each of them in the Republican primaries if they didn't vote to impeach. My congressman, Repub Brian Bilbray, switched his position within the next couple of weeks and denounced Clinton. I wrote him a couple of letters, including some fairly tightly-drafted questions about his contacts with DeLay, their discussions, etc.

After he ignored my letters for a while, I got a call out of nowhere from Bilbray, in which he denied receiving any pressure of any kind whatsoever, nossir, from Congressman DeLay. To his credit, Bilbray fairly spat out the name "DeLay." He kept pressing me to state that I accepted his "word of honor" that his was a change of position born of conviction. I told Bilbray I had no hard evidence to the contrary, and I thought he was an honorable man, that it certainly seemed unlikely that his version was factual, but unless and until I had evidence to the contrary, I would take him at his word. Of course I didn't believe him, and couldn't for the life of me figure out why he cared what I thought. Later, it occurred to me that if my speculation reached the press, even the Letters to the Editor page, that DeLay would have come down on Bilbray like a Ten Pound Hammer.

Such was DeLay's power in the late 90s, and it has only grown with the power of the Republican right. It's funny...the left has been after DeLay for his blatant abuses of power for years, but ever since the Congressional Terri Schiavo debacle, organized by DeLay, he has taken one direct punch after another, culminating (at least for now) in today's indictment.

[richard lo cicero]

Better than that Michael. Delay had a room with all the "evidence" showing that Clinton was a "rapist" and tried to get the Senators to look at it. When even GOP Senators treated it as toxic waste he helped lead the cry that the Senate was rushing to judgement without weighing the evidence. Funny the House Judiciary Committee had no trouble doing that.

As I said above, aren't you glad the Repubs restored honor to DC?

[Woody]

Do you believe that the Democratic D.A.'s motivation is about enforcing the law? This is simply a great way to reach into the pockets of unwilling taxpayers to take "contributions" for the Democrats' partisan investigation, prosecution, and trial--simply for political purposes and on such flimsy charges, when so many larger crimes could have been used--if they were actually real. Isn't it ironic that the Democrats act dishonorably to bring down someone whom they accuse of being dishonorable? To many, that makes them worse than the person they accuse.

[Abbas-Ali Abadani]

Jim Rockford: "Ronnie Earl is from Austin. Texas's Berkeley. He indicted Kay Bailey Hutchinson and THAT one failed too, big time as Cheney would say."

What can one say when one sees a spaniel repeatedly get kicked, and then sees that same spaniel react the same way every time. Rolling over on its back to let the kicker tickle its stomach.

Sit boy, sit. Good boy.

Now fetch.

[reg]

Sorry to see you've stuck your heat back up the usual place, Woody.

Houston Chronicle, 6/17/05: "During his long tenure, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has prosecuted many more Democratic officials than Republicans. The record does not support allegations that Earle is prone to partisan witch hunts."

You're stuck defending a corrupt, incompetent GOP regime that's run our country into a ditch and is slowly coming apart at the seams. How bad does it have to get before you put America before partisan bullshit ?

[reg]

that was "head" obviously, not "heat"

[Woody]

reg, I'm not defending Delay; and, I don't know the extent of his "crimes," since most of the attacks against him seem a little hysterical, unsubtantiated, or about perfectly legal but unpopular actions It does seem that the charges against him in this case are very flimsy. I really haven't kept up with him and I am not attempting to defend him.

However, let's look at the D.A., Ronnie Earle. You can't go by the numbers of Democrats that he has pursued versus the number of Republicans to gauge his partisanship. First, that's not fair, as Democrats commit many more crimes. Secondly, the Democrats he attacks are typically conservative or political enemies for whom he seeks revenge. Earle is not doing the job for which the public pays him, but he takes their money to work for his political party. He is not honorable. Doesn't that bother you or anyone else? Is it right to say that the ends justify the means?

Knowing how much you like this columnist, let me refer you to this neutral analysis:
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003628.htm

I'm gone for the night, but I'm sure you'll come back and agree with me.

[reg]

Woody, aside from the bullshit about "Dems commit more crimes", you should be ashamed to link to Michelle Malkin. She's a racist, hate-America slimeball who actually goes so far as to defend the incarceration of Japanese-American's in World War II for no reason other than their ethnic background. If German-Americans had been given the same treatment, my father would have been cooling his heels in an internment camp along with General Eisenhower. Why do you read the garbage spewed by fascists like Malkin and her Stepford-Sister, Ann Coulter ? (And I don't use the term fascist as hyperbole, but as a plain description of their anti-American politics.)

[Josh Legere]

This is GREAT! I love hearing Republicans sound like Clintonoids. Excuses excuses. Keep it up!

[rosedog]

"as Democrats commit many more crimes..." You were kidding, right Woody????

BTW, Michelle Malkin isn't just a fascist, she's a fascist skanky ho. (That's the correct technical term, reg. I looked it up.)

[Dan O]

Woody,

You taking that act out on the road soon?

[Rich]

"Earle is not doing the job for which the public pays him, but he takes their money to work for his political party."

Hmm, that reminds me of someone: Kenneth Starr, anyone? Woody, I think your (excellent) sense of humor is peeking through, because statements such as that I find hard to take seriously.

[reg]

"she's a fascist skanky ho"

Absolutely, but you know me...always the delicate one.

[reg]

Here's the incontravertible evidence that Ronnie Earle, based in Austin - the drug capitol of Texas, is a scumbag, Democrat hypocrite who's only beef with the Honorable Tom DeLay is partisan and/or a fundraising ploy.

“Over Earle’s 27-year tenure, his Public Integrity Unit has prosecuted 15 elected officials, including 12 Democrats.” [Los Angeles Times, 5/15/05]

“Some of the Democrats prosecuted by Earle and his Public Integrity Unit are former Texas House Speaker Gib Lewis, former Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox, former State Treasurer Warren Harding and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Yarbrough.” [AP, 12/12/04]

“Some of his top assistants have been with him for decades. A few have gone on to run for elected office as Republicans.” [Los Angeles Times, 5/15/05]

“Democrats, for their part, are still upset over the prosecution of Attorney General Jim Mattox for bribery in 1985. … He was acquitted and years later, Jim Marston, a civil lawyer in Austin and friend of Mr. Mattox, asked Earle why he went ahead with the questionable case. “I said, ‘Ronnie, how can it be an abuse of power to threaten a lawyer? We threaten each other all the time.’ He told me that elected officials are held to a higher standard. They are supposed to be [above suspicion] like Caesar’s wife.’ It was then that Mr. Marston realized how deep Earle’s principles run. ‘Ronnie Earle is a Boy Scout who is offended by wrongdoings, chief among them, public officials’ abuse of power.’ [Christian Science Monitor, 12/03/04]

“Deliberate in the capital cases he sends to juries, Earle is well known for examining an issue from all angles before acting. ‘If I have any complaint about Ronnie, it’s that he is overly cautious about who he prosecutes,’ says Marston. ‘The fact that it has taken two years to investigate Tom DeLay is a sign not of partisanship, but of being completely careful.’” [Christian Science Monitor, 12/03/04]

“[T]o those who know him, Earle has always exhibited a strong moral streak - from his formative years growing up in a small town outside Fort Worth, to his time on the Austin night court, to his political service in the state legislature. But they contend his morality is tempered by his compassion. ‘Ronnie is very principled and will do the right thing even if it isn’t the smartest political thing to do,’ says Ellen Halbert, a victim’s rights advocate.” [Christian Science Monitor, 12/03/04]

“‘One of the things I admired most about Ronnie was his indefatigable ability to go and meet with groups all over town all the time–right-wing groups, left-wing groups, the Rotary,’ says Bill Reid, an attorney who retired from Earle’s office in 1997. ‘He’s not a bloodthirsty prosecutor who wanted to get notches on his gun. There are some who have a reputation for walking close to the line in terms of evidence and rights, but there was never a push or inclination from him that we ought to bend the rules. Working for him, I was doing what I wanted to do, and I could go home and sleep at night.’” [Los Angeles Times, 5/15/05]

(from "Think Progress")

[John Dicker]

Has anyone seen the Delay mug the NY Times is running? I probably shouldn't gloat, but it's Hammer Boy busting this indignant grimace like theaschoolyard bully who just found his undies flying on the flagpole.

javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/09/28/national/29delay.1.ready.html',%20'29delay_1_ready',%20'width=344,height=390,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes')

enjoy.

[Michael Turner]

rosedog, lexicographically: "Michelle Malkin isn't just a fascist, she's a fascist skanky ho."

Rosedog! Why do you hate the northen landmass?

http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=19396

No, but really, I think Rockford was being facetious about the objectivity of the indicated source, and besides, what's going on at Malkin really is like having X-ray vision onto Tom Delay as a fuzzy, ambiguous tumor from in the minds of Bush loyalists. Some are getting off the bus, daily, even as they hasten to add, clutching their crumpled transfer coupons, that the prosecutor is scum.

Uh-oh, I mixed metaphors again.

I don't really care what they think, though, as long as he gets fed to the giant K'Huala beasts that roam the northern plains of our landmass.

[Randy Paul]

"so too will Pelosi who faces the same kind of charges"

You need a geography lesson, Rockford. Delay was brought up on charges in the state of Texas. Pelosi represents California.

Some of us prefer to think of Austin as Texas’s West Berlin: A small beacon of freedom and sanity in the midst of madness.

BTW, I know plenty about Texas as well, having spent extensive time in El Paso, Big Bend, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Austin, Houston, Tyler, Amarillo, Pampa, San Antonio, Killeen, Laredo and Brownsville.

Reg: what you said about Michelle Malkin. She's execrable.

[richard lo cicero]

It must be hell for Woody and Rockford right now. I sympathize with them as the reality based community rises and bites them in the ass. Dems more corrupt than the GOP? Evidence? Fact is the majority leaders of both Houses of Congress are being investigated and one has been indicted. And for Delay the troubles are just beginning. He is the subject of several other probes. Nancy Pelosi has the same troubles? Oh, really? Just what are those troubles? What DA is after her with a Grand Jury? What Federal AUSA is looking into her activities? The WH OMB Procurement director was indicted. Do you see a pattern here?

Guys you're just going to have to stop depending on GOP talking points for your arguments. And stop listening to Rush. He's got problems of his own.

[burritomama]

Made me laugh - thanks.

[Julia Stein]

Rocford et al. starts discussing the Dealy indictment by saying the D.A. "Ronnie Earl is from Austin. Texas's Berkeley. He indicted Kay Bailey Hutchinson and THAT one failed too, big time as Cheney would say."

Rockford is using both an ad hominem attack on Ronnie Earl and a red herring--both logical fallacies. It's irrelevant if Ronnie Earl the D.A. is from the moon.

Ronnie Earl's record is not at issue. The indictment is against Delay. Delay
is the issue--his record is what needs to be discussed. Rockford uses a red herring (Repubicucans have used this for long long time) to attack the person who criticizes so people won't discuss Delay.

I think that the Bush presidency oozes
corruption. We're only seeing the
begininng of indictments of corrupt Bush men. Of course, Delay is corrupt.
Of course, Delay should lose his job in the House. Of course, Bush filled
the top positions at FEMA with his
incompentent political hacks like
Michael Brown who, by the way, is
still getting a salary as a consultant
for FEMA. Now that's corrupt to me.

The current outrageous Bush corruption
is giving no-bid contracts to rebuild
New Orleans to Bush corporate cronies.

[Michael Crosby]

Maybe what is most important in the long-run is to recognize whose baseball bat DeLay was wielding for the last dozen years. He is James Dobson and Ralph Reed's fiercer face...the enforcer for the religious right. Where all those smooth-talking preachers stopped, DeLay began. When the threat of eternal damnation--or at least absence for the Rapture--didn't keep the faithful congressmen in line, DeLay stepped in. And, like his constituency in the fundamentalist pulpits, he believed (or has acted as if he believes) that all opponents are evil and all is fair in political war.

In the process of taking on The Hammer, we must be clear in identifying who is doing the swinging. Long after DeLay is gone, the honey-voiced betrayers of Christian values will remain in the game.

[Chesty Puller]

I'm no fan of DeLay, he plays a little to fast and loose with truth. Kinda like HRC and JK. And numerous democrats come to think of it. On the other hand, he is automatically guilty in most of the above yardbirds opinion only because he is on the opposite side.

Those of you who have just launched ad hominem's on Delay and Malkin are the first to squeal when the tables are turned and some rightwinger slaps you upside the jaw with an adhominem. And don't say you don't because I've seen ya do it.

DeLay may be guilty, a jury will decide unless Ronnie decides to drop everything in the middle of trial because his fear tactics didn't work. Just like he did with Hutchinson. Course, those of us from Texas knows in our hearts that Ronnie and Jim-boy are cut from the same cloth. The rest of you yardbirds can whoop it up now, how many of you will craw-dad when Ronnie blows it? And Ronnie will blow it, he allus does.