For G.O.P., DeLay Indictment Adds to a Sea of Troubles

[papau]

"Conservative activists came to Washington to do good and stayed to do well,"

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/29/politics/29assess.html
September 29, 2005
For G.O.P., DeLay Indictment Adds to a Sea of Troubles
By ROBIN TONER
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 - <snip>Moreover, the string of ethical issues so close together - including the indictment and continuing investigation of the Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was close to Mr. DeLay, and the arrest of David H. Safavian, a former White House budget official who was charged with lying to investigators and obstructing a federal inquiry involving Mr. Abramoff - is a source of anxiety in Republican circles.
<snip>

At the same time, the White House is grappling with a criminal investigation into whether anyone leaked the name of a C.I.A. operative, an inquiry that has brought both Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's top political adviser, and I. Lewis Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, before a grand jury.

And the administration is struggling to steady itself after the slow response to Hurricane Katrina and defend itself against sweeping accusations of incompetence and cronyism in domestic security.
<snip>
Whether Democrats will be able to make that case is another question; they have internal problems of their own, notably their chronic problem in unifying around a clear message , a challenge the Republicans met with the Contract With America.
<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092802550.html

Per the Post's Murray/VandeHei - Blunt, even more than DeLay, has "created a formal alliance with K Street lobbyists, empowering corporate representatives and trade association executives to assist the House leadership in counting votes and negotiating amendments to bring holdouts into the fold


http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/washingtonstate/index.ssf?/base/politics-7/1127980443158381.xml&storylist=washington

"Even as DeLay professed his innocence and his lawyers said they hoped to avoid having him handcuffed, fingerprinted and photographed, potential for fresh controversy surfaced."

"Records on file with the Federal Election Commission show that Blunt's political action committee has paid roughly $88,000 in fees since 2003 to a consultant facing indictment in Texas in the same case as DeLay."

"Keri Ann Hayes, executive director of the Rely on Your Beliefs Fund, said officials of the organization have not discussed whether to end the relationship with the consultant, Jim Ellis, in light of his indictment."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-09-29-blunt-approach_x.htm

Blunt known for low-key approach
WASHINGTON (AP) — <snip>But Blunt has also been the target of ethics charges arising from his relationship with two lobbyists — his wife and his other son, Andrew.

In 2002, he helped secure an amendment into a spending bill for the Iraq war that benefited United Parcel Service and FedEx Corp. Andrew Blunt is a lobbyist for UPS in Jefferson City, Mo.

Rep. Blunt also tried to help tobacco giant Philip Morris in the 2002 homeland security bill by amending the measure to stop the smuggling of contraband cigarettes. At the same time, Blunt had a personal relationship with a lobbyist for the company, Abigail Perlman. Blunt divorced his wife of 35 years and married Perlman in 2003.

Blunt has denied any undue influence and says neither his son nor Perlman ever lobbied him on the issues.

[JohnWxy]

1. TRIP TO AN ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE

Politics.com USE THIS VERSION

A QUICK TRIP TO AN ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE

When I woke up yesterday morning while rubbing the cobwebs from my eyes I turned on the morning news to see what was happening. Then I heard it. Tom DeLay was being indicted for conspiracy to launder corporate contributions used for Texas Republican campaigns. I couldn’t believe it, Tom DeLay indicted! I must confess, I never thought it would happen. But I was in for more revelations.

I watched as the Tom spoke to newsmen. He stated that the Texas District Attorney who filed the indictment was a “fanatic,” that this indictment was nothing more than a partisan campaign to get him and without legal merit. I watched the man as he flashed a cold smile and looked out with dead eyes.

Yes, I had heard it. Or at least I thought I heard it. This man who came to the halls of Congress inspired by his former calling as an exterminator would proceed to achieve a level of callousness never before seen in Washington and who would distinguish himself as the master of the politics of coercion and intimidation. This is the man who had just called a Texas District Attorney a “fanatic” and his indictment nothing but a “partisan action.” Arriving in a deliberative body where the techniques of debate, negotiation and compromise were the standard of practice, Tom Delay had risen to Majority Leader with an approach to politics that it is war, that your opponents are the enemy and that taking no prisoners was the only rule of this war. <b>Tyrannosaurus Tom had brought madness to his methods and was respected as one would respect a Rotweiler stoked on amphetamines. </b> This was the man describing a Texas District Attorney as a fanatic. Did he also include all the members of the Grand Jury who voted for the indictment in this surreal remark? Did he regard the members of the Grand Jury, not chosen by political persuasion, as fanatics?

I began to think perhaps I was dreaming. Or maybe, last night as I slept, I somehow had been swept off to an alternative universe, an inverse world where “UP” was “DOWN,” “Right“ was “Left” and Resolute Evil had transformed itself into sweet Benignity. I checked the television again to watch The Tom, half suspecting words to flow forth in backwards order from his mouth. <b> Perhaps he would begin speaking in a new language he invented on the spot following his own rules of grammar, logic and meaning. I fully expected he would put the newsmen into a trance-like state in thrall to his Magical Malignity as the Neo-Cons had so successfully done with the media in general. </b>

I anxiously checked my watch to see if the second hand was sweeping backwards around the watch dial. It was not! I looked outside to see if cars on the street were rocketing into the air in repeal of the law of gravity. They were not! Relieved, I was convinced I was still in my old familiar world where Right remained right and Wrong was still unconscionable.

So what was going on? How could Tom the Terrible be saying with such smooth equanimity that “he had done nothing illegal”? Then I thought, was it possible that Mr. DeLay really did NOT realize that what he had done was wrong? Was it possible he truly did not believe he had done anything wrong? It began to dawn on me that what we have in Mr. DeLay is the classic sociopath. The Sociopath does not regard anything he does as wrong. He is incapable of recognizing Wrong. Wrong just does not exist in the mind if a sociopath.

If this is indeed the case, and I suspect it is, we have a real problem in The Tom. Because a sociopath is capable of doing anything without any sense of guilt. Guilt is an unknown sentiment to the sociopath. “Wrong” as a concept does not exist to the sociopath. Thus, a sociopath can lie with the greatest of ease. Because he doens't even think he is lying! Now, this is not a good thing. Tyrranosaurus Tom is one of the most powerful people in the U.S., after Dick Cheney (but before Ken Lay).

Then I laughed at myself. I realized I had to be dreaming. I mean, Tom DeLay, the Master of Menace, would make sure he was never even indicted. He wouldn’t let himself be indicted any more than Jeb Bush would let his state go to Al Gore or John Kerry (no matter what the vote was!). No more than Katherine Harris would let a real vote count be taken. Hee-hee-hee. Silly me. I was still asleep, still dreaming.

So I shut off my dream tv and just went back to sleep. I knew I would wake up in Bushland tomorrow. Where all is well with the rich and powerful and control remains with THE PARTY.

[Edward Copeland]

2. And look -- friendly Fox News paid DeLay's way to their studios

to the tune of $14,000 -- after he was indicted.

http://edwardcopeland.blogspot.com/2006/01/story-that-tags-delay-and-fox-news-in.html

[NativeTexan]

3. They CAME, They SAW.......

......THEY F**KED IT ALL UP!!!