Tom DeLay Is Going to Bite It!

The BBQ Pit
1

What’s wrong, Lassie? What is it? Is it Tom DeLay? Has he fallen down a well, while screwing the pooch? Has that political pustule finally pushed his luck a little too far? Is it time to put on our gloating shoes, and our schadenfruedian slip!

Those of you without short term memory issues may remember a conversation we were having, about whether or not the Bushiviks were in any kind of serious trouble. And I said watch Tom DeLay, he’s got a bit of trouble brewing.

Congresscritters are a feral breed, pack hunting and savage. If they smell that the future belongs to the Bushiviks, they will continue to cringe before Tom DeLay (R-Undead). But if they smell blood in the water, they will turn him on, and rend asunder.

(You might not remember all of this, you might just remember the feeling of being profoundly impressed by my sagacity, probity, and insight. Perfectly understandable.)

Well, looks like Ol’ Tom has dangled his Nixon in the piranha pool, one time too many.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43219-2004Jul11.html

"In May 2001, Enron’s top lobbyists in Washington advised the company chairman that then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was pressing for a $100,000 contribution to his political action committee, in addition to the $250,000 the company had already pledged to the Republican Party that year.

DeLay requested that the new donation come from “a combination of corporate and personal money from Enron’s executives,” with the understanding that it would be partly spent on “the redistricting effort in Texas,” said the e-mail to Kenneth L. Lay from lobbyists Rick Shapiro and Linda Robertson…"

“…The e-mail, which surfaced in a subsequent federal probe of Houston-based Enron, is one of at least a dozen documents obtained by The Washington Post that show DeLay and his associates directed money from corporations and Washington lobbyists to Republican campaign coffers in Texas in 2001 and 2002 as part of a plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts…”

Can’t do that, Tom, even in Texas, there are limits. Not many, but there are some.

[Kingston Trio]
Hang down your head Tom De-Lay
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head Tom De-Lay
Poor boy, you’re bound to bite it…"

OK, a bit much, but this is such a hoot!

See, before looked like he could brazen it out, since four of the members of the Ethics Committee are beholden to him…

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/2674446

"Four of the five Republicans investigating an ethics complaint against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay have received campaign contributions from DeLay’s political action committee, records show.

The contributions – $28,504 split among the four during the past seven years – were all delivered before the ethics committee received the DeLay complaint June 15. But it is an example of awkward situations spawned by the U.S. House’s decision to police itself on ethics…"

“Awkward” is such a good word for that context, don’t you think?

So, you have a paper trail of money donated by civic-minded corporados in furtherance of Mr. DeLays efforts to restore virtue and honor to Texas politics (though perhaps “restore” isn’t quite the word…) Which is expressly forbidden under Texas campaign finance laws. Receipts. Fingerprints. las pistolas del smokado

And to top it all off, like a poisoned maraschino cherry atop a turd sundae…it was Enron money! Kenny Boy and His Merry Band of Creative Entrepreneurs!

So now we’ll see. If the band of craven and corrupt political whores sniffs the wind, and senses that the Bushiviks coat-tails might not be the most advantageous position, they will chop him into Congressional chum so fast he won’t know what hit him. They will vote him off the island, they will feed him to the wolves, they will put him on hold.

Conversely, if they think that the real clout, and their main chance, lies with the Jacobite Republicans, they will diddle, they will dawdle, hem and haw. They will form committees to investigate the prospect of a possible maybe, with a report due out no later than 2007.

I think he’s toast. Like minded persons (you know who you are) are invited in for a good cold cup of gloat. Ol Tom’s about to be cored and buggered, Turkish style, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!

2

:d

3

Well, sheeit. That was supposed to be :smiley:

4

Speaking as a relative Conservative, I hope that, if this plays out to be true, he gets horse-whipped and tied to an anthill covered with honey. But let’s just wait a few before we light the BBQ in celebration. Worse than DeLay have gotten away with more, punishment-free.

5

We can hope.

As a Texan, I will not soon forget that man’s actions to cement us into a neoconservative peonage that will only be broken when all men and women finally grow a freakin’ brain and quit staunchly voting for people who gleefully screw them sideways.

6

I guess the only question is whether he goes to a Club Fed prison or a pound-me-in-the-ass prison.

7

Good, DeLay needs to go, as well as Fienstien and any other that voted for executive action in Iraq.

8

I’m a few miles from his district. Chris Bell is my current rep (the guy who brought up the last round of ethics inquries, although he’s on his way out because of redistricting).

Even though I’m out of his district, even though I’m a cash-strapped student, I have good mind to write Richard Morrison a check for $50. It is tossing my money away, but a man can dream, no?

9

Well said. That is so very true. As I would word it, he will be punished if it turns out to be politically expedient to punish him. Of course, that is the case whether he did anything bad or not. The fact that he did simply makes it an easier sell. But keep in mind that it could go the other way. If he finds an expedient scape-goat or politically impotent group to blame, he will become even further entrenched in the ruling cabal.

10

Has a high level politician ever gone to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison?

11

Why would one (at least for the crimes politicians usually commit)?

From what I understand, prison assignments are based on the (expected) behaviour of the inmate. Tom DeLay probably isn’t going to be a violent inmate, and hence probably won’t go to a pound-me-in-the-ass prison, if he goes to prison at all (I doubt anything will come of this. A corrupt congressman? Who’dve thunk… :rolleyes: ).

I’m all for the horse-whipping, though. :wink:

12

I would be surprised if he was merely censured by the House during a weekday news cycle. Dennis Hastert owes everything to DeLay and is totally, totally beholden to him.

Sure it would be great to see him disgraced and hounded into the prison cell he richly deserves. But we should not hold our breath waiting for anything to happen to that blackhearted motherfucker; lest we turn blue, and die.

13

Which is entirely my point. Congressional whores are politicians, their instincts honed to survival. If they think the Bushiviks are in trouble, that they cannot be relied upon, or, perhaps more to the point, that they need not be feared, he will be squeezed and popped like the skrote pimple he is.

If, on the other hand, their instinct leads them to believe that the Bushiviks grip on power is secure and woe betide the one who crosses them, he will face a cursory inquiry and a stern talking to, the whole matter relegated to page A8, next to an article about the Agriculture Committee.

14

I highly doubt that 90-95% of the electorate can make any conscious connection between Bush and DeLay. Therefore the troubles of one have nothing to do with the other.

Meanwhile DeLay is the guy who’s locked up Texan congressional districts for Republicans for two or three generations down the road. That is real political currency which can be cashed - it’s not a case like Trent Lott’s, where he’s ultimately expendable and can be thrown under the next bus for any dumbshit statement he happens to make.

15

No, but if they can get their shit together, the Texas Democratic Party can make an awful lot of hay out of it.

Robin

16

Hmm, now what crimes do I need to commit to get sent to that prison?

17

I’m sure any number of dopers if not local Dupont area men would be glad to help you simulate that experience without actual incarceration and shivs being involved.

18

Most people’s eyes will glaze over when they, if they, try to read or figure what’s going on.

Could someone spell out what this is all about for someone (like, um, me) who doesn’t follow politics?
Is the gist that he bribed an ethics committee? Or something?

And, why would he get in trouble for it? (I mean, it sounds wrong, but compared with so many worse things that politicians have done where they barely got a slap on the wrist, why would anyone care? Isn’t it par for the course that politicians can do just about anything they want, ethics and honor be damned, and not have to worry about accountability?)

19

But advertising dollars can be spent to make that connection…

20

Marion Berry, former Mayor of Washington DC, served time in the Federal prison in Petersburg, VA. I can’t comment on his ass-pounding, as I was not there to witness it, but I suspect the opportunity presented itself more than once.