So, since it seems the attempt to dismiss the whole thing out of court fizzled, DeLay’s lawyer decided to make the effort to dismiss the judge in the case against DeLay just because the Judge send some money to moveon.org several years ago.
Checking around I can confirm that the reply by Moveon.org is correct:
Well, in respectful tones I have to say to DeLay and his lawyer that they should know themselves in the biblical sense.
And that is going also to some media outlets that are reporting that MoveOn is selling the mugs and shirts without bothering to check and report if the lawyer was telling the truth. (This is more reprehensible if it is true what I saw in other sites that reported that the layer said that “I suggest you go to Moveon.org’s web site and read it for yourself. It’s something EVEN JOUNALISTS CAN UNDERSTAND.”
Well I do hope that even the journalists that use to grab the Republican pieces of propaganda as news to at least understand that DeLay has someone that is deficient in judgment and good sense* for a lawyer.
So a donation to a political party or advocacy group that has criticized you personally is grounds for disqualification? That would mean that if there are only Dem or Rep judges in Texas, that Delay is entitled to be tried by someone who isn’t a Dem, but a Rep, a lodge brother, so to speak? Doesn’t that put the people at the same disadvantage?
Now I suppose that if the judge in question had personally spoken out against Delay, that would be a better argument, but there is no evidence of that, just that he made a donation to a several million member organization that certainly has criticized Delay, even though they apparently didn’t do the criticism in question.
Doesn’t this mean that every defendant in any criminal case can be tried by a judge of his or her own party affiliation if the challenge is successful? Otherwise it would be a special privilege for electeds.
It’s clear that the only way DeLay can get a fair trial is if he can land a judge that donates to a respectable PAC. Time to dig through that mailing-list, Mr. DeGuerin.
On the radio today, someone made a good point. If Delay is so confident that he can win based on the merits of the case, how come all his PR is talking about is distractions to the case? Shouldn’t he be working the court of public opinion with the merits of the case, too?
Is there evidence that prosecutors actually offered a plea bargain, or is that just DeGuerin doing some public posturing for Delay (“I tried to get him to accept a minor charge he knew was false but he was so goddamned principled he’s going to fight for his innocence!”)?
If this is, in fact, a “partisan witch hunt,” then I find it hard to believe that the prosecutor would offer a deal.
At the beginning, I thought DeLay pulled something to make sure the slate with numbers and ID did not appear in the photo that is so typical of mug shots. But it seems that the use of it depends on the location where you are arrested.
Matthew McConaughey’s mug shot in Texas, for example:
As much as I despise everything Tom Delay stands for, and much of what he does, I’m presuming that he is innocent. But for what it’s worth, I think that Michael Jackson slept with and didn’t molest boys.
I was wondering if that was why he checked into Houston instead of his home county. The “avoiding reporters” story doesn’t ring true with someone like DeLay.
You know, once upon a time, Harriet Miers donated money to a group that wanted to outlaw abortion. But somehow, that’s not supposed to matter in her case.