BEST, ABSOLUTE BEST PROGRAM ON TV IS THE ANCIENT ALIENS SERIES ON HISTORY CHANNEL

THIS SERIES IS THE VERY BEST SHOW ON TV NOW OR EVER. I AM AGAIN A GIGANTIC HISTORY CHANNEL FAN AND SUPPORTER FOR THIS SHOW ALONE!

DeLay to Announce Resignation From House

"By DAVID ESPO AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON Apr 4, 2006 (AP)— Succumbing to scandal, former Majority Leader Tom Delay intends to resign from Congress within weeks, closing out a career that blended unflinching conservatism with a bare-knuckled political style.

DeLay is scheduled to appear on Fox News Channel "
From http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1803255
============SNIP================
It's about time!

Prosecutors will seek to reinstate charges against Tom Delay

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060321-1929-delayindictment.html

"AUSTIN, Texas – Prosecutors will try to persuade a Texas appeals court Wednesday to reinstate some of the criminal charges against Rep. Tom DeLay, who is trying to win re-election to Congress while under indictment.
In December, a judge threw out some of the conspiracy and money laundering charges against the former House majority leader, saying the conspiracy law DeLay allegedly violated did not exist at the time.

Prosecutors say that it did. Both sides will argue their cases before the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals.

DeLay, who will not attend the hearing, said charges shouldn't be restored and blamed the case on politics. He also said he's frustrated with the proceedings.

“It's been almost 120 days that this frivolous appeal has been before the 3rd Circuit,” DeLay said Tuesday in Houston. “I would hope that they would come to a speedy resolution on a matter that would, I think, take a first-year law student an hour to make a ruling on.”

Because of the dispute, no trial date has been set.

DeLay is accused of funneling illegal corporate donations to Republican candidates for the Texas House. The Republicans went on to win control of the Legislature in 2002 and pushed through a DeLay-engineered redistricting plan that helped Texas send more Republicans to Congress in 2004."

Former DeLay aide pleads guilty to conspiracy charge - 04/01/06 - The Detroit News

Former DeLay aide pleads guilty to conspiracy charge - 04/01/06 - The Detroit News
" Tony Rudy, DeLay's onetime deputy chief of staff, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to a single charge of conspiracy in connection with the scandal, admitting that he trafficked in cash, gifts and other favors both while working in the leadership office and after leaving government to lobby his old acquaintances for Abramoff and his clients.

The agreement by Rudy, 39, to cooperate with prosecutors follows a similar deal struck in November with DeLay's former press secretary. It indicates that the Justice Department's effort to tunnel deeper into the congressional bribery scandal that Abramoff ignited is making headway.

In particular, the Rudy plea signals further trouble for Ohio Republican Robert Ney, who was previously identified as being a recipient of Abramoff largesse and who is mentioned anew -- albeit anonymously -- in Rudy's agreement with prosecutors.

A lawyer for DeLay said Friday that he had supplied investigators looking into the scandal with more than 100 e-mails from DeLay's congressional office as well as other information. But the lawyer continued to assert that his client was innocent, and said that he had been told several months ago that DeLay was not a target of the investigation. Some of the information he supplied might have been used by prosecutors to force the former aides to the plea bargaining table.

"Tom DeLay has said for several months now that he has never taken an official position, never cast a vote, based on anything other than his strong, principled beliefs in Republican philosophy and conservative government," said his lawyer, Richard Cullen. "A clear reading of the legal documents today indicates that there's nothing in there that is inconsistent with that."

The Rudy plea agreement offers another window into how Abramoff became deeply invested in congressional staffers, although it largely repeats the pattern of questionable dealings that surfaced earlier, including documents laying out Abramoff's own agreement to plead guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges last January. In effect, Rudy admitted to being on the payroll of Abramoff even before he left government to work for the lobbyist at his once high-flying practice at the Washington, D.C., law and lobbying firm of Greenberg Traurig."

YEEEEEHAW- Reaction to DeLay Announcement

"Reaction to Rep. Tom DeLay's announcement Saturday that he will abandon his bid to reclaim his post as majority leader: "We respect Congressman DeLay's decision to put the interests of the American people, the House of Representatives and the Republican Party first." - White House spokeswoman Erin Healy. "For years, at the expense of the American people, the House Republicans have enabled and benefited from the Republican culture of corruption engineered by Tom DeLay. The culture of corruption is so pervasive in the Republican conference that a single person stepping down is not nearly enough to clean up the Republican Congress." - House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California. "My belief is that Tom will eventually be cleared and exonerated, and my hope is that our conference will one day again benefit from Tom's rare commitment to the principles of smaller government and freedom for which all Republicans fight." - Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, who is considered likely to seek the job of majority leader. "My good friend Tom DeLay has made a very difficult decision. ... It is my firm belief that he will beat these baseless charges and will continue to be a strong, effective and committed leader in our efforts to protect our country, limit the scope of government, and win the battle of ideas. ... I know Tom's legacy as one of the most effective Republican leaders in history is assured." - Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo, the GOP whip who temporarily has filled in for DeLay and is likely to run for the job. "I look forward to the democratic process of choosing a new majority leader who will ensure that integrity, honesty, and ethical accountability are central tenants of government operations in Washington." - Rep. Charlie Bass, R-N.H., one of the leaders of the effort to have a new election for majority leader. "We don't just need new leaders, we need a course correction. This is deeper than just who stands at the head of the party. We have created a system here ...that just breeds corruption. ... We just cannot continue with this trend." - Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who worked with Bass on pressing for a new election. "I applaud his decision. It's a good decision. When we return in January, I look forward to a newly elected leadership team." - Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. "
http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/01/07/ap2434640.html
==============SNIP==================
My reaction....YEEEEEEEEEEHAW! Time to break out those DDT sprayers and git back
to what you wuz born to do Tommy Boy...kill them cockroaches.

Well..the story has gone full circle. He flunked too bad to go to med school...and finally
fell into the bug killin' bidness..rose to the heights as the head of the feces pile they call the NeoCon jobs, and now..back to crawling in the dirt with the chiggers and silverfish.

Karma's a bitch ain't it Tommy!

AM - Saddam Hussein makes torture allegations

TONY EASTLEY: Saddam Hussein has accused his American captors of beating and torturing him while in detention.

Speaking at his trial in Baghdad, Saddam Hussein told the court that signs of torture could be seen all over his body.

The prosecution has ridiculed his claims, saying the former Iraqi leader was relatively well off, being held in a comfortable, air-conditioned room in a city where electricity supply is largely hit and miss.

Edmond Roy reports.

EDMOND ROY: After sitting quietly through several hours of testimony that included witnesses who said that Saddam Hussein's agents had tortured people by ripping off their skin, the former Iraqi leader launched into an extended outburst at the court.

He claimed that he had been tortured and beaten on every part of his body and that his seven co-defendants had been given the same treatment by American guards.

SADDAM HUSSEIN (translated): I would say yes, we were beaten up. We were beaten up by Americans and we were tortured. Every one of us. This man when he gets up he has to hold the railing because he was beaten up badly. He was beaten badly with rifle butts on his back.

EDMOND ROY: Chief Prosecutor Jaafar al-Mousawi said he would investigate the claims and added that if they were true, the former Iraqi leader would be transferred to the custody of Iraqi troops.

But the prosecution has dismissed the allegations with Christopher Reid of the US embassy in Baghdad describing them as absolutely bogus.

CHRISTOPHER REID: We heard Barzon al-Tikriti complaining about his treatment and saying the cigarettes I'm getting are terrible and I only get six a day, that kind of a complaint. So nowhere then was anything mentioned about being beaten or whatever.

So I think these are bogus claims, they're designed to ambush the court, and they're designed to really play on or play against some of the testimony that we've had in the case so far.

EDMOND ROY: A sentiment repeated in Washington by State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack.

SEAN MCCORMACK: I know of nothing that would substantiate such a claim. He's given to grandstanding in this trial. But where the focus should be is on the testimony of those people who were victimised.

EDMOND ROY: Among those witnesses was al-Haidari, who testified that seven of his brothers were executed by Saddam's soldiers and that their bodies have never been found.

He told the court that he and other residents of his village were taken to Baghdad and thrown into a prison where people were given electric shocks and regular beatings.

Saddam Hussein and seven of his co-defendants are on trial for the deaths of more than 140 Shiites following a 1982 assassination attempt against him in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad.

Two weeks ago, Saddam had called the court ''unjust'' and boycotted a session. Earlier this month, he had refused to attend a session saying the court could go to hell. This time, he appeared calm and paid close attention to the proceedings, even taking notes at times.

He could be hanged if found guilty by the court

Tom DeLay's House of Shame - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com

Tom DeLay's House of Shame
Congress has always had its share of extremists. But the DeLay era is the first time the fringe has ever been in charge.
NEWSWEEK ON AIR
Politics: Delay Indicted and Other GOP Woes
10/2/05: Jonathan Alter, NEWSWEEK Columnist, NBC analyst; and Stephen Hess, Research Professor of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University

• Audio clip | Complete show | Podcast

Related Stories | What's this?
• The Exterminator: Tom DeLay
• Clift: How DeLay Indictment Could Hurt GOP
• Clift: DeLay Woes Open a Door for the Dems
• The disassembly of Tom DeLay
• Reactions from Sugar Land

Most Popular
• Most Viewed • Top Rated • Most E-mailed

• Flying Blind
• The Price Of Loyalty
• Karl Rove: Last-Minute Evidence
• Sweetness and Fight
• Wind. Rain. More Wind. More Rain.
• Most viewed on MSNBC.com
• The Price Of Loyalty
• I Have Had to Learn To Live With Peace
• 'Solid, Strong, True'
• Pets in Peril
• Airline CEOs Know Something You Don't
• Most viewed on MSNBC.com
• The Price Of Loyalty
• 'Failure Is Not an Option'
• Sweetness and Fight
• 'Eleven Men And Sic 'Em'
• Most viewed on MSNBC.com

NATIONAL NEWS
• Flying Blind: Team Bush in Turmoil
• Cheney's Cheney
• CIA Probe: Why Reporters Need Protection
• Second Terms Often Tough for Presidents
• Alter: The Price of Loyalty Is Incompetence

• More National News

NEWSLETTER
Sign up for our Web-Exclusive Alert
• Click here to have the latest from Newsweek delivered to your inbox



Add RSS feed for this topic




Gulf Hurricanes Complete Coverage

• Photo Gallery: Hurricane Wilma's Wrath
• Audio: Battered Miami Still Lacks Power
• Lessons from a Deadly Season
• Another Reason to Digitize Records
• Portrait of the Poor: An Interactive
• Faces of Katrina: A Photo Essay

BLOG TALK
Read what bloggers are saying about this Newsweek article
82 blogs are discussing Tom DeLay's House of Shame right now. View All »





Search the Site






By Jonathan Alter
Newsweek
Oct. 10, 2005 issue - A decade ago, I paid a call on Tom DeLay in his ornate office in the Capitol. I had heard a rumor about him that I figured could not possibly be true. The rumor was that after the GOP took control of the House that year, DeLay had begun keeping a little black book with the names of Washington lobbyists who wanted to come see him. If the lobbyists were not Republicans and contributors to his power base, they didn't get into "the people's House." DeLay not only confirmed the story, he showed me the book. His time was limited, DeLay explained with a genial smile. Why should he open his door to people who were not on the team?

Thus began what historians will regard as the single most corrupt decade in the long and colorful history of the House of Representatives. Come on, you say. How about all those years when congressmen accepted cash in the House chamber and then staggered onto the floor drunk? Yes, special interests have bought off members of Congress at least since Daniel Webster took his seat while on the payroll of a bank. And yes, Congress over the years has seen dozens of sex scandals and dozens of members brought low by financial improprieties. But never before has the leadership of the House been hijacked by a small band of extremists bent on building a ruthless shakedown machine, lining the pockets of their richest constituents and rolling back popular protections for ordinary people. These folks borrow like banana republics and spend like Tip O'Neill on speed.

I have no idea if DeLay has technically broken the law. What interests me is how this moderate, evenly divided nation came to be ruled on at least one side of Capitol Hill by a zealot. This is a man who calls the Environmental Protection Agency "the Gestapo of government" and favors repealing the Clean Air Act because "it's never been proven that air toxins are hazardous to people"; who insists repeatedly that judges on the other side of issues "need to be intimidated" and rejects the idea of a separation of church and state; who claims there are no parents trying to raise families on the minimum wage—that "fortunately, such families do not exist" (at least Newt Gingrich was intrigued by the challenges of poverty); who once said: "A woman can't take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure." I could go on all day. Congress has always had its share of extremists. But the DeLay era is the first time the fringe has ever been in charge.

The only comparison to DeLay Co. might be the Radical Republicans of the 1860s. But the 19th-century Radical Republican agenda was to integrate and remake the South. The 21st-century Radical Republican agenda is to enact the wish list of the tobacco and gun lobbies, repeal health and safety regulations and spend billions on shameless pork-barrel projects to keep the GOP at the trough. Another analogy is to Republican Speaker Joe Cannon, who ran the House with an iron fist a century ago. But Cannon had to contend with Progressive Republicans who eventually stripped him of his power. DeLay's ruling radical conservative claque remains united, at least for now.

Comparisons with fellow Texan Sam Rayburn fall short, too. Rayburn was respected on both sides of the aisle for his rock-solid integrity. He and most other House speakers carefully balanced their support for corporate interests like the oil depletion allowance with at least some sense of the public good. And they had to share much of their power with committee chairmen. Today, seniority is much less important. Chairmen are term-limited (six years) or tossed if they displease DeLay. And this crowd views "the public interest" as strictly for liberal pantywaists.

How have they succeeded? A new book, "Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy," by Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson, explains how the GOP is simply better than the Democratic Party at the basic blocking and tackling of politics, including the exploitation of cultural and religious issues. The authors argue that even if DeLay goes down, the zealotry and corporate shilling will continue as long as the GOP controls the House. Consider DeLay's temporary replacement, Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt. The Washington Post reported last week that Blunt is respected by Republican members in part because he has "strong ties to the Washington lobbying community." That's a qualification for office?

The only reason the House hasn't done even more damage is that the Senate often sands down the most noxious ideas, making the bills merely bad, not disastrous. What next for the House of Shame? If DeLay's acquitted, he'll be back in power. If he's convicted, his proteges will continue his work. Reform efforts by fiscal conservatives determined to curb their borrow-and-spend colleagues are probably doomed. The only way to get rid of the termites eating away the people's House is to stamp them out at the next election

DeLAY ARRESTED..MUGSHOT