Couldn't have happened to a nicer bigger son of a bitch:
A Travis County grand jury today indicted U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land on a single count of felony criminal conspiracy involving an exchange of money that made corporate cash available to Republican Texas House candidates in 2002.
"I have done nothing wrong ... I am innocent," DeLay told a Capitol Hill news conference in which he repeatedly criticized the prosecutor, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle. DeLay called Earle a "unabashed partisan zealot," and "fanatic," and described the charges as "one of the weakest and most baseless indictments in American history."
In Austin, Earle told reporters, "Our job is to prosecute abuses of power and to bring those abuses to the public." He has noted previously that he has prosecuted many Democrats in the past.
I think it was a Molly Ivins column that mentioned being indicted for conspiracy to break campaign finance laws in a state with virtually no campaign finance laws to begin with was no mean feat.
That Tom Delay is a rotten bastard who would gut his own grandmother with a steak knife if it meant another couple thou for the war chest is not news to those of us who live in Texas. Still, an indictment (while relatively easy to obtain) is a big first step towards finally prying him out of office.
As for conviction and/or sentencing, I'll believe it when it happens. And for everyone crowing about how this signals the end of the Republican party as we know it, the Big Cheese is already distancing himself from the situation:
"Congressman DeLay is a good ally, a leader who we have worked closely with to get things done for the American people. I think the president's view is that we need to let the legal process work." — White House press secretary Scott McClellan.
Would a "You're doing a heckuva job, Tommie" really have been that hard?
Oh please! Do either of you really think our voices can be heard? I'm convinced they can't. Ironically, that just makes me want to scream it. Louder, and louder, even.
What Scott McClellan *really* said: "Cut the bastard's head off. Bush hates his ever-lovin' guts."
'Tis a sweet time indeed. The loss of power will be more a blow to old Tom than any prison sentence.
"You're doing a heckuva job, Tommie" I think Shrub probably has a better nickname in use for Delay -- Hammer, Bugs, ratkiller, baseboard bandit, cockroach -- than just plain ole Tommy
Again with the Queen refs! Good thing I also grew up tall and proud in the shadow of the mushroom cloud.