Bye-Bye for Now

Tom DeLay has stepped aside for the moment as House majority leader, because he's under indictment for misuse of political donations. His attorney referred to the indictment as "skunky," isn't that cute?

DeLay set up a PAC to promote Republican candidates in Texas. Donations to PACs may not legally be used for individual political campaigns, but some of this PACs money found its way to individual candidates somehow or other.

Once the Republicans, apparently using those illegal contributions, gained a majority in the Texas legislature, Mr. DeLay worked with them to redraw the district lines in the state to make sure the Republicans would keep their majority for good. Isn't that cute?

That's the subject of the indictment. I remember reading somewhere about evidence suggesting that Mr. DeLay's charitable organization, ostensibly put together to help orphans, somehow got into the business of paying for Mr. DeLay to take his big contributors golfing. And that's not to mention his good buddy Jack Abramoff, who apparently gave him lots of money to go golfing down in the Bahamas or something and then received his vote on legislation that benefitted him. Say it with me:

CON-FLICT OF IN-TE-REST.

And Mr. DeLay's response to all this? "I have done nothing wrong. I have violated no law, no regulation, no rule of the house."

Well, maybe not. At the very least, though, he ought to watch who he hangs out with.


Benshlomo says, I smell a skunk.