Hey Jane, sorry, I may have read it incorrectly. So mutual apologies all around.

Hear that sound? It’s corporations all over the country realizing that their “pay to play” contributions to Delay, Abramoff and co. may get them headlines of the “indicted co-conspirator” variety. Boards of Directors will begin to say no to any more payments to the pyramid scheme that is today’s GOP, and all those suits will start to rat out the group rather than spend extra time in jail a la Tyco execs. It may be that the GOP stranglehold on K Street will begin to crumble and then…well, I have no idea what to say after that because the Democrats are doing absolutely nothing useful at the moment to pick up the ball and run with it. Can you ever imagine Newt Gingrich staying silent to let the chips fall where they fall in a case like this? I swear, if Dems don’t pick up seats in the 2006 elections after Delay/Frist/Rove/Abramoff/etc., etc. (man, it really is an endless list, isn’t it?), then there is no hope. Here’s to Dems nationwide finding a spine and starting to use it.

Now, wouldn’t some Fitz indictments just cap off the month?

I wonder if the folks in DeLay’s neighborhood in SugarLand are going to tie yellow ribbons round the old oak tree. I must admit…yesterday was a good day to be in Texas…and as I live in DeLay’s district, it was especially delicious! Maybe Pat Robertson will go to bat for you on national TV and ask for a prayer….oh, I can only hope!

Yo Jane,
Now that the prick has been officially indicted for conspiracy, I’ve prepared a special Flash Animation Salute in celebration.

The animation can be viewed at
http://www.bruindesign.com

Enjoy!

John — I was referring to the CNN anchors, not you. I apologize if that as not clear. And as journalists (if that’s what they are) unless they have some indication that what DeLay is saying about Earle is true, they should not be carrying water for him.

I am not saying that anyone should turn off their critical faculty. Just the opposite. If DeLay has any proof Earle is a hack, let’s hear it. The fact that he went after DeLay in itself is not enough to qualify Earle as a hack. If there is no other evidence, then there is no reason to be questioning his motives every time his name comes up.

Derelict is correct–I watched much of the coverage on CNN and everyone was saying Earle was “obviously” partisan (including Charlie Cook and other hired talking heads) and hinting that his motives were suspicious. None pointed out that DeLay has ethical problems out the wahoo, or that Earle has clobbered more Dems than Reps.

John–I think she was referring to the White House waterboys at CNN, who can’t make even slight mention of the story without using the phrase “Democrat prosecutor, Ronnie Earle…”

THAT is more than bias–that’s outright propaganda. And CNN wonders why its ratings are not just in the toilet, but halfway to the septic field.

Who’s flinging dirt Jane?

I’m completely agnostic as to the substance of these charges. But it’s pretty dang blinkered of you to assume that Ronnie Earle is necessarily free of political motivation just as its for Republicans to write off everything he alleges as politically motivated.

Ultimately this is a criminal case and De Lay’s fate will be decided in a trial. No matter what happens in that trial, no court will ever consider Ronnie Earle’s motivations — that’s up for the public and the voters of Travis County to ascertain for themselves. And it says something about Earle’s reputation that in an increasingly Republican state he keeps being re-elected.

Your eagerness for Earle’s prosection is understandable considering your political persuasion. But to call for everyone to turn off their critical facilities when it comes to considering the actions of anyone — Earle, Patrick Fitzgerald and every Republican you can name — is foolhearty. If Earle is the man you say he is, he can withstand the scrutiny.

I don’t give a shit what happens to Tom De Lay. But I do give a very big shit as to the direction of our political culture. And if Earle’s prosecutions are politically motivated — and I don’t know that they are or have any substantive reason to believe they are — I imagine an ugly future where political conflicts are comingled with prosecutions from both sides.

And, damn it Jane, I resent being accused of flinging dirt in any direction or doing it on behalf of anyone.

Tom DeLay is so crooked he has to screw his pants on in the morning. Why should Ronnie Earle be presumed to be a partisan hack just because Tom DeLay says he is? He has put more Democrats behind bars than Republicans. There is no evidence that he is anything other than a dedicated public servant, and one mention of the fact that he is a registered Democrat would be enough, if it also reflects the fact that nothing in his track record indicates that this has biased him over the years.

No I am most serious about that comment. If you don’t have proof he’s not honest and hard working, stop flinging dirt on behalf of Hot Tub Tom.

Hold it… CNN shouldn’t mention that Ronnie Earle is a Democrat? That’s nonsense. And I’m assuming that your advice that they should identify him as a “dedicated public servant who could be pulling down beaucoups bucks in the private sector but who has settled for a humble life of doing the right thing…” is just intentionally silly.

I don’t have the slightest idea whether the charges against De Lay have any substance or what Mr. Earle’s agenda is. And I don’t regularly watch CNN (or Fox). But the assumption that this is beyond partisan politics is foolish. Just as the assumption that this is purely politically motivated would be. Journalists should be questioning the assertions of both sides, not cheerleading for Ronnie Earle or backstopping for Tom De Lay.

Ultimate my hope is that the charges against De Lay have some real heft. Because the last thing this country needs is for it’s political culture to degenerated into a fever swamp of trumped indictments against Republicans by Democratic prosecutors followed by vengeance prosecutions of Democrats by Republican prosecutors.

Wanda – I’m mighty sorry I haven’t been around much of anywhere since I’ve been back in LA. Give me ’till the end of October, I’ll be back in Oregon again and haunting everyone else’s sites again. Yes, you have been here since the beginning, and I really appreciate.

It’s about time.

Meanwhile. . .Drier’s Out Cause he’s In — and Blunt is In cause apparently he doesn’t have to come out.

Got that?

The Los Angeles Times magazine had a long profile on Ronnie Earle a few months back. Seems that the Democrats down in Texas aren’t too fond of him because *gasp* he’s not partisan enough.

He’s not as good looking as Patrick Fitzgerald though. :-)

Fuck the Rethug spin, that’s for politics junkies like us. Joe and Jane Average will see the headline “GOP Leader DeLay indicted” on their Yahoo! news ticker and that’ll be about as far as they’ll dig in to it.

DARN IT!!!!!!!

This is the person who accidentally posted as “younameit” above. That worthless “autofill” feature put the wrong name and URL on both of my posts, and I didn’t see it until I had already posted both of them.

The “younameit” site is not worth your time. The “Homepage” link on this post is the relevant one (although it is terribly out of date).

I don’t mean to be a pest, but: CNN reporter Joe Johns just now revealed (seemingly reluctantly since he was one of the “babblers” I noted in my previous message) that Ronnie Earle has prosecuted twelve republicans and only three democrats. He qualified it by saying that the republican targets have been more high profile, as if that still indicates a bias on Earle’s part.

Wow! The walls of denial and misinformation in the mainstream media seem to be crumbling ever so slowly. I suspect that the truth is breeching those walls more than CNN is allowing them to come down.

OK, that’s enough out of me for a while. :-)

I may not have been around since the start but I’ve been loyal since the day I discovered this island of sanity and brilliance! That counts for something right? In FACT I visit you regularly even if you rarely come aknockin` on my door (which is okay, I know you have VERY important stuff to do, like keeping us up to date on these grand jury things).
By the way, regarding DeLay’s slightly ‘delayed’ indictment, party at YOUR house, BYOB!!!!

Let me begin by saying that you have an excellent blog. I’m very glad I found it.

This morning, I was commenting on your “Bear Me, Mama” entry of 9/21/05 (please check out the web link in that message). At that moment, the news broke on CNN that DeLay had been indicted, so I concluded my note by adding:

“Irresistible sidetrack: As I write this, CNN has just reported that Tom DeLay has been indicted on one count of “criminal conspiracy.” Even though one count isn’t nearly enough to assure certain imprisonment, I still say, Yay! Of course, the two CNN babbling heads mindlessly (yet intentionally) spouted the propaganda that prosecutor Ronnie Earle is nothing more than a democrat who has political motives for doing his job. Real reporters would do their job to find out if the propaganda is true or not, not just parrot partisan accusations in a tone that implies they don’t disagree with them. These whitewashing reporters sicken me. According to a report last winter on PBS’s “Now” (with Bill Moyers), Earle has prosecuted his share of democrats, too. The lazy GOP apologists in the mainstream media could put a low-level, low-pay grunt on the job to find out Earle’s record, but that might produce evidence that they don’t want to know.” END QUOTE

I was certain that Earle had prosecuted more democrats than republicans, but I couldn’t remember for sure, so I played it safe. After posting my message, I was amazed to hear Chris Matthews (a frequent sell-out to the GOP) state on MSNBC that only “three” of Ronnie Earle’s “15″ political prosectutions, were aimed at republicans. The rest were aimed at democrats (I see it also mentioned by other people on this comment board). He was forced to admit this because it had just been revealed in a live interview with Mr. Earle (or so it was implied). Matthews and his biased guests had just been accusing Earle of targeting republicans far more than he targeted democrats. The truth must have been painful to hear. Of course, Pat Buchanan, true to form, ignored what he had just heard and kept on calling Earle a democratic partisan who does nothing but attack republicans. Matthews, regaining his bias, allowed Buchanan to get away with it.

Guess the Republicans are sorry now…

…that they repealed the DeLay Rule that would have let him keep serving as Majority Leader until after he was convicted, sentenced, had exhausted all possible appeals, and had spent more than 15 months in custody.

The List:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay: Indicted
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist: Under investigation by the SEC and the U.S. Attorney for the South District of New York (St. Rudy’s old post) for insider trading.
Republican power-lobbyist Jack Abramoff: Under indictment for fraudulent dealings in Florida, and now connected to a mob hit on a former business associate. Abramoff’s web of connections in the Republican power elite includes every White House figure up to and including Bush himself–and Abramoff’s plant in GSA (Safavian) was just indicted on corruption charges that reach into the House and Senate as well as the White House.
Karl Rove, Libby Scooter, et al: Under investigation in connection with the Plame case. Going by published statements of Rove and other participants, it looks like both Rove and Libby are on the hook for perjury charges.
John Ashcroft: Under investigation for his role in the preliminary Plame investigation. Also under investigation for his role in quashing pending prosecution of Jack Abramoff for corruption in Guam.

The web reaches far and wide. We could soon see the entire Republican establishment either indicted, on trial, or serving jail time.

Wheeeeeee! Time to pop the champagne corks! C’mon people, let’s PARTY!

My mistake. It wasn’t 11 AND 15. It was 11 OUT OF 15 indictments were Democrats.

Refs: Houston Chronicle and El Paso Times

Ronnie Earle has gotten other indictments of politicians in the past. 15 have been Democrats and 11 have been Republicans (prior to Delay). Since this is not new information and was written up in the Houston Chronicle in 2003 and the El Paso Times in 2004, maybe there is something dishonest in the CNN reports that keep trying to paint him as partisan.

You think?

hey, am i one of the 10?

i have, thanks to the research by pontificator of dkos, written a nasty letter (posted on my blog here) accusing msnbc of partisanship by neglecting to point out that democrat ronnie earle has indicted more democrats in his career than republicans.

Oh happy day, oh happy day! Hopefully it is the first in a long line of indictments to come!
And Jane, I think you miscalculated the number of people here from the beginning. Never underestimate the legions of lurkers who were too awed by your astounding combination of beauty and wit to muster a comment for months (such as myself).
Tom Delay… indicted… never thought I’d see the day. Certainly makes it a little easier to get through the rest of this “Hump Day”!