It’s a beautiful day here in Oregon, and a great day in America.
Tom DeLay, one of the biggest crooks in modern American history, has fallen. In order to appreciate the importance of this I want to link to a couple of articles I think have been really good at laying out the full extent of the criminal enterprise that has bilked this country for billions, of which DeLay was the architect.
Nicholas Confessore’s Washington Monthly article on the K Street project is a must-read for anyone fuzzy on the details about how the GOP gamed the lobbying business to fund its illegal enterprises by hoovering up every tax dollar in sight, and quite nearly got its hands on the "prize pig" of the Social Security trust fund. And Sarah Posner’s article in The American Prospect is a searing expose of how lobbyists like Barbara Comstock set up a clearing house for companies wanting to bilk the government in the wake of 9/11, capitalizing on Republican fear-mongering and making sure that copious amounts of cash made their way back into GOP coffers and insured the perpetuation of the system.
The result? The government bought a bunch of expensive, useless shit it didn’t need. DeLay and the GOP were very good at ripping off the nation but they left the country vulnerable, weakened and poor, ill-equipped to meet the challenges of a new century. National and economic security were the furthest thing from their minds. Every man, woman and child in America now carried $30,000 worth of government debt on their backs. And thousands have died in their expensive, futile, graft-laden war.
Tom DeLay has fallen today. He’s not in chains (yet) but he’ll soon be out of Congress off the House Appropriations Committee where he has stolen so much for so long. And the justice system has him in their sights.
It’s a great day in America.
(graphic by Dark Black)
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best summary yet
Jane, Great post, and thanks for the links to the overview articles. Just what we (and the press) need to put this in perspective.
Jane – The newspapers write up important obituaries in advance, ready to break out when the time comes. Maybe you should start working on Karl, Hadley, Rumsfeld, Cheney, and of course, the little man from Crawford.
Your DeLay obit is going to be hard to equal!
You mean that Ronnie Earle actually found a jury dumb enough to convict Delay without any evidence? Of course, that is Travis County.
Happy day, indeed. Good summation, Jane.
Troll go home.
Are you from Sugarland too, Tom?
I’d refute the troll, but he’ll just disbelieve, nay-say, and where the facts are incontrovertible, switch to sliming the messenger.
You are right Jane,it is a beautiful day here in the Pacific N.W..And it started out even better than I could have expected.Long have we waited for this house of cards to collapse.Today another layer has been tossed to the winds.A virtual tornado is coming to finish the job.If this is just a taste of what Fitzmas is going to be like, I can’t wait.
FitzEarle!
Thanks for the great summary, Jane – and thanks for FDL>
And when Delay starts his religious speaking tour, we need to be sure and
Forced Abortions & Sweatshops: A Look at Jack Abramoff’s Ties to the South Pacific Island of Saipan & How Tom DeLay Became An Advocate for Sweatshop Factory Owners
A great day, indeed. Still catching up after an afternoon of business meetings.
NorskeFlamethrower says: April 4th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
curious in central Texas says: April 4th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
I have a term that covers both ‘Fascism’ and ‘corruption’ (to differentiate from the ‘saintly Fascism’): Criminal Elite.
It could be an effective meme because it renders them down to the gangsters that they truly are…
~
#11 left out my LINK
Redd’s piece about Delay last night — that he’s calling it a night before his family is put in legal jeopardy is, I think, wrong, because it assumes genuine human feeling on his part, while from everything we can tell he (as Philip Roth said of Nixon) never had any form of desire for anything except money and political power. More likely he has seen that he needs to concentrate on getting $$$ for his defense before his considerable bilking skills are washed away ….
Jane: the Prospect article is a brilliant resource. Each of the paragraphs could keep lawyers and bloggers busy for months, tearing apart the deals. The Comstock load is, alone, priceless.
Now, that’s the kind of information, rather than just “Comstock: Bad” which needs to be used as the cudgel on these folks’ careers.
Keep up the good work.
From No. 82 on previous thread–DCCC: “The policies and stance on censure or impeachment of existing members of congress are none of our concern.”
That attitude infuriates me. I got a similar reply from the DCCC recently, although it was vague and did not mention censure. How can they expect to elect a majority to the House without considering candidates’ stands on issues? Don’t they give their candidates advice on how to campaign and win? And do they give funds to any Yahoo who decides to run as a Democrat, without evaluating his or her stands on issues? I find their stated policy lacking in credibility at best, and stupid if it’s true.
great summary.. great links.. great blog
Its a beautiful day in our neighborhood
OT: Anna Benson drops divorce petition:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/…..id=2396659
Yeah, baby. But I’m still waiting for the day when Rove gets his comeuppance. Then it truly will be a “Happy Day!”
Domino Effect…keep on truckin’!
GREATsynopsis jane, I will use it as a referance
also I noticed your links are opening in a new page, this is nice for me.
some people don’t like this, they call it “breaking the back button” so if it is possible you are probably better off giving the feature a user setting like they do on echaton
scribe — yes I’ve linked to that Comstock article many times before, I don’t think it can be promoted enough. It’s one of the best insights I’ve ever read into the architecture of the entire disgusting organized crime racket that is the GOP.
Delay is removing the opportunity of being used as the poster boy for electing democrats? I guess we can now say, you can’t put shit back in the elephant.
don’t know if this link works per preview – per Houston Chronicle, the land rush for Buggy’s seat looks like Filene’s basement – they all of course speak so highly of the courageous Congressman – as they trample his corpse !
not even sure Delay can withdraw, even if ineligible
Lampson hasn’t decided to run in Spec. Election yet
Special Election t/b held ‘next uniform election date” – in May
DeLay’s Bitch (Gov. Perry) picks the date
Who Picks Candidate for Spec. Election?
62 Member Tex. Republican Exec. Committee,
or
Goopers in 5 counties within District
linked text
Image caption: “But, but…I AM the Federal government”. Great job, ladies.
neurophius says:
April 4th, 2006 at 12:33 pm
Of course, I realize that censure is something that happens in the Senate, not in the House. But House members can express solidarity with Democrats in the Senate on that issue. They can also support Rep. John Conyers’ call for an investigation of whether impeachment is appropriate; that is a House issue.
Wonderful, direct summary. It’s been battered enough lately that I’m still not that sure that we have a working system of justice, but it’s nice to see some of the cogs are turning.
Good luck to the good guys, wherever and if they are, and it is a lovely day here in W. KY – after vicious storms the days before.
Maybe it’s been covered already – busy and haven’t caught up, but this brings to my mind a reminder that Abramoff got a real sweetheart of a deal in his Florida sentencing. I’m really beginning to wonder just how much ole Jack is truly giving up in his panicky stay-out-of-jail mode.
And/or – do ya suppose that after Rudy pled out, that Delay just received a target letter? I hadn’t heard anything in the air whatsoever prior to yesterday that Delay was even *considering* stepping down – anybody else?
Yeah it’s great that he is leaving but why in the hell did it take this long? I am just wondering how long it will take to excise the cancer that he has brought to politics in Washington. If the progressives can’t change the dynamic in November how much longer will the country spiral out of control?
Great post Jane.
Jane, the next time you get up through Portland and have some time, I’d be honored to buy you coffee, a drink, lunch, or whatever…
Hey Jane !
Congrats on the well deserved Koufax. enjoyed riding yours and Christy’s coat tails as dismayed observer on the Win page. Hope your Mom is continuing to improve.
That headline ! – I had the Edwin Hawkins Singers on the box, at full volume at 7:09 this a.m.
It is indeed a great day for America
fallenmonk — I left out the “…and we’ll be paying for it for decades” part because I didn’t want to be the downer at the party, but you are right, that is the sad truth of the matter. We can only hope (and work toward) some serious damage control in November.
The point about the Appropriations Committee is one I had completely forgotten.That vacancy will provoke a real food fight and will continue to keep DeLay’s name in the public’s mind.
TPM Muckraker has the dirt on DeLay’s probable successor. If it doesn’t “restore your faith” in the sociopathy of the current Republican party, nothing will.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000270.php
Oh happy day, indeed! Thank you Jane and Christy. Great coverage here, as usual. Just read a nice piece by Sidney Blumenthal in the Guardian too.
http://commentisfree.guardian……delay.html
I’m going to add this link to the many others already out there, bc this is the DOJ release on the Rudy plea and in the last paragraph it lists some of the people who have been working to pull this off so far.
http://releases.usnewswire.com…..p?id=63346
jayt – Cullen has said lots of times that Delay hasn’t received a target letter, but I don’t know when the most recent point is that he said it – and no one ever seemed to mention whether or not Christine might have received one? Teddy speculated on that some too, IIRC.
I’m still waiting to see if they will be able to do anything with the removal of Black – that, more than golf trips or even Russian energy influence, bothers me. We’ll see.
Lose GOoPer weight now, let me show you how! The tom delay no-moral-fibre diet;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..18454.html
Jane,
Great post, lord you write good gal! It is indeed a happy day and let’s build on this and keep the eyes on the prize. Methinks there are gunna be a whole lot more investigations and indictments comin’ down the road, so many that we hafta be vigilant to make sure that folks keep their anger focused on the real bad guys. Even if there are charges thrown out there against Democrats (I’m thinkin’ McKinny, Jefferson and Waters…see the Rovian/Delay/racist prints on these?) let’s not be too ready ta jump, let’s “let the system work” and keep the attention on the folks in power.
It’s gunna get really nasty, but the only way the Democrats lose in the long run is if they run and hide…we can’t let ‘em do that.
KEEP THE FAITH AND JEST REMEMBER HOW THE NATIVE AMERICANS INTRODUCED JACK ABRAMOFF TA GENERAL CUSTER
The stadium crowd roars, the tireless true Patriots are back on their feet! We feel the momentum building…we’re still in this fight – We can win this.
It’s like watching your favorite sports team score a goal in a game that was all but lost.
What a thrill.
It IS a glorious day in Oregon. I was doing a happy dance last night upon hearing about the BugMan hitting the windshield, but the pure sunshine this morning got me feeling blissed out!
.
WATCH OUT:
Here’s what Tom DeLay expects to be doing now that he’s leaving Congress. This is scarey stuff,
Values Voters’ Contract with Congress
We are citizens of the United States of America and subjects of the sovereign Creator, acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence as the Supreme Ruler and Judge of the World. We strongly affirm our allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, and are moved by our faith in God to join together now to defend government of, by, and for the people against the greatest assault it has ever faced: the destruction of our Constitutionally-mandated republican form of government by judges who legislate from the bench and, thereby, subvert our liberty and our entire way of life.
In defense of our national principles, our Constitution of self-government, our decent character, and our shared national identity, we the undersigned citizens of the United States come together in support of actions we hereby agree to be right and necessary for the common good of all.
We therefore seek the following:
1. TO AFFIRM the national relationship with God in our places of worship, schools, mottos, and public spaces, we call for the passage of –
• The Pledge Protection Act to prohibit activist judges from taking “under God” out of the Pledge (H.R. 2389, S.1046);
• The Constitution Restoration Act to prohibit activist judges from ruling against acknowledgments of God (H.R. 1070, S.520);
• The Public Expression of Religion Act to prohibit activist judges from ordering taxpayers to pay lawyers who seek to erode our national relationship with God (H.R. 2679); and
• The Workplace Religious Freedom Act to promote religious accommodation in employment (H.R. 1445, S. 677).
2. TO SECURE our national interest in the institutions of marriage and family, we call for the passage of –
• A constitutional amendment to completely protect the institution of marriage; and
• The Marriage Protection Act to prohibit activist judges from forcing states to redefine the institution of marriage (H.R. 1100).
3. TO SECURE our fundamental right as parents to the care, custody, and control of our children, we call for the passage of –
• Legislation to codify the principles set forth on Nov. 16, 2005, in House Resolution 547 which would protect parental rights;
• The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act to prohibit the transportation of minors against parental rights (H.R.748);
• The Parental Consent Act to prohibit the use of federal funds for any universal or mandatory mental health screening (H.R. 181);
• The Child Medication Safety Act, to protect children from being coerced into taking drugs in order to attend school (H.R. 1790);
• Legislation that empowers parents to choose schools for their families that share their value choices, as well as ensures families are not forced to pay twice for their educational choices; and
• We call for enforcement of the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), which prohibits schools from using privacy invading surveys or evaluations without prior written parental consent (20 U.S.C. 1232h).
4. TO SECURE our God-bestowed right to life, we call for the passage of –
• Legislation to affirm the right to life of our children before birth;
• The Human Cloning Protection Act to prohibit human cloning (S.658, H.R. 1357);
• Legislation that protects life by prohibiting the use of human embryos for research;
• The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act to raise awareness of the pain experienced by children before birth (S.51, H.R. 356); and
• Legislation to prohibit any taxpayers’ money for organizations that perform, promote, and/or fund abortions.
5. TO SECURE our God-granted liberties, we call for the passage of –
• Legislation to reverse the loss of religious liberty for churches concerning their involvement in moral and social issues;
• Legislation to ensure that speech and lawful religious expression are never punished as a “hate crimeâ€;
• An amendment to the Higher Education Act to guarantee First Amendment rights of worship, speech, and association to students and employees as a condition of federal grants and student assistance;
• Legislation to complete the incarceration process through prisoner re-entry training and child mentoring; and
• Legislation or policies that call for continued rejection of the anti-family and deceptively-named “U.N. Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).â€
6. TO SECURE our God-given stewardship of property, we call for the passage of –
• Legislation affirming that government may not redefine “public use†to take the private property of one person to give to another.
7. TO SECURE an environment of decency that is free from pornography and obscenity, we call for the passage of –
• Legislation to restrict obscenity and pornography, and guard against its mis-stated protection under the First Amendment.
8. TO SECURE just taxes, and end immorally destructive taxation, we call for the passage of –
• Legislation to fundamentally reform the national tax system and reduce the tax burden on Americans; and
• Legislation to make permanent Marriage Penalty Relief and the Child Tax Credit.
9. TO SECURE our national borders and identity, we call for the passage of –
• True Enforcement and Border Security; and
• Legislation to prohibit, in cases of constitutional interpretation, the use of foreign law as authority.
10. Judges who legislate from the bench subvert our republican form of government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and threaten all these legislative aims.
THEREFORE, WE URGENTLY CALL FOR Judicial Restraint, and an end to Judicial Activism.
• We call for the passage of the Judicial Conduct Act to hold federal judges accountable to the Constitution.
Above every consideration of selfish passion, ambition, or interest, we hold to the ultimate intention of our Constitution: to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. For this purpose, and in support of the beliefs and actions we have herein declared, we pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our faithfulness, so help us God.
Heh. I did a snoopy dance myself when I found out DeLay was out. That so much of his hard stolen money is going to his Dem. lawyer is even better.
cbl — I have both the Edwin Hawkins Singers and the Winans’ versions that I play on such occasions. One of my favorites, really captures the moment.
first tom delay steps down, then the gators win the nat’l championship… these are truly heady times…
(still saving my bubbly for rove, cheney, or chimpy. at this rate though, it’ll be vintage by the time i open.)
OT (Sort of)
I received a self-congratulatory e-mail from Howard Dean and the Democratic Party today about Tom DeLay. As you might expect, it was about how Democrats are for honest government. For some reason, I couldn’t help replying.
Let’s see if they read their e-mail.
Delay’s announcement of resignation is the first shot in the coming War of the Far-Right Republicans for Christianity.
He is like a cockroach and his legacy will re-infest in ways we could never imagine.
The Far Right LOVES this man and he has already planted his seeds deep and wide…the sooner he is out of arms reach of a microphone and behind bars where he belongs, the better.
It’s interesting how the Democratic Party is beginning to become the “law and order” party and the credible “national security” party. . . without playing to racist fear mongering.
ummm– just watching Snottie on the replay of the WH daily lie-fest and the room is really rather empty…
Russ said this according to Raw Story…. GO RUSS
“Gay and lesbian couples should be able to marry and have access to the same rights, privileges and benefits that straight couples currently enjoy.” Feingold went on to add, “[This] kind of discrimination … has no place in our laws, especially in a progressive state like Wisconsin. The time has come to end this discrimination and the politics of divisiveness that has become part of this issue.”
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0404.html
I have an active 3 year old at home today [Redd, few days ago]
Is there any other kind?LisaDawn82 | 03.30.06 – 6:32 am
Actually yes, I work with severely ill children to help them get surgery. We are -delighted- postop when they run up and down the hall and try to break the furniture.
Let’s take the next phase of the celebration and work on tying this dead chicken around Georgey boy’s neck. Ideas?
angie @ April 4th, 2006 1:03 pm (#48)
Looks like Sen. Feingold is out front on yet another issue. At least, he’s out in front of most of his colleagues. Knew I liked the guy. Based on my record of picking candidates, though, that’s probably a bad sign.
Cujo359 – Well said. I will (with your permission) lift and save for possible future use.
:-)
Great post, Jane and –
Let it be said again!
It’s interesting how the Democratic Party is beginning to become the “law and order†party and the credible “national security†party. . . without playing to racist fear mongering.
Thanks, Pach.
I’m not as concerned about where he won’t be as I am where he will be. The only trust I have in this guy is that he will do whatever he can to acquire power and wealth and his intrigues are his stock in trade. He’s not going to go gently into any good night. Let’s save the dancing in the streets until he’s in jail and try to figure out what the scam is that he’s running now.
cujo359@ 1:06 #51– we probably picked the right candidates, but the machine– Rove, money, diebold, corruption, etc on the other side got in the way. The times they are a-changin! Oh Happy Day!
Great links, Jane.
New froomkin ….
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00879.html
Jane, you go, girl! Thanks for reminding us of the context… this is the Big Picture that we all need to push out into the MSM.
You are truly the Tom Paine of the age…
Eddy
Dr. Bong @ April 4th, 2006 1:06 pm
I will (with your permission) lift and save for possible future use.
Lift away.
OfT: 2 links on the institutional failure at Duke University wrt the silence of the Administration’s silence about their Men’s LaCrosse team’s silence wrt an alleged, thirty-minute, three-man rape on March 13/14 in a bathroom. That’s 47 players saying they don’t know anything, a lot of them can’t even remember if they were at the scene. The second link, Dukenews, confirms that Duke Administrators remained silent on the incident for ten days.
http://www.salon.com/news/feat….._lacrosse/
http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/m….._incident/
If the victim lived in SD, under their new rapist’s rights law, she would not be allowed access to emergency contraception.
It appears that the Duke Administration’s primary concern was to keep the story out of the corporate media until after their Men’s basketball team lost in the NCAA tournament.
Forensics experts and the Durham D.A.’s office have confirmed that the woman’s injuries are consistent with rape, sodomy, choking, and beating. The victim works part-time as an exotic dancer, is the mother of two, and attends college in Durham, North Carolina Central. The D.A.’s office is considering Kidnapping charges in additon to rape and theft. The LaCrosse team had retained two women as exotic dancers, through an agency , to perform for 5 men for $400. When the dancers arrived, there were at least forty-men present.
Michael S at #54…
If the world ended tommorrow, my fear would be that the only living things left would be Cockroaches, Cher, and Tom Delay.
(My apologies to Cher)
Redemption Among the Faithful
By Dana Milbank
WaPo, Wednesday, March 29, 2006; Page A02
There are those who would say Tom DeLay lost his job as House majority leader because he was indicted by a Texas grand jury on charges of money laundering and conspiracy, or because of his extensive ties to lawbreaking lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But they would be wrong.
In fact, the Texas Republican fell from power because he is a Christian.
That, at least, is the view of Rick Scarborough, convener of a conference this week called “The War on Christians.”
“I believe the most damaging thing that Tom DeLay has done in his life is take his faith seriously into public office, which made him a target for all those who despise the cause of Christ,” Scarborough said, introducing DeLay yesterday. When DeLay finished, the host reminded the politician: “God always does his best work right after a crucifixion.”
This would seem to be an odd time to declare Christianity under siege. A Christian conservative president has just nominated two Supreme Court justices who take an expansive view of religious rights, and religious conservatives are ascendant in a Republican Party that controls both chambers of Congress.
But, as Scarborough knows, believers will be more motivated to go to the polls in November (and to contribute money to his group) if they feel threatened. And so his forum offered all sorts of books and pamphlets proclaiming dire warnings: “The Criminalization of Christianity,” “Liberalism Kills Kids” and “Same-Sex Marriage: Putting Every Household at Risk.”[snip]…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01566.html
—–
Be interesting to see whether DeLay can continue to play this card, or whether too much more criminal bad news is about to come to light for even these comic-book intellect Fundies to stomach while they continue to whine about just how oppressed and persecuted they are.
Just reminiscing…
http://politicalhumor.about.co…..quotes.htm
:-)
Thanks BobbyG, great link.
Call me late to the party, but the ball peen hammer just hit me on the head. I think I get it why this whole I was a sinner and have found my way thing is powerful stuff to the people. Their followers are sinners and they see these ’successful’ people who talk like them and pretend to be like them (delay, chimpy) who admit to having sinned and found their way! The sheeple like that kind of testimonial and will forgive them anything, except perhaps being gay or intermarried or brown. Ergo, delay fasts and now says he is excited about his future…after preaching to the Vision America peeps at the Christian Values and 2006 elections thingie where he again found his mission.
Angie #34,
I loves me some Sidney Blumenthal – thanks so much
here is a link to my favorite bedtime story by Sidney
long time ago, in an oligarchy far far away . . .
linked text
just some little snippets, this piece is very rich
Fall of the Rovean Empire?
By Sidney Blumenthal
Salon.com
Thursday 06 October 2005
Drunk on power, the Republican oligarchs overreached. Now their entire project could be doomed
The Republican system is fundamentally unstable. Bush has no economic policy other than Republicanism. As the economic currents run toward an indefinable reckoning, the ship of state drifts downstream.
In stable systems, individuals are replaceable parts. Republicanism as constructed under Bush is a juggernaut that cannot afford to scrape an iceberg.
The Republican scandals converge on operators who are the center of the oligarchy. Their own relationships are complicated and tangled. But the outcome of the scandals affecting these major actors will inevitably unravel the Republican project.
Statement from Delay’s website–
http://tomdelay.house.gov/News…..ntID=41855
Contact: Michael Connolly or Shannon Flaherty (202) 225-5951
Address to the Constituents of the 22nd District of Texas
Washington, Apr 4 –
For the past 21 years as your Congressman, it has been an incredible honor to represent the citizens of the 22nd District of this great state of Texas.
What a pair of decades we have lived together.
When I started in politics, I was inspired by the optimism and conservative principles embodied by one of our greatest presidents, Ronald Reagan.
Since I first asked for your votes for Congress back in 1984, America has moved closer to, not further from, the “shining city on a hill†that he so magnificently described.
She has risen from malaise, won a cold war and a few hot ones, and liberated hundreds of millions across Europe and tens of millions of Afghans and Iraqis.
At home, we moved from policies that had long empowered government to finally empowering citizens, taxpayers and communities…initiating sweeping and positive change across all facets of American society.
While in Washington in that first decade of service, I was also privileged to be part of another triumph…finally providing Americans with a strong, competitive two party system at the national level.
Our efforts culminated in the transformational election of 1994 in which voters elected Republican majorities in both Houses of the United States Congress.
I was then honored by my Republican colleagues to be selected as one the top four House leaders as Majority Whip and later Majority Leader.
Together, we put policies in place to renew America’s security, prosperity, and families.
We adopted year after year of tax relief, which led to growth so strong it has not only propelled our economy, but has spurred economic growth across the globe.
We reformed welfare, moving tens of millions of good Americans from poverty to work and opportunity.
We passed litigation reform, to begin freeing our economy from the shackles of frivolous lawsuits.
And, we approved reforms in energy, telecommunications, transportation and other areas as well, all of which had been bogged down and blocked by those who ran Congress for the 40 years before our election.
Today, the war on terror — one-sided for years as we suffered attack after attack from the World Trade Center to the USS Cole — has been joined and is being won around the world.
Unemployment hovers near historic lows. Home ownership at all time highs.
Partial-birth abortion has been banned. Unborn victims of violence are now protected in law.
And the new Supreme Court is home to two of the finest young jurists of their generation.
Here in the district, we have worked hard on and accomplished dozens of major priorities, including creating tens of thousands of new jobs, providing the region with the vision and resources to achieve world class mobility, revitalizing our space program with new vision and priorities.
And we’ve done it all on the enduring strength of our principles and our ideas.
As I reflect on these past two decades of public service, I have enjoyed every minute of it.
I have been proud and privileged both to serve the Texans of the 22nd district in the great institution of the people’s House; and also to serve with some of the most incredible, dedicated, energetic, and thoughtful people in Congress, and in the leadership teams of both the House and Senate.
It has also been an honor to work closely with one of Texas’ favorite sons, a president with great moral integrity and leadership, George W. Bush. His Administration has done much to restore the type of principled leadership that President Reagan demonstrated and that first drew me to seek service in our Nation’s capitol.
In the same vein, I also have been proud to make whatever contribution I could to the conservative movement to which I feel so strongly connected and the enduring national conservative majority that has been transforming our nation for the past decade.
For the opportunity to participate in all of these endeavors, I remain deeply thankful to the voters and constituents of the 22nd District for their faith and their votes.
Now, however, after many weeks of personal prayerful thinking and analysis, I have come to the conclusion that it is time to close this public service chapter of my life.
It’s time to begin opening new chapters and pursuing new opportunities to engage in the important cultural and political battles of our day from outside the arena of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Because I care so deeply about this district and the people in it, I refuse to allow liberal Democrats an opportunity to steal this seat with a negative, personal campaign.
The voters of the 22nd District of Texas deserve a campaign about the vital national issues that they care most about and that affect their lives every day, and not a campaign focused solely as a referendum on me.
So today, I am announcing my intention to resign my seat in the House. I will make that resignation effective sometime before mid-June, but largely dependent on the congressional calendar. I plan to begin focusing on the next phase of my life as a private citizen.
Between now and the date that I leave the House, however, I will continue to focus on and tend to several important legislative priorities for the 22nd District.
Also during this period, I will determine the new ways from various arenas outside of public office that will allow me to continue to contribute to and engage in the policy, political, and cultural issues of national importance to the conservative majority.
With that plan in mind, I also intend to relocate to my Virginia property and reside closer to Washington, so that I can dedicate the necessary time and energy to making a successful transition from the public to private sectors for myself and family.
With the news of my decision, there of course will be great speculation among the political pundits and media about my reasons both for this decision and its timing. I am quite certain most will put forward their opinions and conclusions devoid of, and unencumbered by accuracy, facts, and truth, so I thought I might try to make everyone’s job a little easier.
The people of the 22nd district have been extremely loyal and true to me, and throughout my service to them, I have always done the same. I have always acted solely on my beliefs and convictions, nothing more.
I have no fear whatsoever about any investigation into me or my personal or professional activities.
As one of my colleagues in the House leadership astutely observed a while back, the wheels of justice turn much more slowly than the wheels of allegation.
I will be quite content to be judged when the passage of time has provided both all of the facts and a greater sense of perspective than is possible for most today.
As difficult as this decision has been for me, it’s not going to be a great day for liberal Democrats, either.
My loyalty to the Republican Party — indeed, my love for the Republican Party — has played no small part in this decision.
Having served under Republican and Democrat control in the House, I know first hand how important it is for Republicans to maintain their national majority. A Democrat Congress in 2007 would, without doubt or remorse, raise hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes, summarily cut and run from the war on terror, and immediately initiate an unconstitutional impeachment of President Bush.
However certain such antics might make a Republican resurgence in 2008, the times are too grave to waste even two years in the life of this nation…and allow even one more vote for their agenda of pessimism and failure.
Equally precious to me are the remaining years of my own life, and I look forward with both joy and curiosity to the future God holds for me.
I know for certain that I plan to devote a good deal more of my time and energy to fully completing Rio Bend, the foster care community built by the DeLay Foundation for Kids and opened in 2005.
The community is partially completed and currently providing permanent, loving, stable families to 27 formerly abused and neglected children.
I believe the model we have established here for these children in Fort Bend County can be duplicated elsewhere, and I look forward to working through the Foundation to make that a reality for foster kids around the country.
Eleven years into the Republican Congressional majority and six years into the Bush Administration, our nation has much to show for our leadership.
But as proud as I am of our record over that time, I am fully aware that record is incomplete.
We still need to redesign government.
We still need to chuck our current, broken systems of taxation, regulation, and litigation, which hamstring our economy and health care systems — and replace them with pro-growth, pro-innovation, pro-individual alternatives.
We need to ensure the basic human rights and dignity of the unborn and unwanted are protected under the law, and that judges adhere to their important but limited role in our constitutional framework.
I look forward to traveling the country and listening to conservatives, helping grassroots leaders to develop a unifying agenda and a strategy to enact it, to learn from past setbacks and build on our successes.
Finally, no success in my career could ever match the one truly great success of my life — my marriage.
In the summer before our junior year in high school, I was asked to look after a girl named Christine, and I have ever since, for more than 42 years now. She has done an even greater share of looking after me.
She is the reason I have ever accomplished anything in politics or in life, and the reason I am so looking forward to this next phase in our life.
Thank you Christine.
There are many others to thank as well….a word of heartfelt thanks to my base of many loyal supporters who have stood beside me for more than 20 years and sent me 11 times to represent them in Washington.
In addition, to all of the local elected officials in the 22nd District, and in the greater Houston area, you have been tremendous partners in getting things done for our shared constituents and for the good of those communities. Thank you as well for your support and loyalty.
I also have had incredible support in so many ways – financial, emotional, simple words of encouragement or thoughtful prayers – from so many people all over Texas and all over the country. My sincerest thanks goes to all of them as well.
Finally to the people I work closest with on a daily basis in Washington, the great team of Republicans from all over this country that makes up the House Republican Conference. I am so proud to have been a part of that successful team, and to have so many great memories from hard-fought victories and the personal relationships, friendships and bonds that many of us have shared. Those are some of my greatest treasures.
Today is obviously not an easy one for me, but difficult days always demand the most from us, and, in that sense, are the ones most worth living.
I have no regrets today, and no doubts.
I am proud of the past. I am at peace with the present.
And I am excited about the future, which holds, as always, America’s brightest days… and mine, too.
Thank you, and may God bless you all. He has certainly blessed me.
BobbyG @ 1:14 pm (#62) (ref. the Milbank article)
You Christians, please, help me out here. Is it OK to steal as long as you profess your faith publicly (preferably to the annoyance of those around you)? If it is, it’s not one of the passages in the Bible that are among the most quoted.
Shorter DeLay, channeling Nixon: “I am a crook.” He’s going to jail. One point on pressuring family members – sure, its possible, but my bet would be that they have more than enough on all of them that they don’t need the wife’s/daughter’s cooperation.
I just been over surfin’ on one of Rick Scarborough’s websites. What a fucking joke.
—
It’s not Hysteria: War on Christians is Real
Sunday, April 2, 2006
By: Rick Scarborough – USA Today
Column published in response to liberal attack on Vision America conference
While Tom Krattenmaker makes some valid points about Christian persecution abroad, he dismisses our conference — The War on Christians and the Values Voter — as hysterical and reckless (”A ‘war’ on Christians? No,” The Forum, Monday).
Apparently Krattenmaker spends little time at the movies, watching TV or reading the newspapers. If he did, he’d see countless examples of Christian persecution here in the USA, as well as Christians smeared, slandered and generally denigrated…
—
BwaaahahhhhhHHH!!!!!!
cosmo: my puke-o-meter just flew off the scale.
Thanks
:-)
Wrt comment 60. Police responded and took rape kit on March 14. Duke Men’s Basketball team lost in the NCAA’s to LSU on March 23. First public comment from Duke Administration on the Men’s LaCrosse’s incident was on March 24.
Duke’s Women’s basketball team plays in the NCAA finals tonite.
Elation under-states the riddance of Tom Delay. But before I surrender to pathological euphoria, I remember that though the Republicans are about as slick and crooked as it gets, they are not stupid. Rove, Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Rice, Boehner and the rest are still very much with us. Delay’s departure might just be more wallpaper on the order of the recent Andy Card resignation. There remains much sewage to be pumped and dumped. Overall though, it is the best political day for me in years.
Angie says: there’s a good read by Sidney Blumenthal on Delay in todays Guardian. She’s right.
He hasn’t even been indicted yet, and it’s just seismic news here in DC. Everyone knows what’s coming. This really does hail the collpase of Republicanism, as Milbank states.
I also love how obviously craven his move to Jesus is. It will cover the fundies with his stench as they embrace him.
As someone noted via email, that stench could drive evangelicals back out of politics over the longer term, just as they were disgusted with wordly politics two generations ago.
oh, yeah. stick a fourchette in him, he’s cuit.
OT – theme song these days in the Bay Area: I Can’t Stand the Rain
Angie #65
You got it.
My puke-o-meter did too, Dr. Bong– I just listened to Bugman address Scarborough’s group on a CSPAN replay!
Oh, and while we’re on the subject of Christianity and Tom DeLay, I wonder what Jesus would have to say about money laundering (moneychanging)?
Why isn’t anybody shouting about DeLay’s promotion of sweatshops in Saipan. This includes forced abortions for God’s sake.
What an aweful, aweful man.
O yeah, still having fun today!
I wonder what Jesus would have to say about money laundering (moneychanging)?
…and waging a war of choice against a soveriegn nation… and systematically raping the middle class and poor… and…
Reverend Rick’s latest breathless tome:
“Liberalism Kills Kids” is a groundbreaking work which documents the devastating failure of America’s 40-year experiment with liberal statism. From the deaths of 44 million unborn children, to skyrocketing rates of out-of-wedlock births, to the divorce epidemic, to the destructive demands of the movement to normalize homosexuality — the book exposes a cultural coup d’etat that has left our families gasping for air.
***
Cha-CHING!!!…operators are standing by.
The depth and breadth of their corruption is truly breathtaking. Maybe someone should do a Robin Leach like show displaying the goods of ill-gotten gains. Just as kitzchy, only more tongue-in-cheek. If only we new a quixotic type producer who could pitch this series right into everyones living room. Imagine slackjawed aghast voters viewing a menagerie of treasury looters living the high life from the public dole while screaming to cut entitlements.
LOVE ME SOME Russ!
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0404.html
“…that stench could drive evangelicals back out of politics over the longer term, just as they were disgusted with wordly politics two generations ago.”
Works for me. Take your silly assed whiny theology back behind closed doors.
:)
Cujo:
From Exodus 20:”But for those who love Me and keep My commandments, I show love for thousands [of generations]. ….Do not steal.
It’s not a “suggestion.”
Arlen Specter has a similar opinion wrt ClusterBush and FISA. If the President did not act in “bad faith,” it’s not a problem.
emptywheel wrote that the next time a cop pulls her over for speeding, she’s going to try Arlen’s line, that there was no “bad faith” on her part.
Wonder if DeLay is going to try to fill Abramoff’s shoes, since he is out of action. He (Abramoff) was keeping many balls in the air so someone needed to step up and laundry that money.
“Day’z Comin to Take Da Hammer Away”
Refrain (Replace “…for to carry me home, with “to take Da Hammer Away.”)
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming to take Da’ Hammer away.
I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
Coming for to carry me home,
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming to take Da’ Hammer Away.
Refrain
If you get there before I do,
Coming for to carry me home,
Tell all my friends I’m coming, too.
Coming to take Da’ Hammer Away.
Refrain
I’m sometimes up and sometimes down,
Coming for to carry me home,
But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
Coming to take Da’ Hammer Away.
Refrain
The brightest day that I can say,
Coming for to carry me home,
When Jesus washed my sins away,
Coming to take Da’m Hammer Away.
Refrain
Y’all really oughta watch this:
http://www.visionamerica.us/vi…..oVideo.wmv
Scary dude? Or just one more deluded narcissist (and sheep-shearing opportunist)?
Basically, his campaign is to openly use fundie churches to spread an unabashed political agenda. BUT, if a so-called “liberal” church does anything remotely “political,” the IRS shows up to threaten them. Sux.
OK, so I’ve briefly scrounged around in Nick Lampson’s voting record. First, Lampson is undoubtedly pro-gun, anti-abortion, and appears to be in favor of faith based programs. He is also a member of the DLC……
Lampson voted yes on HR 4503, the infamous billions-o-cash free-for-all energy interest extravaganza, on SDI (missile defense), and on authorizing military force in Iraq. He has also backed many pork laden bills in his day too.
He’s a mixed-bag on the personal wallet. He supported the bankruptcy bill, and eliminating the Estate Tax…. Then he turned around and repeatedly voted against the tax cuts. Go figure.
For the most part he seems to be riding the fence regarding corporate interests but seems to reliably vote “for the people†in bills regarding healthcare.
Lampson has made a few positive environmental votes – pro-Kyoto and pro-raising CAFE standards but then votes ‘yes’ on the laughably titled “Healthy Forests Restoration Actâ€.
This guy is a real mashup. By most definitions he would be classified a Rockefeller Republican. But what the hell, nowadays you could describe most of the Democratic Party that way too.
For Video of Cujo #67..
Grab your barfbags!
http://www.crooksandliars.com/…..html#a7782
Lampson, in that district, is the best we could expect, and a vote for Democratic majority control, including Conyers as the head of his committee. Conyers can call witnesses under oath in that scenario.
In truth, even if Lampson wins, it’s likely the seat will flip back to Republicans in two years. But he’s still better than anything else we could get out there.
Sorry Cosmo #67 not Cujo
TPM Muckraker posts Ronnie Earl’s statement in its entirety:
“Tom DeLay’s political status has nothing to do with the criminal charges against him. This changes nothing. His criminal cases will proceed just as they would for any other defendant. DeLay’s ultimate fate will be decided by the public acting through a jury.”
If the Four Horsemen of the Republican Apocalypse are Abramoff (lobbying money), DeLay (Congress), Rove (campaigns and national strategy) and Norquist (the movement based extra-governmental networks), then we have two indicted, one in serious jeopardy of immanent indictment, and one still possible to be taken down by the Abramoff investigation tentacles.
Not bad.
Anyone else who has been late to the party – the Yellow Streak of Texas song linked in RH’s post below on The Brag – it’s pretty darn good.
Re: the Millbank article – he’s at his best with a little honesty-based snark (against all comers incl dems) and at his worst in his school girl moments over Bush. At his best he’s a fun read.
Cujo – as not only a Christian but a multiple red-state background Christian, i can answer this for you:
Is it OK to steal as long as you profess your faith publicly
Absolutely.
If it is, it’s not one of the passages in the Bible that are among the most quoted.
It’s the reverse tithe passage. You can steal 10% of the wealth of all those who don’t tithe. Amazing the things you heathens never learn. *g*
Just so you know, your rss feed still doesn’t work.
BobbyG, you have some great stuff here, but remember there are people out there who believe that Christians are under attack and will vote accordingly next November especially if the left crows about religion. Not to say DeLay isn’t a wolf among the sheep because HE IS! but the left needs to find credible, intelligent voices of faith to counter the right’s BS.
Granted, those who believe will believe regardless and they are a wash for ‘06 and ‘08, but there are people out there who are not this sort of “believer” who need to land somewhere between the fanatics and the scoffers.
Okay, I’ll stop sounding like Amy Sullivan now because I do not think the answer is to move the Demos to the right. I know that there are faithful liberals out there who need a platform for their voices that have been sounding all the way along against the right in their own houses of worship. Jim Wallis of Sojourners comes to mind.
Ohhhh….I’m LOVIN’ it…
From WaPo:
Federal Probe Has Edged Closer to Texan
Two Ex-Aides Convicted, Another Also Named in Lobbying Investigation
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 4, 2006; Page A07
The pending resignation of former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), once one of the most powerful lawmakers in Washington, comes amid a federal criminal investigation that already has reached into his inner circle of longtime advisers…
…The central legal challenge for DeLay is more likely to arise from the work of the federal task force, made up of FBI and tax agents, Interior Department investigators, and prosecutors from the Justice Department’s public integrity unit. A grand jury subpoena issued by the FBI in February for records of the U.S. Family Network, a nonprofit group formed by Buckham, specifically asked for any documents related to DeLay; his wife, Christine; Buckham’s lobbying firm; Rudy; and a variety of contributors to the group from among Abramoff’s client list.
Mary — as a multi-state heathen, we call taking 10% from those who don’t tithe “taxation.” And it is legal.
OT: Atrios says that Kerry will be making some Iraq news in the next day or so. No details, or I’d link.
poliscifi -
I hear ya, to an extent. Yeah, scoffing too hard at these people can just back them up to the wall, where they can feel compelled and justified in donning the Brownshirts.
Some of them. A relative handful. They’re mostly full of shit, got no cojones, and “leaders” like this Scarborough puke are really just after their money.
Here are a few words of praise and rationalization from RedState’s piece today on DeLay:
“a warrior for the partyâ€
“a dedicated conservativeâ€
“Largely because of Tom DeLay, Democrats have been unable to enact their wrong headed policiesâ€
“DeLay was always the least likely to put personal interest before partyâ€
“no lawbreakerâ€
“he began to take part in the excesses of his Democrat predecessorsâ€
“The continued Texas witchhunt run by Ronnie Earle is without question a politically motivated sham; after years of effort and thousands of dollars, it has turned up not one independently verifiable example of DeLay breaking the lawâ€
“he associated himself with the wrong peopleâ€
“We owe Tom DeLay thanks in large part for the fact that this IS a Republican Congress, and we should treat him with the respect of an old warrior who, in the end, took the honorable road home – shunning the egotistical course and doing one last service for his partyâ€
http://www.redstate.com/
neurophius — please, no more testimonials. I’m in tears. ;)
And Sarah Posner’s article in The American Prospect is a searing expose of how lobbyists like Barbara Comstock set up a clearing house for companies wanting to bilk the government in the wake of 9/11, capitalizing on Republican fear-mongering and making sure that copious amounts of cash made their way back into GOP coffers and insured the perpetuation of the system.
Makes me think the ‘Party of Lincoln’ died with him and John Wilkes Booth was the first modern Republican leading the carpet bagging charge to this day…
Mary @ 2:00 pm (#95)
It’s the reverse tithe passage. You can steal 10% of the wealth of all those who don’t tithe. Amazing the things you heathens never learn.
Do you get to keep what you steal? Thought the idea of a tithe was that it’s supposed to go to the church. I’m just sayin’.
Here are of few future words I see in DeLay’s future:
“the defendant will please rise.”
“is the pre-sentencing report complete?”
“bail denied. The defndant is remanded to custody pending appeal.”
Just heard on NPR on the way home that Health care will soon be mandatory in Massachusettes. If, according to your tax return, you make enough money to purchase insurance, they will force you to pay.
Undocumented workers can use the insurance pool.
Of course, I guess once they get to the hospital, they are no longer undocumented, no?
Another Redstate reason for Delays resignation is because of New Orleans evacuees….
“DeLay might lose his own seat, which in addition to redistricting has undergone demographic changes with the influx of former New Orleans residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina.”
This shit is too funny!!
cupholder # 89
appreciate your digging around. thanks
GrandmaJ # 86
sounds good, but in the simple wisdom of my grandpa – they got that sumbitch by the short and curlies. A beast like Delay, who has redefined meglomania, does not suddenly decide to quit in the best interest of his party
btw, even if he was able to go along his merry way and speechify to fundies, I believe Sen. McCain has staked out that circuit – didn’t he just hire one of Ralphie’s goons to grease those skids ?
Pacha,
if you haven’t read it in a while, that Blumenthal link above (#66) is right up your alley
Is there any chance that Delay’s wife will face prosecution?
Pach – those aren’t the 4 I see and I’m pretty good with horses, but they are a nice set. I’d call your pics more the 4 Horsemen of the Acapulco Lizard Lounge.
For the Apocalypse, you have to have have Cheney(Addington) and Rumsfeld(Cambone), with a Rebpulican Congress and Gonzales to complete the set.
It gets better. Wayne Madsen claims that Delay is implicated in the Boulis hit in Florida (along with the Bush crime family).
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
I once heard a Baptist in Texas describe fellow members as ‘Christians until they get to the parking lot’.
neoJoe @ 2:14
No racism there,huh?
LoseLiberman -
While I’d love to see a provable connection emerge, I’ll say it again – take all Wayne Madsen stuff with a shaker full of salt.
BobbyG-
No doubt but we can only hope it’s true!
LoseLiberman -
Oh, I am SO with you there. I’ve seen Madsen be way wrong on a number of big things, though, so I am ‘watch & wait’ where’s he’s concerned.
Cujo – you missed the “reverse” part. ;-) And scarecrow, you you mixing your passages. Tax is different – it falls under the “give unto Ceasar” category, although in the Redstate translation, Ceasar refers to the gambling lobby.
So we have:
Tithe (Church/God)
Tax (State/Govt)
Ceasar (Republican lobbyists & clients)&
Reverse Tithe (Rebpublican politicians)
It’s all about giving.
Mary @ 2:32 pm (#118) Cujo – you missed the “reverse†part.
Demonstrating, once again, that sarcasm doesn’t translate well into print.
It IS a beautiful day in Oregon today!
The goldfinches are very golden, the fox sparrows are hopping about, the flickers are making that weird repetitive noise they make that’s only slightly less loud than the sound of the pileated woodpecker.
I hope some GOP crime canaries are singing to the feds, too.
Then spring will have really sprung, and it’ll be morning in America.
Ding Dong, the witch is dead! Which old witch? The wicked witch! Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead!
This is just the wicked witch of the south. Cheney and Bush– you are next!
Good reply to gloating Democrats, Cujo359.
Cujo359 says:
I received a self-congratulatory e-mail from Howard Dean and the Democratic Party today about Tom DeLay. As you might expect, it was about how Democrats are for honest government. For some reason, I couldn’t help replying.
… snip
It is not really “OT sort of” as you apologized. Peppered throughout various posts are:
1. Close encounters of the Clueless Kind with DSCC and DCCC asking us for money and more blind faith …
2. Emails to allegedly-”good” Democrats like my state’s wimpness Schumer and Clinton (who hide in their offices and pee on their carpets to avoid Russ Feingold)…
3. A shameless suck-up piece in NYorker mag by Ryan Lizza that Jane linked to (Get A Room Already) that shows why Chuck Schumer, alleged “good” Democrat, does not give two turds how much his NY constituents want censure or accountability. Chuck’s too busy using the Dem machine and the “base” as ATM machines for his King Making. (You stripped one bare naked … Casey in PA).
A SUGGESTION: Instead of apologizing for being off topic on this rock-bottom key genetic defect in Establishment Democrat-land, let’s simply do a lede-line of: VICHY DEMOCRAT POST.
Then let ‘er rip.
Sorry, BobbyG.
NOT GOOD ENUF. Just saying it isn’t good enuf. You gotta back it up.
BobbyG says (a 2nd time):
I’ll say it again – take all Wayne Madsen stuff with a shaker full of salt.
Since Wayne Madsen worked in the NSA (Super Spooks) under Reagan … since he worked in Navy Intell before that … since he still has ferocious and deep contacts in the Spook Sphere … since he has been accurate in his scoops 9-pt-4 times outta 10 in the past several years … and since he works in the open without cowering behind aliases or screen names (and pays a price with NeoCon Goon attempts to crash his site and crack his sources)
… I take Madsen’s documented articles with a critical mind, hold the “shaker of salt.” If you want to trash Madsen’s crede, you gotta do better than salt similes. So, fess up.
“one of the biggest crooks…” well hardly! The US has managed in over 200 years to amass quite a roster staggeringly venal convicted crooks as opposed to those that are only indicted and photoshopped. How can we forget Jay Gould, Boss Tweed, Jimmy Hoffa, Oakes Ames and Thomas Durant(Credit Mobilier), Albert Fall and Harry Sinclair(Teapot Dome) or even more recently Charles Keating? Hyperbole is always fun and interesting but never lasting.
Meant to add Spiro Agnew in the interests of bipartisanship.
Pat Patterson-
DeLay is just a huge chunk of a much bigger iceberg. Never has there been a more corrupt US government in power. NEV-ER. It’s a matter of scope and scale. This is fascism wrapped in the flag and bible in hand.
I got these links from Randi Rhodes at Air America which summarize the Neocon crime machine. The last link lists stupid DeLay quotes. Great fun. All Hail Randi.
http://www.democrats.org/a/nat….._of_power/
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/gopscorecard.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/011905D.shtml
http://www.perrspectives.com/b…..000255.htm
http://politicalhumor.about.co…..quotes.htm
She was good enough to collect them together and I was nice enough to steal from her. As payback to her,if your interested, she’s also running a donation campaign through Habitat For Humanity for the victims of Katrina and our lousy government response. I have never heard a bad word about HFH. If you have any desire to help US Citezens in need who have been mercilessly shafted by our government then go here.
http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/
Again, Hail RANDI! Hail JANE too. Donation button above.
Otter Crest rules!!!!
It is a great day in Santa Fe NM also! Now I have to seriously consider the thought that there actually might be a God.But after listening to Tom tell of his fasting(snark)and his message from God, I still have doubts. QUE VIVA JANE and REDD! Taking back America, $50.00 at a time.
It was a RIDICULOUSLY beautiful day in Oregon. Especially around sundown. The clouds caught the light and turned the sky colors I haven’t seen all winter. I think today I noticed Spring has truly arrived. WHOOHOO!