Stench of Corruption

Sept. 28: Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, talks to reporters about the indictment.

Since word of Tom DeLay's indictment, the Democrats, their media mouthpieces, and other assorted haters of Republicans have been positively giddy.

I haven't seen members of the mainstream media this happy since the night of the 2000 Election when, for a couple of hours, they erroneously believed and reported that Gore had won Florida.

At today's White House Press Briefing, they could hardly contain themselves.

I was so impressed with Scott McClellan. He is such a patient man when dealing with the "stuck on stupid" reporters.

Transcript

(Excerpt)

Q Does the President take the allegation of wrongdoing seriously, that Tom DeLay used the Republican National Committee as a money laundering operation to fund local elections in Texas? That's what the grand jury is indicting him for.

MR. McCLELLAN: That's what the legal process will proceed to address. And --

Q How seriously does the President take that allegation?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Terry [Moran], Leader Delay's office has put out a statement --

Q I'm not asking Leader DeLay's office.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- disputing the assertions. We need to let the legal process proceed. And that's what the President believes.

Q You just made a very strong statement about some acts of wrongdoing, alleged. Here we have alleged acts of wrongdoing. How seriously does the President take them?

MR. McCLELLAN: This is a different circumstance. And we're going to let the legal process -- we're going to let the legal process work.

Q Do you think this is politically motivated?

MR. McCLELLAN: We're going to let the legal process work. I've stated our views when it comes to Congressman DeLay; the President has stated them previously, and we continue to hold those views.

Q Is the President concerned that there's a stench of corruption around the Republican establishment in Washington?

MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, I don't think you can make such a broad characterization. There are some instances of individual situations, and we'll let those -- the legal process proceed in those instances.

Q But he's not -- he doesn't take it as seriously as he takes other allegations of wrongdoing?

MR. McCLELLAN: I didn't say that; you said that.

Q He did take it seriously?

MR. McCLELLAN: There's a legal process in place to address these matters.

Q Does he still have confidence in Leader DeLay? And what does he think the impact of this will be on his agenda?

MR. McCLELLAN: I just expressed his views. Again, the President considers him a good ally and a friend who we have worked with very closely to get things done for the American people.

Q Does he still have confidence in him?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q Does he still have confidence in him?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Leader DeLay is going to work to address this issue. He has put out a statement by his office. I think our views are very clear, in terms of our relationship with the Congressman. And the President continues to hold those views.

Q I want to follow up on what Terry just asked you. Even before DeLay was indicted, there were a lot of Democrats who were making an argument that the Republican Party, by virtue of having controlled Congress for more than a decade now, the White House for almost five years now, had grown arrogant in its use of power, and was flouting rules and sometimes laws. What's the President's view?

MR. McCLELLAN: Welcome to Washington, D.C., Dick. That's the kind of politics that go on in this town. The Republican Party, particularly under this President, has worked to get things done for the American people. We have advanced an agenda that has helped to improve the quality of life for all Americans. And we stand very firmly behind that record and that agenda.

In terms of the question you just asked, we can sit here and try to rush to judgment, but I don't think that's a fair thing to do. We need to let the legal process work.

When it comes to the instances that Helen brought up, there is a legal process in place. And you know what? That process proceeded, and some people have been found guilty; some have not been found guilty.

Q But you said that you take those allegations very seriously. I asked if you take these allegations very seriously.

MR. McCLELLAN: Any such allegations are always taken seriously.

"Is the President concerned that there's a stench of corruption around the Republican establishment in Washington?"

Unbelievable.

"Stench of corruption" doesn't just roll off the tongue. Obviously, Terry Moran has been waiting to use that line for a while. You have to give the guy credit for mastering the ability to be simultaneously way over the top dramatic and exceedingly obnoxious.

Do you think Scott McClellan is amused by the idiotic questions he gets from the press?

I suppose it depends on his mood. Sometimes I wonder how he manages to keep a straight face.

Actually, McClellan was very kind when he responded to Moran's "stench of corruption" question/editorial statement with: "Terry, I don't think you can make such a broad characterization."

He must have been tempted to just laugh at him.

I don't know if the reporters have hearing problems or comprehension issues. One thing seems to characterize all of these briefings. They ask the same question over and over again and McClellan gives the same response over and over again.

McClellan said that the "President's view is that we need to let the legal process work. There is a process in place, and we'll let that work."

Is that so hard to understand?

No, it isn't, but that's not what all of this is about.

The press wants to pound away and damage the Bush administration and Republicans, not to provide the public with information about their government.

At this point, the MSM's partisan hacks can't be considered journalists. They're rumor-mongering, agenda-driven libs, and part of the Democrats' propaganda machine.

Let’s move off the press and on to Ronnie Earle.

What do we know about Ronnie Earle, the district attorney who led the investigation that resulted in the indictment of Tom DeLay?

Here are some very enlightening quick facts.

We do know that he has a political agenda.

In a Democrat fund-raising speech to the Texas Values Coalition, on May 12, 2005, Earle revealed that he gives lip service to defending decency and justice, while actually waging political battles.

Transcript

(Excerpts)

Thanks for inviting me. I’m so often accused of partisanship these days that I thought I’d go meet some of the groups I’m supposed to be so close to.

...My office is currently involved, as you no doubt know, in an investigation into campaign finance irregularities that occurred in the 2002 election cycle.

We began that investigation in 2002 when I read that the head of the Texas Association of Business said that TAB had collected secret corporate money and used it to blow the doors off Texas elections.

TAB at first agreed to cooperate, but then they sued in Federal Court instead, so we spent most of 2003 going up and down the appellate court ladder, including two trips to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Our investigation has since expanded to include TRMPAC, which figured prominently in the race for speaker of the Texas House, and some other organizations that were involved in other Texas elections.

...This case is not just about Tom DeLay. If it isn’t this Tom DeLay, it’ll be another one, just like one bully replaces the one before.

Ronnie Earle claims that politics didn't drive the investigation. He said, "Our job is to prosecute abuses of power and to bring those abuses to the public."

Is it appropriate for the district attorney to make statements about an individual who's part of an on-going investigation?

Of course not; but Earle doesn't care about faithfully carrying out his duties as district attorney. He's completely out of control and playing politics with the law.

In addition to addressing the press today, DeLay put out these statements:

Statement from the Office of the Majority Leader

(WASHINGTON) - Kevin Madden, spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (TX) today released the following statement regarding today's announcement by the Travis County (TX) District Attorney's Office:

"These charges have no basis in the facts or the law. This is just another example of Ronnie Earle misusing his office for partisan vendettas. Despite the clearly political agenda of this prosecutor, Congressman DeLay has cooperated with officials throughout the entire process. Even in the last two weeks, Ronnie Earle himself had acknowledged publicly that Mr. DeLay was not a target of his investigation. However, as with many of Ronnie Earle's previous partisan investigations, Ronnie Earle refused to let the facts or the law get in the way of his partisan desire to indict a political foe.

This purely political investigation has been marked by illegal grand jury leaks, a fundraising speech by Ronnie Earle for Texas Democrats that inappropriately focused on the investigation, misuse of his office for partisan purposes, and extortion of money for Earle's pet projects from corporations in exchange for dismissing indictments he brought against them. Ronnie Earle's previous misuse of his office has resulted in failed prosecutions and we trust his partisan grandstanding will strike out again, as it should.

Ronnie Earle's 1994 indictment against Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison was quickly dismissed and his charges in the 1980s against former Attorney General Jim Mattox-another political foe of Earle-fell apart at trial.

We regret the people of Texas will once again have their taxpayer dollars wasted on Ronnie Earle's pursuit of headlines and political paybacks. Ronnie Earle began this investigation in 2002, after the Democrat Party lost the Texas state legislature to Republicans. For three years and through numerous grand juries, Ronnie Earle has tried to manufacture charges against Republicans involved in winning those elections using arcane statutes never before utilized in a case in the state. This indictment is nothing more than prosecutorial retribution by a partisan Democrat."

Another message from DeLay can be found at tomdelay.com.

He writes:

Dear Friend,

As you probably know, the very partisan Travis County D.A. recently manufactured an indictment against me that is based on charges from the 2002 Texas State House elections.

These charges are groundless and false. I am completely innocent.

Just as Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and other public officials have defeated similar attacks from this D.A., I will prove his allegations are baseless and without merit.

Despite this partisan distraction, I will continue to represent you and fight for the interests of our community.

I hope you’ll take a moment now to read more about exactly what is happening and why. Thank you for visiting and I look forward to keeping you up to date on our fight this out of control DA.

DeLay did the honorable thing by following the rules and temporarily stepping aside as majority leader of the Republicans in the House.

Speaker Dennis Hastert named Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt to take DeLay's place and handle most of his leadership duties. I think it was a smart move for the Republicans to act quickly to replace DeLay while he deals with the matter. They filled the void promptly to signal that Republicans remain in control.

Dems need to remember that Republicans ARE still in control of the House, the Senate, and the Presidency.

I think there's definitely a "stench of corruption," but it's not coming from the Republican establishment.

It's coming from Ronnie Earle's office.

It's coming from the propagandists known as the mainstream media.

It's coming from the Democrat leaders.

"The criminal indictment of Majority Leader Tom Delay is the latest example that Republicans in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi and other Dems are hailing the indictment as a victory.

That makes no sense to me. What have they done? Have they offered Americans anything of substance, any vision? Is a witch hunt really a victory?

Time will tell; but it appears that DeLay's indictment is the latest example of the culture of corruption fostered by the Dems' brand of politics--heavy on personal destruction and light on everything else.

Oh, the stench!