Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleads guilty to tax evasion, and taking bribes from defense contractors in order to secure lucrative defense contracts. Josh Marshall, who kept on this story from Day One, is happy, but notes that Cunningham is still on the Appropriations Committee. Not for long, I’m guessing.
“Bring It On”
sez Matt, and I think he’s right: This effort to launch a probe, not of Bush’s secret torture prisons but if who spilled the beans on the secret torture prisons is, of course, absurd and shameful. So I agree with Lindsey Graham: Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said: "Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. The real story … Read More
Well, That Backfired!
Blogs For Bush this morning, about the Washington Post article revealing that the U.S. is keeping detainees in super secret "black sites": According to Drudge, Republican leaders are going to launch an investigation into the leak: Sources tell Drudge that early this afternoon House Speaker Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Frist will announce a bicameral investigation into the leak of … Read More
Republican Party Dupes Christian Conservatives
It’s always been pretty clear to me that Republican Party really doesn’t give a damn about Christian conservatives, but they tolerate and cow-tow to them because they need the votes. Never has this theory been more evidence than this revelation, exposed by Salon: Up-and-coming Republican hacks would do well to watch closely the ongoing Senate investigations of superstar lobbyist Jack … Read More
Operation Rage
We all remember Frist’s embarrassing diagnosis of Terri Schiavo without examining her (a diagnosis that turned out to be 100% wrong). Now he’s revealing his skills as a surgeon: Frist was now sputtering. "This is an affront to me personally. It’s an affront to our leadership. It’s an affront to the United States of America!" Turning sorrowful, he vowed that … Read More
Faux Outrage And Real Hypocrisy
The Carpetbagger (via Kevin Drum) points to the hypocrisy of the Republican "outrage" over Senator Reid’s "stunt" yesterday. He explains why: It’s more than a little amusing to hear congressional Republicans worrying about such niceties. Which party likes to hold open five-minute votes indefinitely until the get the results they want? Which party prevents the minority from offering amendments (.pdf) … Read More
Not Smiling Now
CNN reports: Rep. Tom DeLay failed to comply with House requirements that he disclose all contributions to a defense fund that pays his legal bills, the Texas Republican acknowledged to House officials. He wrote officials that $20,850 contributed in 2000 and 2001 was not reported anywhere. Another $17,300 was included in the defense fund’s quarterly report but not in DeLay’s … Read More
Capital Comedy
Brief notes not worthy of their own separate post: Bush Prevents Kids From Seeing "Wizard Of Oz": One hundred Brentwood kindergartners, many dressed in costumes, were all set to go see "The Wizard of Oz" on Friday when their first-ever field trip was blocked by the nation’s 43rd president. They never got to see the wizard. President George W. Bush, … Read More
Frist Is A Lying Bastard
You know how Frist was saying that he was never aware of his stock holdings, so he can’t be held responsible for the tremendous profit he made on their sale based on what would generally be acknowledged as insider information? Well, it turns out that, in the reality world, Frist was . . . uh . . . you know … Read More
Frist Stock Problem Worse
Things are getting worse for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for an insider trading and stock dumping scandal involving shares of his family’s company, HCA. Frist has defended himself by pointing out that his stocks are in a blind trust, eliminating any conflicts of interest. However, … Read More
“A Conservative Civil War”
Boy, I like the sound of that term. I’ve had a fairly busy weekend, but I sort of thought that by Monday, the whole Miers kerfuffle would have simmered down somewhat. Apparently, I was wrong: How Harriet Unleashed a Storm on the Right Well, he’s finally done it. By nominating White House lawyer Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, George … Read More
Other Shoe Drops (More To Follow)
A separate grand jury has indicted DeLay. The charge? Money laundering: Both indictments accuse DeLay and two political associates of conspiring to get around a state ban on corporate campaign contributions by funneling the money through a political action committee to the Republican National Committee in Washington. DeLay’s earlier indictment charged that conspirators carried out a fund-raising scheme by having … Read More
The Iron-What’s-Her-Face and Tom Delay
Mmmm. This is an interesting turn of events: A DOCUMENT linking Margaret Thatcher to a US corruption probe is so explosive civil servants have been asked to ensure it remains "sealed". The 79-year-old former Premier is said to have met Congressman Tom DeLay in Britain while he was on a suspected favours-for-freebies scam. In return for his free holiday, DeLay … Read More
Delay Indicted
This just in… WASHINGTON – A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, forcing the House majority leader to temporarily relinquish his post. DeLay attorney Steve Brittain said DeLay was accused of a criminal conspiracy along with two associates, John Colyandro, former executive director of a Texas … Read More
Republicans Screw The Pooch
This news as huge ramifications for the upcoming elections. From Political Wire: As the 2006 midterm election season approaches, Political Wire has seen a copy of a new Winston Group (R) poll that shows Americans turning away from the Republican party. (There’s no link yet on the firm’s website.) Those surveyed had less confidence in Republicans to handle a wide … Read More