Comments Posted By BigTex
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You guys are way off base. First of all, a judge won't throw this out, because it IS a valid indictment, brought by the citizens of Texas. Rarely, even in political tussles such as this, do these get tossed. Indeed, it appears Mr. DeLay will have his day in court.
Secondly, this will not be tried in a federal courthouse, hence the phrase "something a federal judge will not find amusing – federal judges having a much narrower sense of humor than your average Texas pol." is meaningless. DeLay was indicted on a single count of violating a state law. One that goes all the way back to Brown & Root and LBJ. Yes, the same B&R that is now in bed with the Bushes. See, big money really doesn't care who is in the WH, just as long as they are partial to big money's interests. Back in the day, B&R gave $5K to every employee with the caveat they donate it to good ol' LBJ's senate campaign. When the tax man cometh looking for his cut of the $5K, the employees began to sing like canaries. Hence the law.
As far as Mr. Earle is concerned, I doubt seriously he's "Earle have come up through the ranks of their respective parties by successfully playing as close to the edge of the law that ethics and decency will allow, all the while “Aw Shucksâ€-ing and backslapping their way through successful election campaigns. It is the campaigns themselves with the ungodly amounts of money raised and spent that grease the skids of law and politics at the statehouse level." From what I know he's a hard-nosed lawyer who has a strong disdain for ANYONE who breaks the law. He's not a big-time politico like DeLay. And, of the 15 political indictments he's brought forth, 12 have been against democrats, including the sitting Speaker of the Texas House, Gib Lewis (who resigned and pleaded down to two misdemeanors and hasn't been heard from since) and the sitting Attorney General, Jim Maddox.
Here is what Earle has to say about the LAW in Texas: "Texas law makes it a felony for corporations and labor unions to make political contributions to campaigns. The punishment is two to ten years in the penitentiary."
And, as far as "big money" campaigns go, PBS.org reports the average cost of a state-house campaign in Texas is $85,000. I'm guessing the DA race in Travis County wouldn't go much over $100K even in this day and age. Don't take my word for it, go check it out yourself at http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript324_full.html. And, while you are at it, there is another great article on this mess at: http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleFileName=030829_f1.htm.
Enjoy.
Comment Posted By BigTex On 29.09.2005 @ 20:23
