Tom DeLay defends himself...the Associated Press cries
Like the schoolyard bully scrabbling to regain power after getting tripped up by the scrawny kid and laughed at by the class, the Associated Press is crying about Tom DeLay. They devote an entire article fretting over DeLay's attempts to defend himself by telling his story on his website. Oh the humanity...
No the real story here is that the AP is unhappy that Tom Delay is getting his message out, and that the prosecutor in the case is a blatant partisan. The guy has been caught going to fundraisers and talking about DeLay and the case, the grand jury members are spilling the beans about his questionable tactics, and thanks to some local reporting, even been caught jury shopping to get an indictment (which are supposed to be the easiest things in the world for a D.A. with any semblance of evidence at all to get) after one jury said no way.
This is the Democratic push for victory in 2006. And a rogue prosecutor and a sympathetic press are the only weapons they have, in a state that went Republican and is turning even more Republican, against the most effective House Majority Leader in recent times. Tom DeLay has been instrumental in helping the President get his agenda passed through the House and in using the new census information to help Texas get its rightful number of new representatives in the U.S. House. And the Democrats can't stand it. And neither can the AP, or at least it appears so, because all they do is whine and fret about DeLay corrupting jurors and telling "facts" and not facts. Or should that be the AP's "facts"?
The AP spends a lot of time in the article investigating whether or not it is legal for DeLay to defend himself, yet they have made no attempt to get the story about the indictments right. So it's a bit of a mystery why they're upset...unless of course they wanted to be the ones to influence the jury pool. hmm...
Stung by his recent indictment in Texas, Tom Delay is trying to turn his legal woes into a financial boon for his re-election. The former House majority leader is using his congressional campaign to distribute to voters derogatory information about the prosecutor who brought the charges against him and to solicit donations for his re-election."Derogatory information." What's he supposed to do, collect money to buy Earle a Christmas present?
"Help Tom fight back," reads one of the solicitations on the http://www.TomDelay.com Web site that voters are being directed to as part of an Internet-based campaign funded by DeLay's re-election committee.
Contributors, voters and others who sign up can get regular e-mails and an electronic "toolkit" from DeLay's campaign with the latest disparaging information his legal team has dug up on Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle.
No the real story here is that the AP is unhappy that Tom Delay is getting his message out, and that the prosecutor in the case is a blatant partisan. The guy has been caught going to fundraisers and talking about DeLay and the case, the grand jury members are spilling the beans about his questionable tactics, and thanks to some local reporting, even been caught jury shopping to get an indictment (which are supposed to be the easiest things in the world for a D.A. with any semblance of evidence at all to get) after one jury said no way.
This is the Democratic push for victory in 2006. And a rogue prosecutor and a sympathetic press are the only weapons they have, in a state that went Republican and is turning even more Republican, against the most effective House Majority Leader in recent times. Tom DeLay has been instrumental in helping the President get his agenda passed through the House and in using the new census information to help Texas get its rightful number of new representatives in the U.S. House. And the Democrats can't stand it. And neither can the AP, or at least it appears so, because all they do is whine and fret about DeLay corrupting jurors and telling "facts" and not facts. Or should that be the AP's "facts"?
Recipients are offered a full dossier about the Democratic prosecutor and his "baseless political indictment" with subjects like:"Technical questions." Really? I thought DeLay's lawyers moved to have the first indictment dismissed on the grounds that the crime of conspiracy to violate the election laws did not exist at that time. Would you like to challenge that fact, Associated Press?
_"Ronnie Earle's previous misuse of his office," which highlights failures in Earle's career such as his unsuccessful case against Republican Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (news, bio, voting record) in the 1990s.
_"Earle asks for a Do-Over," which focuses on the prosecutor's decision to seek a re-indictment of DeLay on different charges after DeLay's lawyers raised technical questions about the first indictment.
_"Coming Soon: The Ronnie Earle Movie," which highlights reports that Earle allowed a film crew to follow him during parts of the DeLay investigation.
The truth, however, is decidedly DeLay's version on the Web site.Oh I see, so DeLay's "facts", which the Associated Press makes no attempt to disprove (I wonder why?), are just bad, but yet snide editorializing in a hard news story and mischaracterizing the indictment fight is okay.
"Ronnie Earle is wrong on the facts. Ronnie Earle is wrong on the law," the Web site states as it analyzes the twists and turns in the case in the most favorable light to the congressman.
The Web site also gives readers tools to send a letter to newspaper editors in support of DeLay, to contact a radio talk show or to e-mail DeLay's carefully crafted "facts" to friends.
And, of course, the Web site wouldn't be complete without one of the oldest pitches in politics. "Make a contribution," it pleads.
The AP spends a lot of time in the article investigating whether or not it is legal for DeLay to defend himself, yet they have made no attempt to get the story about the indictments right. So it's a bit of a mystery why they're upset...unless of course they wanted to be the ones to influence the jury pool. hmm...
posted by ZP at 9:31 AM
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