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April 05, 2005
The Sun Rises in the East
Drudge is reporting that the New York Times, salivating over Tom Delay's statement that we have an active judiciary populated with arrogant judges (gasp!), will print a FRONT PAGE story on a trip Delay took in 1997:
Ethical questions surrounding House Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas intensify... A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, was underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the trip arrangements.Who wants to bet good money that this will NOT be published right next to the article:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi helped secure $3 million last year for a nonprofit transportation-research organization whose president gave money to her political action committee as the group was paying for a European trip for one of her policy advisers. Transportation adviser Lara Levison's nine-day, $4,475 trip to Spain and Germany last April to learn about hydrogen-fuel cells for buses was primarily paid for by WestStart-CALSTART.But just days before the trip, WestStart-CALSTART announced that Mrs. Pelosi had helped the nonprofit group secure $1 million from the Federal Transit Administration for a bus rapid-transit program. A month after the Levison trip, the group sent out a press release thanking her for a $2 million grant for a fuel-cell program.
According to campaign records, WestStart-CALSTART Chief Executive Officer John R. Boesel also gave $1,000 to one of Mrs. Pelosi's political action committees in 2003 and $1,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Both Mr. Boesel and Mrs. Pelosi's spokeswoman, Jennifer Crider, said there is no link between the staffer's trip and the grants.
"This trip was completely within the House rules. The two projects were long-standing projects we've worked on," Ms. Crider said.
Both she and Mr. Boesel said Republican staffers also were on the European trip.
Mr. Boesel said Mrs. Pelosi has supported his projects for more than a decade, adding that the programs have drawn support from both parties and that his political donations have gone to both parties.
But the trip is raising questions from some Republicans, who say the California Democrat and some ethics-watchdog groups are being hypocritical when they criticize House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on ethics charges.
"Given the actions of the minority leader vis-a-vis the majority leader and other Republicans, I'm having a little trouble finding where the outrage is coming from these groups that continue to pound on Republican members," a senior Republican lawmaker said on the condition of anonymity.
The lawmaker said nothing distinguished Mrs. Pelosi's actions from those of Mr. DeLay and other Republicans that she has criticized. He also said the questions about Mrs. Pelosi rise to the point of an ethics complaint.
"I think the minority leader ought to be subject to the same type of scrutiny as other members," he said.
All this from the Washington Times.
Now, to our liberal readers, no one is saying that DeLay is innocent of the charges, but why is he in the spotlight and not Nancy? Could you maybe admit that there is in fact a bias at the New York Times? Maybe?
Posted by Aaron at April 5, 2005 08:55 PM
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» The Hypocrisy of Nancy Pelosi from Myopic Zeal
As you may know, Nancy Pelosi has been all over Tom DeLay for his 2001 trip paid for by the Korea-United States Exchange Council (KORUSEC). She wants an investigation!
Well, it turns out that this may be one of those pot and kettle things. First, c... [Read More]
Tracked on April 6, 2005 08:11 AM
Comments
It won't be covered for the same reason the MSM did their best to quash the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth story about John Kerry while they rehashed Bush's Vietnam ANG service...because the MSM has an agenda against conservatives, period.
Posted by: Pam M. at April 5, 2005 09:04 PM
Actually, one can only cringe at how demented the Republican Party has become.
After Delay's debacle, Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, rose in the chamber on 4 April and argued that recent courthouse violence might be explained by distress about judges who "are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public." The frustration "builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in" violence, said Mr. Cornyn, a former member of the Texas Supreme Court who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which supposedly protects the Constitution and its guarantee of an independent judiciary.
Listeners could only cringe at the events behind Mr. Cornyn's fulminating: an Atlanta judge was murdered in his courtroom by a career criminal who wanted only to shoot his way out of a trial, and a Chicago judge's mother and husband were executed by a deranged man who was furious that she had dismissed a wild lawsuit. It was sickening that an elected official would publicly offer these sociopaths as examples of any democratic value, let alone as holders of legitimate concerns about the judiciary.
The need to shield judges from outside threats - including those from elected officials like Senator Cornyn - is a priceless principle of our democracy. Senator Cornyn offered a smarmy proclamation of "great distress" at courthouse thuggery. Then he rationalized it with broadside accusations that judges "make raw political or ideological decisions."
He thumbed his nose at the separation of powers, suggesting that the Supreme Court be "an enforcer of political decisions made by elected representatives of the people." Avoiding that nightmare is precisely why the founders made federal judgeships lifetime jobs and created a nomination process that requires presidents to seek bipartisan support.
Trying to intimidate judges used to be a crime.
Personally, I think that the entire Republican Party has become increasingly un-American in its ideology and practice. They deserve the boot so they can have some time to recapture some of their more moderate, and legal roots.
Posted by: Ghost Dansing at April 6, 2005 05:05 AM
I guess that means you wont be able to ADMIT both sides are guilty of the same thing. 6 paragraphs of writing and all I read was another liberal walking into the bar...when y'all gonna duck? That bar has got to be hurting your head by now. Un-American? I think I've heard that one before. Nice try though. Oh, and by the way...some things that worked 200 years ago don't necessarily work today. Too simple?
Posted by: J. Pynn at April 6, 2005 09:57 AM