DeLay: what's the deal?

First, let me defer to E.M. on the legal aspects of the matter of Texas vs. Tom DeLay. She's far more knowledgeable on matters of the law than I. And she has some pretty good information about how the prosecutor in this case has a long (and often embarrassing) history of going after political rivals, regardless of party affiliation...
But let's take a look at what Tom DeLay did not do:
* Accept campaign contributions from an enemy government
* Lie under oath
* Steal classified documents that would have reflected badly on an administration
* Host a fundraiser at a Buddhist temple
* Divert hundreds of thousands of dollars from levee improvements to personal accounts
* Place an army of ghost workers on the government payroll
* Divert millions of dollars from the government treasury into the party's campaign stash
All of these things have been admitted/adjudicated against the darlings of the left, both above and below the 49th parallel.
Warning to the left: If you want to make corruption an issue, you're coming with a popgun. Your darlings have given us a cache of WMDs.
And you no longer have a monopoly on information, either.

Martha Burk wants 15 more minutes

Remember Martha Burk?
She's the woman who tried to corral a protest at the Masters a while back because Augusta National, the course where the golf tournament is played, doesn't have any women members.
She failed there.
She's failing again, but she's grasping for 15 more minutes...
NEW YORK (AP) - Despite objections from Martha Burk, NBC said it was going ahead with plans to air an NHL commercial showing a bare-chested player being dressed by a scantily clad woman.
Burk, chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, said the ad was offensive. Burk led an unsuccessful effort to allow female members at Augusta National three years ago and is stepping down as chair of NCWO on Nov. 1.
NBC said it had no problem with the spot, which first appeared last week on the NHL's Web site, and planned to air it on its NHL preview show Saturday.
When you think about it, Martha Burk's targets are a perfect example of where the "professional feminist" movement is these days... the hell with the waitresses and seamstresses, let's take care of the well-to-do by getting them into the right country clubs.
A mirror of what passes for liberalism today.

The quitters' club

New Orleans police chief Eddie Compass, who apparently lost his during Katrina, has decided to resign.
He had his troubles even before the hurricane's devastation, though.
As the city slipped into anarchy during the first few days after Katrina, the 1,700-member police department suffered a crisis. Many officers deserted their posts, and some were accused of joining in the looting that broke out. Two officers Compass described as friends committed suicide.
Gunfire and other lawlessness broke out around the city. Rescue workers reported being shot at. Compass publicly repeated allegations that people were being beaten and babies raped at the convention center, where thousands of evacuees had taken shelter. The allegations have since proved largely unsubstantiated.
Earlier in the day Tuesday, the department confirmed that about 250 police officers — roughly 15 percent of the force — could face discipline for leaving their posts without permission during Katrina and its aftermath.
Even before Katrina hit, Compass had his hands full with an understaffed police department and a skyrocketing murder rate. Before Katrina, New Orleans had 3.14 officers per 1,000 residents — less than half the ratio in Washington, D.C.

Compass is not alone in joining the quitters' club.
Canuckistan Liberal hotshot David Dingwall plans to quit his job, too.
OTTAWA (CP) - David Dingwall is set to resign as president of the Royal Canadian Mint, The Canadian Press has learned.
He will cite a desire to clear his name, a reliable source says.
The former Liberal cabinet minister has been under fire since reports surfaced that he and top aides racked up expenses of more than $740,000 last year.
Documents outlining the spending were obtained under the Access to Information Act by Conservative MP Brian Pallister.
This is the same Dingbat, er, Dingwall who is an integral figure in Adscam. This is the same Dingbat, er, Dingwall, who is up to his eyelids in the technology fund scam.
Follow David, follow the corruption???

Must-read Blog

File this under "stuff you've got to read":
Counseling Kevin has a string of posts called The New Elite. Brilliant! Check it out.

The Concert for Cindy Sheehan

As you all know by now, America's favourite protesting moonbat, Cindy Sheehan, was arrested the other day while protesting in front of the White House.
Now, hundreds of celebrities are gathering for a benefit performance to help pay the fine for Cindy's citation.
Reliably high sources have leaked the early lineup for the Concert for Cindy Sheehan.
* Barbra Streisand and Sean Penn will do a duet of Monty Python's "How Sweet to Be an Idiot."
* Dan Rather, Wolf Blitzer, Larry King and Anderson Cooper will form the "Four Plays" to offer their heartfelt first-hand-knowledge version of Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry."
* With Yoko Ono's blessing, Green Day will rework a Beatles' classic and unveil "Cindy in the Sky with Diamonds."
* Yoko also approved the Howard Dean Chorale's performance of "Give Peace a Chance," provided that they refrain from screaming too loud (that being Yoko's performance mode).
* The Katrina Choir, a collection of indicted politicians from Louisiana's Department of Homeland Security, will croon Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind."
Tickets for the event will range from $50 to $5,000. All proceeds, once Cindy's fine has been paid, will go to paying for Cindy's entourage.

Cindy's comin'

On Monday, protest moonbat Cindy Sheehan and several of her flock were arrested for blocking the sidewalk in Washington, D.C.
This will give her even greater credibility with the Stalinist-Maoist-left.
To the rest of us, it's just a pathetic attempt to extend her 15 minutes of fame.
But she won't give up.
And the Either Orr Marching Band and Medicine Show reminds us of that with "Cindy's Coming."

Cindy's comin'
Cindy's comin' (Cindy's a-comin')
Well you better hide your ears, your tender ears
Cindy's comin' and the cards say... insanity

Cindy's comin', get your earplugs
Cindy's comin', get your earplugs
Yo, Cindy's comin', you better hide
Yo, Cindy's comin', you better hide
Yo, Cindy's comin', you better hide
Yo, Cindy's comin', get your earplugs
You better, better get earplugs
Cindy's comin', better walk
Walk but you'll never get away
No, you'll never get away from the screech and the headache
I walked a thousand miles away
Everywhere I go though, Cindy's a-comin' (she walked in Crawford every day)
Cindy's comin' (she walked in Crawford every day)
Cindy's comin' and she's comin' to get'cha (she walked but... she walked but...)
You had just better pray (she walked in Crawford every day)
Cindy's comin' (hide it, hide it, hide it)
Yo, Cindy's comin', you better hide
Yo, Cindy's comin', you better hide
Yo, Cindy's comin', you better hide
Yo, Cindy's comin', get your earplugs (get ‘em)
You better, better get earplugs
Cindy's comin', better walk
Walk but you'll never get away
No, you'll never get away from the screech and the headaches
I walked through Katrina’s devil rays
Everywhere I go though, Cindy's a-comin' (she walked in Crawford every day)
Cindy's a-comin' (she walked in Crawford every day)
Cindy's a-comin' and she's comin' to git ya (she walked but... she walked but...)
Get down on your knees (she walked in Crawford every day)
Get down on your knees
No-no, no-no
Lord, I said no-no, no-no, no-no (hide it)
She can (hide it) hide it (hide it) You better (hide it) Somebody (hide it) You got to (hide it) Oh, my (hide it) Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

(adapted from the Laura Nyro song made a hit by Three Dog Night)

UPDATE: Counseling Kevin has taken Cindy a step further along the road with hilarious results. Go check it out!

Priests, sex abuse, and the survival of the Church

The Catholic priest sex-abuse scandal is back in the news in a big-time way in this neck of the woods. The Philadelphia Inquirer has been all over this case like flies on manure after the Philadelphia district attorney released a grand jury report that found credible allegations against more than 60 priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (over a 50-year period, but still...).
In fact, at one point the Stinky landed neck-high in the manure, thanks to a misleading (and very unfair) front page headline.
This situation brings a sizable quantity of anger out of me.
I'm angry at the priests who abused the powers of their position to prey on the innocent.
I'm angry at the bureaucrats in the Church who behaved in a classically bureaucratic way, instead of in a way that would have ended the victimization of those young folks and isolated those predators in collars.
I'm angry at the way the district attorney approached the matter; it's now a case of conviction by publication, especially since the cases -- almost universally -- cannot be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations (which should be changed, I'll admit, but not retroactively).
I am angry for the damage that those unprintables have done to the calling of the priesthood. By their truly sinful actions, they have cast doubt on the thousands of priests who have lived by the book, men who do not in any way, shape or form deserve to be tarred with the same brush as the guilty. Their actions are an affront to the many good men who have served God and continue to serve God with their talents in the priesthood.
It's interesting that NAMBLA has not spoken out in defense of the priests whose preferred victims were young boys. It's interesting that the traditional hard-core gay activists have not spoken out (at least not loud enough for me to hear) about Pope Benedict's plan to prevent gay men from entering the priesthood. (My friend Regular Ron applauds that move fully; to me, a man's sexuality would not be an issue as long as he honored the vow of celibacy.) Of course, they're not keen on the Catholic Church in the first place and would like nothing better than to destroy it. There are a lot of people who would like to see that happen.
Guess what? That isn't going to happen, Jack.
The church is a lot more than the bureaucrats who let it down.
The church is a lot more than the priests who, by their actions, mocked the faith they signed on to teach, preach, protect and advance.
The church is the communion of the faithful, who try -- not always perfectly, to be sure -- to follow the teachings set forth in the Scriptures.
It is the bureaucratic church that is the target of those who seek to kill it. They think that by killing a structure, they can kill the faith and the principles imbued by that faith. The fact that the church is far greater than the bureaucratic structure is why it cannot be killed.
Author Lee Harris offered this at Tech Central Station as the best explanation I've ever seen as to why the church must not be killed:
If we are to change reality for the better, we must first be prepared to see it at its worst. And here, oddly enough, is where politics inevitably becomes delusional, and only religion manages to get it right. Politics selects a certain group and explains why they should rule over others; religion looks at us all and says that none of us can be trusted with power. The doctrine of original sin is the best prophylactic against the pretensions of any ruling class, and it is precisely those groups that have stressed this doctrine the most that have freed themselves from the tyranny of their betters.