Justice DeLayed

It is said that justice delayed is justice denied, but in this case, it’s still sweet.  Years ago, before the charges, I used to visit Tom DeLay’s blog on occasion.  Sometimes I would post respectful rebuttals to his articles.  They never survived moderation.  God forbid that Republican sheeple should be allowed to read an alternative view from his.  The only thing his censor approved from the left is an occasional ignorantly stated insult, so the sheeple could get a false perspective on lefties.  So I consider his conviction a personal victory of sorts.

After nearly half a decade of legal proceedings, former US House majority leader Tom DeLay was convicted today in a Texas court of money laundering and conspiracy related to a 1903 Texas law that bans corporate contributions to state political campaigns.

At issue was some $190,000 in corporate contributions to Mr. DeLay’s political action committee that prosecutors said was illegally passed on to GOP state candidates in 2002, helping Republicans gain control of the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.

The jury deliberated 19 hours before reaching a guilty verdict that carries a penalty ranging from seven years to 20 years for the conspiracy charge to life in prison for criminal money laundering. DeLay said that he plans to appeal the conviction.

A force in the GOP rise to power both in Texas and the US House of Representatives, DeLay won his nickname, “the Hammer,” for his rigid enforcement of party discipline. His ties with Washington lobbyists drew criticism from public interest groups as well as four warnings from the House ethics panel over issues ranging from threatening a trade association that failed to hire a Republican as its president to accepting expensive gifts and trips in violation of House rules.

For several years, DeLay’s 2002 bid to help Republicans gain control of the Texas Legislature was widely viewed as his crowning triumph. The new Republican majority quickly drew up a new redistricting map favorable to Republicans.

In fact, DeLay was so entwined in the Texas legislative power struggle that he asked the Federal Aviation Administration to track a plane believed to be carrying Texas Democrats escaping the state to avoid a quorum call for a vote on the GOP redistricting plan – a move that also drew a warning for DeLay from the House ethics panel.

In the end, the new Texas redistricting map helped Republicans topple five Democratic incumbents in the US House elections of 2004, accounting for the entire Republican net gain that year.

But an indictment by a Texas grand jury on Sept. 28, 2005, turned the triumphal mood on its head. House Republican caucus rules mandated that any party leader step down after a criminal indictment, but DeLay did not resign his position as majority leader until Jan. 7, 2006. Three months later, he gave up his House seat… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Christian Science Monitor>

Here’s local video coverage.

It is sad that he will not face justice for the vast majority of his criminal acts, such as his dealings with Jack Abramoff.  I look forward to his sentencing on December 20 and hope he does time.  If he does, I hope he decides to habilitate himself and hope that there are men like the ones I volunteer to help to show him the way.