Month: October 2005

Chief Justice John Roberts warmed the BIG seat on the Supreme Court for the first time today. He’s just so yesterday’s news isn’t he!

I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of this type of book publishing in the not too distant future.

If one indictment feels good, two must feel better.

A Texas grand jury indicted Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) yesterday for alleged involvement in money laundering related to the 2002 Texas election, raising new and more serious allegations than the conspiracy charge lodged against the former House majority leader last week.

The surprising new indictments followed by a matter of hours a motion by DeLay’s Texas legal defense team to quash last week’s charge on grounds that the Texas prosecutor in charge of the case lacked authority to bring it. The lawyers alleged that the crime of conspiracy was not covered by the state election law at the time of the alleged violation.

Later on Monday, a different grand jury — which had no prior involvement in the case — brought the new charges, which roughly match allegations made against two of DeLay’s political associates one year ago.

DeLay, who had earlier accused the prosecutor — Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle — of partisan zealotry, promptly issued a statement accusing him of stooping “to a new low with his brand of prosecutorial abuse.” DeLay said Earle “is trying to pull the legal equivalent of a ‘do-over’ since he knows very well that the charges he brought against me last week are totally manufactured and illegitimate.” The congressman added: “This is an abomination of justice.”

I expect the media circus to run for awhile on this DeLay matter, so long as political hay can be made.

The other new count alleges that DeLay and the two associates “did knowingly, conduct, supervise, and facilitate” the transfer of the $190,000 to Washington and back to Texas in violation of the state’s money-laundering statutes. Last week’s conspiracy charge, in contrast, involved the state’s election law, and it was that linkage that DeLay’s attorneys challenged.

Earle, who spoke to reporters after last week’s action, did not explain his decision to present his case to a new grand jury on the first day it met. DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden said that Earle’s action came after he “panicked” after realizing his error in bringing last week’s charges.

But a source close to the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he lacks authority to speak publicly, responded by noting that Earle told reporters last week his investigation was continuing, and asserting that Earle had intended to bring these charges even before the challenge raised by DeLay’s lawyers.

Whatever the reason, the potential consequences for DeLay are more dire. Both money-laundering crimes are more serious felonies, and the maximum punishment is life in prison.

BUT, we’ll have to wait a year, maybe two before we know whether DeLay will have to serve any time. At least that’s what I believe, as I am convinced that Earle wants this fight to continue in the political arena more than a court of law.

Is it over yet?

As I said yesterday, I wasn’t all that excited about the next round buzz, debate, trash talk, and confirmation grilling that is now underway with today’s pick. I’m still not. The first I heard of Harriet Miers was when I read this article from Ann Althouse. Today she’s a household name, and the blogosphere is afire.

Hugh Hewitt says Miers is a solid B+ pick, while Patterico claims he’s applying lipstick on a pig. Meanwhile, The Anchoress is some kind of clairvoyant, since she picked Ms. Harriet over a week ago. She just knew Bush would pick her. Professor Bainbridge goes the flip-side of Hugh and gives the pick a D-, claiming that the Supreme Court is no place for B pluses since decisions are made which affect millions of lives.

MSM’er Bill Kristol is in need of an anti-depressant prescription, and quick. Bush’s pick has made him Disappointed, Depressed and Demoralized. Marvin Olasky over at WorldViews says, “I never heard her (Miers) take a position on anything”. Anne Gearan from the AP writes that Harriet Miers led an unsuccessful bid to revisit the decision on abortion.

And Michelle Malkin has reaction from EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD…well, practically everyone.

I’ll be back to a more normal condition later this evening, and as if almost by magic, this blog will wake up simultaneously.

UPDATE: 8:45 PM PDT – Back in business. Blogging to resume shortly.

I’m trying to cope with two problems right now. One you already know about – my lack of broadband. The other thing is a head cold that invited a nagging cough to the party. Nothing less than smite I’m sure. Life isn’t so grand at the moment. That would explain the lack of blogging over the past couple of days. It’s just been too hard to cope with both ‘things’. But I did manage to crawl around the web a little bit tonight, and here’s what I found.

Rudi Giuliani says he’ll consider a run for the presidency in 2008. That’ll start the saliva running with some folks. Me? It depends on who joins him in the primaries. Rudi is a wee bit liberal for me, so for the moment, I’ll let his bus go by.

What a waste. 21 elderly people died when the tour boat they were on sank after it capsized. Apparently, it happened after another boat went past it too fast. The wake was enough to tip the tour boat over. No one could confirm that any of the passengers were wearing life jackets.

No matter where you go today, it’s likely that someone within 100 feet of you will have a video camera, be it a cell phone or the traditional type. Such was the case when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a restaurant in Bali yesterday. 26 people died. I saw the clip on NBC News, but I have yet to find a direct link on the net. My lack of bandwidth has limited my browsing ability. The video is chilling. People sitting, talking, eating and drinking. Completely unaware of what was about to happen to them. I think that kind of video is the worst kind to watch.

We should hear about the next Supreme Court nominee this week. After all the theatrics that was the John Roberts confirmation, I’m burnt out on the thought of the whole thing starting over again. Talk about deja vu – I’ve read a few statements from Democrats over the past couple of days. The same cast of characters are repeating the same threats of a filibuster. Yawn. Wake me when it’s over.

I still think New Orleans is finished. I’m not fooled one bit by the recent ‘good PR news’ about citizens moving back and businesses reopening. Police Superintendent Compass resigned (in part) because he didn’t want people moving back into the city. He knows what it looks like. It’s a mess. And it’s not safe. One things for sure, you can’t depend on the safety of the drinking water. And guess what you find after you drain water from buildings that have been submerged for weeks? Mold. The dangerous to humans type. It’s no wonder some are never going to return.

No body can fool Army Lt. Gen. Russel ‘Whupass’ Honore. He’s seen a lot during his time in Louisiana, and he knows first hand how hard it’s been for those trying to piece their lives back together.

I’m sure we’ll keep hearing about stories like this for quite awhile. I just hope we learn as much as we can from the experiences of Katrina and Rita to protect ourselves a little more the next time this happens. And it will happen again. 

This is bizarre. Someone who wanted to commit suicide blew themself up outside the stadium at the University of Oklahoma. Most of the suicides I’ve heard about occur in private, and they’re discovered only after a loved one goes looking for them. For whatever reason, this person wanted to make a statement, and national news headlines. They succeeded in doing both.

I know George W. Bush has seen higher poll ratings during his presidency, but for some reason the Left really wants to pile-on now. Why? What does this accomplish? Do they think they can keep this talk alive for the next 12 months with the hope of effecting 2006 races? If so, they better pick another strategy.

I’m going to hit a special milestone this week. Check back on Wednesday.

Yes, that’s the year 1994. Why is that significant? Because that was the last year in which I had to dialup to the Internet. In the last half of 1994, I had 768 Kbps DSL installed in my home.

And I can hear you thinking — “So what?”

I’m connected to the Internet right now at a blistering 31.2 Kbps. Yeah, dialup.

It’s killing me. Like, there’s no oxygen in the room.

I’m at a time share resort and you’d think that all modern time share resorts would have WiFi by now right? Or at least a DSL connection in the room. Not this one. Nope. I’ve got a freakin phone line connected to my laptop. What’s worse is, the business across the street from here has WiFi. In fact, the WiFi is OPEN and not encrypted. I’ve spent the last 3 hours trying to hack my way in…to no avail.

His DHCP isn’t working correctly, so no IP address for me. No high speed internet for me.

Serves me right.

Have you ever tried to blog at 31.2 Kbps?

So here I sit. Remembering that godforsaken year, 1994.

It’s scary when an entire month seems like a week. That’s what September felt like for me. One week.

And here we are, October.

I’ve got lots of ‘life’ stuff to do today, so blogging will be light.

Have a good Saturday.