Day: April 4, 2006

LitPAC: Reading Repugs Out of Office

Buck Banks

Mighty, mighty pen: LitPAC is a coalition of authors that is planning a series of readings around the country to register voters and raise money for liberal candidates in the upcoming congressional elections.

Among those involved are Dave Eggers (“A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” McSweeney’s Internet Tendency), Jane Smiley (“Horse Heaven,” “Thousand Acres”) and Daniel Handler, aka “Lemony Snicket.”

‘We’re not George Soros; we’re not going to make a massive impact’ — Stephen Elliott

“We feel we can raise $75,000 in hard money for congressional candidates, at $5,000 apiece,” says LitPAC executive director Stephen Elliott, who has written four novels and a political memoir, “Looking Forward to It.”

“We’re not George Soros; we’re not going to make a massive impact. But if you ask any non-incumbent candidate if $5,000 is a big chunk of money, they’ll tell you it’s a very big chunk of money.”

Other LitPAC authors include Mary Gaitskill, whose “Veronica” was a finalist for the National Book Award, Tobias Wolff (“Colected Stories,” “This Boy’s Life”), Rick Moody (“Garden State,” “The Diviners”) and Anthony Swofford (“Jarhead : A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles.”)

What’s interesting to me is these authors are, except for Swofford, not overly political in their writing. They certainly are not militants. But it’s still way cool that they are doing this, so if they come to a bookstore or school near you, go.

FL Prosecutors Reportedly Implicate DeLay in Abramoff-Related SunCruz Murder — Gov. Bush and Feds May Have Obstructed Their Investigation

Jon Ponder

“The story behind the story: DeLay’s involvement with Florida gangland mobsters probed by prosecutors [was] stymied by withheld FBI interview forms and obstruction from George W. and Jeb Bush.”
— Wayne Madsen Report

Prosecutors have preliminary evidence that SunCruz was wrested from Boulis to enable laundering hundreds of millions in cash from the casino boats into Bush and DeLay election campaigns.

Earlier I suggested that disgraced Republican Rep. Tom DeLay’s resignation yesterday may have been triggered by the guilty plea to corruption charges last week by his former staffer, Tony Rudy. Conventional wisdom indicates that Rudy could have ratted out DeLay on bribery and corruption charges in order to receive a lesser sentence.

Now comes word of a development that, if true, could implicate DeLay in the gangland murder of Gus Boulis, the former owner of SunCruz casino cruise ship line in Florida.

The news comes via an April 4, 2006, story in the Wayne Madsen Report, starting with a generally overlooked but possibly stunning development in the Boulis murder trial in Miami last week. Prosecutors say they belatedly learned that one of the accused murderers, Gambino family associate, Anthony “Big Tony” Moscatiello, was an FBI informant for 15 years:

[…]

Buh-bye Tom. Hello to the New Jack Abramoff

Trish

While I applaud Tom DeLay’s decision to resign the House of Representatives, his threat to find new ways to save the world from Democrats bothers me.

“My love for the Republican Party has played no small part in this decision,” he said.

I predict Tom will be the new Jack Abramoff. Older, uglier, and more obnoxious maybe, but just as rotten to the core.

Democrats retaking Congress, he said, would be disastrous, replete with tax hikes, a cut-and-run stance in the war on terror and antics such as a presidential impeachment gambit.

See what I mean? Much as I’d like to rejoice with abandon, I’m afraid we haven’t heard the last of Tom.

“After many weeks of personal, prayerful thinking and analysis, I have come to the conclusion that it is time to close this public service chapter of my life,” DeLay said.

“It’s time to begin opening new chapters and pursuing new opportunities to engage in the important cultural and political battles of our day from outside the arena of the United States House of Representatives,” said DeLay.

Hmmm. You know he took long enough from all that “prayerful thinking” to include a little “planning and scheming thinking” in there too.

Now that Tommy will no longer be a public “servant,” he will be free of many of those cumbersome restrictions on accepting and using the funds raised for his PAC to run the DeLay household and pay off his allies. Big Pharma and foreign governments, start making those withdrawals! I predict Tom will be the new Jack Abramoff. Older, uglier, and more obnoxious maybe, but just as rotten to the core.

Yes indeed, the sky’s the limit. No wonder Tom’s future is so bright he’s gotta wear shades.

…I’m excited about the future, which holds as always America’s brightest days and mine, too. Thank you and may God bless you all. He has certainly blessed me.”

Or maybe you’re just living proof that nice guys finish last.

No More DeLay: Former GOP Leader Drops Out Days after Staffer Pleads Guilty

Jon Ponder

Just days after his deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy pleaded guilty to corruption charges, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
has dropped out of his re-election race in Texas:

CNN reported Monday evening that indicted former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (TX) will drop his bid for re-election in Texas’s 22nd Congressional District, according to two unnamed GOP sources. DeLay’s being challenged by former Congressman Nick Lampson, who lost his seat in 2004 as a result of DeLay’s redistricting scheme.

Rudy is the second DeLay aide to cop a plea. In November, his former spokesman Michael Scanlon, who was a business partner of Jack Abramoff, the convicted former lobbyist who worked closely with DeLay’s office, pleaded guilty to conspiring to corrupt public officials.

DeLay will make an official announcement today but we can expect his statement to be all happy talk. What remains to be seen is whether Rudy, Scanlon or Abramoff have already ratted DeLay out.

If you ask me, it’s almost a dead cinch prosecutors have the goods on DeLay.