Free Republic

Nobody shed a tear shed when Tom DeLay announced he was resigning from the House of Representatives. For Congress, for the Republican Party and for the American people, it’s goodbye and good riddance. Republicans needed Tom DeLay like they need another Duke Cunningham. There’s only so much sleaze any party can stand. Even Republicans! Tom DeLay represents the worst of American politics. He’s mean. He’s ruthless. He was always more interested in amassing — and abusing — political power than in serving the people or working with members of the opposition to pass important legislation. He never built bridges. He...

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<p>WASHINGTON - Tony Rudy, a former top aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, has agreed to plead guilty to charges in the widening federal investigation of lobbyist fraud, a law enforcement official said Friday.</p> <p>A hearing was scheduled Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, where Rudy was expected to enter his plea.</p>

"I'm like a cemetery — I'll take anything!" That was the exhortation from U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, Sugar Land Republican and certified auctioneer, as he squeezed $16,600 from the crowd during a live auction at a Harris County Republican Party dinner last week. DeLay knew the name of just about every bidder and used rapid-fire, joke-laced persistence to prompt high offers from the crowd. The hubbub even spurred Houston bootmaker Rocky Carroll to chip in five more pairs of handmade boots than he originally had pledged to the auction. There is no question that DeLay is an able auctioneer, but...

Hollywood celebrities and prominent corporate executives have poured thousands of dollars into the campaign of former Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas) to knock off Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas). Screenwriter and producer Norman Lear, director Rob Reiner, actress and singer Barbara Streisand and musician Don Henley have written checks to Lampson, according to politicalmoneyline.com, a website that tracks campaign contributions. Reiner and Streisand kicked in $1,000, and Lear and Henley sent Lampson $4,200. While Democrats have courted Hollywood stars in recent years, the moguls’ money has usually flowed to presidential candidates, the national party or the congressional fundraising committees. As a rule,...

Maybe Ronnie Earle has the goods on Tom DeLay and maybe not. I'm perfectly content to let a jury consider the evidence and decide. But if a jury does convict DeLay, I'm proposing a new nickname for the man who was, until Wednesday, one of the most powerful figures in national politics. Forget "The Hammer." He will be "Scarface." As in Al Capone. The connection? Capone was a monumental tough guy who ran gambling, prostitution, protection, bootlegging and other rackets in Chicago — only to be brought down on lower level charges that he cheated on his income taxes. DeLay...

The DeLay prosecutor has let a film crew follow him through the whole case. For the last two years, as he pursued the investigation that led to Wednesday's indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Travis County, Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle has given a film crew "extraordinary access" to make a motion picture about his work on the case. The resulting film is called The Big Buy, made by Texas filmmakers Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck. "Raymond Chandler meets Willie Nelson on the corner of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in The Big Buy, a Texas noir political detective story...

A grand jury has indicted a political action committee formed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and a prominent Texas business group in connection with 2002 legislative campaign contributions. The five felony indictments, made public today, allege illegal use of corporate money for political influence in the elections that gave Republicans control of the Texas House. Neither DeLay nor any individuals with the Texas Association of Business has been charged with wrongdoing. District Attorney Ronnie Earle said DeLay was not in his jurisdiction, and therefore couldn't be indicted as part of the ongoing investigation. A spokesman from DeLay's office...

Father, son fired by FBISD (Anti gun nuts are at it again)By: JAMIE MOCK, Reporter November 04, 2003  (Sugar Land, Texas a relatively affluent western suburb of Houston)  The Fort Bend Independent School District employee grievance appeal process has hit the end of the road for former FBISD bus drivers Larry and Erik Danna. Both were fired by the district last year due to an incident involving a weapon brought on board a school bus. Both Dannas, father Larry and his son Erik, appealed the termination, and for the last year have been seeking reinstatement. FBISD Board heard their fourth...

19-year-old charged with mom's death 12/31/2002 From Wire Reports SUGAR LAND, Texas - A 19-year-old man has been charged with stabbing his mother to death after he was seen walking down a street with blood on his clothing, the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Department said Monday. When authorities spotted and approached Anansi Flaherty on Sunday, they say, he confessed to killing his mother. The body of Vanessa Sweetman, 45, was later found with stab wounds in the home she shared with her son and husband. Officials said Ms. Sweetman's husband had gone to run errands and wasn't home when...

SUGAR LAND (AP) — In 1989, Ben Elledge stood in a Fort Bend County courtroom and heard his son's killer, Timothy Acklen, sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing. Last month, Elledge and his wife, Betty, of Sugar Land were stunned when they received a letter from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice informed them that Acklen had been tentatively approved for parole. "That is not enough; 13 years is not enough time. Ask somebody on the street and tell them the nature of this crime, and they will agree that is not long enough," Ben Elledge said in...

My friend's sister has been missing since last Saturday, and I would love your help in locating her. A flyer giving some details is posted here in .pdf format. You can also view it as an html document by clicking here. She was last seen driving a silver Toyota Forerunner with Texas Plate #J22 XTM. The SUV has brush guards over the lights and black door handles. She may be heading to North Carolina or possibly Florida, hence the keywords, but the police suspect foul play is involved. Her family just wants to know she's safe. If you spot MARCELA...