aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Friday, October 07, 2005

Lying pols

Lying is such a complex issue. Would that it could be so simple as to say that lying is always bad. The South is well known for the gentle lie that covers up a hard truth. And much as it is sometimes difficult for this direct, cut to the chase New Yorker to get used to, I kind of like that.

The lying we ask of our politicians might even be related. We blame them and berate them for it, but we’re unwilling to vote for the truth. So they lie and they lie and they become quite good at it. But once inured to lying, the difficult question becomes where to draw the line:

Former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) met for at least 30 minutes with the top fundraiser of his Texas political action committee on Oct. 2, 2002, the same day that the Republican National Committee in Washington set in motion a series of financial transactions at the heart of the money-laundering and conspiracy case against DeLay.

During the meeting at his Capitol office, DeLay conferred with James W. Ellis, the head of his principal fundraising committee in Washington and his chief fundraiser in Texas. Ellis had earlier given the Republican National Committee a check for $190,000 drawn mostly from corporate contributions. The same day as the meeting, the RNC ordered $190,000 worth of checks sent to seven Republican legislative candidates in Texas.

In the past two weeks, two separate Texas grand juries have returned indictments against DeLay, Ellis and a political associate alleging that these transactions amounted to money laundering intended to circumvent a Texas campaign law barring the use of corporate funds for state election purposes. The aim of the alleged scheme was to ensure that Republicans gain control of the Texas House, and thus reorder the state’s congressional districts in a manner favoring the election of more Republicans to Congress.

Via Kos.