The Trials and Tribulations of Tom Delay; '24'

In a recent article by the Associated Press, a DeLay spokesman said that the ethically challenged Congressman is not influenced by donations. Does he believe that everyone outside of Texas is taht gullible and naive?

During the Eisenhower administration, Ike remarked about the dangers of the 'military-industirla' complex. What he was referring to at the time was when a general exits military service and joins the board of directors of a defense contractor, that defense contractor would have undue influence in contractor selection because the former general would have too many friends in high places. Thus, what Ike was really saying was the corrosive effects of influence peddling and a government by lobbyist.

A spokesman for DeLay says that 'Mr. Delay makes decisions and sets legislative priorities based on good policy and what is best for his constituents and the country'. As the Abranoff influence peddling scandal unfolds, we will find out just HOW MUCH out government goes to the highest bidder. I have heard in more than one instance how this may be the biggest corruption scandal of all time and that this Republican congress is quite possibly the most corrupt in US history. Politicians of both parties are ditching all their Abramoff note pads, pens and book bags in the hopes that the spin the bottle of corruption doesn't stop at them.

Consider just whom was cozying up to Tommy Boy.

$1M in 1998 from a London law firm channeled from two Russian Oil execs.
500K in 1998 qnd 1999 from textile firms in the Mariana Islands
250K from the Mississippi Choctaw and of American Indians. It was the funnelling of Indian casino cash that started this downslide.
$2.5M in donations from the 'US Family Network' an 'organization' which used its 'donation' to attack Democrats. That's the ticket: Avoid the real issue by attacking those who are asking the questions.

The Democrats were overthrown when their hands got dirty after 40 years in power. Gotta hand it to the efficiency of the GOP, it only took them 10 years. Lies about the war, secrecy about energy policy and the struggles of the middle class, so 2006 should be a watershead year for the truth, with both the Abramoff investigations heating up and the Ken 'what did he really know about energy policy' Lay and the Enron scandal trial starting soon, it will probably quite an embrarrassing year for the elite in the US.

I went to see 'Wolf Creek' yesterday. Started off good, thought it might be a UFO movie, but instead it was just another torture fest, which there are getting to be woefully too many of these. All in all it sucked.

I also joined Blockbuster for now so I can beginning watching (or re-watching) the Fox hit suspense thriller '24'. I had started watching this when I was in Vegas, but I need to get all caught up from season 1. Now that I have a recordable DVD, I can record the current season, while playing catchup.

Right now my only resolution for the New Year, having quit smoking on Oct. 1 and sometime in mid-January will be my longest contiuous stretch without a butt, is to save my quarters (I now have two NEW piggy banks to fill) and buy myself an Apple IBook. Time to increase the horse power. Its not the ideal machine, but it will have all the software necessary to start doing Podcasts. (Pig casts).

Of course, I do not know what the new year holds especially in light of the thinning of the retail herd now that the holidays are finally over.