Dark Bilious Vapors

we get a couple interesting posts:

• First, Josh links to a Houston Chronicle poll that suggests that Rethugnican strongman Tom "The Hammer" DeLay may be in a position to get hammered in 2006:

  A criminal indictment and continuing investigations have severely eroded support for U.S. Rep Tom DeLay in his district, most notably among Republicans who have voted for him before, according to a Houston Chronicle poll.
  
  Only half of those who cast ballots for DeLay in 2004 said they will do so again. And while a fourth of the 2004 DeLay voters still aren't sure whom they will vote for this year, almost 20 percent have defected to other candidates.

  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that DeLay will be turned out of office in disgrace; it couldn't happen to a more deserving prick.
• And for those of you who haven't been keeping up, Josh offers a "Summa Abramoffica", a fairly complete rundown of the Abramoff scandal:

  Did Jack Abramoff give money pretty much equally to both parties? Or did he only give to Republicans?
  
  You can hear people saying both on the web and the airwaves. And in almost every case the seeming contradictions stem from the fact that the people talking -- either intentionally or otherwise -- are comparing apples and oranges.
  
  Did Jack Abramoff give money to Democrats? To the best of my knowledge Abramoff never contributed any money to Democrats. And that's hardly surprising. Abramoff is a life-long professional Republican. How much money do you figure James Carville has contributed to Republicans over the last two decades. Or Paul Begala? It's almost a silly question.
  
  When you hear about Republicans and Democrats getting 'Abramoff money' what's being talked about aren't personal contributions from Abramoff but contributions from entities he worked for as a lobbyist. So, for instance, Abramoff lobbies for Indian tribe X. Indian tribe X contributes to politician Y. Hence, politician Y got 'Abramoff money'.

  A valiant effort, though I despair of the M$M ever drawing such a clear and important distinction for the American public.

Len on 01.16.06 @ 08:15 AM CST