A couple of quick links.

This may seem like preaching to the choir -- at least here in states where it matters -- but it is nonetheless another example of just how much the Bush Administration has gotten away with without a functioning Congress and a complicit media.

Why Bush Must Be Captured And Tried Alongside Saddam Hussein

Shrill title, but a solid read. What I garner most from reading these articles that the mainstream press will never pick-up, is that I learn about institutions like The American Society of International Law.

I know I'll be digging around in there, looking for something that has gone unreported, or underreported.

The other came my way via the D.U. forums.

It looks like Tom DeLay, well here's a tease, and I see that the The Smirking Chimp has the article up so you can forego that onerous registration process at the L.A. Times.

Political Fundraising in Texas Is Target of Probe
Officials look at whether money linked to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay improperly financed Republican campaigns.

By Scott Gold
Times Staff Writer

January 3, 2004

AUSTIN, Texas — Authorities are conducting a criminal investigation into whether corporate money, including hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, improperly financed the Republican Party's takeover of the Texas Capitol.

The probe is focused on several political and fundraising organizations run by Republican activists, investigators said. One of the organizations, the political action committee Texans for a Republican Majority, has direct ties to DeLay, a Texas Republican and one of the most powerful politicians in Washington.

At issue is whether the organizations improperly used corporate contributions to help finance the campaigns of more than 20 Republican candidates for the Texas House of Representatives in 2002, according to documents and interviews with prosecutors and government investigators.

Many campaign finance watchdog organizations believe the investigation is a test of whether "soft money" — unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals — will begin playing a more direct role in state and local elections.

Such donations were outlawed at the national level by a campaign finance reform law, recently upheld by the Supreme Court, but the measure does not ban the contributions at the state level. Reform advocates worry that soft-money donors will begin contributing at the state level to curry favor and advance their causes.

Texas law bans corporations from contributing money to candidates for office. Corporations are allowed to fund many ancillary costs of a political campaign, such as office rental or telephone lines, and in many cases are allowed to educate voters through advertisements and other programs, provided they do not specifically advocate a candidate's defeat. Scads more at link.

PBS announcement: If you have emailed me since Dec. 24th or thereabouts, I will get to you. I have had so much going on this holiday season, I have fallen delinquent in my responding to emails, and a great bit more.

Thank you for your patience!

another Todd