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Thursday, April 21, 2005

Missing the scandal

Posted by: Hammer / 8:22 AM

You don't have to have Larry David's ear for timing to find the misplaced emphasis in the latest stories on Tom DeLay's improprieties:
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay treated his political donors to a bird's-eye view of a Three Tenors concert from an arena skybox leased by a lobbyist now under criminal investigation.

DeLay's political action committee did not reimburse lobbyist Jack Abramoff for the May 2000 use of the skybox, instead treating it as a type of donation that didn't have to be disclosed to election regulators at the time.

The skybox donation, valued at thousands of dollars, came three weeks before DeLay also accepted a trip to Europe -- including golf with Abramoff at the world-famous St. Andrews course -- for himself, his wife and aides that was underwritten by some of the lobbyist's clients.

Two months after the concert and trip, DeLay voted against gambling legislation opposed by some of Abramoff's Indian tribe clients.

House ethics rules require lawmakers to avoid the appearance of any conflict of interest.

The scandal is not that DeLay accepted a donation from a lobbyist representing clients with business on Capitol Hill or that he failed to report the donation. The scandal, ladies and gentlemen, is that a good old boy from Sugar Land, Texas went to the opera. To be sure, the opera is not the same thing as ballet. I'm not saying DeLay has been turned Blue State. But the only singing DeLay's base truly endorses is the local gal who twangs the national anthem in a red, white and blue cowboy hat before a high school football game.

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