Message From "Democracy for America" - Politics at its Sleaziest

Do you feel sleazy? Because Tom DeLay thinks you are. After being indicted on a charge of criminal corruption, Tom DeLay complained on FOX News about "politics at its sleaziest." He's mad at the Texas grand jury that issued the indictment. And he's furious at you and Democracy for America for the year long effort we've undertaken to expose the truth. Now, a grand jury has indicted DeLay a second time on charges of money laundering. DeLay says we have, "drug [his] name through the mud." If that's what he calls denouncing corruption, so be it. I call it "taking our country back."

You and thousands of others have created the climate where Tom DeLay no longer goes unchallenged. But he isn't the only bad apple. A culture of cronyism is rotting the Republican Party. And because they're in charge of all three branches of government, it's destroying our democracy too. We have shown that we have the power to topple even the biggest obstacles. But we can only do it when we work together. Help DFA take our country back by contributing today: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/contribute

You put Tom DeLay on the run. Over 90,000 DFA members demanded accountability by signing the "Stop Tom DeLay" petition last year. You helped run a television ad that gave him the biggest electoral scare of his career. You put up billboards in and around his district that called him out on his pay-to-play politics. And the grassroots activists of DFA in Houston hosted the "Save America without DeLay" picnic, drawing hundreds of local volunteers to campaign against DeLay -- in his district -- a full 17 months before next year's election. They say you're just a sore loser and this is all sour grapes. Well, it's not. It's about a democracy in which our leaders aren't crooks. Only after we clean up Washington will our country have competent leadership, balanced budgets and an end to the immoral war in Iraq. Tom DeLay has said he's going to hold onto his power, even if he has to relinquish his title of majority leader. He'll do it too. Unless we stop him: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/contribute

The Republican National Committee is implicated in the latest charges against DeLay. So you can be sure that they'll be on the attack again soon. That's how they try to change the debate. But we're not going to let them do it. Tom DeLay will be tried in a court of law. And the other Republicans in Washington will have their turn in front of the voters soon enough. Consider becoming a recurring monthly donor and help DFA keep the pressure on. http://www.democracyforamerica.com/contribute

What Tom DeLay calls an "abomination," is your work exposing the truth. He calls it sleazy. I call it patriotic.

SEAN BEAN RETURNS AS "SHARPE"
Garth Franklin / Sharpe Appreciation Society / Dark Horizons
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/051005c.php

LIVE FROM NYC! IT’S THE NEWS!

THE UNIFICATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
Molly Ivins, AlterNet
Big surprise and big trouble: Bush's new Supreme Court nominee is a Texas conservative and a fundamentalist Christian.
http://www.alternet.org/story/26404/

DEMOCRATS DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SETBACKS IN IRAQ
Agence France Presse
http://www.commondreamms.org/headlines05/1006-07.htm

IRAQ AND OIL-FOR-FOOD: THE REAL STORY
Joshua Holland, AlterNet
You won't learn what the biggest humanitarian relief effort in human history was about by reading the 'Wall Street Journal.'
http://www.alternet.org/story/26054/

ARROGANCE IN THE FACE OF DISASTER
[The Bush Administration’s refusal of Cuba’s offer for medical assistance following Hurricane Katrina.]
Commentary by Stephen Zunes
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1005-24.htm

A DOOZIE OF A RECESSION
Stephen Pizzo, News for RealRecessions begin when consumers suddenly discover they can no longer keep pace with their bills. And this one has already begun.
http://www.alternet.org/story/26406/

PUT THE HAMMER DOWN
Will Durst, AlterNet
Mr. DeLay and ethical lapses are not unfamiliar dance partners. They go together like Chaplin and jerky film.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/26401/

PEARL JAM, PLANT UNITE
[Rockers let rip in Chicago for Hurricane Katrina benefit]
Blair Fischer / Rolling Stone News
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7687812/pearljam?pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single1&rnd=1128625589720&has-player=true&version=6.0.7.811