Delay slapped with another indictment

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A Texas grand jury indicted Rep. Tom DeLay on a new charge of money laundering Monday, less than a week after another grand jury leveled a conspiracy charge that forced DeLay to temporarily step down as House majority leader.

Both indictments accuse DeLay and two political associates of conspiring to get around a state ban on corporate campaign contributions by funneling the money through a political action committee to the Republican National Committee in Washington.

The RNC then sent back like amounts to distribute to Texas candidates in 2002, the indictment alleges.

One related aspect of the whole Delay mess is why David Dreier, the California representitive who was initially assumed to be the pick to replace Delay as whip, suddenly vanished from contention. Roy Blunt, a Missouri rep who is widely regarded to be just as ethically challenged as Delay, only less visible, was then named as DeLay's stand in.

It has been widely stated and not refuted that Dreier, a somewhat moderate and reasonable Republican, is gay. He's lived with his chief of staff (make your own pun) for some time, and the contention has never been denied. Some say that this is the Republican's passing over a qualified and more honorable candidate simply because of their sexuality.

It's also widely reported that Ken Mehlman, Bush's campaign manager in '04 and current RNC chair is gay as well.

It's only worth mentioning in light of the rampant hypocrisy on the right, and the fact that these two can somehow square working their asses off for a party that considers them abominations, while endorsing and, in Dreier's case, voting for anti-gay legislation.

The fact that Dreier is gay is likely what caused the Republicans to drop him like a hot potato. This is widely known in D.C. but yet the mainstream media abdicated their duty to report this obvious aspect of the story.