No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

Tom Delay used his office to cause the feds to track the Democrats

Josh Marshall Thinks that the story of Tom Delay's (alleged) abuse of power to track the errant Texas Democratic lawmakers may have "legs". More and more facts are coming out each day, by more media outlets. He also reports that Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta has opened an investigation into the contacts to see if "...anything untoward..." occurred. The issue is whether Tom Delay abused his office in obtaining the information he then shared with Tom Craddick. If you wonder whether Delay was honest when he reported yesterday that he got nothing that was not available to anyone who had the plane tail number, he wasn't. This is similar to the way Nixon tried to use the IRS to get at his enemies, and if true, is a violation of law. Delay cannot legally use the federal government to get at his political enemies.

Marshall also references the Houston Chronicle story today with its focus on what Tom Delay's office really did to get information from the FAA. The Chronicle article is an excellent overview of what has gone on so far. The Chronicle is the newspaper of record for Tom Delay's Sugarland Congressional District, so it is important to the Editors of the Chronicle to get it right.

Regarding the destruction of the records of the search by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Rep Lon Burnham (D. Fort Worth) "...has filed a Public Information Act request for a record of all documents destroyed by the DPS. Among the documents destroyed, he believes, were dossiers on the Democrats who staged the walkout. "

Remember, Texas is a Republican-dominated state. Are the Republicans using the state troopers to keep track of Democratic lawmakers? Or do ambitious state troopers believe that they can improve their career possibilities by pleasing the Republican politicians? Or both?

Also, today the Dallas Morning News reported that the Texas State Trooper who asked the Department of Homeland Security Air Intervention Task force gave them the impression that the plane with state legislators on it might have crashed. The DPS officer who made the request was Lt. Will Crais, who at the time was working with Tom Craddick, the Texas Speaker of the House, to locate the missing Democrats. Lt. Crais
is "...a veteran fugitive-hunter."
posted by Richard at 5:37 AM