In case you didn't see the sub-head, I'm postulating a bit that Prosecutor Ronnie Earle perhaps has sold his soul to the devil to come up with some charges -- any charges -- against U.S. Representative Tom Delay.
I'm no fanboy of Tom Delay. He's a mean-spirited, tough s.o.b., that plays a dirty brand of politics and is much more rightward leaning than I really like. But just because I think he's a jerk doesn't mean that I think he's guilty of commiting any real crime.
The more I read about the charges against Delay, the more I think that Earle is on one hell of a fishing expedition, and he's doing anything and everything possible to get some charges -- again, any charges would do -- against Delay. He has tried to apply new laws to old acts, even though the law doesn't cover the periods when the acts ocurred. He has bullied -- some would say in much the same way Delay is often accused of doing -- others to do his will, and when he hasn't gotten what he has wanted he has opted to use his own mulligans to go back to the well and bring back a different result after coming up dry a few times.
Honestly, I really don't care if Delay winds up in prison stripes or not, or if he ever serves another day in the U.S. Congress. He's not important to helping to pass anything that I'm really longing for in Congress. But I don't think justice is served by a power hungry, publicity seeking, out-of-control prosecutor that can't get the results he wants without breaking rules or laws himself. Bending the law to achieve a result is wrong, no matter how noble your original cause.
