Born on this day in 1934

America's corporate and political elites now form a regime of their own, they're privatizing democracy. All the benefits, the tax cuts, policies and rewards flow in one direction: up.
Bill Moyers

I happened to be reading Moyer's Blog early this morning looking for his interview with Public Citizen's Joan Claybrook which I missed when it aired on PBS last Friday on "Bill Moyers Journal."

The subject of the segment was lobbying and lobbyists and their pervasive influence on our political system.

I have a large measure of respect for both Moyers and Claybrook and an enormous loathing for lobbyists and their destructive influence on MY country and I was disappointed to have missed the program.

Fortunately for me I learned from Karl Rove that Al Gore invented the internet a few years back, and that invention led to the discovery of You Tube where I found a clip of the segment and I feel very good about the modern world this morning.

Uh, oh! Someone knows something about Tom DeLay that Tom DeLay doesn't want anyone to know.  

So what does he do? Why, the only thing that comes naturally to him -- he ran away -- to Virginia to partake in their delicious hams, their proximity to K-Street, and their distance from Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.

It's true. The former House Republican Majority Leader has abandoned his reelection bid and is expected to resign from the House within the next few weeks. DeLay said "his decision was best for his district and based on troubling internal polling numbers" which "showed him beating Democrat Nick Lampson in the general election but in a race that would be too close for comfort."