Unplugged Mike

Delay Tactics

Toothy Tom DeLay's laywer, Dick DeGuerin, has made a motion for the judge in DeLay's case to recuse himself because the judge is a Democrat who gave to Moveon.org during the 2004 election. The argument, I guess, is that in a case arising from the 2004 election, a judge who gave to DeLay's political opponents cannot ensure a fair trial for Delay, a Republican. Delay apparently believes that he will get a fairer trial from a Republican judge, a notion which should be insulting to both Democratic and Republican judges. Apparently, DeGuerin thinks that insulting the bench is a good public tactic, or perhaps Delay will claim that the Judge was biased if he's convicted. It sure as heck isn't a great legal tactic.

Our system of justice treats defendant as innocent until proven guilty, as it should. The public, however, has no obligation to do so. They don't vote, and thus they can draw any inferences they want. That's why OJ's acquittal was something of a pyhrric victory and why Martha Stewart's conviction and jail term amounted to the equivalent of a temporary hiatus from running her empire.

Texans will see through this multiple ethics offender's charade of standing in front of the Texas Capitol building and claiming that he is beating prosecuted for beating the Democrats. Texans are (or should be) too smart for this nonsense. Indeed, Dick DeGuerin, who teachs Advanced Criminal Defense at the University of Texas Law School, seems too smart for it too, as this excerpt from a profile done on DeGuerin by MSNBC.com suggests:

"[DeGuerin] has taught at the University of Texas Law School for 12 years. This semester, he is teaching Advanced Criminal Defense, walking students through his cases and how he beat prosecutors.

"Third-year student Polo Gonzalez said DeGuerin told the class that lawyers should keep their clients quiet, so classmates were puzzled after DeLay’s indictment to hear the lawmaker defend himself on talk radio, television and in the newspapers.

"According to Gonzalez, when students asked DeGuerin about it, the lawyer responded: 'I don’t have control of Tom DeLay. He’s his own man.'"

Who will hopefully receive his very own conviction.

We Jews who look at DeLay as one the House's major Israel supporters should see through Toothy Tommy too, and we should drop him like a stone, because there are plenty of House members who manage to support Israel without burning bridges and disgracing themselves.

posted by Michael Brenner @ 2:34 PM