Tom DeLay's reign offically over

[RobinsontoDuncan]

Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060108/ap_on_go_co/delay)

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent 34 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Rep.
Tom DeLay, the defiant face of a conservative revolution in Congress, stepped down as House majority leader on Saturday under pressure from Republicans staggered by an election-year corruption scandal.
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"During my time in Congress, I have always acted in an ethical manner within the rules of our body and the laws of our land," the Texas lawmaker told fellow Republicans in a letter informing them of his decision.

Still, referring to criminal charges he faces in his home state, he added, "I cannot allow our adversaries to divide and distract our attention."

DeLay temporarily gave up his leadership post after he was charged, but always insisted he would reclaim his duties after clearing his name.

His turnabout cleared the way for leadership elections among Republicans buffeted by poor polls and by lobbyist Jack Abramoff's confessions of guilt on corruption charges in connection with congressional wining and dining.

The race to replace Delay as majority leader began taking shape immediately, with Reps. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the GOP whip, and John Boehner of Ohio, a former member of the leadership, making clear their intentions to run. Rep. Jerry Lewis (news, bio, voting record) of California declined to say whether he would join them.

Speaker
Dennis Hastert, his own grip on power secure, said he expects elections to be held when lawmakers return to the Capitol the week of Jan. 31. That set the stage for several weeks of political maneuvering, and the possibility of a wholesale shuffle in the leadership lineup 10 months before midterm elections.

Democrats, eager to take control of the House in November, reacted to DeLay's announcement with studied indifference.

"The culture of corruption is so pervasive in the Republican conference that a single person stepping down is not nearly enough to clean up the Republican Congress," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) of California, the Democratic leader.

Added Rep. Rahm Emanuel (news, bio, voting record) of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic campaign organization: "With the permanence of their special interest philosophy, a change in the Republican cast of characters simply doesn't matter."

Democrats must gain 15 seats in November to win control of the 435-member House.

At a news conference in Texas, DeLay said he had called Hastert, R-Ill., on Saturday to inform him of his decision. "Our success in lowering taxes, creating jobs, growing the economy and providing effective national security was helped by Tom Delay's leadership," the speaker said in a statement.

The 58-year-old DeLay, an exterminator before his election to Congress in 1984, said he intends to seek re-election next fall. "I plan to run a very vigorous campaign and I plan to win it," he told reporters in Texas.

The voters aside, his political future will hinge not only on the outcome of the Texas allegations, but on the future of the Abramoff investigation.

Michael Scanlon, a former DeLay aide and an Abramoff business partner, pleaded guilty in the fall to corruption charges. In court papers, the lobbyist said he had once paid $50,000 to the wife of another former DeLay aide to help kill legislation opposed by his clients.

DeLay has been a fixture in the Republican leadership since the GOP won its majority in the 1994 election landslide.

An outsider at first, he muscled his way up the hierarchy when he won election as whip over the hand-picked choice of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

When Gingrich nearly fell in a coup more than three years later, DeLay went before fellow Republicans at a private meeting and emotionally confessed his role in the plotting. He prospered politically, moving up to become majority leader, the No. 2 post, in 1999.

Contrition was never a quality he displayed to his adversaries — Democrats, outside interest groups and others who sought to check the advance of the conservative GOP agenda he promoted.

DeLay raised millions of dollars for the campaigns of fellow House Republicans, conservatives and moderates alike, earning their gratitude regardless of their ideology. He courted controversy almost reflexively, including his involvement in an attempt to force corporations and industry groups to hire more Republican lobbyists.

He rarely backed down.

DeLay was the driving force behind
President Clinton's impeachment in 1999, weeks after Republicans lost seats at the polls in a campaign in which they tried to make an issue of Clinton's personal behavior.

DeLay's downfall began at home in Texas, when he led a drive to redraw the state's congressional district boundaries and increase the number of GOP seats in the U.S. House. He succeeded, but was soon ensnared in an investigation involving the use of corporate funds in the campaigns of Texas legislators who had participated in the redistricting.

Flashing his trademark defiance, DeLay attacked prosecutor Ronnie Earle as an "unabashed partisan zealot." He pledged repeatedly to clear his name and said he would reclaim his duties as majority leader by the end of January.

The scandal spawned by Abramoff intervened, though.

Within two days of the lobbyist's appearances in federal court last week, GOP lawmakers began circulating petitions calling for elections. Hastert immediately made clear he would not stand in the way.

`After the Abramoff thing we got critical mass," said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who long had advocated new leadership.

While Flake is a conservative in a safe congressional district, others suddenly calling for change were more moderate Republicans who could face difficult re-election campaigns this fall.

New Mexico's Heather Wilson was among them.

She said three of DeLay's "former senior staff members have admitted or have been implicated in corrupt and illegal activities to get money for themselves by influencing legislation. Whether or not Mr. DeLay was involved himself or knew this was going on, he is responsible for his office."

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I don't get it, why would he do such a thing if he did nothing wrong?

How many republican majority leaders have now stepped down in the past 20 years?

[RobinsontoDuncan]

i think general consensus on this board even amoung conservaties is that he's guilty

http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31237

[SouthernFried]

It's amazing, how many GOP leaders have stepped down in the last 20 years...all the time, the GOP increasing its dominance.

Mebbe if Clinton stepped down when he was impeached...the GOP might not have taken over under his reign?

Thank God no Democrat is that willing ;)

[Oscar DeLa]

I don't know what it is but Tom Delay always seemed to be honestly crooked to me.

[JoeChalupa]

There were quite a few republicans demanding that he step down.

Good move.

[xrayzebra]

There were quite a few republicans demanding that he step down.

Good move.

You gonna ask Reid to step down?

[ChumpDumper]

If he took an actual bribe, yes.

[xrayzebra]

If he took an actual bribe, yes.

Why, he said he didn't know Abramoff. Just accepted money from
some PAC's that may have been involved with Abramoff. Pure as
the driven snow, he is.

Besides, DeLay hasn't been convicted of anything yet. If he is, I will
be the first to say good riddance. Shame you dimm-o-craps wont do
the same.

[ChumpDumper]

Why, he said he didn't know Abramoff. Just accepted money from
some PAC's that may have been involved with Abramoff. Pure as
the driven snow, he is.Knowing Abramoff isn't a crime. Neither is taking PAC money alone.
Besides, DeLay hasn't been convicted of anything yet. If he is, I will
be the first to say good riddance. Shame you dimm-o-craps wont do
the same.No, I'll say good ridance before you.

[JoeChalupa]

You gonna ask Reid to step down?

Why avoid the issue? It is Tom Delay under indictment...not Reid.

My point was that even high ranking republicans wanted him to step down.
Simple as that. Are you denying that by pointing the finger at someone else?

If Reid is indicted then yes, I would ask him to step down.

[JoeChalupa]

Besides, DeLay hasn't been convicted of anything yet. If he is, I will
be the first to say good riddance. Shame you dimm-o-craps wont do
the same.

Shame on the republicans who won't do the same too. :rolleyes

[exstatic]

You gonna ask Reid to step down?

If he's indicted? You bet your ass.

You Repugs seem confused. It's not a crime to take money from this jerk or his PAC. The crime is to provide services for said money. Since the Dems aren't in power now, it's not likely they they could do so, even if they wanted to.

[boutons_]

The Repugs, including dubya, turning over their Abramoff contributions to charity is self-indicting, not self-absolving.

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/wpnan/2006/wpnan060108.gif

[boutons_]

Texas Republicans suffer 'huge loss'

Web Posted: 01/08/2006 12:00 AM CST

Gary Martin
Express-News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Rep. Tom DeLay's decision Saturday to abandon his bid to remain House majority leader struck a blow to President Bush and Texas Republicans who have flourished under the besieged leader's wings.


Tom DeLay Chronology
Some key events and controversies in the career of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas:

April 2005: House Republicans scrap controversial new ethics committee rules passed earlier in the year that would have made it harder to proceed with an ethics investigation. Democrats charged the rules were meant to protect DeLay.

( ... proof that Repugs were protecting their totally corrupt leader. )

DeLay, who faces money-laundering charges in Texas, announced his decision to avoid an intra-party fight for his former seat as majority leader.

The decision is a setback to Texas Republicans, who united behind DeLay and his leadership, which helped many to ascend the party ladder and attain positions of power within the House of Representatives.

"From the standpoint of Texas, to have the House majority leader resign is certainly a huge loss to the Texas delegation," said Earl Black, a political scientist at Rice University in Houston.

Texans, including President Bush, have fared well because of DeLay's power.

The fall is historic, but certainly not unique. Democrats prospered under Speaker Jim Wright, D-Fort Worth, who was forced to step down in 1989 under an ethics cloud.

( (Texas) politicians are all corrupt)

And like Democratic lawmakers decades ago, GOP members from the Lone Star State moved up in the party hierarchy under DeLay's guiding hand.

San Antonio alone has seen Rep. Lamar Smith rise within the party and poised to take the chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee.

And Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, jumped above more senior members to become a subcommittee chairman on the House Appropriations Committee.

Both have held fundraisers to help DeLay fight the charges brought in Texas by Travis County District Attorney Ron Earle.

But ethics scandals in Washington surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who has strong ties to DeLay, created a climate of concern for Republicans trying to hold their majority in the House and Senate.

DeLay's departure hurts the state delegation, but the fallout is more reaching.

"I don't think it is as much of a hit for Texas as it is for the Republican Party," David Crockett, a Trinity University political scientist in San Antonio, said of the DeLay decision.

Republican lawmakers circulated a petition this weekend calling for leadership elections after Abramoff pleaded guilty to felony charges in Washington and Florida, and announced he would cooperate with federal probes into allegations of corruption in Congress.

"Cleaning up the pervasive culture of corruption in Washington requires more than shuffling the Republican leadership," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin. "It requires cleaning the House."

Republicans sought to cast the DeLay announcement as a positive development.

( http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gifhttp://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gifhttp://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gifhttp://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif )

"Today's decision, although difficult, continues Tom DeLay's commitment to put his nation, his constituents, his colleagues and his party first," said Ken Mehlman, Republican National Committee chairman.

For Texans, the decision by DeLay to forego a leadership battle leaves the state without a strong man in the House to arm-twist legislation favorable to Lone Star interests.

That same characteristic served Bush well when DeLay won critical votes on the Central American Free Trade Agreement and other contentious issues.

DeLay is running for re-election in his Houston-suburb congressional district, while fighting charges in Austin that he schemed to move corporate money illegally from Washington to state legislative candidates, in violation of Texas election law.

He is adamant about his innocence, and faces trial this spring.

Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the GOP whip, has handled the majority leader duties since DeLay was indicted in Texas.

Nonetheless, DeLay's drag on Republican lawmakers facing re-election, in the atmosphere of the Abramoff scandal, is forcing Republicans to push the former majority leader aside, experts said.

"It's just another example of hardball politics," Black said.

Republicans have an eye on November, said Crockett, and the swirl of ethical taint around DeLay is unacceptable to GOP lawmakers facing re-election battles.

"Members of Congress want to get elected, and they will only go so far," Crockett said.

[email protected]

==============================

Repugs trying to distance themselves from Delay's toxic, corrupt Repuglicanism is equal to Ken Lay saying he knew nothing about his totally corrupt Enron. Play with pigs, you get dirty.

[Vashner]

Big fucking deal... we just appoint another Republican.

You fuckers better be working that 06 election.. and not just relying on your Bussing of igonorant people to polls..

I think your gonna get taken to the woodshed in 06 anyway you gutless punks.

[boutons_]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/01/08/weekinreview/08purdum2_graph.gif

[scott]

Oh Yeah Well Bill Clinton Got A Blowjob From A Fat Girl

[JohnnyMarzetti]

Big fucking deal... we just appoint another Republican.

You fuckers better be working that 06 election.. and not just relying on your Bussing of igonorant people to polls..

I think your gonna get taken to the woodshed in 06 anyway you gutless punks.

Well thanks to idiots like yourself we've all been getting screwed in the ass the past 5 years you blind following dipshit.

[jochhejaam]

"Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely"

[RobinsontoDuncan]

reps represent big business...of course they are more likely to be influenced negativley by these lobyists

[boutons_]

Delay kicked in the teeth again.

===================

Texas Court Won't Dismiss DeLay Charges

By LIZ AUSTIN
The Associated Press

Monday, January 9, 2006; 12:43 PM

AUSTIN, Texas -- The state's highest criminal court on Monday denied Rep. Tom DeLay's request that the money laundering charges against him be dismissed or sent back to a lower court for an immediate trial.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied the requests with no written order two days after he announced he was stepping down as House majority leader. DeLay had been forced to temporarily relinquish the Republican leadership post after he was indicted on money laundering and conspiracy charges in September.

DeLay, who denies wrongdoing, had been trying to rush to trial in Texas in hopes of clearing his name and regaining the position.



The House is expected to hold leadership elections when lawmakers return to the Capitol the week of Jan. 31.

DeLay's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said they will continue to push for a quick trial because DeLay faces opposition in the March Republican primary.

"We'd like to get it over with before then, but it's not as crucial as it would have been if he were still in the running for his leadership post," DeGuerin said.

( no need to rush now, Tom, just bend over and take it like man )


A spokesman for Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle had no immediate comment.

The trial court judge in December dismissed a conspiracy charge against DeLay but refused to throw out more serious allegations of money laundering. Prosecutors appealed that decision, and the judge decided not to proceed with the case until the appeal is resolved. It is still being considered by the 3rd Court of Appeals.

Prosecutors allege DeLay and two co-conspirators funneled $190,000 in corporate contributions through the Texas political committee and an arm of the National Republican Committee to seven GOP state legislative candidates.

They accuse DeLay and his two associates of trying to circumvent Texas' law prohibiting spending corporate money on campaigns, except for administrative expenses.

After DeLay withdrawal permanently from the majority leader job, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio announced Sunday he is seeking the post. Republican Whip Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the acting majority leader, campaigned for the job as well.

© 2006 The Associated Press

[xrayzebra]

Just keep remembering those damn hanging chads. And don't forget all the junk
that went on in Ohio. Just got to do something about the Repubs. They keep
kicking our butts at the polls.

[Ocotillo]

I hope this crook does real time and not some Club Fed. Then he'll be getting hammered if you know what I mean.

[xrayzebra]

I hope this crook does real time and not some Club Fed. Then he'll be getting hammered if you know what I mean.

No what do you mean?

[Ocotillo]

Gallows humor. Think prison showers.

[Ocotillo]

BTW, Hammer says his problems are because of a partisan Travis County DA. Well, The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied his motion to throw this out.

There are nine judges on the court, nine of them are Republicans.

I have contended this is the weakest case against the Hammer, his real troubles would begin when Abramoff started singing.

Even nine Republican judges wouldn't throw out the Bugman's case.

[Ocotillo]

Demise of the Bugman (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/09/AR2006010900952.html)

With disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's cooperation secured, federal prosecutors are turning up the pressure on a former senior aide to Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in the clearest signal yet that the sprawling public corruption investigation is now focusing on House Republican leadership offices, according to legal experts familiar with the case.

<snip>

Sources close to the investigation have hinted that at least half a dozen lawmakers could be under scrutiny. But in the Abramoff plea agreement that was made public last week, only three targets were cited in detail. None of the three was named, but their activities, laid out in court documents, identify them as Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio); Ney's former chief of staff, Neil G. Volz; and DeLay's former deputy chief of staff, Tony C. Rudy.

Rudy, identified as "Staffer A," stands out in particular, because Ney and Volz had been previously identified as targets. Such prominent attention on a "staffer" has led experts on white-collar crime to conclude that the government's 40-member task force on public corruption is seeking Rudy's cooperation, just as it secured the cooperation of Abramoff and another former DeLay aide, Michael Scanlon.

<snip>

But others cautioned against any such leap to judgment, suggesting the prosecution of a former high-level leadership aide could be the prosecutors' aim. Richard Cullen, a DeLay attorney, said: "If Staffer A is Mr. Rudy and if Mr. Rudy is found to have engaged in acts that were improper, I can tell you that Tom DeLay is going to be very saddened and disappointed that anyone on his staff would act improperly. He has one standard of conduct for all staff members, past and present, and that is that they do the right thing."

:lol Sure Bugman

[Tom Delay]

This is nothing but a liberal witch-hunt that will go no-where, you'll see... why, what I did wasn't even a crime when I did it. I'll be back you'll see: you haven't seen the last of the hammer.

[Tom Delay]

There were quite a few republicans demanding that he step down.

Good move.

Jesus told me to step aside for now for the good of the Republican Party.

God
Country
Wife.

[Tom Delay]

by the way, this shit ain't funny!

http://www.thehumphries.org/images/tom_orkin_man_delay.jpg

[Darth Cheney]

This is nothing but a liberal witch-hunt that will go no-where, you'll see... why, what I did wasn't even a crime when I did it. I'll be back you'll see: you haven't seen the last of the hammer.

Damn right Tommy-boy, with the money were making off my 'burton options thanks to the war and the money Rummys is making off this whole bird-flu, Tamiflu scam, damn right, you'll be back.

[boutons_]

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January 12, 2006
Texas Redistricting Is One More Hurdle for DeLay

By RICK LYMAN (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=RICK%20LYMAN&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=RICK%20LYMAN&inline=nyt-per)
HOUSTON, Jan. 11 - Representative Tom DeLay (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/tom_delay/index.html?inline=nyt-per) is in the toughest re-election campaign of his 11-term House career, a battle that might be decided not only by his legal problems, but also by the Congressional redistricting plan he spearheaded in 2003.

The redistricting led to the loss of six Democratic seats in Texas in 2004, but it also shifted thousands of Democratic voters to strong Republican districts. Among those, Mr. DeLay's 22nd District added several Democratic-leaning parts of Galveston County; several political analysts estimate they may have raised the district's Democratic vote around 5 percent.

"There is huge irony here," said Richard Murray, a University of Houston political scientist. "Six Democrats in Congress were eliminated, but the seventh victim may turnout to be the author of the plan."

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Should Mr. DeLay survive, as expected, a March 7 primary challenge by three Republican opponents, in November he will face a former Democratic congressman, Nick Lampson, whose district once included those parts of Galveston County now in Mr. DeLay's district.

Mr. Lampson lost his seat in 2004 when his district, the Second, was reconfigured into a Republican-dominated one. He moved into the 22nd District last April, he said, with the intention of taking on Mr. DeLay.

"I'm not running against him because he took my district," Mr. Lampson said, seated in a two-room suite of campaign offices in Clear Lake. "I'm running against him because I think I was a better member of Congress than he was, and I can be again."

Mr. DeLay, who has been a regular presence in the district in recent weeks, paused on his way out of a speech to the Rotary Club of Pasadena South to reflect on the race ahead.

"Of course, it's going to be a tough race," he said, spinning in his right palm a silver dollar a constituent had just given him as a good-luck piece. "The entire Democratic machine has come down here from all over the country after me."

( ah, are they picking on poor little Tommie? )
Local Republican leaders play down the chances that Mr. DeLay will be defeated in a district that remains predominantly Republican.

"The only people who consider this possible are clearly delusional," said Eric Thode, Republican chairman in Mr. DeLay's home county of Fort Bend. "It's not a competitive district. It's not even an issue."

Without question, Mr. DeLay has had a rough patch.

Indicted by a Travis County grand jury in September for state campaign finance law violations, he was forced to step down from his post as House majority leader temporarily. Next, a longtime political associate, Jack Abramoff (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/jack_abramoff/index.html?inline=nyt-per), was indicted, then pleaded guilty last week to public corruption charges under an agreement to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Mr. DeLay, who failed to have his own case expedited, permanently resigned as majority leader on Saturday, saying he did not want his travails to become a distraction for the party.

Now, he will be running for re-election while standing trial in Austin on money laundering charges in a case over campaign financing that Mr. DeLay paints as politically motivated. Meanwhile, Washington waits to see what other indictments might flow from the Abramoff scandal.

"I think there is a 50-50 chance DeLay won't even be in the race in November," said Calvin C. Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

If he does stay in the race - and Mr. DeLay insists he will - he has the demographics of the 22nd District to bolster him.

"Despite everything, it's extremely difficult to dislodge Tom DeLay in a district with such a strong Republican base and a strong, straight-ticket Republican voting trend," said Ted Delisi, a Republican strategist in Austin.

Yet the district has changed since 2003, and not in Mr. DeLay's favor. Running in the reconfigured district for the first time in 2004, Mr. DeLay won handily, but with a smaller margin than in previous elections: 55 percent compared with his Democratic opponent's 41 percent.

The district spreads across the southern rim of the Houston metroplex, from Galveston through the southern Houston suburbs of Harris County and into more rural Brazoria County and Fort Bend County, which includes Mr. DeLay's hometown of Sugar Land.

"I am sure the Democrats are going to pour money into this race," said Jared Woodfill, the Harris County Republican chairman. "But I think the congressman is going to be successful in March and in November. What is different this cycle is that people on both sides have started working harder and earlier."

Mr. DeLay is opposed in the Republican primary by Michael Fjetland, who has run against him before; Pat Baig, a former teacher and political novice; and Tom Campbell, a Houston lawyer who lives in Sugar Land and served in Washington as general counsel to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during the administration of the first President Bush.

Supporters of Mr. DeLay portray Mr. Fjetland and Ms. Baig as mischief-makers with little financing. Mr. Campbell, the latest entrant, appears to have solid credentials as a conservative Republican and promises to raise $400,000 to fight Mr. DeLay over the next two months.

"He seems like a decent enough guy," Mr. Woodfill said of Mr. Campbell, "but the fact is he has not been active in the party. And he hasn't got much time to mount a serious campaign."

Mr. Campbell said that his outsider status would help him with voters weary of Mr. DeLay's hard-knuckled politics.

"Congressman DeLay has employed an 'ends justified the means' approach and, somewhere along the way, has cut corners and engaged in ethical lapses," Mr. Campbell said before a campaign event at a Houston law firm Wednesday. "This is an uphill battle, but Tom DeLay has been kind enough to come part way down the hill."

The general election in November is further complicated by the emergence of another former congressman, Steve Stockman, an ardently conservative Republican who also once represented a part of what is now the 22nd District. Mr. Stockman has said he may run as an independent, a move Republican leaders fear might cost Mr. DeLay votes.

Wade Webster, a Republican precinct chairman in Clear Lake, said he thought the party would stand behind Mr. DeLay, for now.

"It's going to be tougher, yes, with all the bad publicity and the innuendos and what-not," he said. "Until something more definitive comes out, I'm supporting him. But I retain the option to change my mind."

Democrats, meanwhile, happily cite polls suggesting that Mr. DeLay is in jeopardy and insist that his problems will undermine him in the district, even if it is Republican.

In a poll for The Houston Chronicle last March, for instance, 40 percent of the respondents in Mr. DeLay's district said their opinion of him had dropped in the previous year. And a USA Today/Gallup poll in early December showed Mr. DeLay with a favorability rating of just 37 percent, and had him losing to an unnamed Democratic opponent 49 percent to 36 percent.

Mr. DeLay and his supporters question the polls' methodologies and say his support is significantly stronger. "We have our own internal polls showing us doing much better," Mr. DeLay said, flipping that silver dollar.

He paused and held up the dollar between his thumb and index finger.

"Am I allowed to keep this?" he asked. "What do you think? Am I allowed to keep this?"




Copyright 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html)The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)