Breaking News: Tom DeLay Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison

Did they take him down or is he free pending appeal?

@Dodgerblue:

$10,000 bond according to CNN… which DeLay could likely put together just by scrutinizing the lint between his toes. I’m sure it’ll be another year at least before he sees the inside of a jail cell.

@Serolf Divad: Too bad.

Times speculates he can be set free pending appeal because he got a sentence under 10 years.

It’s never too early to start a prison ministry, which would be a much more appropriate use of his “talents.”

@Serolf Divad:

that’s right, it’s the word “Republican.”

Kinda like how apparently no one was in charge from 1994 to 2006 when the deficit exploded and ate the cuntree.

Does the RNC take donations in cigarettes? DeLay could get right back to work… :)

If he were not white and connected then the sentence would have been eleventy quadrillion bajillion years.

More good news:

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, recovering from a traumatic gunshot wound to the head, has given the thumbs up sign to her doctors and tried several times to grab her breathing tube, medical staff treating her reported on Monday. “When she did that, we were having a party in there,” said Dr. Peter Rhee, the Arizona surgeon who is treating Giffords. “That’s a purposeful movement. That’s a great thing. She’s always grabbing for the tube,” Rhee continued.

@Mistress Cynica: Thanks for posting. Hadn’t seen that.

As Molly Ivins said – Texas has only one election law, and DeLay managed to break it.

And mark me – he will not serve one day of his sentence. He’s a Texas Republican.

It was more fun around here when we could make prison rape jokes.

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: I’d hit it.

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: E.g. he’s got a year to learn the Sondheim fakebooks?

@Dodgerblue: ok, +1 to you, bucko.

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: How about something oblique like “brings new meaning to ‘Dancing With the Stars’?”

I could see him as Albain in La Cage.

@Mistress Cynica: That’s awesome news. Wow, just miraculous. The fact she is still alive is amazing.

And I can testify from first hand experience that it’s a terrible sensation when you’re coming out of surgery, gaining semi-consciousness, feeling that respirator breathing tube down your throat, and reflexively trying to rip it out. (And then either getting another dose of anesthesia or getting your hands tied down to the bed – the former much better than the latter).

Here’s the entire text of the original Fox News story on the DeLay sentencing:

AUSTIN, Texas — A judge has ordered U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to serve three years in prison for his role in a scheme to illegally funnel corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.

The sentence comes after a jury in November convicted DeLay on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. DeLay was once one of the most powerful men in U.S. politics, ascending to the No. 2 job in the House of Representatives.

The former Houston-area congressman had faced up to life in prison. His attorneys asked for probation.

Senior Judge Pat Priest issued his ruling after a brief sentencing hearing on Monday in which former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert testified on DeLay’s behalf.

Priest declined to hear testimony from the state’s only witness.