BMAT Moral Action Committee Watchman Report #51 09/30/2005

Is Your Church Holding a Voter Registration Drive on Sunday? (Free Market Foundation)
Oct. 11 is the last day to register to vote.

That means you only have two Sundays left to hold voter registration drives at your church! The Constitutional Amendments Election is on Nov. 8, and you and your church need to be a part of history. For the first time ever, Texans will have the opportunity to vote to define marriage in the state. Prop. 2, which defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman, is on the ballot. Please contact your church today to pass out voter registration cards and voters' guides this Sunday. If you wish to collect the voter registration cards, you must collect the cards in a box marked "mail," and drop them off at a post office or mailbox.

CLICK HERE for a listing of voter registrars by county. (Call this number to request cards). E-mail programs@freemarket.org to request Free Market Foundation Voters' Guides.

For more information on Prop.2 and church resources for the marriage amendment election, visit www.TexansForMarriage.org.

Join Life Chain Sunday This Weekend (Sept. 27, 2005 Wendy Cloyd, Center Link)

Thousands of cities will host Life Chain Sunday on Sunday, Oct. 2—an event that joins pro-lifers in a time of prayer and silent witness as they stand together for the victims of abortion.

Sharron Albertson, director of Life Chain of Texas, said the impact can be felt right down to the individual level.

"At a rally for life a young lady came up and asked if she could say something. She said that some months ago she had been doing a trial run to be sure she had the right directions to the abortion clinic and was going along on a Sunday afternoon and noticed all the people standing with signs beside the road. The words on the signs just stayed in her mind that night and then the next morning and so she could not go and have an abortion. She decided that she just could not do that," she said. "And she showed them the little person that would have been aborted if they had not been there with the signs."

Albertson said it's a story repeated in every city.

The first Life Chain began in 1987 in Yuba City, Calif., with 2,500 participants holding signs that read, "Abortion Kills Children."

From there it grew into a nationwide event. In 1991, the first National Life Chain saw approximately 771,000 participants in 373 cities. In 1992 that number grew to more than a million internationally.

"Every year we hear about Life Chains that have been going on that (we've) not known about," Albertson said. "This year we know of 1,300 cities and towns that are having life chains. Many of those have multiple locations so there will be more than 1,300 locations having a Life Chain presence."

Despite the volatile political climate surrounding the subject of abortion, she said more and more communities are embracing the stand for righteousness that a Life Chain event brings—but there is more to be done. She noted that people look to their spiritual leaders for direction on moral issues such as abortion.

"If the pastors were not so allergic to the words 'pro-life' and 'abortion,' people would be more involved," Albertson said. "This is not a political issue. People have made it to be that way because the opposition wants to frame it in those terms, but this is really little people being killed. Here we are concerned about how many are being killed in the war, but (abortion) doubles that amount every day in the United States where we are supposed to be a Christian nation.

"When you think of 4,000 (pre-born babies) a day being killed, it's not safe at all for a baby before it's born," Albertson lamented. "Once it's born we have all kinds of extreme measures we go to." Yet hope is evident in each National Life Chain Sunday event.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
To find a Life Chain event near you, please visit the Life Chain Web site.

A new study from Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) shows that teens greatly benefit from frequent family dinners. Compared to teens (who) have two or fewer dinners per week with their family, teens (who) have five or more are less likely to smoke, drink and to use drugs. In addition, they are more likely to have higher academic scores, to confide in their parents, and to feel that their parents are proud of them. To encourage more family dinners, CASA designated last Monday, September 26th as "Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children." For more information on making every day a Family Dinner Day, please click the link below.

Additional Resources
Casa Family Day

The executive director of a Christian doctors organization says a recent study proves that, when it comes to bringing up children, "more is caught than taught."

Dr. David Stevens of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations says a study by researchers at Dartmouth Medical School found that children often mimic their parents' actions while at play. "And in this study," he notes, "where they had the opportunity to pick things for their Barbie doll or Ken doll in a shopping situation, [children] were much more likely to pick up alcohol, cigarettes, and similar substances if their parents either use those substances or expose them to lots of TV advertising or movies that showed this type of behavior."

Stevens points out that the results have important implications for parents. He says mothers and fathers need to guard their children, especially very young children, from overexposure to behaviors they do not want their children to pick up.

But the CMDA spokesman emphasizes that the converse principle is also true. Just as youngsters can mimic their parents' bad habits, he asserts, they can also copy the good habits or behaviors their parents demonstrate.

"When I think of my mother or my father, what do I remember?" Stevens asks. "I remember them praying; I remember them on their knees; I remember them reading their Bible every morning -- the habits of faithfulness and going to church, those things. Faithfulness would be the word that I would label all that with."

Parents who model such positive behaviors are not only likely to see those behaviors mimicked while the children are at play, the Christian doctor notes, but these parents are also likely to find such acts of faithfulness heavily influencing their children's attitudes and behavior as they grow older.

The main point, Stevens says is: parent’s who consistently practice any type of activity, whether the behavior is good or bad, are more likely to see it absorbed and acted out by their children.

Even before Judge Roberts was confirmed as chief justice of the Supreme Court, Democratic leaders were threatening an unprecedented filibuster - before even knowing who the next nominee is! According to the Washington Post a large number of Democrats, including Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean are threatening the filibuster if the next nominee does not keep the Supreme Court "ideologically balanced." Would these same Democrats insist any future replacement for Justices Scalia or Thomas share the same philosophy as the judges they are replacing?

The choice of who sits on the Supreme Court is the sole discretion of the President of the United States, who then needs the approval of a majority of the Senate. The Democratic leadership, by threatening to filibuster ANY nominee they disapprove of, exposes their disregard for precedent and the Constitution. While explaining why the Democrats should filibuster President Bush's next nominee, regardless of who it is, Howard Dean intoned, "We will not win an election if the public doesn't think we'll stand up for what we believe in." Chairman Dean is only half right. The ability of the President to make judicial nominations is the RESULT of winning elections, not the cause.

FRC strongly opposes any legislation that implies that homosexual behavior, cross-dressing, or sex-change operations are equivalent to inborn characteristics like race, or that implies that disapproval of such behaviors constitutes "hate." Those are good enough reasons to oppose the so-called "hate crimes" amendment that was attached as an amendment into HR 3132 "Children's Safety Act." a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Such laws also punish people for their thoughts in addition to their actions, and this bill would greatly expand federal authority in an area long reserved to the states and local government--namely, criminal law.

What the federal government currently does is collect "hate crime" statistics from the states and apply "sentencing enhancements" when a federal crime is also bias-related. But this bill HR 3132, for the first time ever, would allow federal prosecution of any "hate" crime--including ones already prosecuted in state court. FRC continues to urge the Republican Congress to strip this affirmation of homosexuality, criminalization of thoughts, and massive federal power grab from the final bill.

Americans Weary of Darwinism (Sept. 26 2005 Citizen Link)
New survey finds interest in other theories about the origin of life.

Most Americans aren't buying the theory of Darwinian evolution and would like to hear some alternatives, according to a recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

The survey concluded educators should take the public's opinion into account and present options to evolution in public schools.

David Masci, a senior fellow for the Pew Forum, said most Americans simply don't subscribe to Darwin anymore.

"Only about a quarter of the American public accepts the Darwinian explanation for life's origins," he noted.

"Sixty-four percent of the American public favors teaching creationism along with evolution."

Masci's interest in the issue was aroused by a battle in Dover, Del. That city's school board requires instruction on the criticisms of evolution, and the curriculum mentions intelligent design -- the theory that life is too complex to have been created by accident -- as an alternative. The policy prompted a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

Complaints from liberals aside, Focus on the Family analyst Mark Hartwig, Ph.D., said evolution isn't answering all the questions people have -- and most are tired of getting only one perspective from the schools, a perspective rooted in the fact that the majority of scientists subscribe to Darwinian evolution.

"Americans place a high value on freedom of speech, and on being able to investigate things for themselves," Hartwig told Family News in Focus. "They believe that, 'Hey, look, this is something that is a challenge to Darwinism. Why shouldn't the kids be allowed to explore it?' "

The Bush administration has called for the Supreme Court to reinstate a ban on partial-birth abortions, a legal challenge that could be decided by the president's new choice for the court.

The Solicitor General's office filed paperwork on Friday asking the high court to reverse a decision by the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals which declared a Nebraska law banning partial-birth abortion unconstitutional.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) announced today that it will file a brief in support of the U.S. Solicitor General who is asking the Supreme Court to uphold the national ban on partial-birth abortion.

Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for ACLJ, said the request comes at a very important time.

"This will be a monumental term at the Supreme Court concerning the issue of life," he said. "With the Supreme Court poised to consider the constitutionality of the ban on partial-birth abortion and the high court already hearing cases involving abortion protests, assisted suicide and parental notification for minors requesting abortions -- this is a critical time at the Supreme Court."

Sekulow said his organization is hopeful the Court takes the case and puts an end to "this abhorrent practice" of partial-birth abortion.

"It is clear the government does have vital and compelling interest in preventing the spread of the practice of abortion into infanticide," he said.

Frustrated with the worsening situation on the border, Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-TX) initiated a letter to President Bush declaring a state of emergency along the Texas/Mexico border. Bonilla's letter was sent to the White House on Sept. 21, signed by 24 bipartisan members of the Texas Congressional Delegation (see signatories below).

"Illegal aliens, many of which are "Other Than Mexicans" (OTMS), are crossing our border by the hundreds on a daily basis," the letter states. "They are presenting an immediate danger to the lives of people in every Texas community and beyond. We strongly urge you to take action now."

The letter demands the return of 165 Border Patrol agents who were taken from Texas to be assigned to the Tucson Sector in Arizona. It also requests additional detention space for housing apprehended OTMs, which are presently released into Texas communities to return on their own recognizance.

The letter was signed by Reps. Henry Bonilla, Kay Granger, Silvestre Reyes, Henry Cuellar, Solomon Ortiz, John Culberson, Tom DeLay, Lamar Smith, Pete Sessions, Sam Johnson, Jeb Hensarling, Michael Burgess, Ted Poe, Randy Neugebaurer, Michael McCaull, Ralph Hall, Kenney Marchant, Michael Conaway, John Carter, Kevin Brady, Louis Gohmert, Mac Thornberry, Ruben Hinojosa, and Chet Edwards.

The FBI has formed a new team to aid the Justice Department in the battle against obscenity—a sign, experts say, that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is serious about his promise to prioritize such prosecution.

Gonzales, who told the Senate during his confirmation hearings that he would be tough on pornographers, assigned the FBI the task of forming a team to join the obscenity task force already in place.

The new anti-obscenity team will consist of a supervisor, eight agents and support staff—the squad would gather evidence against "manufacturers and purveyors" of obscenity.

Jan LaRue, chief counsel for Concerned Women for America, said FBI involvement is a necessary part of obscenity enforcement.

"We need the FBI to be part of the investigation—along with other federal agencies tasked with enforcing these specific laws," she said. "Obscenity prosecution usually involves other crimes such as tax evasion, using the U.S. Mail, using the Internet (and) all modes of interstate commerce. So you need experts who are trained specifically and have experience working together to make the enforcement really viable."

Pat Trueman, senior legal counsel for Family Research Council and former chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Justice Department, said this shows that Gonzales and the FBI director believe obscenity prosecution is a priority because of the damage it's doing to our society.

"FBI director Bob Mueller was the chief of the criminal division in the Justice Department when the war on pornography began about fifteen years ago, so he's a veteran of this. He's always supported strong prosecution effort against obscenity and so he's not new to this effort," Trueman said. "The FBI director works for the attorney general and we know that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales promised to make obscenity a priority and he is following through with that, putting the right people in place. He's raising the prosecution priority of obscenity much higher than we've seen in the dozen years."

He said one obvious target for the anti-obscenity squad will be the Internet—where obscene material is most available.

A major goal will be to help people and the courts understand what is illegal.

"After twelve years of relatively no prosecutions, you've finally got the Justice Department to say 'This is important'," Trueman said. "I think you'll find that many people who otherwise didn't know obscenity was wrong or against the law will wake up to the fact that it is and something will be done about it."

In a strong bipartisan showing (13-5) the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the Supreme Court nomination of John Roberts directly to the Senate floor for a full vote. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), staying true to the liberal interest groups that support her, voted against John Roberts' nomination, despite having previously voted for him for the U.S. Court of Appeals. This time around Sen. Feinstein stuck to her abortion litmus test and ignored Judge Roberts' stellar qualifications. While not on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D- NY) proclaimed to the world yesterday how she will vote on Judge Roberts. Those who thought Senator Clinton was toning down her liberal views got a glimpse of her true colors yesterday when she came out in opposition to Roberts. The junior New York senator was not convinced that, as Chief Justice, Roberts would be "steadfast in protecting fundamental women's rights, civil rights, (and) privacy rights." It is widely reported that in the 1990's, as First Lady, Hillary Clinton played a major role in President Clinton's two Supreme Court nominations, including former ACLU attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose ideas are a full horizon removed from the mainstream.

(Sept. 22, 2005 LifeSiteNews.com) GRANTS PASS, OR- The founder of the American Civil Liberties Union was a card-carrying communist whose goal was to undermine the Judeo-Christian foundations of The ACLU is "engaged in trying to eliminate every vestige of Judeo-Christian _expression in public places in America," Kupelian explained in his landmark book, The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom, according to a review by Agape press. "It's frightening -- and they are using our tax dollars to do this. They use the laws of the land to get American taxpayers to spend their hard-earned money, actually financing their own destruction."

The ultimate goal of the ACLU is to see an America "with little or no public vestige left of religious faith and the traditional family," according to the Alliance Defense Fund’s Alan Sears and Craig Osten, who wrote the book, The ACLU vs. America.

The goals of the ACLU were clear from the group’s founding, as indicated by the writings of its founder, Roger Baldwin: "I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately for abolishing the state itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class… Communism is the goal."

The ACLU "positions itself as the great defender of rights, [but] is against the right of parents not to allow their children to participate in assemblies and curricula that actively undermine and ridicule their religious beliefs," according to Sears and Osten, commenting on the ACLU’s successful bid to force public school children in California to attend classes that indoctrinate them with homosexual propaganda.

Texas Grandma Simply Requests Right to Publicly Distribute Religious Literature
(Allie Martin Sept. 22, 2005 Agape Press)

Last spring Janice Colston, a Christian woman who lives outside of Dallas, was distributing religious literature on a public sidewalk outside Crowley High School when administrators forced her to move to the end of the street, preventing contact with students. Believing that her right to free speech was being denied, Colston sought legal advice from the Liberty Legal Institute in nearby Plano, then tried several times to resolve the issue with school officials, to no avail.

LEXINGTON, Mass, After a Massachusetts school board decided to incorporate so-called diversity training in its classes, which includes indoctrination in the homosexual lifestyle, local superintendent Paul Ash notified schools that parents need not be contacted about the program.

The "diversity" training includes materials such as the book by Robert Skutch, "Who’s in the family," which depicts families made up of all manner of combinations including same-sex parents. Parker, as a Christian, objected to his son’s exposure to such indoctrination, and requested that he be notified when such discussions took place.

The Superintendent, in a letter to the Lexington public school board last week wrote, "Activities and materials designed to promote tolerance and respect for individuals, including recognition of differences in sexual orientation . . . do not trigger the notice and opt out provisions of Section 32A." The opt-out provision, 32A, maintains that parents be notified if a school teach on "human sexual issues." To Ash, homosexuality is not a sexuality issue.

COVINA, Calif. -- Leaders of 300 churches in the Pacific Southwest plan to break from the American Baptist Churches USA, claiming the national denomination has failed to implement its declaration that gay relationships are incompatible with Christianity.

The Pacific Southwest Region said some churches with liberal stands on homosexuality have not been properly disciplined. But a top committee of the denomination said Monday that the national church does not set policy for any of its 5,800 congregations because each is autonomous.

The Rev. Glenn E. Layne, pastor of First Baptist Church in Temple City, who favors a split, said the move "is not a gay-bashing issue. This is an authority-of-Scripture issue." The Pacific Southwest board of directors plans to stop contributing to national headquarters as of Dec. 31.

"This is not a happy day," Layne said. "But I have to believe that God is preparing us for something better."

A conservative Baptist leader in West Virginia said last week that he and his allies were also preparing to split from the national organization.

The debate over interpreting what the Bible says about homosexuality is tearing at mainline Protestant denominations. Among the most dramatic examples is the worldwide Anglican Communion, which is struggling to stay together following the decision of its U.S. province, the Episcopal Church, to consecrate its first openly gay bishop two years ago.

The 1.5 million-member American Baptist Church is more liberal than the Southern Baptist Convention, the solidly conservative, 16.3 million-member group.

American Baptist leaders said they will be contacting congregations in the Pacific Southwest to discuss their affiliation with the national denomination.

Objections of Arkansas parents to graphic descriptions of sexual acts in books offered to students in their school libraries have fueled a feud in the Ozarks.
Some parents say the books are so shocking they "will curl your toes." The school superintendent compares the protests of parents to "cancer."

The furor began eight months ago in Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas, with the self-consciously liberal instincts of a college town, but surrounded by a conservative, church-going county in the heart of the Bible Belt. Fayetteville votes Democratic, and Washington County votes Republican.
Laurie Taylor first went to the Fayetteville Board of Education in January with concerns about three books containing explicit descriptions and pictures of sexual activity. She and others subsequently formed a group called Parents Protecting the Minds of Children.

One book for children in kindergarten through fourth grade, "Its So Amazing," ‘raised parents' ire with its narrative and illustrations portraying, with a positive tone, unhealthy sexual acts, homosexual relationships and abortion.

A book for ninth-graders called "The Teenage Guy's Survival Guide" describes pornography as "natural and fine."

The district administration agreed May 28 that the three books posed a problem and sequestered them in a parents-only section of the school libraries, not available to children. The parent group has since flagged 53 books in the Fayetteville High School library and one in middle and junior high school libraries, citing their explicit descriptions of how to engage in various types of sexual relationships, and validating sexually active teens. The parents say another 50 books under review might be problematic.

"They're beyond vile," Mrs. Taylor said of the 53 novels her group has asked the school board to sequester in parent-only sections of the school libraries. "They're not informational, they're not sex education. They're just pandering sex to young people. It will curl your toes."

A federal judge Friday issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of two Second Amendment rights groups ending the seizure of firearms from citizens in and around New Orleans.

U.S. District Judge Jay Zaney issued the restraining order against those named in a lawsuit brought by the Second Amendment Foundation and the National Rifle Association, which include New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Chief Edwin Compass III.

"This is a great victory, not just for the NRA and SAF, but primarily for law-abiding gun owners everywhere," said SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb. "We are proud to have joined forces with the NRA to put an end to what has amounted to a warrant less gun grab by authorities in New Orleans and surrounding jurisdictions."

Gottlieb said not only did residents of New Orleans lose "virtually everything" in Hurricane Katrina, they were also essentially "stripped" of their right to self-defense.

"SAF and NRA had no alternative but to take action," said Gottlieb. Otherwise, the gun seizures "would have set a dangerous precedent that would have encouraged authorities in other jurisdictions to believe they also could suspend the civil rights of citizens in the event of some other emergency."

Gottlieb challenged New Orleans authorities to explain how they will promptly "return all of those firearms to their rightful owners." He said the ruling "affirms is that even in the face of great natural disasters, governments cannot arbitrarily deprive citizens of their rights."

Tell Family and Friends Affected by the Hurricane Texas Watch has created a toll-free Hurricane Rita Insurance Hotline.

Victims of Hurricane Rita who have been unfairly treated or denied a claim by their insurance company are encouraged to call the hotline at 1-888-738-4226 and share their story. The hotline will be open Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm CST.

In light of recent Katrina-related insurance industry abuses, Texans affected by Hurricane Rita should be particularly careful when pursuing their insurance claims.

While Texas Watch will not be able to directly solve victims’ insurance problems, we will monitor complaints, refer complaints to the appropriate government agencies and keep records of insurance industry abuses.

Today Colorado Springs city officials, overwhelmed by Hurricane Katrina evacuees, declared they have drafted a plan to let a faith-based charity and the NAACP take over relief efforts. The city should not be faulted for its actions but rather praised for its recognition that faith-based organizations can accomplish what government oftentimes cannot. Additional accolades should go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announcement yesterday that it will reimburse churches and other religious organizations that have opened their doors to provide shelter, food and supplies to survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Having spent many hours trying to help the victims, I can personally attest to the power of the true first responders, our nation's houses of worship.

FEMA's decision drew immediate condemnation from such expected quarters as Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United). The liberal group cynically dismissed FEMA's offer to help the helpers, while offering no non-faith-based alternatives on its own website. What Americans United fails to understand is that these faith-based groups will be on the front line of defense in any catastrophe. Indeed, many will likely refuse the government aid, seeing their assistance as part of their mission in honoring God. However, faith-based first responders are being stretched to the limit by the recent natural disasters - and well deserve FEMA's recognition. American United is apparently willing to champion the separation of the desperate from their lifelines--local churches.

Additional Resources
FEMA Plans to Reimburse Faith Groups for Aid

Media's "Scare Tax" (Sept. 27, 2005 American Values With Gary Bauer)

Consumer confidence plunged this month in the wake of two natural disasters and soaring energy prices. According to the Conference Board, consumer confidence suffered its biggest one-month decline in 15 years and fell to a two-year low. Our friends at the Media Research Center (MRC) have an idea as to why. After analyzing the nightly news reports, MRC found that the media was providing a grossly distorted view of gasoline prices. While running stories on the record high prices, the network news shows were putting up visual images of gas prices well in excess of the national average. In fact, MRC calculated the average difference between the national average price for a gallon of gas, which the media generally did not report, and the prices they were showing at 75 cents a gallon. MRC dubbed this difference the media's "Scare Tax." For example, on August 31st, NBC ran a story about gas prices and showed a sign with $3.49 a gallon, when the national average was $2.62!

Now, don't get me wrong - I think gas prices are too high and several states are considering temporarily suspending their gas taxes in order to give consumers a break. Georgia has done it, and Congress should at least think about repealing Bill Clinton's gas tax. But once again, the media has managed to take a bad situation and make it even worse!

An Islamic advocacy group is urging American Muslims "and other people of conscience" to contact their elected representatives and urge them to sign a House resolution recognizing the upcoming fast of Ramadan -- and commending Muslims for their faith.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations calls the resolution an important tool for encouraging dialogue between Muslims and their elected officials, as well as enhancing understanding of the Islamic faith.

The resolution, which expresses the opinion of Congress, mentions threats and attacks directed at members of the Islamic faith since the 9/11 terror attacks.

It then resolves that:

"(1) during this time of conflict, in order to demonstrate solidarity with and support for members of the community of Islam in the United States and throughout the world, the House of Representatives recognizes the Islamic faith as one of the great religions of the world; and

"(2) in observance of and out of respect for the commencement of Ramadan...the House of Representatives acknowledges the onset of Ramadan and expresses its deepest respect to Muslims in the United States and throughout the world on this significant occasion."

QUOTEWORTHY: "The Bible is the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life, the nature of God, and the spiritual nature and needs of men. It is the only guide of life which really leads the spirit in the way of peace and salvation. America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture." -- President Woodrow Wilson.

WASHINGTON — National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Reynolds (NY-26) today issued the following statement in response to Democrat Ronnie Earle’s 11^th hour indictment of Majority Leader Tom DeLay:

"The Majority Leader has been a highly effective leader of our conference. Democrats resent Tom DeLay because he routinely defeats them – both politically and legislatively.

"Although much of Ronnie Earle’s investigation has been conducted in secret, we know that he is an unapologetic Democrat partisan. Throughout his three-year scrutiny of the Majority Leader, Earle has been incapable of separating his personal politics from his professional responsibilities. He has used his investigatory powers to energize Democrat activists, and Democrat activists have, in turn, fueled the zeal with which he has pursued DeLay.

"It was only months ago that Ronnie Earle attended a Democrat Party fundraiser in which he openly discussed an ongoing investigation in front of a room full of party activists, and then singled out and attacked a potential target of the investigation. Earle’s unapologetic politicization of the probe prompted the Houston Chronicle to opine that Earle’s behavior has ‘damaged the credibility of his investigation with a stunning display of prosecutorial impropriety.’

"Until Majority Leader Tom DeLay has his day in court, it is vitally important he be afforded the same presumption of innocence afforded to every other American."

Howard Wilson hwilson@texasmoralaction.org