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Just to prove that not everything from Texas is dumb as a stump or mean as a snake, here's the beginning and end of Molly Ivins' latest column. Go read the rest. It's time well spent.

Star Telegram | 10/23/2003 | Ready to pick your jaw up?:
"What I like about the new radical, right-wing Republican takeover of this country is how easily they blow past all our defenses against deja-vu, they-all-do-it cynicism.

There you are -- thinking you're way too old and have been around this block too many times to suddenly up and evince moral outrage over a little callousness here or a dollop of favoritism there. Suddenly you find yourself whomperjawed, outraged, stupefied with disbelief."
...
OK, now that you have been fully prepped on this deal, I give you the Outrage Moment. One Jonathan Grella, spokesman for Tom DeLay, when asked about all this, said: "It's wrong and unethical to link legislative activities to campaign contributions."

Let's make sure we all understand what is being said here. Grella asserts that there is no conflict of interest between a public official using his power to change the law in exchange for a hefty campaign contribution -- the immorality occurs when the press and/or public interest groups point out this connection. That's when I went slack-jawed.