The target:

A Texas grand jury on Wednesday indicted Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates on charges of conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, forcing the House majority leader to temporarily relinquish his post. A defiant DeLay insisted he was innocent and called the prosecutor a "partisan fanatic."

...

The indictment accused DeLay, 58, of a conspiracy to violate Texas election law, which prohibits the use of corporate donations to advocate the election or defeat of political candidates. Prosecutors say the alleged scheme worked in a roundabout way, with the donations going to a DeLay-founded political committee, then to the Republican National Committee and eventually to GOP candidates in Texas.

...

The indictment accused DeLay of a conspiracy to "knowingly make a political contribution" in violation of Texas law outlawing corporate contributions. It alleged that DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee accepted $155,000 from companies, including Sears Roebuck, and placed the money in an account.

The PAC then wrote a $190,000 check to an arm of the Republican National Committee and provided the committee a document with the names of Texas State House candidates and the amounts they were supposed to received in donations, the indictment said.

The indictment included a copy of the check.

...

As a sign of loyalty to DeLay after the grand jury returned indictments against three of his associates, House Republicans last November repealed a rule requiring any of their leaders to step aside if indicted. The rule was reinstituted in January after lawmakers returned to Washington from the holidays fearing the repeal might create a backlash from voters.

Choose your own heat-seeking Velcro barb and fire away.

From another article in ABC News concerning the replacement for DeLay as House Majority Leader:

Several officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an aide to [House Speaker Dennis] Hastert contacted California Rep. David Dreier on Monday about assuming the majority leader's duties in the event DeLay was indicted.

...

At a private midday meeting, several conservative lawmakers argued that Dreier's voting record was too moderate. According to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, some participants in the meeting said the Californian had voted in favor of expanded federal funding for stem cell research and against a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. There also was grumbling that the Californian favored a less restrictive policy on immigration than many conservatives.

"There was a lot of discussion in that room about will … he advance the conservative agenda?" said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., who attended the meeting and said he personally would have been comfortable with Dreier in the post.

Wait, Dreier was for expanded federal funding for stem cell research and against the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage? Clearly, he's a mad man!

Luckily (for the insane religious right, that is), he didn't get the nod, and instead Missouri Representative Roy Blunt took DeLay's post. Whew, close call! At least DeLay's removal will once again restore the shine to the position of Majority Leader. Oh no, wait.

Records on file with the Federal Election Commission show that Blunt's political action committee has paid roughly $88,000 in fees since 2003 to a consultant facing indictment in Texas in the same case as DeLay.

Those wacky Republicans!

I decided delay resembles some sort of mythical being fit for a fantasy movie.

You can see the beauty of his pointy ears if you so choose by clicking this LINK to my brightly colored blog.

I did a computer analysis of the book behind Delay's head in the picture found by clicking S.T.R.'s link. It's either a copy of the Egyptian Book Of The Dead or a TV Guide, can't really tell.

Actually, that's a good look for Tommy.