How many times?

A spokesman for embattled Rep. Tom DeLay on Saturday disputed any assertion that donations to a nonprofit group linked to the congressman influenced his legislative agenda.
Those donations, to a now-disbanded nonprofit group called U.S. Family Network, came from interests close to indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to a story in Saturday's Washington Post.

In an e-mail, DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden said the donations were not a factor in the congressional activities of the Texas Republican and former House majority leader.

"Mr. DeLay makes decisions and sets legislative priorities based on good policy and what is best for his constituents and the country. Any suggestion of outside influence is manipulative and absurd," Madden said. "Mr. DeLay has very firm beliefs and he fights very hard for them."

How many times are mainstream news folks going to print such utter nonsense? How many politicans are going to be given an unchallenged megaphone to offer up the stock "sure, I took their money, but they didn't actually get anything for it"? How often will the press regurgitate tripe like Republistooge Dana Rohrbacher's "Words like bribery are being used to describe things that happened every day in Washington and are not bribes"?

Yes, it goes on every day, and yes, it is bribery plain and simple. Money buying votes. Cash turned into contracts and tax breaks and all manner of corporate welfare on the cheap. It all stinks to high heaven, and I am tired of seeing the Fourth Estate transmit such wankery as if it could actually be true.