Momentum v. DeLay.

“Tom‘s conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election.” Calling Boss DeLay “an absolute embarrassment to me and the Republican Party,” moderate Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) calls for the Hammer’s removal. And even right-winger Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), forced to shore up his centrist cred for a tough 2006 reelection bid, now says DeLay has some questions to answer.

And here’s even more trouble for the Hammer: The investigatory noose is tightening around “Casino Jack” Abramoff, a sleazeball GOP lobbyist of the first order and one of DeLay “closest and dearest friends.” Can the DeLay Ring be saved? While the Dems may even want him around at this point, it doesn’t look like it, not with Dubya already suffering terrible poll numbers. “‘Within six months, Karl will force him out,’ a senior administration official from the first term says.“

Liquid Cinema.

The web site for the live action Aeon Flux, starring Charlize Theron and Francis McDormand, goes live with a short intro and flash images of some of the main characters. While this doesn’t seem like a must-see by any means, it might make for a decent B-movie, I guess. I’ve yet to figure out how they’re going to capture the feel of the cartoon, tho’.

Beetlemania.

“In a perverse way it’s kind of flattering. Because, had we not put these characters in a position where enough people cared about them, their deaths would have been meaningless. To a certain extent, and again in a really perverse way, we helped put the gun to their heads.” Via Neilalien, JLI-era writer Keith Giffen talks about Countdown to Infinite Crisis and the death of the Blue Beetle.

Feeding Frenzy.

American Airlines is not alone. “‘Neither the House nor Senate offices responsible for keeping records on K Street’s activities have audit or investigative powers,’ said Roberta Baskin, the center’s executive director. ‘It is impossible, for example, to determine how many lobbyists there actually are in Washington.’” A report by the Center for Public Integrity finds that, while lobbying expenditures have doubled in the past six years, nobody in DC is minding the store.

Feeding the Beast.

Need a loan? Call American Airlines. By way of Drop the Hammer, a spokesman for the company rationalizes its $5000 donation to the Tom DeLay defense fund on the grounds that, despite laundering half a mill of PAC-money through his family over the past three years, the Hammer is “facing substantial legal bills that he was unable to pay personally because of their size and his limited resources.” Aw, shucks, how nice of ’em. It’s like something out of a Capra film, ain’t it? Hopefully, American will be equally generous to the 500 workers they just laid off in Kansas City.

By the way, if you haven’t been keeping up with Boss DeLay’s recent shenanigans, Lou Dubose offers a concise overview in today’s Salon, with further comment by David Paul Kuhn on the political fallout for the GOP and Joe Conason on previous DeLay family boondoggles.