The Drudge Report (a popular website run by right-wing activist Matt Drudge) has posted an image of an offensive t-shirt, along with a headline “Liberals Sell ‘DeLay Suicide T-shirt.’” It’s clearly a vicious, organized effort to demonize Tom DeLay.

Or not.

The “liberals” selling the shirt are actually…just one random guy named Christopher Goodwin. Christopher runs “Ye Olde Christopher Goodwin Art Shoppe,” an online store
(hosted for free by CafePress.com) where he sells drink coasters, tote bags, and throw pillows emblazoned mostly with images of his own “abstract and representational art”; only two of his featured items are political in nature, the DeLay shirt and a set of shirts that say “Bush Is Vile”. Christopher’s profile explains that he lives in Washington and “enjoys attending Small Claims Court hearings, interrogating his cats, and taking brisk walks on the roof.” According to Alexa.com, Christopher Goodwin’s website is the 2,071,537th most visited site on the Internet; to put that in perspective (and to make clear Goodwin’s profound obscurity) consider that the homepage for Chicken of the Sea tuna is ranked 163,081.

In other words, Drudge made a concerted attempt to find absolutely anything to take the heat off Tom DeLay’s various corruption charges, and the very best he could come up with was a stupid t-shirt from “Ye Olde Christopher Goodwin Art Shoppe.” Lame.

Interesting findings in a new study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC:

- Just one in five large corporations (assets of $250 million or more) in the financial services industry were subject to IRS audit in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

- In 2004, only 0.65 percent of all corporations were subject to a face-to-face audit.

- The IRS refuses to release the number of total audit hours for corporate audits. (The information is available for individual audits.) This makes it impossible to know how much time the IRS is spending making sure corporations comply with tax laws.

This data suggests that that the administration has given large corporations, especially in the financial services industry, a hidden tax cut. Not only are the rates lower and the loopholes expanded, but enforcement has been relaxed.

American Airlines gave $5,000 to Tom DeLay’s legal defense fund, and, unlike some Congressional Republicans, the company has not yet dropped its support for the ethically challenged House leader.

Here’s how American Airlines’ Spokesman Tim Wagner explained the donation to NPR: “We were told that Mr. DeLay, a member of Congress from our headquarters state was facing substantial legal bills that he was unable to pay personally because of their size and his limited resources.”

There are millions of ordinary Americans that have bills to pay and limited resources. American Airlines should be helping those folks, not an ethically-challenged Congressman like Tom DeLay.

TODAY’S ACTION ITEM

Call senior American Airlines officials and ask why they gave money to defend Tom DeLay’s unethical behavior and demand that they ask for their money back:

Tim Wagner, Spokesman, Corporate Communications — (817) 967-1577
Dan Garton, Executive Vice President, Marketing — (817) 931-9351
Ralph Richardi, Senior Vice President, Customer Service — (817) 967-2000

Give them a call, then come back to Think Progress and comment on your experience.

After extolling the virtues of the United Nations during testimony at his nomination hearing, Ambassador nominee John Bolton stated that actualizing the full potential of the international body must include “putting to rest skepticisms that so many feel about the U.N. system.” If there ever was a perfect time for him to reject all the statements that he has made about the U.N., then would have been the time. But tough-minded, unapologetic Bolton again did not — and has yet to — recant on any of his previous remarks.

Overshadowed by the nascent “Shay’s Rebellion” was Sen. McCain’s major statement yesterday opposing use of the “nuclear option.” Though some conservative senators have already declared their reluctance to go along with Sen. Frist’s plan to override the filibuster and ram through President Bush’s radical judicial nominees, McCain is no doubt the most high-profile conservative senator to declare his explicit opposition (pdf):

Sen. McCAIN: …I think that there’s a problem with a slippery slope. I think that there’s a problem with really changing the environment of the Senate and we are different from the House and if we don’t protect the rights of the minority, someday history shows that we won’t always be in the majority. …

SCHIEFFER: Well, can I just ask you the direct question? Are you opposed to doing away with the filibuster, Senator?

Sen. McCAIN: Yes.