(SNN)Tom DeLay has found himself in the news again. This time Time Magazine has shown incontrovertible photographic evidence that Majority Leader Tom DeLay smokes Cuban Cigars. Compared to DeLay’s other scandals this new stain seems highly insignificant.

DeLay has long been a critic of Castro’s reign in Cuba.

DeLay has long been a critic of Castro’s reign in Cuba. Last year, DeLay cautioned against letting Americans buy the cigars, saying that Fidel Castro "will take the money. Every dime that finds its way into Cuba first finds its way into Fidel Castro's blood-thirsty hands.... American consumers will get their fine cigars and their cheap sugar, but at the cost of our national honor." It can only be assumed that when he said “American Consumers” DeLay was not including Cuban citizens.

What’s even more damning is that smoking the cigar was totally legal. The picture of DeLay with the Hoyo de Monterrey Double Corona was taken before the September rule change about the importing of Cuban goods to included the consumption of tobacco in other countries.

Bill Clinton smokes Cuban cigars, as was well documented during the Monica Lewinsky affair.

It could even be pointed out that Bill Clinton smokes Cuban cigars, as was well documented during the Monica Lewinsky affair. Cigar Aficionado reports a local Washington, D.C. tobacconist says that President Clinton's favorite smoke is a Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur No. 1 in Maduro.

True to form, it is most likely that DeLay did not pay for the cigar, but that it was a gift from a lobbying group. The cigar was smoked during a meeting between DeLay and the Republican Jewish Coalition at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.

Still, one question remains: Why did Time Magazine waste our time with this story?

posted by NewsBlog 5000  # Thursday, April 28, 2005