Stinky DeLay
Dean
I've never much liked Tom DeLay. Some of the smacks against him are just cheap political posturing, of course. The recent L.A. Times smear piece on him and his father was an incredibly low blow, for example. Alas, as today's Wall Street Journal points out, Tom DeLay smells bad, for entirely unrelated reasons, most of them his own making.
I remember being around for the "Gingrich Revolution" agitated for change throughout 1992 and 1993, and was swept into power in 1994. It's astonishing how much of the rhetoric being used by Democrats now against congressional Republicans sounds exactly like Newt Gingrich did back in those days.
The fact that Democrats are able to credibly voice so many of these complaints is almost entirely due to the Republican leadership--and most of that falls to Tom DeLay.
If the GOP is smart, they'll do what they can to ease this guy out of a leadership role by the midterm elections. If not, they'll deservedly begin losing power in the House--and no one who really cares about the country will shed a tear for them.
By the way, speaking of Terri Schiavo, the Journal also notes today some other people who've practiced hypocricy on State vs. Federal issues in the past.
Related Posts (on one page):
- Stinky DeLay
- Did Tom DeLay Err On The Side Of Death?
I've got a theory about politicos which has never let me down over the years. Unless and until they're actual jailed, or at least indicted, they're entitled to be considered our heroes of the hour.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
On the other hand, I'm heartily sick of this scandal politics; keep charging your opponent with malfeasance until there is an "odor" about him and he gets forced out...enough is enough; if Mr. Delay has broken laws, then bring him to trial...if you can't do that, then we have to presume that the charges against him are spurious, while we leave his ultimate personal political fate up to his constituents.
It would seem that the GOP leadership in the House, with my hearty approval, has laid the gauntlet down; the change in the ethics rules was designed specifically to derail the politics of personal destruction. Mr. Delay's fate, as an individual, is irrelevant; what is at stake here is the ability of politicians to go through their careers only affected by actual actions and events, not ginned-up scandal stories from their opponents.
As an aside, the draft-dodging, cocaine-use, abortion-procuring, etc stories about President Bush should instruct all of us about the level the Democrats are willing to plumb in order to try and get a scandal brewing against a Republican. Unless there is iron-clad proof at the outset that there is scandal, all such stories should be taken with about a pound of salt.