Posted on 04/16/2005 1:02:20 AM PDT by FairOpinion
"DeLay is effective"
Yes, he effectively went back on his word when he promised that border control would be addressed early in the new year in exchange for taking it off the homeland security bill late last year.
Remember that?
Effective at WHAT? I like DeLay, but he's as spineless as the rest. He only grows a backbone when his ass is on the line.
We are SO MUCH THE CHUMPS for playing into the MSM's game here ... look at this. Tom's a fool, traitor, someone says they wont vote for the GOP, etc... all this back-stabbing and back-biting over some minor quote a non-party-leader Congresscritter and alleged publicity hound makes.
Who cares what he said? BFD. Last I checked Tancredo was one of 230 republicans in the House, and his comment was only that stepping aside wasnt the worst thing to do. No, its not; handing quotes to the MSM that they can use to divide the party would be even worse. Dividing the party in two over this issue is worse. As we can see.
DeLay is not going anywhere nor should he. The attacks against Delay are wholly political. They accuse DeLay of doing things that dozens of current Democrat Congress-critters are doing as well. Pot, kettle, black.
They are stirring up allegations, and YET the Democrats refuse to let the ethics committee even sit in session, so these allegations are not treated within the proper procedures. The Dems know they have weak real cases, so their real ploy is to use Tom DeLay as a partisan Pinata. I know this personally because I saw it in action in the 2004 cycle here in Austin, TX. The Dems had negative campaign pieces based on DeLay and the local (Dem) DA's TrimPac grand jury investigation (which has generated plenty of suspicious publicity but not a single conviction).
The Democrats are trying to turn DeLay into a political issue, their ethics issues are hollow PR. We know it. The House GOP knows it. Tom Tancredo knows it, he said as much.
The Liberals in the press are laughing themselves silly at how easy it is to tease a quote out of a politician that they exagerrate into a party split.
Easy.
It's like throwing chum into a shark tank.
Congressmen Tancredo was used by MSM and made some comments he likely already regrets. Ignore it and move on, it means nothing.
No, Tom doesnt want DeLay to step aside. Dont read the MSM reporting, read the actual quote.
We are being played for chumps by the Liberal MSM, out to harm conservatives... if they can harm DeLay and Tancredo in one swoop, all the better.
"I believe they are being leveled in the hopes of bringing him down, and with him, the Republican majority," Tancredo said. "However, if the majority leader were to temporarily step aside so that these trumped-up charges can be dealt with in a less hostile environment, as they have proven to be an unnecessary distraction, it may be a productive move."
Is this the quote you're talking about? It sounds pretty clear to me. IF this is what he said, then I stand by my statement.
Here is the exact quote. No room for misinterpretation:
TANCREDO:"I believe they are being leveled in the hopes of bringing him down, and with him, the Republican majority," Tancredo said. "However, if the majority leader were to temporarily step aside so that these trumped-up charges can be dealt with in a less hostile environment, as they have proven to be an unnecessary distraction, it may be a productive move."
Apparently, he thinks, that if any Republican is even ACCUSED of anything by the Dems, whether or not they are innocent, they should immediatly step down, to accomodate the Democrats. Whose side is he on?
I haven't heard Tancredo be vocal on the immigration issue during the Dem administration. He discovered this great issue under Bush, and I bet he is doing it to get his 15 minutes of fame.
This whole immigration issue is another thing, that the Dems are pushing, using useful idiots like Tancredo, to split the Republican party and "divide and conquer".
This is Not Good for either the Republican party or the cause of secure borders. Must we Balkanize ourselves, have a circular firing squad??? :-(
If we fumble during this chance to change everything -- during a time where we have control of the Presidency and the Congress -- history will not forgive us.
Tancredo could have chosen to keep his mouth firmly shut on this issue, and keep spearheading the fight to close the borders, instead he chose to reveal his real self: he just wants fame and to attack other Republicans.
He doesn't care about the borders, he is just using that issue to club the Republicans.
It's time that people wake up and see this.
TANCREDO:"I believe they are being leveled in the hopes of bringing him down, and with him, the Republican majority," Tancredo said. "However, if the majority leader were to temporarily step aside so that these trumped-up charges can be dealt with in a less hostile environment, as they have proven to be an unnecessary distraction, it may be a productive move."
Tancredo was in favor of border security before 9-11, but certainly that event stimulated him to become more involved, and vocal, in it. It was not connected to Bush as opposed to Clinton, Republican versus Democrat. Tancredo was the first US Representative who kept talking about this issue when others were off on other tangents. Tancredo was the only representative I know of who was dis-invited to the White House over this issue.
Like it or not, Tancredo represents one of Colorado's more conservative areas, and his reelection is pretty much a sure thing even though the press and Democrats keep trying to bring him down. The absolutely wrong thing for any of us to do is help Tancredo detractors in doing just that.
No offense, but don't believe the media spin. If Tancredo misspoke, he has the character to admit it. Otherwise, I maintain nobody should be following the NY Times, Washington Post or ACLU's lead in attacking Tancredo. Especially FReepers.
The article I posted addresses his REVISED comment.
Any Republican, who thinks, that another Republican should step aside, just based on ACCUSATIONS, regardless of any truth to the accusations, and opens his big mouth and actually tells the media this, is and idiot and certainly NOT a conservative.
Thanks for confirming, that he only started to start using the border security for attention after 2001.
I distinctly remember, that initially it was the worst leftists and Democrats who started to bring up the border issue, trying to imply that it's Bush's fault that we were attacked, because he didn't secure the borders. It was a blatant attempt by the Democrats to divide the Republicans, and unfortunately many bought into it and are handing success to the Dems on a silver platter.
It's plainly stated in the article and quotes him exactly.
"Tancredo issued the statement after the Denver Post quoted him as saying that although he does not favor ousting DeLay, "If he chose to resign as majority leader until these matters are resolved, that's probably not the worst idea."
Tancredo said in the statement that he believes "that all of the charges against Tom DeLay I have seen to date lack merit."
"I believe they are being leveled in the hopes of bringing him down, and with him, the Republican majority," Tancredo said. "However, if the majority leader were to temporarily step aside so that these trumped-up charges can be dealt with in a less hostile environment, as they have proven to be an unnecessary distraction, it may be a productive move."
Tancredo Statement on Majority Leader DeLay
“I believe that all of the charges against Tom DeLay I have seen to date lack merit. I believe they are being leveled in the hopes of brining him down, and with him the Republican Majority,” said Tancredo. “However if the Majority Leader were to temporarily step aside so that these trumped up charges can be dealt with in a less hostile environment, as they have proven to be an unnecessary distraction, it may be a productive move.”
This is the statement he made after he had time to think about it, this is a statement HE issued, not a statement coaxed out of him by the MSM at an unguarded moment.
I'm sure glad all Republican conservatives agree on all issues, all the time, or they're not real conservative Republicans. Right?
The point isn't the agreement.
The point is that he is stepping in and giving the Dems ammunition against the leader of his own party.
He could have just kept his mouth firmly shot, but he chose not to.
(By the way, Tancredo's stated objective in the primary states is to press the immigration issue, not run for president.)
My concern is to temper Freeper, conservative and Republican knee jerking over something like this, and making it more than should be or it was meant to be. If Tancredo is unacceptable to conservative Republicans, there are few people who would qualify and fewer who could win an election.
There are few RINO Republicans I like or support, but I'll be darned if I'll start calling them names or disparaging their reputations over one issue. I may not be a Rudy Giuliani fan, for example, but he won in NYC where other Republicans could not have done it. I would rather deal with a RINO than a Democrat. At least a RINO is capable of changing his or her position and isn't tied to the Democrat party socialist dogma.
"My concern is Tancredo is catching more grief from our side than he deserves, and it does nothing but help the Democrats. "
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And what do you think Tancredo's comment is doing?
The point is, that he should have kept his mouth shut in the first place. Then, when he comes out with his new statement, it's the same as the old one, still calling for DeLay to step aside. He could have backpaddled, but he didn't.
He is choosing to stand with the Dems against the conservatives -- it's HIS choice.
Again, my reaction to Tancredo's comments is BFD. Tearing ourselves up over one man's opinion is unwarranted.
Yeah, 'temporary step-aside' may be helpful; it may be hurtful. We dont and wont need to figure out which, because it wont and shouldnt happen.
"is and (sic) idiot and certainly NOT a conservative. "
lol, where do you get the funny idea that conservatives are never idiots? Plenty of conservatives do foot-shooting on a regular basis... in fact, DeLay is one of them! Him and Cornyn have both done a climb-down on their statements after the death of Terri Schiavo.
"Him and Cornyn have both done a climb-down on their statements after the death of Terri Schiavo."
Actually, not they didn't. The MSM was trying to make it sound like it, but actually DeLay ordered the Judicary Comittee to look into the actions of all the Federal Judges in the Schiavo case. He is NOT rolling over.
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