Where DeLay comes from, loyalty and lividity

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | May. 15, 2005 | Dick Polman - Inquirer Political Analyst

[bgsugar]

- Some Republicans in his hometown disregard accusations against him and stand by him. Others are loudly joining the chorus against him.

SUGAR LAND, Texas - To get the skinny on Tom DeLay from those who know him, you take Highway 59 out of Houston to this boomtown of scenic greenery, where the churches are the size of minor-league ballparks, the spanking-new neighborhoods are known as "master plans," and the only folks on foot appear to be golfers and landscapers.

In one typically sumptuous dwelling the other day, Terese Raia, a redheaded grandmother and devout Christian, was serving up strawberries and strong opinions, all of which were seconded by her friends in the kitchen. Their man Tom, a "regular guy" who rose from insect exterminator to conservative warrior and House majority leader, is being assailed for supposedly unethical behavior, and that makes them mad as heck.

[bgsugar]

Finally . . . . a balanced article from an objective journalist working for a major newspaper.

Go DeLay . . .

[weegee]

HOUSTON PING

[lionheart 247365]

A man of substance .. .. ..

[Steely Tom]

was serving up strawberries and strong opinions...

Those silly red-staters with their strong opinions. Nothing like those nuanced liberals, like Howard Dean and Hillary Clinton.

(steely)

[RedWhiteBlue]

Thanks for the ping.

[Alkhin]

Thanks for the ping!

[palmetto65]

He is a true American hero.

[Alkhin]

What a sneering article, like it was being written by a gossip columnist who deals in nothing but innuendo and speculation.

Bev Carter is NOT a Republican...she is a columnist and editor for the Fort Bend Star and exactly the kind of sneering op-ed liberal opinionator who does nothing but carp and sneer and snide over the Republican party (notice how the writer of this article leaves that information out!). She is a verifiable JERK.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Terese Raia is a baaaadddd person! She and Andy's wife STILL owe me a dinner for 6, actioned at a dinner where Tom spoke as a matter of fact, and you know how I need the weight! ;-)

[Alkhin]

Also a person who loves to bitch about DeLay - Juanita aka Susan DuQuesnay Bankston

Bankston wasn’t always a local celebrity, gleefully lampooning the foibles of the high and mighty and those who just think they are. She took to writing in the early 1980s when her son “embarrassed the hell out of me by joining the ROTC and going to Baylor.” “If he had dyed his hair purple, said he was gay, and moved to San Francisco, I could have handled that,” she says. Struck by her predicament, she wrote a funny column about it for the Houston Chronicle. Beverly Carter, editor of the Fort Bend Star, read the piece and promptly asked Bankston to write some more columns. “Nobody had ever called people names before in Fort Bend, and a lot of people were very upset,” recalls Carter. “As much trouble as she gets me in, her stuff still cracks me up.”

[Alkhin]

And from this article : Critics say DeLay pressures special interest groups to hire Republicans over Democrats, has ties to former aides who earn handsome fees lobbying for corporate causes, and has an aggressive partisanship that has made him both an asset and a liability to the Republican Party.

Throw in DeLay's controversial role in orchestrating the congressional vote over the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case, and DeLay's critics figure they've got him on the run.

Newspaper publisher Beverly Carter, a Republican precinct chair who was censured by the Fort Bend County party for endorsing DeLay's Democratic challenger last year, said the drumbeat of criticism is getting hard to ignore even at home.

"If he's not toast, he's certainly getting a little browner," she said.

[Alkhin]

On the other hand HC - I have never been impressed with Andy Meyers. He is fighting a light ordinance out here for some ridiculous reasons. I have been toying with the idea of going to him about proposing some noise ordinances, but am not a bit concerned that he will not treat the subject with any respect. I have my doubts about his effectiveness as county commissioner.

[YCTHouston]

It might be condescending, but it's better than anything we'll ever get from the Chron. How pathetic we need a Philly paper to report on politics in Sugarland.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Newspaper publisher Beverly Carter, a Republican precinct chair who was censured by the Fort Bend County party for endorsing DeLay's Democratic challenger last year, said the drumbeat of criticism is getting hard to ignore even at home.

Bev Carter has near ZERO impact in the Republican Party. She was first elected because our esteemed County Chairman says he never got the filing papers for the long term chairman there, a guy who opposed the County Chair and his twisted logic.

Carter has told me twice, in front of others, that she voted for Perot in 92 and Clinton in 96 and I know she also supports EMILY's List. Not much of a Republican and damn sure no conservative.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

You may have all the doubts you want about Andy but he is in that job unless he is redistricted out of it. The is no chance of him being replaced in the current alignment.

[bgsugar]

Actually, the writer did a fairly good job of presenting both sides of the coin. I TOTALLY agree about Ms. Carter and her fraudulent claims to be a legitimate Republican. But, this is the first jouranalist for any major city newspaper that hasn't totally skewed the story.

[AndyMeyers]

The lighting ordinance was enacted to "protect" the observatory in far southeast Fort Bend County. I opposed the light ordinance because it gives government too much power. Get a copy of the ordinance from our County Attorney's office and read it. The ordinance gives the county the authority to shut a business down for not complying. I have a great reluctance to vote to use government powers to force someone to do something they would not do voluntarily.

The lighting ordinance imposes a rather significant increase in lighting-fixture costs on developers.

Also, the ordinance encompasses all of Fort Bend County, including the Katy area, which is in my Precinct. A lighting ordinance in Katy has virtually no impact on the observatory near the George Ranch, considering that large parts of Houston, which are not subject to the lighting ordinance, are much closer to the observatory then Katy.

On the other hand, I did testify in favor of the bill, introduced each legislative year, that gives counties some authority regarding obnoxious noise. Such a bill has yet to pass.

[Stellar Dendrite]

Allen/DeLay 2008!!!

[whereasandsoforth]

Why write this piece at all? Tom DeLay is old news and he is not going anywhere. We have found out, thanks to the democrats, that he is a lot "cleaner" than they are.

She could have used her talents to write a piece that would be much more interesting to her Pennsylvania audience, like the whole bag full of dog poo-poo trouble that Hilary Clinton should be in by now. That's where she needs to be shining the light.

[Chi-townChief]

As far as the democrats are concerned, he's still an insect exterminator.