Posted on 04/06/2006 12:26:54 PM PDT by NotchJohnson
Nobody shed a tear shed when Tom DeLay announced he was resigning from the House of Representatives.
For Congress, for the Republican Party and for the American people, it’s goodbye and good riddance. Republicans needed Tom DeLay like they need another Duke Cunningham. There’s only so much sleaze any party can stand. Even Republicans!
Tom DeLay represents the worst of American politics. He’s mean. He’s ruthless. He was always more interested in amassing — and abusing — political power than in serving the people or working with members of the opposition to pass important legislation. He never built bridges. He burned them.
In our euphoria over seeing DeLay step down, we should not forget what a divisive figure he’s been. Of the need for Americans to support the troops in Iraq, DeLay argued instead: “Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes.” Of federal employees in the Environmental Protection Agency charged with clean air and clean water, DeLay said: “They’re the Gestapo of government.” Of his own failure to serve in Vietnam, DeLay explained: “So many minority youths had volunteered, that there was literally no room for patriots like myself.” To young refugees from Hurricane Katrina displaced to the Houston Astrodome, DeLay joked: “Now tell me the truth, boys. Isn’t this kind of fun?” And to a staffer who suggested he stop smoking a cigar in a federal building, he boasted: “I AM the federal government.” Louis the Fourteenth never said it any better.
Tom DeLay is also a big hypocrite. He attacked “activist judges,” while trying to force federal judges to take over the Terri Schiavo case. He accused Democrats of unethical behavior all the while he was laundering money and stuffing himself with free junkets, free booze, free meals and free trips on corporate jets.
Even the big “pro-family” foundation he headed — with his wife on the payroll — turned out to be nothing but a political attack machine, with most of the funds used to run TV ads against Democrats. All paid for, of course, by corporate contributions.
Publicly, Republicans praise Tom DeLay, blaming his political demise on Democrats. But privately, they’re breathing a sigh of relief. They know it was his own wrongdoing, not Democrats, that knocked DeLay off his pedestal of power. And they now fervently hope that, because of his departure, Democrats will no longer be able to make corruption an issue in this year’s midterm elections. As Congressman Thomas Reynolds, head of the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, gloated: “In Richard Nixon terms, you won’t have Tom DeLay to kick around anymore.”
The hell we won’t! The issue of corruption didn’t disappear with Tom DeLay’s resignation. It just looms larger and larger.
Don’t forget, DeLay himself is hardly out of trouble. Even after his resignation, he’s still on trial in Texas for laundering campaign contributions. Meanwhile, his Washington office is starting to look like headquarters of the Cosa Nostra. Two of DeLay’s top aides, Michael Scanlon and Tony Rudy, have pleaded guilty to accepting gifts from crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff in return for legislative favors. A third aide, Edwin Buckham, now under investigation, is also expected to cop a plea. It’s hard to believe DeLay didn’t know what was going on inside his own office — especially since he also benefited from Abramoff’s largesse with trips to Scotland, South Korea and the Malvina Islands.
And DeLay’s not the only Republican in trouble. Jack Abramoff, top Republican lobbyist, is under investigation for bribing members of Congress. Bill Frist, top Republican in the Senate, is under investigation for insider trading. Bob Ney, Richard Pombo, John Doolittle and Katherine Harris — leading Republican members of Congress — are also under the gun for taking cash from Abramoff. Scooter Libby, former top White House aide, has been indicted for lying to the grand jury. And Karl Rove and Dick Cheney — after Bush, the two most powerful Republicans in the White House — are still under investigation for violating national security by leaking the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame.
So, you see, DeLay’s resignation isn’t the end of the culture of corruption. It’s just the beginning. Tom DeLay may soon be gone. But from the House to the Senate to the White House, the stink of Republican corruption remains.
Well let's see, it has been shown that Hitlery has not once, but three times, committed fraud with her campaign funding filings --- I wonder where this blatant leftist is when it comes to the CRIMES OF HILLARY????
Gee, he is kinda quiet, ain't he ??
But now he can kick back.
(He’s mean. He’s ruthless. He was always more interested in amassing — and abusing — political power than in serving the people or working with members of the opposition to pass important legislation. He never built bridges. He burned them...we should not forget what a divisive figure he’s been.)
Translation: He kicked the living he** out of the Democrats.
That DeLay was effective is the Dem's biggest problem with him.
Can you imagine Bill Press and his wife sitting down to dinner with Tom DeLay and his wife and Bill talking to him like this?
We have completely lost our sense of ettiquite and manners, in the drive to reach the lowest common denominator of who can say the worst personal things about their opponents.
ROFL...The all knowing Bill Press, mouthpiece for Dean, Pelosi and Reid.
You know, corruption is corruption. I absolutely hate when someone of your party is guilty, and the apologists come out and say, the other party does it... or is worse. That's one sure way to make sure that corruption grows.
Has Bill Press gotten back on TV yet?
The show trial doesn't matter now. It has had the desired result.
The Press never cared when the Chinese Communist government was caught buying Democrats.
You're right. And it's everywhere where you can communicate about someone without doing it in their presence. Unfortunately, it's just as prevalent on FR. And I agree with you. Wherever we find it, all of us lose a bit of our humanity.
Delay leaving will just confirm tothe MSM and libs that he was guilty. Bill and Hillary would never give us the satisfaction. We do need guys like him to fight a bit and not go soft once they are in DC (Lindsey Grahm).
The Press never cared when the Chinese Communist government was caught buying Democrats.
-----
Of course not -- they a just as criminal as the Clintons.
"Bob Ney, Richard Pombo, John Doolittle and Katherine Harris — leading Republican members of Congress"
I thought Hastert, Boehmer, and Blunt were the Republican leaders.
Here's a novel idea. Let's prosecute Bill Press and every other Dem leader under RICO.
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