POOR, POOR TOM!
Article excerpts are from The Associated Press
April 11, 2005
"WASHINGTON - Private GOP tensions over Tom DeLay’s ethics controversy spilled into public Sunday, as a Senate leader called on DeLay to explain his actions and one House Republican demanded the majority leader’s resignation."
Now this is what I like to hear.
“Tom’s conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election,” Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., told The Associated Press in an interview, calling for DeLay to step down as majority leader.
Finally, a GOP congressman with guts. Maybe they need to set up a one-time "Tom's Law" that will declare his political career on life support.
"DeLay, R-Texas, who was admonished by the House ethics committee last year, has been dogged in recent months by new reports about his overseas travel funded by special interests, campaign payments to family members and connections to a lobbyist who is under criminal investigation."
Is that supposed to be, somehow, surprising? I'm so happy people are finally beginning to "get it" re. this guy...
"A moderate Republican from Connecticut who has battled with his party’s leadership on a number of issues, Shays said efforts by the House GOP members to change ethics rules to protect DeLay only make the party look bad."
Good for Shays... although the longer DeLay is in power, the more he makes his party look bad. And at this point in our nation's history, that might be a good thing if enough people pay attention.
“My party is going to have to decide whether we are going to continue to make excuses for Tom to the detriment of Republicans seeking election,” Shays said.
Don't make excuses. Support the man! If he isn't ousted, it may help the Democrats gain a number of House and Senate seats in 2006!
"Rick Santorum, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, said Sunday that DeLay needs to explain his conduct to the public." “I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people then judge for themselves,” Santorum told ABC’s “This Week.” “But from everything I’ve heard, again, from the comments and responding to those, is everything he’s done was according to the law.
“Now you may not like some of the things he’s done,” said Santorum, who is up for re-election next year in Pennsylvania. “That’s for the people of his district to decide, whether they want to approve that kind of behavior or not.”
Sorry, Rick... the whole country needs to have input on this issue... it affects the whole country, and I don't want it to be left to the people of DeLay's district.
"DeLay’s spokesman, Dan Allen, told AP that the congressman “looks forward to the opportunity of sitting down with the ethics committee chairman and ranking member to get the facts out and to dispel the fiction and innuendo that’s being launched at him by House Democrats and their liberal allies.”
Read: he looks forward to sitting down with the ethics committee to threaten them if they should try to make trouble for him.
"Responding specifically to Shays’ remarks later, Allen added that DeLay’s “effective leadership has helped to build and maintain the Republican majority in the House and that’s exactly why liberal groups funded by George Soros have set their sights on him.”"
Soros is always good to blame things on. Why don't we hear more about Richard Mellon Scaife? I'll bet he's bankrolled a lot more crackpots than Soros has.
"The majority leader was admonished three times last year by that committee. The committee has been in limbo since March, when its five Democrats balked at adopting Republican-developed rules."
Three times wasn't nearly enough. And good for the Democrats.
"House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said last week that the controversy was distracting DeLay from dealing with more pressing problems before Congress.
Santorum, however, said DeLay is “very effective in leading the House” and “to date, has not been compromised.”
That is because DeLay probably wouldn't know how to compromise if the world depended on it.
"A senior Democratic senator, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, had this advice for the Republicans who control both the House and Senate: “Be careful about how closely you embrace Mr. DeLay.”
Yes, and in what positions you embrace him! Don't let him get behind you, anyway...
"Dodd cited the new rules for the ethics committee that House Republicans rammed through in the wake of DeLay’s difficulties. Those rules require a bipartisan vote before an investigation can be launched. DeLay’s office also helped mount a counterattack last fall against Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., who was the ethics committee chairman when it came down against DeLay.
“Unfortunately, in his particular case, there’s a process that he’s tried to change so they could actually reach a determination as to whether or not he’s innocent or guilty of the things he’s been charged with,” Dodd said. “But this is not going to go away.”
No, and we can't let it go away.
"DeLay “becomes the poster child for a lot of the things the Democrats think are wrong about Republican leadership. As long as he’s there, he’s going to become a pretty good target,” Dodd said on ABC."
He can be the Democrats' whipping boy. We have needed one for some time now, as Dubya and Karl seem to be coated with teflon.
"DeLay, who took center stage in passing legislation designed to keep alive Terri Schiavo, also has found that President Bush and congressional colleagues are distancing themselves from his comments, after her death, about the judges involved in her case."
As well they should.
“The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior,” DeLay said, raising the prospect of impeaching members of a separate and independent branch of government. Later, he complained of “an arrogant and out of control judiciary that thumbs its nose at Congress and the president.”
I suppose he thinks he and his fellow members of Congress should be the ones to decide matters which have been traditionally decided in courts? Sounds like he thinks maybe we ought to just have magistrates then, instead of politicians and judges (see Christian Reconstructivism).
"Bush, declining to endorse DeLay’s comments, said Friday that he supports “an independent judiciary.” He added, “I believe in proper checks and balances.”
Let's see how much Bush and his administration will walk that talk... because proper checks and balances would mean they wouldn't have as much power.
"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said last week that the judges “handled it in a fair and independent way,” although he had hoped for a different result."
Well.... it didn't happen that way, Bill. But one thing that did happen: many Americans realized you would be willing to diagnose a patient from many miles away by viewing snippets of video tape. Wow! I really call that bringing medicine into the 21st century! Frist for President!! Heh...
"Democrats have said DeLay’s remarks were tantamount to inciting violence against judges."
Terrorism inspired by religion is something that CAN happen in the United States. Terrorism doesn't happen in our world only as the result of Islamic fundamentalist beliefs; this should seem obvious if one takes the examples of Eric Rudolph and others who have killed doctors into account. I'm beginning to think the only difference between Islamic and Christian terrorism may be that we don't have organized religious terrorist groups here in the U.S.
Well, not yet anyway.
April 11, 2005
"WASHINGTON - Private GOP tensions over Tom DeLay’s ethics controversy spilled into public Sunday, as a Senate leader called on DeLay to explain his actions and one House Republican demanded the majority leader’s resignation."
Now this is what I like to hear.
“Tom’s conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election,” Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., told The Associated Press in an interview, calling for DeLay to step down as majority leader.
Finally, a GOP congressman with guts. Maybe they need to set up a one-time "Tom's Law" that will declare his political career on life support.
"DeLay, R-Texas, who was admonished by the House ethics committee last year, has been dogged in recent months by new reports about his overseas travel funded by special interests, campaign payments to family members and connections to a lobbyist who is under criminal investigation."
Is that supposed to be, somehow, surprising? I'm so happy people are finally beginning to "get it" re. this guy...
"A moderate Republican from Connecticut who has battled with his party’s leadership on a number of issues, Shays said efforts by the House GOP members to change ethics rules to protect DeLay only make the party look bad."
Good for Shays... although the longer DeLay is in power, the more he makes his party look bad. And at this point in our nation's history, that might be a good thing if enough people pay attention.
“My party is going to have to decide whether we are going to continue to make excuses for Tom to the detriment of Republicans seeking election,” Shays said.
Don't make excuses. Support the man! If he isn't ousted, it may help the Democrats gain a number of House and Senate seats in 2006!
"Rick Santorum, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, said Sunday that DeLay needs to explain his conduct to the public." “I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people then judge for themselves,” Santorum told ABC’s “This Week.” “But from everything I’ve heard, again, from the comments and responding to those, is everything he’s done was according to the law.
“Now you may not like some of the things he’s done,” said Santorum, who is up for re-election next year in Pennsylvania. “That’s for the people of his district to decide, whether they want to approve that kind of behavior or not.”
Sorry, Rick... the whole country needs to have input on this issue... it affects the whole country, and I don't want it to be left to the people of DeLay's district.
"DeLay’s spokesman, Dan Allen, told AP that the congressman “looks forward to the opportunity of sitting down with the ethics committee chairman and ranking member to get the facts out and to dispel the fiction and innuendo that’s being launched at him by House Democrats and their liberal allies.”
Read: he looks forward to sitting down with the ethics committee to threaten them if they should try to make trouble for him.
"Responding specifically to Shays’ remarks later, Allen added that DeLay’s “effective leadership has helped to build and maintain the Republican majority in the House and that’s exactly why liberal groups funded by George Soros have set their sights on him.”"
Soros is always good to blame things on. Why don't we hear more about Richard Mellon Scaife? I'll bet he's bankrolled a lot more crackpots than Soros has.
"The majority leader was admonished three times last year by that committee. The committee has been in limbo since March, when its five Democrats balked at adopting Republican-developed rules."
Three times wasn't nearly enough. And good for the Democrats.
"House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said last week that the controversy was distracting DeLay from dealing with more pressing problems before Congress.
Santorum, however, said DeLay is “very effective in leading the House” and “to date, has not been compromised.”
That is because DeLay probably wouldn't know how to compromise if the world depended on it.
"A senior Democratic senator, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, had this advice for the Republicans who control both the House and Senate: “Be careful about how closely you embrace Mr. DeLay.”
Yes, and in what positions you embrace him! Don't let him get behind you, anyway...
"Dodd cited the new rules for the ethics committee that House Republicans rammed through in the wake of DeLay’s difficulties. Those rules require a bipartisan vote before an investigation can be launched. DeLay’s office also helped mount a counterattack last fall against Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., who was the ethics committee chairman when it came down against DeLay.
“Unfortunately, in his particular case, there’s a process that he’s tried to change so they could actually reach a determination as to whether or not he’s innocent or guilty of the things he’s been charged with,” Dodd said. “But this is not going to go away.”
No, and we can't let it go away.
"DeLay “becomes the poster child for a lot of the things the Democrats think are wrong about Republican leadership. As long as he’s there, he’s going to become a pretty good target,” Dodd said on ABC."
He can be the Democrats' whipping boy. We have needed one for some time now, as Dubya and Karl seem to be coated with teflon.
"DeLay, who took center stage in passing legislation designed to keep alive Terri Schiavo, also has found that President Bush and congressional colleagues are distancing themselves from his comments, after her death, about the judges involved in her case."
As well they should.
“The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior,” DeLay said, raising the prospect of impeaching members of a separate and independent branch of government. Later, he complained of “an arrogant and out of control judiciary that thumbs its nose at Congress and the president.”
I suppose he thinks he and his fellow members of Congress should be the ones to decide matters which have been traditionally decided in courts? Sounds like he thinks maybe we ought to just have magistrates then, instead of politicians and judges (see Christian Reconstructivism).
"Bush, declining to endorse DeLay’s comments, said Friday that he supports “an independent judiciary.” He added, “I believe in proper checks and balances.”
Let's see how much Bush and his administration will walk that talk... because proper checks and balances would mean they wouldn't have as much power.
"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said last week that the judges “handled it in a fair and independent way,” although he had hoped for a different result."
Well.... it didn't happen that way, Bill. But one thing that did happen: many Americans realized you would be willing to diagnose a patient from many miles away by viewing snippets of video tape. Wow! I really call that bringing medicine into the 21st century! Frist for President!! Heh...
"Democrats have said DeLay’s remarks were tantamount to inciting violence against judges."
Terrorism inspired by religion is something that CAN happen in the United States. Terrorism doesn't happen in our world only as the result of Islamic fundamentalist beliefs; this should seem obvious if one takes the examples of Eric Rudolph and others who have killed doctors into account. I'm beginning to think the only difference between Islamic and Christian terrorism may be that we don't have organized religious terrorist groups here in the U.S.
Well, not yet anyway.
4 Comments:
Have you started the pool for when Tom resigns? I'm in for 5 bucks for the 14th!
BTW, thanks for stopping by and commenting at God Dem!
Yer God Dem right!! Thanks for coming by!!
I haven't gotten into any kind of pool yet, but I'm thinking it will more likely be sometime this summer. I'll be patriotic and pick July 4!
I predict will resign as majority leader but that he won't be completely neutered because he will still be there in Congress. I don't think they will be able to get completely rid of him. I hope not, anyway! He makes a great albatross!!
Excellent article.
My guess for Tom Delay's resignation date is never. He's going to be around for a long time - just like Rumsfeld.
Eeeeeeeew!!!! Perish the thought!! 8-)>
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