The Hammer Falls Down
It's the end of an era. Tom DeLay has announced he will be stepping down as US Representative of Texas. To steal a phrase from Dave Campbell:
F*#% YEAH!!!
Man, do I hate this guy. He is a vile and despicable waste of flesh who under the guise of being a Christian Conservative has done more denigrate the institution of Congress than anyone I have ever heard of. There is nothing Christian or conservative about this guy. When the Republicans took over Congress in 1994 he said the Republicans were there to reform it. He ended up as the head of Congress and during his tenure, according to a statement by his indicted Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Rudy had "a far-reaching criminal enterprise" operating out of his office. "An enterprise that helped sway legislation, influence public policy and enrich its main players."
Obviously, they don't come much more corrupt than DeLay. A criminal enterprise operating out of his office. Now, to be fair, this is America and DeLay has not yet been found guilty of any wrongdoing. But with the aforementioned Tony Rudy pleading guilty to federal bribery charges and his former Chief of Staff Edwin Buckham (an ordained minister by the way) under investigation, Delay really has a lot of explaining to do. Delay claims that all of this criminal activity, including the ongoing Abramoff scandal, all took place without his knowledge. He claims that all of his former staffers who used his office for financial and political gain betrayed his trust. If his claims are true, that would mean he was not only innocent, but rather stupid and naive.
Now, I don't like DeLay, but even I have to admit that he is neither stupid nor naive. In fact, would say that he's the exact opposite of those traits. He's cunning and, yes, diabolical. You don't get to be in Charge of Congress being stupid or naive. You don't get the nickname "The Hammer" from the way you controlled Congress with an iron fist, by not knowing what those around you were up to. So, his rather flimsy defense does not seem to carry much weight now, does it? What does this mean? It means that "The Hammer" is going down.
My favorite part of his announcement of his stepping down, is his claim that he was ruined by "liberal Democrats" and the "liberal media." While the press may have been on his case and inspected his record, and Democrats may have helped to push the drowning Delay under, they can't really take credit for his demise. No, the real credit must go to Senator John McCain, whose Committee on Indian Affairs brought attention to the Abramoff Scandal and DeLay's former Press Secretary Emily Miller who went to the FBI about Abramoff's business partner Michael Scanlon's illicit activities after Scanlon jilted her for a younger woman. Now, this may come as a surprise to you, but neither Senator McCain nor Emily Miller are "liberal Democrats." No my friends, they are in fact Republicans.
I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to see a pattern here. It's as though DeLay can't stop lying. It's like a sickness really. I almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost.
In closing, I'd like to honor of the end of Tom DeLay's political career, by leaving you with some of my favorite DeLay quotes. Enjoy.
To The Garment Manufacturers of Saipain, who run labor camps and compel women employees into prostitution and force them to have abortions:
"You are a shining light for what is happening to the Republican Party, and you represent everything that is good about what we are trying to do in America and leading the world in the free-market system"
To 3 Young Hurricane Refugees in the Houston Astrodome:
"Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?"
To The Owner of Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, after being told to put out his cigar because of a federal smoking ban:
"I AM the federal government."
On Why He Didn't Serve In Viet Nam:
"So many minority youths had volunteered…that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like myself."
On The Columbine High School Shootings:
"Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare, the teaching of evolution in the schools, and working mothers who take birth control pills."
[On a Side note: How do birth control pills contribute to youth violence? Wouldn't more mothers on birth control equal less youths, and therefore less youth violence?]
I could go on and on, but I think that's enough to prove my point. This man is a monster and everyone who cares about politics in this country, be they Republican, Independent, or Democrat, should be glad to see him go. I know I am. Happy DeLay Stepping Down Day, everybody!
Obviously, they don't come much more corrupt than DeLay. A criminal enterprise operating out of his office. Now, to be fair, this is America and DeLay has not yet been found guilty of any wrongdoing. But with the aforementioned Tony Rudy pleading guilty to federal bribery charges and his former Chief of Staff Edwin Buckham (an ordained minister by the way) under investigation, Delay really has a lot of explaining to do. Delay claims that all of this criminal activity, including the ongoing Abramoff scandal, all took place without his knowledge. He claims that all of his former staffers who used his office for financial and political gain betrayed his trust. If his claims are true, that would mean he was not only innocent, but rather stupid and naive.
Now, I don't like DeLay, but even I have to admit that he is neither stupid nor naive. In fact, would say that he's the exact opposite of those traits. He's cunning and, yes, diabolical. You don't get to be in Charge of Congress being stupid or naive. You don't get the nickname "The Hammer" from the way you controlled Congress with an iron fist, by not knowing what those around you were up to. So, his rather flimsy defense does not seem to carry much weight now, does it? What does this mean? It means that "The Hammer" is going down.
My favorite part of his announcement of his stepping down, is his claim that he was ruined by "liberal Democrats" and the "liberal media." While the press may have been on his case and inspected his record, and Democrats may have helped to push the drowning Delay under, they can't really take credit for his demise. No, the real credit must go to Senator John McCain, whose Committee on Indian Affairs brought attention to the Abramoff Scandal and DeLay's former Press Secretary Emily Miller who went to the FBI about Abramoff's business partner Michael Scanlon's illicit activities after Scanlon jilted her for a younger woman. Now, this may come as a surprise to you, but neither Senator McCain nor Emily Miller are "liberal Democrats." No my friends, they are in fact Republicans.
I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to see a pattern here. It's as though DeLay can't stop lying. It's like a sickness really. I almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost.
In closing, I'd like to honor of the end of Tom DeLay's political career, by leaving you with some of my favorite DeLay quotes. Enjoy.
To The Garment Manufacturers of Saipain, who run labor camps and compel women employees into prostitution and force them to have abortions:
"You are a shining light for what is happening to the Republican Party, and you represent everything that is good about what we are trying to do in America and leading the world in the free-market system"
To 3 Young Hurricane Refugees in the Houston Astrodome:
"Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?"
To The Owner of Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, after being told to put out his cigar because of a federal smoking ban:
"I AM the federal government."
On Why He Didn't Serve In Viet Nam:
"So many minority youths had volunteered…that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like myself."
On The Columbine High School Shootings:
"Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare, the teaching of evolution in the schools, and working mothers who take birth control pills."
[On a Side note: How do birth control pills contribute to youth violence? Wouldn't more mothers on birth control equal less youths, and therefore less youth violence?]
I could go on and on, but I think that's enough to prove my point. This man is a monster and everyone who cares about politics in this country, be they Republican, Independent, or Democrat, should be glad to see him go. I know I am. Happy DeLay Stepping Down Day, everybody!
posted by Christian at 11:50 AM
4 Comments:
Ding, dong, the wicked witch is dead. Happy Stepping Down day to you, too!
hooray.
this column is excellent:
http://tinyurl.com/j6ssr
I couldn't agree with that article more. The scandals in Congress aren't going to end with Tom DeLay leaving. He was the catalyst for much of the corruption, but I will go on until there is serious reform of our electoral system and lobbyists are no longer the fourth and unelected branch of our government.
How do we fix this? Simple. We publicly finance elections. If we do that, special interests and lobbyists will lose all of their clout because politicians will no longer be beholden to them. They will be beholden to us, because we the people, not lobbyists, will have paid for their campaigns. Not only that, but more people could run for office, not just rich, white guys.
Critics of this plan say it's too expensive, but look at what we're paying already. The article you linked to said "the cost of special interest clauses added...to quite unrelated bills topped $60 billion last year." And that's just the tip of the iceberg. If we publicly financed elections, I guarantee we would actually save money.
This isn’t a pipe dream either. Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Arizona, and New Mexico have all passed Clean Election bills. If people get on board, maybe we can actually turn this country back into a democracy.
There are several place you can go to support this iniative, but I recommend this one. Go there and sign the petition, donate money, whatever. Let's all get together and take back our government.
Google gave you Keith Johnson and Jim Saxton for Congress ads. Heh.
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