DeLay goes on the offensive against accusers
DeLay gets attention of voters and critics
The ethics committee report lays out a sordid story of money for access. Mr. Delay has repeatedly abused the public trust, and this extraordinary ethics committee rebuke raises the question as to whether he should remain in Congress. Judicial Watch has already called on Mr. Delay to step down as Majority Leader. He ought to consider retiring to private life.
- Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch
No reasonable person could have expected that Tom DeLay was going to take two rebukes from the House ethics committee lying down. Well, it may have taken longer than I had expected, but DeLay has come out swinging…or at least his mouthpiece has. Rather than deal with the substance of the accusations against his client, DeLay’s attorney is demanding that lame-duck Congressmen be barred from filing ethics complaints. Yes, you read that right. Rather than owning up to his client’s corrupt and dishonest behavior, Ed Bethune is demanding that SITTING MEMBERS of Congress be stripped of the right to file ethics complaints. Not even I would have expected DeLay to react with such arrogance- though I can’t say that I’m surprised.
DeLay’s lawyer, Ed Bethune, sent a 33-page letter to Rep. David Dreier of California, chairman of the House Rules Committee. Bethune said in the memo the House should prevent lame-duck lawmakers like Rep. Chris Bell from filing ethics complaints.
Bell, a first-term Democrat from Texas, lost his seat in a primary that followed a DeLay-engineered redrawing of House district lines in Texas so Republicans could win more seats.
Bethune wrote that the House should consider finding Bell in contempt for “libeling” DeLay. He also faulted the panel for its procedures.
“Mr. DeLay never had an opportunity to appear and argue his position, and there was no offer to allow Mr. DeLay the courtesy of submitting a comment that could be published along with the committee’s report,” Bethune wrote.
So, let me see if I have this straight. Since Chris Bell, who lost his bid for re-election due to DeLay’s gerrymandering, had the temerity to accuse the Majority Leader of corruption, he should be held in contempt? Welcome to the wonderful world of Tom DeLay, an OFF-WITH-HIS-HEAD kind of place where those who dare accuse the King of malfeasance are the ones who suffer the consequences.
Who is really holding the House in contempt here? Yes, that would be the Majority Leader, who clearly thinks that he is above the rules and laws that apply to other, mere mortal politicians.
Even Judicial Watch, whom no one could ever reasonably accuse of being a bastion of Progressive thought, has recognized Tom DeLay’s corruption and venality. Judicial Watch has called for him to resign and return to private life (no cockroach is safe tonight). If DeLay had a shred of dignity about him, he would recognize that he has become a liability to his party and to the people of his district and do the right thing. Of course, DeLay is fundamentally incapable of doing anything that doesn’t materially contribute to his own self-aggrandizement.
Of course, those of us who live in the 22nd district have the means at our disposal to make DeLay’s intransigence passe. We can vote for decent, honest, and forthright representation in Congress by voting for Richard Morrison on November 2nd. Let’s send Tom DeLay back to exterminating cockroaches- because WE DESERVE BETTER.
